AYURVEDIC CONCEPT: The Himalayan Drug Company (HDC) has launched its nternational range of ayurvedic health and personal care products in India. The product is branded as ayurvedic Concept'. According to the company official, the company had already launched the product in the US. "We launched the Ayurvedic Concept in the US in 1996 through our own exclusive stores. We have a chain of 12 stores in the US and the product has got a good response,' said Ravi Prasad, president of the HDC. Ayurvedic Concept will be available in leading chemists in the major metros, including Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.

ULCER DRUG: The US-based company, Pharmaceutical Resources, which makes and distributes generic drugs, has won the approval of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market generic version of anti-ulcer drug Zantac. The company said that the drug, Ranitidine, is immediately available for shipping. Pharmaceutical Resources officials added that Canada-based company Genpharm has got a tentative approval to market the generic version of another drug Ticlid, an anti-stroke drug.

OPERATION CEASED: Shaman Pharmaceuticals Inc, a biotechnology firm based in California, USA, will cease its pharmaceutical operations. The company relies on tribal drug healers to provide leads for new drugs. Lisa Conte, Shaman's chief executive, said the company had to take this decision after the FDA said that it would require additional clinical trials before approving company's first drug to treat diarrhoea in AIDS patients. Conte said the company would now try to enter the herbal diet supplement business, which is growing rapidly and is less regulated.

FRUITFUL ALLIANCE: Intel Inc and Analog Devices, both US-based firms, have formed a partnership to develop semiconductor chips, which are used in communication equipments. The two companies will design a series of digital signal processors (DSPs) used in products, including cellular phones and computer modems. Intel does not make DSP chips. The alliance will allow the company to fill an important product gap as it moves beyond microprocessors and chips to manufacturing all types of appliances. DSP chips take Analog signals, such as voice and images, and convert them into digital signals.

TRAVELLING CHEAP: A new low-cost airline will start operating at one of the three terminals of the New York airport in USA. A record US $130 million has been raised by US-based firm Utah. The new airline, temporarily called New Air, will begin operations within the next couple of months in four US cities at prices as much as 80 per cent below the current prices. After three years, it plans to serve at least 50 destinations. Studies have shown that after a low cost airline enters the US market, ticket prices will drop at all the airports.

WIRELESS INTERNET: Leading US communications firms Motorola Inc and Cisco Systems Inc will work together to extend the reach of Internet through cellular phones and other wireless devices. The two companies plan to spend over US $1 billion over the next five years to make the Internet as versatile as wireless networks, said Bo Hedfors, senior vice-president of Motorola. "What we want to do is to create a new business based on wireless Internet,' he said.