Forex reserves rise to $29.64 bn: Foreign-exchange reserves rose to $29.644 billion on October 23, from $29.602 billion in the previous week, the Reserve Bank of India said in its weekly statistical supplement on Saturday.

M3 growth rises to 20.6 per cent on October 9: M3 growth rose to 20.6 per cent in the two weeks to October 9, from 19.3 per cent in the preceding two weeks, the central bank said in its weekly statistical supplement on Saturday.

Indian-American bags US Professor of Year award: Sujeet Shenoi, associate professor of computer science at theUniversity of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been named the US Professor of the Year. Shenoi, who was selected for the national award by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of teaching from among 191 professors representing the category of research and doctoral institutions across the country, becomes the first Indian American to win this prestigious award since its inception in 1981.

Nocil shareholders okay preferential allotment: Nocil shareholders on Saturday approved the issue of 8.24 crore shares in Nocil Petrochemicals to Anglo-dutch major Shell and its wholly owned subsidiary Montell for a price not less than Rs 29 per share on a preferential basis.

ITC set to buy 5-star hotel in Bangkok: ITC Ltd is acquiring a 5-star deluxe hotel in Bangkok, and will make a formal announcement to this effect soon, vice-president of the Indo-Thai Chamber of Commerce Satish Sehgal said at a press conference called by Thailand's tourism minister Pitak Intrawityanunt here on Friday. The minister was inCalcutta to attend a meet on `Strategy for Partnership on Tourism' organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries.

Star Plus to go pay from Sunday: Star Plus will go pay from Sunday. News Television India took a decision to this effect on Saturday. Star Plus will be the last channel of the Star network to go pay. It has been digitally encrypted.

McDonald's India's strategy: McDonald's India has adopted a conscious strategy of holding on to the price line in the event of any raw-material price increase. "We will not undertake price increases on the back of a raw-material price hike. For this, we may even take a hit on our margins," said joint-venture partner and Hardcastle Restaurants managing director Amit Jatia.

M&M appeal to state government: Mahindra & Mahindra has appealed to the Maharashtra government to club capital investments in other locations for manufacturing components, parts, sub-assemblies in the Rs 800-crore Idam project to calculate the total investments infixed assets. In a recent communique, it has also requested that the benefits applicable under the scheme to "mega projects" with an investment exceeding Rs 750 crore be extended to the Idam project.

Hughes Ispat's projection: Hughes Ispat, which launched the Rs 8,500-crore telecom project at Turbhe in Navi Mumbai on Friday, expects to achieve break-even within the next five to seven years. By the end of year 2000, the company hopes that there will be about five lakh subscribers connected with 10 exchanges covering almost all major towns of state, said Raju Patel, president and CEO.

Carryforward rates touch 13 per cent: Carryforward rates on the Bombay Stock Exchange improved to touch a high of 13.06 per cent, but stabilised in the band of 11.59-12.68 per cent annualised. The total outstanding value of carryforward business on the bourse was marked at Rs 735.25 crore. According to market participants, badla rates hovered in the band of 9-11 per cent on an average. However, the roller-coastermoves at the counter of Zee Telefilms and Cochin Refinery saw these stocks register higher carryforward charges of 13.23 per cent and 13.06 per cent respectively.

RBI working group's report: The Reserve Bank of India working group on smoothening export credit and improving Exchange Earners Foreign Currency accounts (EEFC) scheme will submit its report by December 1998. The working group, consisting of representatives from the banking industry, will be headed by the RBI executive director V Subramanyam. The setting up of the working group was announced on Friday along with the mid-term review of the monetary and credit policy for 1998-99.

United Western Bank net up 21%: United Western Bank (UWB) has recorded a 21 per cent rise in its net profit for the six month period ended September 30, 1998. The private bank's net profit increased to Rs 17.10 crore against Rs 14.12 crore during the corresponding period in the previous year.The total income of the bank stood at Rs 188.57 crore against Rs151.74 crore as on September 30, 1997, indicating a rise of 24 per cent.

`India favourable for business centres': India features as the fourth most favourable country to set up business centres outside Europe, according to a survey conducted by Healey & Baker, a member of Cushman & Wakefield Worldwide, a global real estate consultancy firm. The survey questioned a representative sample of 515 executives in pan-European companies about their expansion plans and their attitudes to the leading European business locations.

Disinvestment commission moots alternative to SPV route: Disinvestment commission chairman GV Ramakrishna has suggested the setting up of a national shareholding trust that will act as a `pass through' mechanism to disinvest government holding in public-sector undertakings, instead of the special-purpose vehicle being considered by the government.

Aid falls to its lowest level: Aid fell to its lowest-ever recorded level to reach $ 47.58 billion in 1997 -- a decline of7.1 per cent in real terms over the amount in 1996 -- according to a report published on Thursday. Donor countries are failing to focus on the `quality' of aid and gear up to eradicate world poverty, according to the latest reality of aid report -- an annual world aid assessment by a group of non-governmental organisations.

PM's package aids core sector: The eight-point revival package announced by the prime minister helped the infrastructure-related industry GDRs rebound. Reflecting the improved sentiments at the GDR markets, the Skindia GDR index inched up by 1.42 per cent to close at 522.60 points on October 29. While the GDRs from the aluminium sector gained by 21.53 per cent, the GDRs of cable sector moved up by 8.83 per cent and textile-industry GDRs recovered by 7.17 per cent.

Centre must beef up social infrastructure: Government must be the primary force behind building of infrastructure in the country and the role of the private sector should not be overemphasised, experts at adiscussion said in the capital. Social infrastructure such as education, which has long been neglected, must be given top priority as the most pressing problem, said N Vittal, central vigilance commissioner. BN Puri, additional advisor to the Planning Commission, said the transport sector in India was inefficient, inadequate and imbalanced and claimed that Rs 1,30,000 crore would be needed to ensure 100 per cent growth in the transport sector in the next five years. The discussion 'Business agenda for India's future growth' was organised by the Management Development Institute (Gurgaon), a release from the institute said.