Insurance staff to strike
Employees of all financial institutions, including banks and insurance, will march to parliament on November 29, demanding withdrawal of the Insurance and Regulatory Development Authority bill. CPI Rajya Sabha member Gurudas Dasgupta said the march would be followed by a one-day nationwide strike by about 1.3 million employees and officers of banks, LIC, GIC, RBI, IDBI, Nabard, and UTI.

MSEB's claim on power tariff
MSEB's claim that the price of power supplied by TEC is only marginally cheaper than that of Dabhol Power Company may not be correct, industry sources said, as it pays only around Rs 2 per unit to TEC, against Rs 3.41 to the Enron subsidiary. According to MSEB, it has paid Rs 3.04 per unit to TEC for the power supplied between April and August, which is only 37 paise cheaper than the rate charged by Dabhol Power during the period.

Farm policy in a month: Nitish Kumar
Agriculture minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said efforts would be made to finalise the long-pending agriculture policy in a month's time. After taking over as the new agriculture minister, Kumar said priority will be given to generate more employment through additional investment in the animal husbandry, fishery, and poultry sectors.

`Revamp of PDS on cards'
Union minister for consumer affairs and public distribution Shanta Kumar on Tuesday indicated the Government would go in for a revamp of the public distribution system and a review of the procurement policy and import-duty structure to safeguard the interests of consumers and farmers.

Oil prices ease after nine-year high
Oil prices slipped in Asia amid profit-taking on Tuesday after surging to nine-year highs in London and New York, traders said. January New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures were at $26.83 by 0804 GMT, down 24 cents from the New York close on Monday, where the contract had ended at $27.07.

Kargil report by mid-December
The high-level committee probing the events that led to the Kargil conflict will submit its report to the Government by December 15, its chairman K Subrahmanyam said on Tuesday. The committee is also examining possible failure of the intelligence leading to the Kargil conflict.

Hughes Escort bags Net foray nod
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has permitted Hughes Escort Communications to foray into Internet services, e-commerce, and software development. The board has also cleared the proposals of Zurich Insurance, ABB, and Levi Strauss.

Sick polyester companies
Alarmed at the bulging non-performing assets in the polyester sector, financial institutions will tighten their grip on ailing polyester companies. They plan to set up management committees-comprising institutional nominees and board of directors-to keep a close track on transactions related to purchase of raw materials and sales.

Lupin sews up R&D pacts
The Rs 716-crore Lupin Laboratories has sewn up a four-way collaborative research arrangement with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Delhi, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, National Chemical Laboratories, Pune, and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Lupin group technical advisor BN Roy said the collaborative project would essentially focus on "design, synthesis and biological evaluation of new anti-tubercular compounds."

Nocil seeks stamp-duty concession
Arvind Mafatlal group company Nocil has appealed to the state government to treat its three-way business restructuring proposal as a demerger, and reduce the stamp duty from around Rs 60 crore. Group company Polyolefins was merged with Nocil in 1994, and in 1998, Nocil's estranged partner Shell rejoined the fold.

Easy finance scheme for Qualis
Toyota-Kirloskar Motor Company is in talks with Citibank, Countrywide, and ICICI to offer its multi-purpose vehicle Qualis through easy finance schemes. The company plans to zero in on one of these institutions to sell the vehicle through instalments.

Microsoft judge urges settlement
The federal judge in Microsoft Corp's antitrust trial told both sides the time is right for a negotiated settlement of the historic case. Both sides agreed to mediation Friday, though no talks have been scheduled yet.

EU could block Vodafone bid
European Commission officials have warned that Vodafone AirTouch's bid for Mannesmann may be blocked if it is not in the interests of European consumers. Meanwhile, Mannesmann on Tuesday announced the acceleration of a planned spin-off of its non-telecoms activities in a bid to unlock value in the face of the largest-ever hostile takeover bid.

Sify touches all-time high on Nasdaq
After Infy, it was Sify's turn to shoot through the roof on the Nasdaq. During the opening hours of Tuesday's trading, the Satyam Infoway ADR touched its all-time high at $81. Since its listing, the ADR has appreciated more than 125 per cent .

Corporation Bank is most efficient
Corporation Bank is the most efficient state-run bank in the country, having scored over 26 other banks in two-profit/business ratio and profit/income ratio of the three denominators employed by a study.

Compiled by S Hariharan