Bangalore, Aug 21 - Sale of printers, copiers and multifunctional office automation products witnessed a 13 percent decline in India in the first half of 2009 over the like period the previous year, said global IT research and advisory firm Gartner.

'The impact of global recession was visible in the Indian market as only 1.1 million units of office automation products, including printers and copiers could be shipped in the first six months,' Gartner principal research analyst Vishal Tripathi said in a statement.

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Integreon ranked number one once more

Bangalore: Knowledge process outsourcing major Integreon has been ranked first for the fourth straight year in the Black Book of Outsourcing, a survey of customer views of global outsourcing providers by Data Monitor of Brown-Wilson group.

According to the survey, the Mumbai-based IT firm has been ranked first in all three categories, research, legal and documentation, the company said in a statement.

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Cane farmers to be offered soft loans

New Delhi: The government Friday said it would offer soft loans at 4 percent interest to cane farmers for seeds, fertilisers and pesticides to help increase productivity.

'Loans would be given by December 31, at an interest rate of 4 percent per annum. These sugar factories will in turn pass the loans in cash or kind to the cane growers in their respective areas latest by March 31 next year,' the government said in a statement.

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Unichem Labs gets US nod for new drug

Mumbai: The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has approved pharma major Unichem's Bisoprolol Fumarate tablets, the company said Friday.

Bisoprolol, an anti-hypertensive drug, will now be produced commercially at the company's Goa plant.

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Ex-Bharat Heavy Electricals official joins BGR

Chennai: V.