Indian telecom company Bharti Airtel has announced a major foray into the rural telecom market with the setting up of 4,000 Airtel Service Centres (ASCs) in the remotest villages of Maharashtra and Goa telecom circles. The strategy includes a combination of distribution and service under iServe Airtel Service Centre.

“ASCs are an important step in Airtel’s objective of expanding its rural base across India. Today, over 50% of our business comes from rural areas and going forward, a major percentage of new acquisitions are expected from the rural market,” said Manu Talwar, CEO (mobility), Bharti Airtel Ltd’s Maharashtra and Goa telecom circles.

The first ASC centre was opened at Ausarikurd near Pune on Friday.

Hit by a slowing economy and a bad year for the manufacturing and service sectors, logistics major TNT India Pvt Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of Dutch firm TNT NV, is shifting focus from the air freight to the land route in a bid to prune costs and increase margins.

TNT India Pvt. Ltd managing director Abhik Mitra said, “We are shifting focus from air freight to roads as more and more goods are moving through roads than air with customers looking at cheaper mode of transportation.”

Rajkot-based Saurashtra Kutch Stock Exchange Ltd (SKSE) received permission from Sebi to function as a self clearing member on derivatives segment. Now, SKSE would soon begin trading on the future and option (F&O) segment, said CEO of SKSE, Dr Alok Chakrawal.

State-run National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) on February 26 paid an interim dividend worth Rs 4.01 billion to the administration.

After getting the cheque from the NMDC chairman, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister for Steel, Chemicals and Fertilizers, praised the company (NMDC) for its excellent performance.

Mr. Paswan stated that NDMC’s 4 million ton steel plant in Chhattisgarh would come sooner than schedule.

The drug is used to treat non-small cell lung cancer

 Intas Biopharmaceuticals Limited, India's leading Oncology drug marketing company, is launching pemetrexed in the Indian market under the brand name Pemmet. Pemetrexed is used to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common type of lung cancer caused primarily due to smoking and Mesothelioma, a cancer caused by Asbestos exposure.

Cama Motors to make available pre-owned luxury cars in Gujarat

Cama Motors plans to foray into used car segment by offering pre-owned premium brands with discount in Gujarat by the end of April. Apart from that, it will also start a workshop for repair and maintenance of all the leading luxury cars. In the first year of operations, the company targets sales of around 100 used premium cars in the state and will make the service available in Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Surat in the initial stage.