Signaling the first flourish of laptop announcements for this week's Consumer Electronics show, Lenovo, having pooled its resources in the quest of thinner and lighter laptops, announced some new models of IdeaPad, aimed at strengthening its consumer line.

The UB Group-owned Kingfisher Airlines has announced a 21 to 65% fare cut on various routes with effect from Jan 1.  

Kingfisher chairman and chief executive Vijay Mallya further informed, “The declining price of ATF (air turbine fuel) facilitates such consumer-benefiting initiatives that will also stimulate the industry. The rate cuts are consistent with our mission to aggressively pursue increase in market share and to deliver India's only five-star experience at highly competitive fares.”

On Friday, a low-cost home computing device was launched by the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Chennai-based IT solutions company Novatium, which could help the former achieve a target of 9 million broadband connections across the country in the next couple of years.

Chairman and Managing Director of BSNL Kuldeep Goyal informed at a press conference after the launch of “Nova netPC” on the BSNL’s network, “Affordability issues over buying a desktop PC or laptop would no longer stand in the way of broadband penetration, especially in rural areas.”

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can take more time to approve Ranbaxy's generic version of GSK's anti-migraine medicine, Imitrex. The delay may cause potential loss of Rs 300 crore to the drug major. Research Analyst Ranjit Kapadia said, "Since, Ranbaxy has not been able to launch the drug in the US and patent for the drug is also going to expire in February 2009, the company may have to suffer a potential revenue loss of Rs 240-250 crore in the current year."  

Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines has finally slashed its domestic basic fares by up to 65 per cent, indicating an average reduction of around 20 per cent in overall fares.

Last week, Kingfisher had declared a range of fare cuts without indicating the quantum of cuts across sectors.

The company's announcement follows moves by rival Jet Airways and Air India, the country's national carrier to trim their basic fares by an average of 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.