By IANS,
Bangalore : Sale of printers, copiers and multifunctional office automation products witnessed a 13 percent decline in India in the first half of 2009 over the like period the previous year, said global IT research and advisory firm Gartner.
“The impact of global recession was visible in the Indian market as only 1.1 million units of office automation products, including printers and copiers could be shipped in the first six months,” Gartner principal research analyst Vishal Tripathi said in a statement.
*-*
Integreon ranked number one once more
Bangalore: Knowledge process outsourcing major Integreon has been ranked first for the fourth straight year in the Black Book of Outsourcing, a survey of customer views of global outsourcing providers by Data Monitor of Brown-Wilson group.
According to the survey, the Mumbai-based IT firm has been ranked first in all three categories, research, legal and documentation, the company said in a statement.
*-*
Cane farmers to be offered soft loans
New Delhi: The government Friday said it would offer soft loans at 4 percent interest to cane farmers for seeds, fertilisers and pesticides to help increase productivity.
“Loans would be given by December 31, at an interest rate of 4 percent per annum. These sugar factories will in turn pass the loans in cash or kind to the cane growers in their respective areas latest by March 31 next year,” the government said in a statement.
*-*
Unichem Labs gets US nod for new drug
Mumbai: The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has approved pharma major Unichem’s Bisoprolol Fumarate tablets, the company said Friday.
Bisoprolol, an anti-hypertensive drug, will now be produced commercially at the company’s Goa plant.
*-*
Ex-Bharat Heavy Electricals official joins BGR
Chennai: V. Ananthakrishnan, who had earlier headed the Tiruchirapalli boiler division of Bharat Heavy Electricals, has been hired as director of operations of BGR Energy, a city-based power sector equipment manufacturer.
On Monday, BGR Energy had announced the appointment of T. Shankaralingam, former chairman of power utility NTPC, as its managing director.
*-*
Chennai realtor enters hospitality sector
Chennai: City-based residential property developer Akshaya will foray into hospitality and commercial real estate and space.
“We are planning to build two 60-room resorts in Mahabalipuram and Yercaud (in Tamil Nadu) in 2010. We will launch a 33,500 square feet business centre in Chennai,” said company chairman and managing director T. Chitty Babu.
He added that the Rs.150-crore company was also looking out for a foreign hotel management company to run the two resorts.
*-*
Amrit Fresh forays into dairy market
Kolkata: City-based Rs.650 crore Amrit Group has forayed into the dairy market with the launch of three varieties of liquid milks — cow milk, toned milk and double toned milk — under the flagship brand “Amrit Fresh”.
The group, which is engaged in manufacturing and production of quality animal feeds, poultry, dairy and value added processed food products in eastern and northern India, plans to invest Rs.300 crore over three years for the dairy project.
*-*
US firm launches budget hotel in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram: Berggruen Hotels, owned by the US-based Berggruen Holdings Inc, Friday opened a 101-room two-suite mid-market hotel “Keys” in Kerala.
The company already operates two Keys hotels and resorts in India – one in Lonavala in Maharashtra and the other in Hyderabad. It also plans to open budget hotels in Ludhiana, Mahabaleshwar, Bangalore and Jaipur this fiscal.