Blue Star board okays international software spinoff: The board of directors of Blue Star has approved a scheme to spin off its international software division. The new company will have a share capital of Rs 10 crore. Of this, 3 per cent will be retained in an employee stock- option plan, 29 per cent will be subscribed to by Blue Star and the balance 68 per cent will be given to shareholders in the ratio of 1:4.

HCL Corporation's Swiss arm: HCL Corporation, the $600-million Indian information technology transnational, haslaunched a subsidiary in Switzerland, HCL Technologies Schweiz AG. With this, the HCL group has expanded its presence in 19 countries.

Apple unveils new powerbook computer: Apple Computer International has introduced a new powerbook PC G3 series of notebook computers in Mumbai. Housed in a sleek, distinctive enclosure, the G3 is aimed as the ultimate solution for multimedia authors, digital video editors and pre-press professionals.

Y2K compliance for Comsat Mx: Comsat Mx has become the first V-Sat service provider in the country to obtain Y2K compliance for its V-Sat systems. With this, Comsat Max's customers like Ingersoll Rand, CitiBank and Cargill will move into the next millennium without worrying about their network crashing on January 1, 2000, due to the Y2K syndrome.

Bhagawati Gases, French firm tie up: Bhagawati Gases, a leading industrial gas manufacturer in north India, is forming a joint venture with Air Liquide of France. Under the agreement, Bhagawati will sell itsliquid gases and transfer all its merchant customers to the joint venture. Air Liquide will also use all related assets of Bhagawati Gases. the French company already uses its own air separation plant in Alwar, Rajasthan. This will also be transferred to the joint venture.

Bharti BT appoints Microtech Software: Bharti BT, a leading provider of V-Sat-based satellite communications, has appointed the Mumbai-based Microtech Software and Consultants as a regional centric-systems integrator for the western region.

Motorola feat: Motorola's cellular infrastructure group announced the sale of 50,000 units of fixed-wireless terminals (FWTs) to Tata Lucent Technologies, a joint venture between Tata Teleservices and Lucent Technologies.

Cadam Systems gifts software to IIT, Delhi:Cadam Systems Company, a leading vendor of desktop mechanical-engineering CAD/CAM software, has gifted 100 Helix design software packages valued approximately at Rs 4 crore to the Indian Institute of Technology,Delhi. The gift was part of the MoU signed by CSC and IIT-Delhi, which includes free maintenance and upgrades for the next five years.

Boshu Technics introduces forms-processing software: Boshu Technics Corporation has launched the first indigenous forms- processing software, DigiForms. The normal transfer of data from a hand-filled form into a database is done through manual data entry, which is prone to errors. The software offers an electronic alternative that not only eliminates human errors in data entry but speeds up the process immensely. It supports all major scanners.

Thirumalai Chemicals net falls to Rs 11 crore: Thirumalai Chemicals said on Thursday that its net profit in the 12-month period to the end of March, 1988, dipped to Rs 11.32 crore, from the prior year's Rs 16.43 crore. Sales were up 4 per cent to Rs 141.61 crore, compared with the prior year's Rs 135.96 crore. The firm has maintained the dividend at Rs 4 per share.

HPCL donates Rs 25 lakh to cyclone relieffund: HPCL has contributed Rs 25 lakh to the Gujarat chief minister's relief fund for the cyclone-hit. Chairman HL Zutshi recently presented a cheque to Gujarat chief minister.