Super 301 law under WTO scrutiny: The controversial Super 301 provision of the US Trade Act has come under the scrutiny of the World Trade Organisation after the trade body authorised the setting up of a panel following a complaint by the 15-nation European Union. The panel will examine whether the law that allows the American administration to take unilateral trade action against other countries is compatible with WTO rules.

CPI falls to single digit: After a nine-month lag, the consumer price index-based inflation ratefell to single-digit levels in January to 9.4 per cent, from 15.3 per cent in the previous month. The rate fell drastically by 5.9 percentage points during the month as the all-India Consumer Price Index for industrial workers fell to 420 from 429 in December.

Indal employees decry VRS: Indal employees are up in arms against the company's introduction of the voluntary retirement scheme in some locations, saying it was aimed at an eventual retrenchment of employees. The scheme, introduced on February 16, will remain open till March 31, covering nearly 3,554 employees of Indal's Belur sheet mill (West Bengal), Alupuram metal and carbon and alupuram extrusion (Kerala), and Belgaum smelter and alumina plant (Karnataka).

Kerkar bids for Great Eastern Hotel: Ajit Kerkar and Satish Kumar, veteran hoteliers and former presidents of the Federation of Hotel & Restaurants Association of India, are among the bidders for the Government-owned Great Eastern Hotel in Calcutta. The West Bengal Government hadadvertised in January this year seeking partners to run the once-renowned hotel as a joint venture.

Banks tag riders to Metal Box plan: Bankers and financial institutions of ailing Metal Box India have tagged conditions for approving its Rs 108-crore revival scheme. Banks have refused to budge from their stand that the scheme is unacceptable in its present form and the management must furnish certain details which they were seeking for quite some time now.

Gilts prices up, premiums down: The short- and medium-term bond prices shot up by 30 paise and forward premiums fell by 7-8 paise on Wednesday -- the first trading day after the Reserve Bank announced cuts in the bank rate, repo rate and banks' cash-reserve ratio. The overnight call rates ruled above the floor of 6 per cent throughout the day and moved in a narrow range between 7.75 and 8.20 per cent.

YTM of 10-year paper may fall: ICICI's investment-banking arm ICICI Securities expects the year-end yield-to-maturity of 10-yearGovernment securities to be about 12.10 per cent. With the cut in the bank rate and repo rate, gilt yields are likely to realign at lower levels, the I-Sec report said.

`Fiscal situation still fragile': International credit-rating company Duff and Phelps on Wednesday expressed concern over the Government's ability to meet new fiscal-deficit targets, and said that India's sovereign credit worthiness would be undermined if its current fiscal trends continued. Had the Government adopted the previous methodology, the target would have been equal to 6 per cent of GDP in 1999-2000, an analyst said.

Centre mulls FDI in housing: The cabinet is considering allowing FDI in housing sector, and a four-member cabinet sub-committee is examining the proposal, union urban development minister Ram Jethmalani said.