The Government will soon give some airports on "long term deals" to multinational companies to make them user-friendly with multi-model linkages to enhance international trade and tourism, Minister of State for civil Aviation Chaman Lal Gupta.

"This was necessary to make the airports at par with world class," Gupta said addressing a conference on the aeronautics industry organised as part of 'France-India 2000' exhibition.

"We have already started opening up airports for private parties like the one in Kochi and joint venture is on cards for the Bangalore airport."

Among civil avitation experts from France, who stressed on joint ventures especially in aircraft production and traffic management was Alain Brodin of Avions de Transport Regional (ATR) who said "there will be tremendous growth of the aviation industry if India could tap just I per cent of its daily 11 million railway passengers to the airflight."

- 101299TB

UTI Bank is entering North India in a big way—opening its 39th branch in Sector 34 here today and 40th branch in Ludhiana tomorrow. Shimla, Panchkulla, Mohali, Khanna and Phagwara are the other towns where the bank proposes to open its branches.

To illustrate customers' faith in the bank, Mr. Gupta said many of its customers had subscribed to the bank's public issue last year. The bank will focus on demat services—it has the largest number of demat subscribers in the country—and the personal loan segment.

Promoted by UTI, LIC and GIC, the bank has posted a 94 per cent increase in its profits in the year just ended on a deposit base of Rs. 3,040 crore and has a capital adequacy ration of 11.64 per cent.

All offices of the bank are fully computerised, networked through VSAT and offer ATM services.

- 101299TB

Private FM radio transmission is likely to begin by the end of 2000, a top government official said on Thursday. "We are in the process of finalising the auction latest by February, 2000. After setting up the required physical infrastructure of studios and transmitters, the private stations are likely to go live by the end of next year," Mr. R.C. Mishra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, told newspersons.

- 101299TB

Airlines (IA) is to launch a "five boarding card millennium promotion" programme from next month, in a bid to increase its market share. Under this scheme, a passenger becomes eligible to participate; if he or she travels on any five sectors between January 1 and March 31, 2000 on any of the domestic, international or Alliance Air services in the economy or executive class or even a mix of both.

- 101299EI

Mr. B.K. Shrivastava, Chairman of NRI Association of Jalandhar announced that the 4th annual meeting will be held on Jan. 9, 2000 while a seminar will be held on the 12th Jan. 2000 at Bhagat Yaadgar Hall, Jalandhar at 11 am.

The much awaited Rs. 100 crore National Venture Fund for Software and Information Technology (IT) industry was launched today by the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Assuring the industry that the fund would not be run in a "bureaucratic" manner, Mr. Vajpayee said that the fund has been created to help in the growth of world class IT enterprises in Indian soil.

The fund, whose launch was long awaited by the industry, has already generated a lot of interest and even before its formal launch, as many as 30 applications amounting to Rs. 136 crore had been received from IT companies.

- 111299TB

Flamboyant, British billionaire, Virgin Atlantic owner Richard Branson reported yesterday, the two airlines have struck a deal which will allow Virgin to operate from India with flights to London.

A-I chief Michael Mascrenhas who was present, while firmly refusing to get atop the elephant, told that initially starting in May 2000, Virgin will be flying three flights to London on the days A-I does not fly and that the agreement would be put up to the two governments for approval ahead of bilateral talks next month.

• Virgin to start operations in May 2000 to London.
• To fly three flights Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
• To offer virgin upper class and superior economy with lots of give aways.
• Fare wars with cuts up to 15 p.c. in the offing.
• Virgin club house at Heathrow.
• Upper class health and beauty therapy.
• Virgin touch salons.
• Upgrading the AI product.

111299IE

The Indian Airlines will resume air services for the Vaishno Devi pilgrims from this month end. An agreement in this regard will be signed between the Indian Airlines, Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board & the Pawanhans Helocopter services. The Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Chaman Lal Gupta said helicopter services would be available from Jammu to Saanjhi Chhat on Saanjhi Chhat to Jammu for the return journey.

- 111299IE

Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal has approved to initiate state awards for Punjabi Films. Talking briefly about this move, the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association’s Chairman Preeti Sapru said, it would give more impetus to Actors and Technicians taking part in production process of Punjabi films.

- 111299IE

In a decisive step towards public sector reform, the government created a nodal department of disinvestment to steer the ambitious programme of sale of government’s shareholding in public sector undertakings (PSUs) and placed it under the independent charge of minister of state for information and broadcasting Arun Jaitley.

It will handle all matters relating to sale of government’s equity in Central PSUs, including implementation of disinvestment, appointment of advisors, timing and modalities of sale and pricing. The final decision on these will, of course, be taken by the Union Cabinet. The department will also be responsible for the restructuring of PSUs in which the government divests its shareholding. While they will continue to be under the administrative control of their respective parent ministries and departments, the will be governed by the new department insofar as the disinvestment programme is concerned.

The government has also decided that the Disinvestment Commission will soon be constituted afresh. It will be a recommendatory authority.

- 121299TOI

Indian industry grew by an impressive 6.9% during April-October 1999-2000 fuelled by continued buoyancy in manufacturing and electricity sectors. Industrial growth was a meagre 3.4% during the same period in the last financial year.

The consumer durable sector performed most creditably with 12.3% growth during the first seven months of the current fiscal against a lowly 3.1% in the same period last year. The capital goods and consumer non-durables sectors posted a growth rate of 8.6%. The power sector alone posted an 8.1% growth. The electricity sector, in October 1999, also posted a high 10.3% growth against a negative 0.1% in October 1998.

- 121299TOI

A group of infotech bigwigs including Infosys promoter N. R. Narayanamurthy and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Kanwal Rekhi have made a concerted bid to take over the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

The group, which includes hotshots from the Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE) and Indian IT industry, has offered to create a $1 billion fund for privatisation of the premier technology institutions in the country.

"We met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee earlier this week and proposed an industry takeover of IITs and the government has agreed to the idea in-principle," Kanwal Rekhi, president of TIE said here. Rekhi said Vajpayee has asked the group, most of whom are IIT alumni, to submit a detailed report on the proposed industry takeover of the IITs within the next 30 to 40 days.

- 131299IE

The Medical Education Department of the Punjab government has decided to computerise all the three medical colleges and their attached hospitals located at Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot. The project is expected to cost about Rs. 66 lakh and would be implemented by March 31.

This was stated by Dr. S.S. Sidhu, newly appointed Director of Research and Medical Education, in an interview.

It was envisaged that all the three medical colleges would have computer links with each other as also with the Medical Education Directorate at Chandigarh. The computerised hospitals would have this facility to help in the conduct of medical tests of patients as also other record of the hospital. The libraries of the three state medical colleges would have Internet connection, which would be of immense help to the medical teachers and doctors.