The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has increased the prices of two bulk drugs -- dexamethasone pure and dexamethasone di sodium phosphate, according to a release from the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers here on Thursday.

The price of dexamethasone pure has been revised from Rs 103 per gram to Rs 118 per gram, while the price of dexamethasone di sodium phosphate price has been revised from Rs 112 per gram to Rs 139 per gram. The upward price revision has been effected after taking into account the change in rupee-dollar exchange rate, customs duty, and modvat benefit, the release added. The new prices will be effective after the statutory fortnight period since gazette notification.

Hitech Drilling net rises:

Hitech Drilling Services India, a Tata group company, has reported a net profit of Rs 9.66 crore for the quarter ended September 30, a 188 per cent jump from Rs 3.35 crore in the corresponding period last year. Income fromoperations was up 79 per cent to Rs 41.63 crore from Rs 23.31 crore. A company release on Thursday said the good showing was mainly on account of the enhanced day rates for the company's offshore jackup drilling rig, Hitdrill-1, and the commencement of a new contract for its floating production unit, Tahara. Another reason for the increase in income and net profit was the depreciation of the rupee as all earnings of the company are in foreign currency.

Kemna Electronics laser-related products:

Kemna Electronics, a part of the multi-billion Kemna group launched its range of laser related products in Bangalore on Monday. Group vice-president NP Meegoda said the company has big plans in India as it is a huge market and the product is new. According to him the estimated investment in India in the first phase is $35 million for the assembly plant.

Cognizant Technology selects partner:

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (CTS) has been chosen by CCC Information Services Inc, the leadingprovider of solutions for the automotive claims industry, as its applications development and maintenance partner. "When we looked for an applications development partner, we needed a company that could provide high quality service and take a project from start to finish," CCC senior vice-president (product engineering) Rich Rumple said.

Micro Focus year 2000 test suite:

The Bangalore-based Micro Focus has announced its new year 2000 test suite, a comprehensive testing environment that thoroughly and accurately tests Y2K-remediated cobol code. The year 2000 test suite, which consists of micro focus touchpoint and micro focus winrunner 2000, gives IT professionals the technology and systematic methodology that can help them to reasonably ensure Y2K compliance. Test organisations have been forced to adopt a triage process of selecting only a limited number of applications that will go through system, integration or unit test processes due to time and resource constraints.

Birla 3Mproduct:

Birla 3M has launched a photodyne brand 800XGT fibre indentifier designed to locate any particular fibre line or non-obtrusively identify live fibres to determine the amount of traffic present. The fibre identifier is designed to eliminate user error and reduce the chance of fibre damage and wiring service interruptions. The identifier can be used on fibres used for construction or maintenance of telecommunication networks, outside plant interconnections, cable television (CATV) connections, wiring for local area network or premises applications.

Acer Peripherals appoints Godrej Pacific as distributor:

Acer Peripherals on Tuesday appointed Godrej Pacific Technology as the authorised distributor for marketing monitors, keyboards and Cd-rom drives in the country. Godrej Pacific will coordinate the logistics and marketing activities through Servex, the 100 per cent subsidiary of Acer Peripherals Inc.

IOC pays dividend to government:

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) chairman MAPattan on Thursday presented a dividend cheque of Rs 177.42 crore for 1997-98 to minister for petroleum and natural gas VK Ramamurthy. Pathan also presented a Rs 50-lakh cheque to the minister as the corporation's contribution to the prime minister's National Relief Fund, a release said. IOC had declared a 50 per cent dividend amounting to Rs 194.66 crore for 1997-98. Besides the government's share, Rs 17.24 crore will be paid to other shareholders comprising financial institutions, merchant bankers, mutual funds, individuals and employees, the release added.

International Distillers plans:

International Distillers India Ltd will conduct the Smirnoff Stereo Nation India tour from October 16. Jambo, the album of Stereo Nation's Tarsame Singh (Taz) and Kendell Smith will be unveiled during the tour covering seven major cities in the country. Also on the anvil are pub crawls and in-store promotions. Jambo has 11 untempo hits which include three dance numbers. Apart from the Latin-American influencesin the title track Jambo has a mix of tracks with reggae and the bhangra grooves, a release said.

Karnataka trade body fair:

The Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) in association with Equinox Trade Fairs will organise an international exhibition on automobiles in Bangalore from January 22 to January 24, 1999. Auto Asia'99 will be held at the Sree Kanteevara stadium and is expected to attract around 40,000 visitors per day.

Kshema Technologies certification:

The Bangalore-based Kshema Technologies has received the ISO 9001 - Tickit certification by the Bureau of Veritas International.