Bharti BT appointment: Bharti BT has appointed the Pondicherry-based Nexus Computers as its system integrator (SI). The appointment will help Bharti BT capitalise on the Rs 40-crore Nexus's SI capabilities, Bharti BI chief executive officer K Ganesh. Nexus will be able to benefit from this association as help widen its portfolio of IT solutions by catering to wide area networks. "Our alliance with Bharti, a leading V-Sat service company, will help us in offering multi-locational connectivity to our clients," Nexus CEO Kalya said.

Modular Systems suite of language office applications: Modular Systems has launched Ankur, a new suite of Indian language office applications. Ankur is a suite of a script processor, a built-in multilingual word processor and a multilingual executive personal diary. The script processor allows the use of Indian scripts and keyboard layouts in the English oriented environment. This in turn allows the user to use Indian scripts and fonts in any of the windows based application like MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Pagemaker, Corel Draw etc. The built-in word processor is an independent multilingual one which allows all functions like character attributes, page setup, print settings and import/export.

AmSoft Information human resources chief: CL Gurudutt has been appointed as head, human resources at AmSoft Information Services (India) Pvt Ltd. The company is a joint venture between The MS Ramaiah (MSR) group of Bangalore and PKS Information Services Inc of the US. Established in October 1997 with a facility spread around 18,000 sq ft Amsoft currently employs around 50 people and a 100 per cent export oriented unit.

Cognizant Technology project: The Chennai-based Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (CTS) on Wednesday announced it has completed major phases of full life-cycle year 2000 conversion project for Guaranty National (GNC), a non-standard personal lines automobile insurer and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Orion Capital Corporation. CTS has completed inventory, impact analysis, base lining and code change for the project, which is taking place in Goldsboro, North Carolina. "We are pleased that our proven expertise in all areas of year 2000 compliance is helping Guaranty National to manage the remediation of these applications," Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation chairman and chief executive officer, Kumar Mahadeva said.

Singapore firm to develop Kakinada port: The Singapore-based International Seaports Private Ltd has bagged a 20-year contract to develop the Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh. A decision to this effect was taken by the state cabinet which met on Tuesday, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said. "The state cabinet agreed in principle to allot the integrated development of Kakinada port to International Seaports, which offered to invest Rs 287 crore," Naidu. There were three other bidders for the contract, he added.

Visakhpatnam Export Processing Zone to be expanded: The Visakhapatnam Export Processing Zone (VEPZ) will be developed and expanded to another 360 acres in three phases and an amount of Rs 50 lakh has been provided as subsidy for its power requirements, union minister of state for urban development Bandaru Dattatreya said. Internet facilities will be provided at VEPZ by September 25 and three software projects will be started very soon, the minister said.

Trade unions accuse government: Central trade unions on Wednesday accused the government of `deliberately delaying' the revival of public sector Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (IDPL) and threatened to intensify their movement for implementation of the revised rehabilitation package. At a joint demonstration in front of the ministry of chemical and fertilisers here, the IDPL Workers' Union, along with the All India Trade Union Congress (Aituc), Centre of Indian Trade Union (Citu) warned against any move to close down the factory units.

Calcutta to provide 460 acres for electronics complex: To meet the growing demand for land from software and electronics companies, the West Bengal government has decided to provide 460 acres for setting up of a new electronics complex. State minister of commerce and industries Bidyut Ganguly said the state government had received a number of proposals from software and electronics companies. The government had asked the West Bengal Electronics Development Corporation for identifying the required land, which will be scattered over several areas, he said. The state already has an electronics complex in Salt Lake near Calcutta.

Instrumentation Ltd bags Rs 2.08 crore order: The public sector unit Instrumentation Ltd has bagged an order worth Rs 2.88 crore for design, engineering, supply and erection of ambient air quality monitoring stations. The orders is for the Suratgarh TPS stage-I project of the Rajasthan State Electricity Board (RSEB), Jaipur. The system will monitor contents of hazardous gases coming out from the chimney of power station as well as in ambient air to meet the stringent requirements of pollution control board.