Washington  - PepsiCo Inc, the chief rival to Coca-Cola for world domination of the drinks market, Monday offered 6 billion dollars in cash and stock to buy out other shareholders of its two biggest bottlers in North America.

The move represents an about-face from the 1990s, when Coca-Cola and then PepsiCo spun off their capital-intensive bottling operations.

The offers of 29.50 dollars per share for stock it doesnt already own in Pepsi Bottling Group Inc and 23.27 dollars for PepsiAmericas Inc. shares reprsent a 17 per cent premium over closing priceirs on Friday.

Close on the heels of the last week announcement of an increase of fuel surcharge on air tickets by Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, the economical airlines, SpiceJet Ltd, has also decided to raise fuel surcharge on domestic sector air tickets by up to Rs 300.

A recent scrutiny of drug-manufacturer Cipla's Bangalore plant by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed as many as nine deviations in the pharma firm's manufacturing process.

With the reports about the digression found at the plant, the shares of Cipla suffered a blow at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), as well as the National Stock Exchange (NSE), on Monday. Despite the company justifying its stand and terming the deviations as "minor ones" relating to manufacturing practices, the stock fell at the BSE.

Numeric Power Systems, a provider of uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems, has decided to set up a 1 MW solar energy farm at Palladam near Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu.

The company would setup its first solar independent power project (IPP), through its newly established subsidiary, Numeric Solar Energy Pvt. Ltd.

According to company officials, the company would buy solar cells from suppliers in Japan and Germany and configure panel modules and assemble them. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 25 crore, which will be financed through internal accruals.

Ultra Motor Company, a leading electric cycle and electric scooter manufacturer, has finally launched its much awaited low speed scooter `Marathon Lite' in the Indian market.

The latest revealed vehicle comes with exciting new features like a 250w motor and 48V/20AH power packed battery, Magnetic Anti Theft Lock System, Spacious under seat storage option, Front Telescopic Suspension in Black, Yellow & Blue colour variants.

The latest scooter gives a maximum speed of 25 km per hour and covers a distance of 70 km with single charge. The company has fixed price tag of Rs. 25,850/- .

UTV New Media, a digital arm and subsidiary of UTV, has announced the launch of India's first mobile music video channel 'UTV@Play'.

According to the company, the facility is accessible by consumers with mobile accounts with Vodafone, BSNL, MTNL and Idea and users can download the application to access the content from a WAP portal.

The mobile channel is an extension of internet portal UTV@play and costs Rs10 per day or Rs 30 per month. UTV already offers a mobile service of its Bindass channel.