Contingency fund for states
The Government will bring a bill in the winter session of parliament to create a contingency fund for states in financial trouble, finance minister Yashwant Sinha has said.

Oil hits nine-year high
Oil prices hit a nine-year high on Wednesday after the world's leading oil producers vowed to maintain deep supply curbs until April, despite warnings that global stockpiles are shrinking sharply ahead of winter. Brent blend crude futures for January touched $25.07 a barrel, up 53 cents a barrel by 1447 GMT - the highest since January 1991 when allied forces expelled Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

Oil import bill to zoom to Rs 54,000 cr
The Government will review diesel prices by the end of the month in view of the rise in global prices, which will more than double the country's oil import bill to Rs 54,000 crore, petroleum minister Ram Naik said on Wednesday. Naik said he would also take a decision on rolling back subsidies on kerosene and LPG in the remaining months of the current fiscal.

Fed raises rates; dollar up
The Federal Reserve raised two short-term interest rates by a quarter point on Tuesday to ensure inflation stays dormant in the buoyant US economy. As a result, the dollar rose to nine-day highs against the yen in Europe on Wednesday. Taking a cue from the rate hike, BoA, Wells Fargo and Co, and other large US banks raised the interest rate they charge their best borrowers on Tuesday.

NHPC staff to go on mass strike
Over 12,000 employees of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation will soon launch a mass agitation, prortesting against the corporation's buyout by National Thermal Power Corporation.

Colgate is top brand
Colgate has retained the top position among the leading 10 brands in the country this year, according to a survey. Dairy brand Amul is the runner-up, the survey said.

Gold demand up 38% in Q3
Gold demand in the country spurted 38 per cent during the third quarter of calendar 1999 to 241 tonnes, mainly due to retailers re-stocking in advance for the forthcoming wedding season, a World Gold Council report says. The report warns that the sharp rise in gold prices at the end of the quarter may continue, and have an adverse impact on demand in the last three months.

Indirect tax revenue
The country may miss Its indirect tax revenue collection target for 1999/2000 by Rs 40-50, a senior Government official said on Wednesday. "It willbe mainly due to some shortfall on the customs side, but we will try to keep it to the minimum," CBEC chairman SD Mohile told a conference of economic editors.

Centre not to divest stake in Maruti
Heavy industries minister Manohar Joshi said the Government had no plans to divest its stake in MUL. "The Centre is not at all thinking of disinvestment in the case of Maruti," Joshi told the Economic Editors Conference.

Zee's ISP services
Zee Telefilms' 100 per cent subsidiary E-Connect India will launch its Net services under the brand name `ZeeNext' in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore by March 2000.

L&T may tie up with Piramals
Engineering giant Larsen & Tourbo may join hands with the Ajay Piramal group company Piramal Holdings to develop a Rs 63-crore hi-tech shopping mall-cum-parking lot in Mumbai.

Compiled by S Hariharan