Reported strictures from the President notwithstanding, the caretaker Government plans to put up a proposal on divestment in Air India before the cabinet within the next fortnight. Civil aviation minister Ananth Kumar said a cabinet note is being prepared by the ministry.

Pak proposes June 7 for talks

Pakistan on Thursday proposed June 7 for the foreign minister-level dialogue with India to defuse the latest tension in the wake of India's military action against Pakistan-backed infiltrators in the Kargil and Drass sectors. "We have proposed the date and I hope India will accept it," Pakistan foreign minister Sartaj Aziz told reporters in Islamabad on Thursday.

Indian Yankee bonds prices decline

Yankee bonds of Reliance Industries, Power Finance Corporation and ICICI have seen depreciation in their values over the last two weeks, almost wiping off the gains they made in the previous two months, bankers said on Thursday. The erosionfollows a partial sale of holdings by foreign investors.

Indian appointed IMF secretary

Shailendra J Anjaria from India has been appointed secretary of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund. Anjaria, presently director of external-relations department of the fund, will assume charge on August 2. He succeeds Reinhard Munzberg, a German national.

Kotak Mahindra Primus net up

Car-finance company Kotak Mahindra Primus has posted a net profit of Rs 6.13 crore for the year ending December 31, 1998 against Rs 3.77 crore recorded during the nine-months ended December 31, 1997. Income from operations grew from Rs 59.26 crore to Rs 122.75 crore.

Falcon Tyres net up to Rs 3.5 cr,

The Chhabria-owned Falcon Tyres has posted a 37.12 per cent jump in net profit over sales of Rs 103.01 crore (Rs 3.51 crore) during the fiscal ended March 31, 1999. The board has recommended a dividend of 24 per cent.

Xerox Corp stake in Modi Xerox

Xerox Corporation is picking up 50 percent, plus one equity share in Modi Xerox by acquiring 4,000 preferential shares. The acquisition is being done through one or more subsidiaries of Xerox Corporation, including a subsidiary in Bermuda. At present, Xerox holds 40 per cent in Modi Xerox.

TVS Suzuki sales rise 16.5% in May

Two-wheeler major TVS Suzuki has posted a 16.5 per cent growth in sales at 58,794 units in May 1999. President CP Raman said that the growth was achieved despite the annual shutdown of seven days in May, which restricted production to 52,017 units. The company sold 22,790 units of motorcycles in May, a growth of 16.7 per cent over that of May 1998.

TNPB nod to SIV Industries

SIV Industries has commenced operations of it's pulp plant once again following Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board approval. The unit had remained closed since January 13, 1997 following a Madras high court directive to release the treated effluent into land for irrigation instead of letting it out into Bhavani river.

Former CIIchief passes away

Frick India chairman and managing director and past president of CII Manmohan Singh died on Wednesday in the US following a heart attack. Singh, a member of the CII national council, was a strong proponent of the development of cold-chain facilities to preserve agricultural produce in the country.

Tata Finance picks 22% in Tata AMC

Tata Finance, the marketing associate of Tata Mutual Fund, has picked up a 22 per cent stake in its asset management company Tata AMC. Tata Industries, one of the initial shareholders divested its stake in favour of Tata Finance, TMF managing director KN Atmaramani said on Thursday.

Sensex up 41 points

Equities moved upwards on Thursday, helping the Sensex break the 3965-resistance level. The BSE Sensitive Index opened moderately up at 3953.64 and later moved in a range of 3992.19 and 3941.85 before closing at 3976.88 against yesterday's close of 3935.82, netting a gain of 41.06 points.

Natwest stake selloff in HDFCBank

Natwest Securities has completely exited from the HDFC bank by divesting the 5 per cent in favour of HDFC Investments. It had earlier sold 15 per cent of its 20 per cent stake to two funds managed by Chase Manhattan.

Crisil downgrades Essar Shipping NCD

Crisil on Thursday downgraded the Rs 126-crore non-convertable debenture of Essar Shipping, a fortnight before the date of repayment of the principal amount of the issue. The NCD has been downgraded from `BBB+' to `C'. This downgrade puts Essar Shipping in `speculative grade', implying substantial risk.

Reliance bond gets AAA rating

Crisil has assigned a `AAA' rating to Rs 400 crore zero coupon debenture issue of Reliance Industries (RIL). "This reflects RIL's dominant market position and cost competitiveness in the domestick ploymer, polyester, and fibre-intermediate industries," the agency said in a release.

SBI meeting

A meeting of the State Bank of India board will be held on June 24 in Calcutta to take on recordthe audited working results for the year ended March 31.

Texaco rejects Chevron offer

Texaco INC has abruptly ended merger talks with Chevron Corp, rejecting all aspects of an offer from its rival and bringing to a halt what many expected would be the next mega-merger. Texaco said the offer was "unacceptable in all respects," citing the complexity of the deal as well as an unenticing price as factors which scuppered the talks.