The technical committee on state government guarantees has called for a legislated ceiling on the government's guarantees. This is being practised in some states like Gujarat, where an overall ceiling on guarantee is legislated and such ceilings are changed by legislative amendments.

BNP unveils offer for Paribas

French bank BNP has launched a surprise bid to gobble up rivals Paribas and Societe Generale, a pair of financial institutions that had agreed to merge with each other. The bold takeover offer, if it succeeds, will create Europe's biggest bank by far in terms of assets and among the largest in the world.

Bombay Stock Exchange elections

The BSE has received 13 applications for the elections for the post of president to be conducted on March 26. Elections have been conducted for the posts of four elected directors on the governing board of the exchange. The applications have been received from Motilal Oswal, Amit Dalal, Jayesh KSheth, Bhupendra M Bheda, Rajendra Prasad K Jhunjunwala, Bhanukumar G Fozdar, Bhagirath Merchant, Bharti Thakkar, Madhukar Sheth, Ketan Gandhi, Dinesh J Shah, Cyrus Shroff, and Himanshu Kaji. These applications are, however, subject to a final eligibility test, said a top BSE official.

`Defaulting operators must pay up'

Even as a handful of operators battle out DoT in court over the payment of 20 per cent licence fee, bankers to the remaining private operators yet to pay up their dues are advising them to do so to avoid a financial mess. Moreover, banking sources said these operators were assured by DoT that their bank guarantees would not be encashed if they paid up by March 15.

Essar Steel to redeem FRN issue

The Ruias flagship Essar Steel has signed an initial draft agreement for a $300-million export-securitisation deal with German steel giant Thyssen AG, the proceeds from which will go into redeeming the company's $250-million floating rate note issue. The issue comes up forredemption in July this year.

Lloyds Steel Wardha unit lies idle

Lloyds Steel's steel-making facilities at Wardha in Maharashtra are idle for the last few months. Lloyds Steel managing director Rajesh Gupta, who hotly denied industry rumours that the company had ceased operations, admitted to a more than 15 per cent cutback in production.

Sensex down 35 points

A steep fall in banking scrips led by SBI brought panic into the post-budget bull market for the first time on Wednesday. But steady buying support in market favourites pharma and software stocks lifted the sentiment towards close on Wednesday. The Sensex bounced back from a low of 3690 points in late morning trade to close at 3743 points, still lower by 35 points from the previous close of 3778.44 points.

IBA, unions talks to continue today

The Indian Banks' Association and the nine bank unions under the banner of United Forum of Bank Unions could not thrash out their differences at the conciliation meeting called bythe regional labour commissioner on Wednesday. The five-hour long meeting, which continued till late in the evening, remained inconclusive. The unions and the IBA management will meet again on Thursday.

RBI cuts yield on 364-day T-bill

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday slashed the yield of 364-day treasury bill by 41 basis points to 10.09 per cent. For a notified amount of 750 crore, the RBI received 61 bids worth Rs 1,565 crore, of which it accepted 42 bids worth Rs 750 crore. The partial allotment percentage was 38. The weighted average price was pegged at Rs 90.9.

Rabri to seek trust vote

The Rabri Devi ministry would seek a crucial vote of confidence on the first day of the budget session of the state assembly which begins on March 17. RJD sources said Rabri Devi was likely to move a one-line confidence motion.