Economic advisory council to meet today: Prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has convened a meeting of the economic advisory council on Thursday to discuss and suggest steps to rev up the economy. Apart from the council members, finance minister Yashwant Sinha, RBI governor Bimal Jalan, finance secretary Vijay Kelkar and Planning Commission deputy chairman Jaswant Singh are expected to participate in the meeting as special invitees.

RBI inducts Kelkar into board: The RBI has nominated union finance secretary Vijay Kelkar to its board under Section 8 (1) (d) of the RBI Act, 1934. Kelkarreplaces former finance secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia who has been appointed member, Planning Commision. Kelkar attended the RBI board meeting at Hyderabad on Wednesday where the UTI issue was believed to have been discussed in detail.

Ambani in Asiaweek hall of fame: Reliance Industries chairman Dhirubhai Ambani has been chosen by Asiaweek for its 1998 business hall of fame. Dubbing Ambani as "Mr self-reliance", the magazine said that Reliance owes its position almost entirely to Ambani, a man who combines the shrewdness of the Gujarati businessman with American-style entrepreneurship and a Japanese penchant for technology.

I-T wing raids fashion designers: The investigation wing of the income tax department in Mumbai conducted nationwide raids on 35 premises of leading dress designers on Wednesday. The designers whose premises were raided included Ritu Kumar, Tarun Tahiliani, Manish Malhotra, Krishna Mehta, Anna Singh, Hemant Trivedi, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla andjewellery designer Poonam Soni.

Asian Paints to recast board: Asian Paints has decided to recast its board to include more professionals. The company's board is presently dominated by members from the existing three promoter families. The company has also initiated an organisational restructuring wherein the strategic business unit concept will be implemented with effect from October 1 this year.

Sun Pharma braces for product patent era: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is putting in place a core new chemical entity development group as part of an effort to ready itself for the impending product patent regime. Sun Pharma managing director Dilip Shanghvi said that the NCE development group, comprising 40 to 50 top notch professionals `familiar with the drug discovery process', will be in place by the next fiscal.

Pond's to pay second interim dividend: The Pond's (India) Ltd board has resolved to pay a second interim dividend of Rs 1.20 per equity share of Rs 10 each for the year endingDecember 31, 1998. The board recommended an interim dividend (first interim) of Rs 6.00 per equity share, aggregating to a total payout of Rs 7.20 per share.

NIIT net up 60%: NIIT Ltd has registered a 60 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 108.4 crore for the year ended September 30. The company's board has recommended a 1:2 bonus and dividend of Rs 3.75 per share as against Rs 3.5 last year. The company's turnover rose to Rs 648 crore during the same period from Rs 430.7 crore last year.

Petition against Sri Vishnu offer postponed: The Delhi high court has postponed a petition filed by MZ Khan, a minority shareholder in Sri Vishnu Cement, against the open offer made by BV Raju, the promoter of the cement company, to November 9. Khan had appealed twice earlier, once before Sebi which had rejected the plea in September, and then again on October 6 when the appellate authority in the finance ministry upheld the Sebi order.

Marico unveils refined soya oil: Branded edible-oilmanufacturers are looking at the soya oil category to exploit the current boom in demand for branded oils. Marico Industries Ltd has launched a refined oil in the soya segment with a new variant called Sweekar Refined Soya Oil, while Godrej Foods is evaluating alternatives to launch an edible-oil variant in soya.

Sensex up 59 points: The 30-share BSE Sensex recovered by 58.69 points on Wednesday on the back of buying by foreign funds and shortcovering by speculators to close at 2,890.72 points. Sources said panic sales had led to substantial short positions on the bourses which needed to be covered before the end of the current settlement.

Aman Mehta is new HongkongBank CEO: HongkongBank on Wednesday announced the appointment of Aman Mehta as the bank's chief executive officer. Prior to his current posting, Mehta was executive director (international) of Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation. Mehta's appointment comes along with the elavation of former incumbent, David Eldon, asHongkongBank's chairman.

LIC to rope in global consultant for revamp: LIC is planning a restructuring exercise which will encompass all its departments. LIC managing director GP Kohli said, "We have shortlisted a number of international consultants, one of which will be on the job shortly. This will help LIC gear up for competition from the private sector."

RBI to issue new Rs 500 notes: The RBI will shortly issue new Rs 500 notes in the Mahatma Gandhi series bearing the signature of central bank governor Bimal Jalan with the capital letter `A' inset in both numbering panels. Except for this change, the design of the new Rs 500 notes will be similar in all respects to those issued earlier in the Mahatma Gandhi series.

Indo-Pak talks begin today: The Indo-Pak bilateral talks will resume in Islamabad on Thursday after a gap of more than a year amidst mutual suspicion and very little hope for any breakthrough in view of the recent tough stand adopted by both the countries on Kashmir.The two sides will be formally sitting across the negotiating table after a gap of exactly 13 months.

Japan may force banks to accept public funds: Japan may force its banks to accept millions of dollars in public funds to avert a financial crisis in the world's second largest economy, senior officials said on Wednesday. According to the prime minister's deputy press secretary Akitaka Saiki, if banks' capital levels fall below a certain level, the government will certainly have a reason to intervene.