STD, ISD call rates to be cut further: Paswan
ISD and STD rates would be slashed further to promote a healthy competition among players in telecom, Union telecommunication minister Ram Vilas Paswan has said. "As of now, STD and ISD rates are still costly. Our figures suggest that people make more ISD calls from abroad than our country. We are working out a plan to slash ISD and STD rates further," Mr Paswan said after inaugurating the telecom circle of Uttaranchal in Dehradun.

Elcom, FISME to create e-marketplace
Nasdaq-listed Elcom International Inc's Indian subsidiary Elcom and Federation of Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (FISME) on Thursday joined hands to create an e-marketplace for small-medium enterprises. Based on the B2B model, the new portal will benefit both buying and supplying organisations through digital certification, FISME president Dinesh Singhal said.

Paramount bags BSNL order
Paramount Communications Limited has received its maiden order of Rs 27 crore from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited for the supply of polyethylene insulated jelly filled cables. It is expected to supply these cables by April 2001. The company had earlier got an order of Rs 120 crore from the DoT.

Makemytrip grosses Rs 2.3 cr in revenues in first quarter of operations
Makemytrip.com, a travel portal with online booking capabilities, on Thursday announced that it had achieved Rs 2.3 crore in revenues during the first three months of operations. The company has also received the IATA accreditation. Makemytrip.com, launched in October 2000, is incubated by eVenture between Soft Bank Inc, ePartners (NewsCorp) and PK Mittal (Ispat Group). The company claims to have generated high turnover from inbound traffic, domestic packages for the holiday season and due to round-the-clock customer support with online Web chat facilities and toll free numbers from 39 Indian cities.

Oxfordbookstore.com ties up with nonshutters.com
Oxfordbookstore.com on Thursday tied up with the country's first hypermart nonshutters.com to provide its users an array of books, over 2000 branded products and music items, a top company official said. The alliance would provide for e-tailing of half-a-million quality books, a selection of music products and gifts as well as a wide range of items in several departments, chief operating officer of Oxfordbookstore.com Sanjeev Mehra said.

Ramco Systems ropes in SEEC Inc as strategic supplier
Chennai-based Ramco Systems Ltd has roped in SEEC Inc as its strategic supplier of tools and technology for transforming and integrating legacy computer systems for e-business. "Using the SEEC technology for business rule mining and component development, we will expand our e-transformation practice practice and collaborative commerce ," said Mr RVS Mani, director, emerging practices, Ramco Systems.