Chairman of Disinvestment Commission GV Ramakrishna has decided to put in his papers today to enable the new government to have a fresh look at the disinvestment panel. "I have decided to resign to enable the new government to decide on the composition and role of the commission, " he told this paper.

Call rates zoom; rupee falls to 43.54

Inter-bank markets turned volatile on Wednesday. Call rates flared up to 20 per cent, bond prices fell by over 10 paise, the rupee went to an intra-day low of 43.54 and the six-month annualised forward cover quoting higher at 5.54 per cent (5.32 per cent) against the backdrop of the coup in Pakistan. Opening the day at 11.50-11.75 per cent, unchanged from its previous close, call rates held these levels in early trades.

No major changes likely in IRA Bill

The government on Wednesday indicated that there will not be any major changes in the IRA Bill, proposed to be introduced in the first session of the 13th Lok Sabha. "There will not be any major changes in the bill which was tabled in the Rajya Sabha by the previous government," special secretary (insurance), BK Chaturvedi said.

Holiday declared in Pakistan

A nation-wide holiday has been declared in Pakistan today and people have been asked to stay indoors, CNN reported. The mood has been generally upbeat, the masses till now have not protested against the coup. Meanwhile, the army has taken Nawab Sharif to an unknown military camp.

Mundell wins economics Nobel

Robert Mundell, whose research on monetary and fiscal policy under different exchange rate regimes pointed the way to Europe's economic and monetary Union, won the 1999 Nobel Economics Prize on Wednesday.

L&T, Case in equipment venture

Engineering and construction major, Larsen & Tourbo Ltd (L&T) and Case Coporation have set up a joint venture for the manufacture and sale of small to medium construction equipment. L&T and Case of Mauritius have equal equity participation in the joint venture, L&T-Case Equipment Ltd. Case is a wholly owned subsidiary of Case Corporation.

Copper producers raise rates

Falling LME prices have forced three major copper producers-Sterlite Industries, Birla Copper and the state-run Hindustan Copper-to reduce the prices by around Rs 3,000 per tonne from the second week of October.

Nicholas Piramal H1 net jumps 23%

Nicholas Piramal has registered a 23 per cent jump in net profit for the six months ended September 30, 1999, at Rs 25.57 crore as against Rs 20.87 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Sify's Nasdaq debut on Oct 19

The American Depository Receipts of Satyam Infoway, whose Nasdaq ticker code is `Sify' is scheduled to be listed on the Nasdaq on October 19. Through its maiden public issue, Satyam Infoway is offering 4.8 million ADRs to investors. With each ADR representing one underlying equity share of the company, the company expects the price of each ADR to be put in the range of $12 to $14.

IBA, bank unions deadlock continues

The IBA and the five bank workers' unions, which met at Mumbai today to negotiate on the wage revision, could not arrive at any settlement on the contentious issue of pension load sharing. Other issues that were discussed at the meeting included computerisation in banks and redeployment of surplus bank staff.

Compiled by Mukund Sharma