The Government on Tuesday raised the minimum support prices for various Kharif crops, including paddy, pulses, oilseeds and cotton, by Rs 25-145.

The support price for paddy (common variety) will now be Rs 490 a quintal, a Rs 50 rise over prices fixed last year.

Rating system for foreign banks

After state-run banks, the Rserve Bank has now turned its glare on foreign banks operating in the country. The central bank will rate them on a new system, CACS (capital adequacy, asset quality, compliance and systems), and not the CAMELS (capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity and systems) model used for the public-sector banks.

US tariffs against steel imports

The US commerce department, in a preliminary ruling, has decided to impose punitive tariffs ranging between one and 23 per cent on steel imports from India, France, Indonesia, Italy and South Korea. The decision follows repeated requests by domestic playerswho have been blaming low-priced imports for thousands of layoffs and have charged foreign countries with following unlawful pricing practices.

ISPs to set up international gateways

The new telecom policy unveiled in March this year allowed ISPs to set up their own gateways-that is now a reality. According to a DoT official, all the technical details are in place; all the ISPs have to do is get security clearances. International gateways, which use telecom switching and routing equipment, connect one telecom or ISP network to another.

Corporates post 23% rise in net in Q1

If the first-quarter results are anything to go by, happy times are greeting corporates again. According to a study conducted by the FE research Bureau, the aggregate net profit of 100 companies during the period has gone up 23 per cent, compared with the year-ago period.

Hero Honda Q1 net rises 68%

Hero Honda Motors said on Tuesday it had posted a 68 per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 38 crore, from Rs22.91 crore, for the first quarter ended June 1999. Turnover rose to Rs 489 crore, Rs 323.58 crore, during the period, the company said.

ITC Hotels Q1 net profit up 66%

ITC Hotels said on Tuesday it had posted a 66 per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 1.10 crore, from Rs 66 lakh, for the first quarter ended June 30, 1999. Forex earnings, however, dipped to Rs 13.28 crore in the quarter, against Rs 14.97 crore in the year-ago period, the company said.

Microsoft net surges 60%

Microsoft Corp rode sales of its Windows, Office and Back Office software systems to a 60 per cent gain in net income in the fourth quarter, easily topping analysts' expectations. Microsoft executives warned, however, that slowing PC demand, concerns about the Y2K glitch and the uncertain global economy means growth is likely to slow next year.

IBM profit up 65 per cent

International Business Machines Corp posted stronger-than-expected earnings for the second quarter on a 16 per cent rise in revenue,fuelled by across-the-board gains in services, hardware and software. IBM's net income rose 65 per cent to $2.39 billion, from $1.45 billion in the year-earlier period.

Enkay to launch sugarcane juice

The sugarcane vendors on the roadside will now face competition from Enkay Texofoods, which launched the natural pure orange juice Onjus two years ago, will soon unveil a 100% sugarcane juice. This will be the first branded sugarcane juice, and will cost Rs 8.

Shaw Wallace FDs

Shaw Wallace & Co claimed on Tuesday it had repaid its outstanding fixed deposits taken from the public, and that the next big step would be the repayment of its inter-corporate deposits.

Air India fleet expansion

The Government wants Air India to find a strategic partner before it infuses Rs 1,000 crore into the beleaguered company or permit it to go in for a fleet expansion. The finance ministry had suggested finding a partner first before going in for a fleet expansion.

19 FIIs register withSebi

The sight of stocks posting a smart rise has attracted a number of FIIs to Indian shores. During the past few weeks, 19 FIIs have registered with markets regulator Sebi. Significantly, of these, four have been registered this month, when the 30-share Sensex scaled to its all-time high.

Sebi to move SC

Sebi will move the SC by the end of the month pleading for consolidation of all the petitions filed in various courts against Anubhav Plantations and its firms which had allegedly mopped up Rs 400 crore as deposits from the public during the three-year period commencing 1995.

Vasudevan panel suggestion

The Vasudevan committee on `Technology upgradation in the banking sector', constituted in September 1998, has suggested an amendment to the RBI Act, 1934, to enable the central bank regulate and supervise payment and settlement systems.

Polls may hit property prices

Come September, the country will host the general elections for the 13th Lok Sabha, and this is going totell on the commercial property market, as approvals for land development will be frozen till a new Government takes over, analysts say.

A clarification

Refer to the lead story on inflation which appeared in Tuesday's edition. The sub-heading of the chart inadvertently reads as real inflation rate instead of real interest rate. We regret the error.Page 12Compiled by S Hariharan.