VST Industries turnover up: VST Industries Ltd has recorded a 14 per cent rise in gross turnover to Rs 350.8 crore for the first six months of the current financial, against the corresponding period last year. The company's gross profit before interest, depreciation and tax stood at Rs 17.47 crore during the first half, compared with the loss of Rs 1.36 crore for the same period last year, a company release said. The interest burden is high and continues to be an area of concern for the company as reflected in the net profit for the period at Rs 3.91 crore, the release said.

ACC bags Ficci award: ACC Ltd has bagged the Ficci award for adopting innovativemeasures for pollution control, waste management and conservation of mineral resources in mines and cement plants in Himachal Pradesh. The award is for the Gagal cement unit, which has also received the ISO 14000 certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards.

Eicher unit gets QS 9000 certification: Ramon & Demm, gear business unit of the Eicher group, has been awarded the QS 9000 certification for manufacturing and marketing of transmission and different gears. With the QS 9000, Ramon & Demm is eligible to process orders from international auto majors like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, a company release said.

Rural Electrification Corp pays Rs 10-crore dividend to government: Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) on Wednesday paid the highest ever dividend of Rs 10 crore to the government for the year ending March 31, 1998. REC had earned its highest-ever profit before tax of Rs 120.73 crore during the period, against the previous year's Rs 85.52 crore. REC is a developmentfinancing institution engaged in promoting and funding rural electrification programmes all over the country.

Microsoft Corp to rename product line: Microsoft Corporation on Wednesday announced its decision to rename the forthcoming Windows NT 5.0 line of operating system products to Windows 2000 with immediate effect. The first line of Windows 2000 products are expected to be shipped in the year 1999. The following products will now make the Microsoft's Windows 2000 line - Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Series and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server.

TCS, Tata IBM sign pact: Software firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata IBM, the Indian arm of global major IBM Corporation have announced a strategic partnership to address the needs of the small and medium enterprise segment with a complete business accounting solution. Under the arrangement, TCS and Tata IBM will leverage their respective product, marketing and channel strengths to specificallyservice the needs of this vast and growing market.

Bengal, Japan trade bodies forge alliance: The Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BNCCI) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Osaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (OCCI) to boost Japanese investment and trade relations with India in general and West Bengal in particular. The agreement also aims to exchange business information and data and to offer best services to the businessmen of the respective chambers, BNCCI president Bhaskar Sen said.

Himachal Pradesh invitation for state road corp: The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has been invited by the Himachal Pradesh government to undertake infrastructure projects in the state. Himachal chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who met his counterpart Manohar Joshi in Mumbai on Wednesday, told reporters that the two of them discussed various issues of common interest.

IMC president to lead delegation to US, UK: The Indian Merchant's Chamberpresident YP Trivedi will lead a 35-member business delegation to the UK and USA from November 1 to November 15. The theme of the mission is "innovative strategies for the 21st century towards business excellence." The delegation members are interested in possible joint ventures with US counterparts in power, environmental technology, hospital waste management, petrochemicals, telecommunications, infrastructure projects and pharmaceuticals.