The union has said that the airline is facing a shortage of manpower on board aircraft but despite their repeated representations to the management to fill up vacancies, Air India has not paid any attention to the issue

In a bid to avert the proposed strike called by a section of its employees on 19th March, the National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) management has convened a meeting with representatives of the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) at Mumbai on Wednesday, reports PTI.

ACEU, the employee union of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, in a letter to the management on 4th March had said that it has directed over 800 of its non-executive cabin crew (affiliated to the union) not to report to work on 19th March to protest the shortage of cabin crew in the national carrier.

"The management has called a meeting with our representatives on 17th March to discuss our demand," ACEU's regional secretary, Vivek Rao, said.

The union was hopeful of a positive solution from the talks, Mr Rao said.

NACIL is the holding company formed after the merger of erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India into one single entity.

ACEU said that despite several representations to the management on the issue of staff shortage, there had been no response and hence it had to resort to this industrial action.

"We have been forced to call for such an action. We are facing a shortage of manpower on board aircraft but despite our repeated representations to the management to fill up vacancies, it has not paid any attention to the issue," ACEU's general secretary, Dinakar Shetty, said.

According to him, there is a shortage of around 200-300 cabin crew in NACIL (I), affecting flight operations.

Loans sanctioned by the company during the current financial year (2009-10) so far have been worth Rs60,000 crore, of which Rs20,000 crore have been disbursed

State-owned Power Finance Corp (PFC) on Tuesday said that it would sanction loans to the tune of Rs68,000 crore in the next financial year, reports PTI.

"Our loan sanction target for the next fiscal (2010-11) is Rs68,000 crore and disbursement is Rs29,000 crore," PFC's chairman and managing director Satnam Singh told reporters in New Delhi.

PFC finances power generation, transmission and distribution projects across the country.

Loans sanctioned by the company during the current financial year (2009-10) so far have been worth Rs60,000 crore, of which Rs20,000 crore have been disbursed. However, the disbursement target is slightly higher at Rs23,000 crore. The company hopes to achieve this goal even as the fiscal comes to an end.

"The (financial) year is yet to get over. We would be able to meet our (disbursement) target," Mr Singh said.

He also said that PFC is keen on picking up as much as 26% equity in power-generation projects in the country. "Right now, we are working out a policy to decide on picking equity stake in power (generation) projects; we would prepare a framework and any company which fits the criteria would be approached," Mr Singh told reporters.

The company would partly utilise its net-worth of Rs12,000 crore for acquiring stakes in electricity generation plants.

Meanwhile, PFC would raise $300 million (about Rs1,400 crore) from State Bank of India's London branch under the External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) route, to be utilised for funding power projects in the country.

PFC has received the Reserve Bank of India's approval for raising the money that expires on 31st March.

RCom has said that it was open to all opportunities in the domestic market to grow its presence and would do so at the right opportunity

Indian billionaire Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) on Tuesday said that it was open to acquisitions in India as a part of its strategy to grow its presence in the domestic market and would do so at the right opportunity.

"We are open to all opportunities. We are not averse to acquisitions in the domestic market. Let the right opportunity come," RCom's president, Mahesh Prasad, told PTI in Mumbai.

The company said that it has crossed the 100-million mark in wireless customers and would explore both organic and inorganic opportunities to strengthen its foothold in the domestic market.

RCom expects to add another 100 million customers within the next 1,000 days, he said. The company, however, did not have any immediate plans to expand operations in overseas markets and it would prefer more to focus on consolidating its position in the domestic market, Mr Prasad said.

"The Indian market is very vast and dynamic. We have a huge opportunity here. As of now, we are not thinking much about overseas plans. But we are not averse to any opportunities either," Mr Prasad said.

While commenting on the prevailing tariff war, Mr Prasad said that it may intensify further.