The Hindu Business Line : Friday, April 18, 2003

Orchid Chem keen on DNA library
ORCHID Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals is looking at the strategy of using biotechnology as the foundation for its drug discovery programme. According to Dr C. Bhaktavatsala Rao, Deputy Managing Director, the company is at an early stage of ... More

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Apollo Tyres lifts lockout at Pune unit
THE management of Apollo Tyres Ltd has lifted the lockout at the automobile tube manufacturing plant at Ranjangaon in Pune. The plant accounts for about 15-20 per cent of the total tube requirements of the company. The lockout has been lifted ... More

Dr Reddy's to announce audited results

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES

Dabhol's foreign lenders file arbitration notice against Indian FIs
OFFSHORE lenders to the Dabhol power project on Thursday filed an arbitration notice in London against their Indian counterparts led by the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) to settle differences on the failed power project. The notice ... More

HUMAN RESOURCES

`Improve' at Ashok Leyland
"SOME are wild thoughts, but we do not stop employees from expressing them because they could make a difference to the company's bottom line some day," says Mr R. Seshasayee, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland, describing his company's unique HR ... More

SAIL staff hope to get back fringe benefits
HOPES of a profitable year have simultaneously generated a fair amount of expectation among the employees of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) for an early restoration of their fringe benefits, which have been suspended since 1999. However, ... More

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Chemplast may buy Kothari soda plant
CHEMPLAST Sanmar Ltd plans to buy the caustic soda business of Kothari Petrochemicals Ltd, the company told the Bombay stock exchange on Thursday. Chemplast is already a producer of caustic soda. Its Mettur plant has a capacity of 140 tonnes ... More

NEW PROJECTS

Primary zone to claim chunk of new Tata Steel investment
THE recent in-principle okay by the Tata Steel board for an investment of Rs.1,995 crore in a string of new and balancing facilities lends itself to several interpretations. The timing of the information given to stock exchanges about the ... More

OUTLOOK

Wipro sees further dip in margins
"There's a drift towards application management services from application development. New clients are less relationship-driven and more mercenary", Mr Vivek Paul, Vice-Chairman told analysts. More

PERFORMANCE

HLL: Grappling with pricing pressure
IF you consider the odds that have been stacked up against Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), the growth numbers that the FMCG giant has notched up for the quarter ended March 31, 2003 appear reasonable. While the numbers suggest that HLL is holding ... More

Wipro follows the Infy trend
DESPITE reasonably strong volume growth, Wipro Technologies — the global IT services division of the diversified Wipro, continued to experience margin pressure in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2003. And after Infosys Technologies ... More

Synergies-Dooray exports at Rs 65 cr
SYNERGIES-Dooray, the manufacturer and exporter of alloy wheels for passenger cars in the Visakhapatnam Special Economic Zone (VSPEZ), exported chrome-plated wheels worth Rs 65 crore during 2002-03, in spite of a sluggish US market. It aims to ... More

MRF: Input cost pressure hurts operating profit margins
AFTER logging a sharp growth in earnings in the previous quarters, market leader in the tyre industry — MRF has come up with a relatively subdued earnings performance for the quarter ended March 2003. The turnover increased 17 per cent to ... More