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BIFR rejects ICICI pleaMUMBAI: BIFR has rejected ICICI's plea for postponing the first hearing of Parasrampuria Synthetics' case scheduled f...

BIFR rejects ICICI plea

MUMBAI: BIFR has rejected ICICI8217;s plea for postponing the first hearing of Parasrampuria Synthetics8217; case scheduled for Sunday. The Delhi high court last week had dismissed ICICI8217;s application for an injunction to bar Parasrampuria Synthetics from approaching the board. Parasrampuria Synthetics is likely to press the board not to consider ICICI as the operating agency from the creditors8217; side.

Scam cases

MUMBAI: The revenue department has centralised eight cases belonging to the bear cartel involved in the multi-crore securities fraud. Department sources say the move is to follow up on recoveries from the bear cartel. The cases, which were earlier with different assessing officers under the charge of commissioner of income tax CIT Central-I, Mumbai, will now come under the ambit of assistant commissioner SG Savadi.

ICAI

MUMBAI: The commencement of derivatives trading has got another jolt as the definition of derivative, in the Companies Act Amendment Bill, is being contested as misleading. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the apex body of accounting professionals, says the definition quot;does not bring out the true nature of a derivative.quot;

Software prices

MUMBAI: The retail price of various software products in the country have risen by about 8-10 per cent in the past two to three months. According to software companies, this is a direct result of the rupee8217;s depreciation against the dollar. International software majors like Microsoft, Orcale and Lotus have already hiked the price of their products.

Kerala bank

MUMBAI: Dhanalakshmi Bank, one of Kerala8217;s leading private-sector banks, has planned to double its multi-crore business by 1999 and tap deposits in the northern region starting with Punjab and Haryana, besides launching its forex dealings in a big way. The bank8217;s chairman TM Venkatraman said the 70-year-old bank would be opening its first branch in Delhi on Monday.

MIDC sops

MUMBAI: MIDC has offered a 10 per cent concession on land prices in a bid to woo investors from the northern region for setting industrial units in the state. MIDC CEO A Ramakrishnan said 25 firm commitments worth over Rs 100 crore were signed during a two-day dialogue with industrialists organised by the corporation in collaboration with the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Sicom.

Siel Hard Metals

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MUMBAI: The FIPB has approved the proposal of Siel Hard Metals Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture between Siddharth Shriram-promoted SIEL group and Plansee of Austria, to increase the foreign collaborator8217;s stake to 58.3 per cent from the present 50 per cent. Plansee would be acquiring over 8 per cent stake by buying an additional 60 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each, which Siel Hard Metals is issuing to generate funds for meeting its operational requirements.

DAP imports hit

MUMBAI: The rupee fall has hit diammonium phosphate DAP fertiliser imports. As against imports of 14 lakh tonnes of DAP in kharif last year, negligible imports fructified in the current rabi. Industry sources said DAP imports have slowed down tremendously due to the depreciating rupee which could lead to a shortage of the fertiliser in the coming kharif season. This is despite the fact that international prices have slumped due to a glut in the global market. DAP prices dropped from 250 per tonne to 235 in December 1997.