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Short companies bill slotted for winter session

The Government plans to introduce a short bill to amend the Companies Act, 1956, in the Winter session of Parliament which will make defaults in repayment of deposits a cognizable offence and providing imprisonment for such defaults, Union law, justice and company affairs minister Ram Jethmalani said on Friday.

ITC first-half net rises 14% to Rs 400.32 crore

Tobacco conglomerate ITC Ltd no Friday reported a 14.67% increase in net profit in the second quarter to September 30, 1999, beating the effects of the widening anti-smoking movement and the usual monsoon trend of falling sales volumes.

BankAm bags due diligence mandate for IPCL selloff

The Indian Oil Corporation-Soros combine has appointed Bank of America to do a due diligence exercise on buying out 25% of the Centre's stake in Indian Petrochemicals Corporation (IPCL). The report is expected to be submitted in a fortnight, according to sources.

Grasim H1 net jumps 50% to Rs 133.81 cr

Grasim Industries, the flagship of the Aditya Birla group, has reported a 50% rise in net profit at Rs 133.81 crore in the first half of the current fiscal from Rs 89.18 crore in the same period last year.

Rise in inflation likely to queer the pitch for rate cut

It's Jalan versus Jalan on the interest rate turf. While Ficci chief Sudhir Jalan is lobbying for a cut in banks' cash reserve ratio (CRR) as well as the bank rate in order to force commercial banks to slash lending rates, RBI Governor Bimal Jalan might think twice before effecting these cuts since there is no apparent tightness in liquidity visible.