Ramot at Tel Aviv University Ltd. and Tata Industries Ltd. entered into a strategic Memorandum of Understanding to fund and generate leading edge 'commercialization ready' technologies in a wide range of fields, including engineering and exact sciences, environment and clean technology, pharmaceuticals and health care. Under the MoU, Tata Industries through its wholly owned overseas subsidiary will be the lead investor in Ramot's USD 20 million Technology Innovation Momentum Fund, which will invest in promising breakthrough technologies. Technologies with significant commercial potential will be selected by committees comprising Global Domain experts and Tata representatives, who will drive the process to translate such innovations into licensing opportunities for Industry.

The Supreme Court has asked Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited and New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc. to cooperate with the assessment proceedings of the income tax (I-T) department in the $150-million Idea Cellular India deal, but assured these companies that no adverse order on them by the department will operate until the court reviewed it. Tata Industries, the other company party to the dispute, has already paid the TDS amount under protest. The interim order was passed by a bench headed by chief justice SH Kapadia. The three companies - Tata Industries, ABNL and NCWS, the principal assessee - have challenged the department's claims of capital gains tax pertaining to the 2005 deal between AT&T and AB Nuvo. Under the deal, AT&T sold about 16% stake in Idea Cellular India to Aditya Birla Nuvo through its holding company AT&T Mauritius. New Cingular Wireless was the holding company of AT&T Mauritius. Later, Tata's acquired AT&T's remaining 16% stake in Idea Cellular India from AT&T Mauritius. AB Nuvo had paid the consideration to AT&T after obtaining a certificate under Section 197 of the I-T Act that tax was not required to be withheld since the India-Mauritius treaty granted tax exemption on capital gains. The revenue's stand is that the tax NoC granted to the Birlas (for remitting the sale amount to the Mauritius company without deducting tax) was not definitive and it was in fact New Cingular Wireless Cellular US (parent company of AT&T Mauritius) that received the actual sales proceeds and not the Mauritius entity.

Tata Industries Ltd. announced that it identifies and nurtures new business opportunities for the $71 billion (over INR 3,000 billion) salt-to-software Tata Group, has zoomed in on a fledgling interest - contractual project management - as the next big idea that can mature into a full-scale enterprise.