Briefly Business

US media giant Turner will acquire Pranoy Roy-promoted NDTVs entertainment channel Imagine for about Rs 546 crore...

NDTV to sell Imagine to Turner for Rs 546 cr

Mumbai: US media giant Turner will acquire Pranoy Roy-promoted NDTVs entertainment channel Imagine for about Rs 546 crore,a deal that will help the Indian media group turn debt-free. While NDTVs 76 per cent stake in NDTV Imagine would be given to Turner for 67 million about Rs 314 crore,the Time Warner company would acquire fresh equity worth 50 million to get 92 per cent control of the entertainment channel launched last year.

SC to hear Centres plea on spectrum row

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine on December 15 the Centres Special Leave Petition SLP challenging the Delhi High Courts order which held as arbitrary allocation of 2G spectrum to certain telecom operators by Telecommunication Ministry headed by A Raja. The apex court agreed to take up the matter for hearing after Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam mentioned the matter before a bench of Chief Justices K G Balakrishnan,Justices B Sudershan Reddy and P Sathasivam.

Indo-ASEAN pact to be operational by 2010

New Delhi: Vietnam is expected to implement the Indo-ASEAN free trade agreement in the first quarter of 2010,liberalising the 2.13-billion trade with India,a commerce ministry official said. Vietnamese trade and industry minister Vu Huy Hoang during a meeting with his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma here indicated that his country would implement the Indo-ASEAN free trade agreement FTA in the first quarter of 2010,the official said.

Online settlement of PF claims not till March

New Delhi: Online settlement of PF claims and getting other related information through the net may not happen until March next year as the National Informatics Centre has sought time till then to computerise the operations of the EPFO. The trustees of EPFO in a meeting on December 5 pulled up the NIC authorities,who claim to have computerised five of the 119 EPFO offices,but to date not a single claim has been settled online.

Nalco aluminium park to come up in Orissa

New Delhi: State-run navaratna firm National Aluminium Company Ltd is all set to build an aluminium park in Orissa,the Lok Sabha was told on Tuesday. The proposed park,a 50:50 joint venture with a state government enterprise,would come up at over 200 acres of land close to NALCOs smelter plant in Angul with an investment of Rs 75 crore.

OVL pulls out of Sudan block

New Delhi: ONGC Videsh Ltd,the overseas arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation,has pulled out of an exploration block in Sudan. Not just OVL but the entire consortium has decided to exit the Block 5B, Sudans Minister of State for Energy and Mining Angelina Jany Teny said on Tuesday.