Khaitan India fans: Khaitan India Ltd has launched a new fan called Marathon. The fan has better air delivery, low power consumption and ability to withstand voltage fluctuations, company vice-chairman Sunil Khaitan said. The fan's other features are that it has aerodynamically designed wider blades and a powerful 36 copper coil (18 pole) motor which ensures higher air delivery at nominal power consumption. The fan is priced at Rs 1,335.

AutodeskIndia software products Autodesk India on Tuesday launched AutoCAD Map Release 3 and Autodesk World R2. The two new software products make geographic information systems (GIS) easier to use, increase productivity, and let organisations get more value from the large investments they have made in their data. AutoCAD Map is already the leading CAD-based mapping and GIS software. The software incorporates a new "Project Workspace", a centralised data management tool for viewing and managing all project resources in one location. Also database connectivity has been simplified with "drag-and-drop" configuration and point-and-click linking of tabular data to graphic entities.

Volvo award for truck drivers: Volvo has instituted a Safe Driving Award for drivers with 12 months of accident-free driving of a registered Volvo Truck. This award is applicable for all Volvo trucks delivered by Volvo India Pvt Ltd and those which will be delivered in 1999 by the company. The award is a part of an overall approachby the company on promoting safe driving and improvements in collision safety.

Hindustan Aeronautics appointment: Ashok K Baweja has been appointed as director of the design and development complex of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. He was earlier heading the helicopter division and responsible for productionisation of advanced light helicopter.

Naidu to tour US for business promotion: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu will visit the United States on a 14-day tour from September 12 to promote business opprtunities in the state. "The tour is aimed mainly at attracting business venture capital and promoting Andhra Pradesh as a major destinaion for information technology and infrastructure investments," official sources said. The chief minister is slated to meet software giants, World Bank officials, corporate majors, NRIs and participate in seminars organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Virtual varsity: The man behind India's success on supercomputers,Vijay Bhatkar has formed a Rs 400-crore company to spread internet access to every nook and corner of the country and create a virtual network university. The company named `Dishnet' formed as a subsidiary of the Sterling Infotech to provide Internet access nationwide under the american brandname `ETH' (education to home) has tied up with global giants such as Microsoft and Compaq.

EPI bags contract worth Rs 14 crore: The Engineering Projects (India) Ltd (EPI) has bagged a contract worth Rs 14.87 crore for a water supply project from the Nasik Municipal Corporation. The scope of work involves head works, raw water piping, storage tank and allied works and is scheduled to be completed within 24 months time, an EPI release said. EPI is at present executing a Rs 43.55 crore rural water supply project for the Maharashtra Water Supply & Sewerage Board at Pune, being financed by the World Bank, the release said.

NTF urges centre to go slow on DoT corporatisation: The National Telematics Forum(NTF) has urged the central government to go about corporatising the department of telecommunications (DoT) in a phased manner. NTF vice-president Virendar Trehan, in a release on Monday, said that while private operators in the basic service will be make profits, the corporatised DoT will become a loss-making, unviable entity. According to Trehan, the private service providers will be offering bulk discounts to corporate users, like they are doing in Madhya Pradesh, and will not care to provide for the general public.

Project to implement latest wireless technology: The department of telecommunications (DoT) has undertaken a pilot project in collaboration with the US-based Ericsson Communications to implement on a trial basis `IS-136 TDMA' -- the latest digital wireless technology in local (wll) networks on 500 subscriber lines in Bangalore. With IS-136, operators could rapidly instal networks in remote areas and efficiently maintain them and thereby provide rural India access totelecommunications.

A Clarification The article titled `MRTP issues notices to Coke, Pepsi' which appeared in The Financial Express dated August 24, said that MRTPC had issued the notice directly to the companies. We wish to clarify that it was the office of the director general (I&R) under the department of company affairs which had issued the notice. The notice was issued citing a section of the MRTP Act.