THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has disallowed tariff plans with misleading titles such as `zero rentals' on the ground that operators were continuing to charge recurring hidden monthly fee. TRAI directed telecom operators to show all monthly fixed recurring charges under one head for the purpose of transparency to the subscribers.

Public sector oil firms spent over Rs 800 crore (Rs 8 billion) on advertisements during the last three years, with Indian Oil Corp topping the list with an expenditure of Rs 275.35 crore (Rs 2.753 billion), Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said.

Business Line: STAR TV has every reason to smile, with its big ticket show Kaun Banega Crorepati 2 (KBC 2) garnering record ratings on the day of its launch. According to a TAM analysis, KBC 2 topped ratings among the "1 hour timeslots" at All India level.

The analysis says that the viewership share moved from 10 per cent prior to the launch to 38 per cent. In fact, the study claims that these figures are higher than KBC 1, which reportedly took the channel's share from 2 per cent to 25 per cent for that day-part.

Business Line: THE B.K. Birla and Kumarmangalam Birla combine has completed a leveraged buyout deal for around 24 per cent and 7 per cent stake respectively in Pilani Investments and Industries Corporation from the G.P. Birla and S.K. Birla groups for a total consideration of around Rs 325 crore at Rs 1,500 a share.

The deal had been funded through borrowings of around Rs 125 crore from IL&FS. Aditya Finance, the investment wing of the combine, has made the payments.

BIKE-MAKER Royal Enfield has launched two new variants and announced the appointment of Mr R.L. Ravichandran, former marketing head of Bajaj Auto, as its new CEO.

Business Line: Manufacturing powers 11.7% industrial growth in June

INDIAN industry grew by 11.7 per cent in June 2005 over the corresponding period of the previous year powered by robust growth in the manufacturing, electricity and mining sectors. This is against 7.3 per cent year-on-year growth during June 2004.

The former Director of General Accounting at Worldcom was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison for his role in the company's record $11 billion fraud.

Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) will merge associate company Vasishti Detergents (VDL) with itself. The swap ratio is expected to be 1:10, that is, for every 10 shares of VDL, a shareholder of the detergent company would get one share of HLL.

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has reduced its broadband usage charges by 50 per cent from Rs 500 per month to Rs 250 per month for a 256-Kbps connection, reports Business Line.

Source http://www.business-standard.com/ :The value of the Tata brand is expected to have gone up six times over the past eight years—from $1 billion in 1997 to $6 billion now. The latest round of brand-valuation exercise of the group is being conducted by Interbrand, an independent agency, using data available in public domain.

The valuers will also collate information from around 2,500 Tata products users before finalising the brand value.

Source http://www.business-standard.com/ : With state-owned oil companies collectively incurring losses to the tune of Rs 140 crore a day, the petroleum ministry fears they can start turning sick from the next month unless the prices of petroleum products are raised immediately.

Source http://www.business-standard.com/ : With state-owned oil companies collectively incurring losses to the tune of Rs 140 crore a day, the petroleum ministry fears they can start turning sick from the next month unless the prices of petroleum products are raised immediately.

RELIANCE Industries Ltd (RIL) has decided to demerge its holdings in Reliance Capital, Reliance Energy and Reliance Infocomm into separate entities for facilitating their transfer into the Anil Ambani-led ADA Enterprises fold.

Every 100 shares in Reliance Industries Ltd will fetch shareholders five shares of Reliance Capital Services, seven shares of Reliance Energy Ltd, 100 shares of Global Fuel Management Services Ltd and 100 shares of Reliance Communications Ventures Ltd. These stock ratios are not based on any valuation, but rather, on the fairness principle, pricing and par value, said Mr Ambani, at a press conference. While Reliance Capital (RCS) and Reliance Energy (REL) are listed companies, Global Fuel Management Services (GFMS) and Reliance Communications Ventures Ltd (RCVL) will be newly set up, both to be listed before March 31, 2006, he said.

RELIANCE Industries Ltd (RIL) has decided to demerge its holdings in Reliance Capital, Reliance Energy and Reliance Infocomm into separate entities for facilitating their transfer into the Anil Ambani-led ADA Enterprises fold.

Every 100 shares in Reliance Industries Ltd will fetch shareholders five shares of Reliance Capital Services, seven shares of Reliance Energy Ltd, 100 shares of Global Fuel Management Services Ltd and 100 shares of Reliance Communications Ventures Ltd. These stock ratios are not based on any valuation, but rather, on the fairness principle, pricing and par value, said Mr Ambani, at a press conference. While Reliance Capital (RCS) and Reliance Energy (REL) are listed companies, Global Fuel Management Services (GFMS) and Reliance Communications Ventures Ltd (RCVL) will be newly set up, both to be listed before March 31, 2006, he said.

LML to get new marketing head

TWO-wheeler maker LML, which is planning for a turnaround strategy, will soon have a new marketing head. Mr Pradeep Saxena, who was General Manager - Marketing at Hyundai Motor India, will now head LML's marketing division.