Busting the monopoly mantra!
Bharti Enterprises added another feather to its "monopoly-busting" cap today, when group company Mantra Online became the first company to launch India's first private international Internet Gateway breaking VSNL's monopoly as a bandwidth provider.

Ibaya aligns with Furnvel.com to set up co-branding site
ibaya.com, a fully functional e-mall, has entered into a strategic alliance with Furnvel.com, an online interior store. According to the MoU signed recently, the two partners will set up a co-branded website, furnvel.ibaya.com, for the sale of interior decoration products.

Cool threads -- NetAcross' Manish Modi picks up stake in Webrands.com
Webrands.com, an apparel research and referral site which also happens to be the first incubatee of NetAcross Solutions, has been launched by Sidhaarth Jalan who was earlier with Dupont Sportswear and Manish Modi of NetAcross Solutions.

Par for the course -- Millennium to offer Web-based training on stock market
Millennium Infocom Technologies is planning to launch a Web-based capital market course on stocks. The site, which will be called CapitalMarketAcademy.com will offer a six month course, scheduled for a soft launch next week.

Opening the gateways to Internet growth
India may have scaled the biggest structural hurdle in the growth of the Internet with the recent announcement granting many ISPs international gateway licences.

Excel to put Mag.Net on news stands soon
Excel Infotech is set to hit the market with an Internet magazine - Mag.Net - shortly. The Delhi-based Excel would be the first domestic infotech firm to unveil a 60-page all-colour IT magazine.


  ICICI Ventures picks up 30 per cent stake in Chequemail.com
  LanBit unveils site for e-tailing IT products
  Pakistan draws flak for Net patrolling move
  HCL Infosystems bags AP govt server order
  IBM launches DB2 Ver 7.1
  Cyberstar opens IT distribution site
  Speedera Networks to begin India operations soon
  News bytes
  Metricom bets on two James Bond types to advertise Ricochet's wireless service
  Two digital studios to come up in Kerala's Capital
  Indiart.com widens its canvas with a second vortal
  CBI seminar on cyber laws tomorrow
  Gurucool to take over academic ventures
  Rural areas in Kerala to get more Net kiosks
  Visual Quest ties up with Ossidian Tech
  Zurich Infotech inks pact with Degem Systems
  How much music can be stored on an MP3 player's memory cards?
  News bytes
  Aksh Optifibre's initial float oversubscribed
  European shares fall despite Wall Street gains
  Investors may not make Mukta Arts' IPO at a premium of Rs 160 a hit
  Shares mostly lower despite Greenspan's reassurance
  Jadoonet.com mulls marketing tie-up with Samsung
  New flavour to add crunch to Frito Lay volumes
  Mediaturf.com to cast net wide; plans expansion to Singapore, UK & US
  Druk spices up its act
  Softel launches handy mineral water machine
  Pragma rolls out`Riviera' flatbed-knitted garments
  MARKETPLACE
  E-Briefing