Repo auction: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a three-day fixed rate repo in government of India dated securities on August 18 for parties holding SGL account and current account. The interest rate for the fixed rate repo is pegged at 5 per cent. Payment by application will be on August 18 and repurchase by RBI on August 21, 1998.

MR Ramesh is DFHI managing director: MR Ramesh has taken over as managing director of the Discount and Finance House of India (DFHI) with effect from August 14,1998. According to the DFHI release, MR Ramesh is currently working as chief general manager in State Bank of India (SBI). He is on deputation with the DFHI. Ramesh has varied experience in commercial banking for over 34 years. He succeeds SK Mukerji, who has been appointed as managing director of State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur.

Repo auction draws a blank: The RBI did not receive any application for the 3-day fixed rate repo held in government of India securities held on August 17. The interest rate for the three-day fixed rate repo was pegged at 5 per cent.

Industrial Meters debt issue downgraded: Crisil has downgraded the Rs 7.5 crore non-convertible debenture (NCD) issue of Industrial Meters Ltd to triple-B from A-. The revision in rating reflects primarily the decline in margins due to the demand in the power equipment industry being short of the supply. This is because of low offtake from the two principal consumers --state electricity boards and industries. The margins were alsonegatively affected by higher interest costs arising out of higher borrowings to finance higher working capital requirements and due to borrowings taken to fund the new project.

NRB Bearings assigned P1 plus: Crisil has assigned a P1+ rating to the Rs 6.5 crore commercial paper programme of NRB Bearings Ltd. The rating reflects the company's strong market position in the needle roller bearings and cylindrical roller bearing segments, high level of technical competence in its field of operations and the strong financial performance in the last five years. The rating also takes into account the effects on the stability of earnings caused by the company's dependence on the automobile sector and the impact of the entry of international players into the Indian market.

ECGC in pact with government: The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) has signed an MoU with the government of India for settlement of claims. BB Sharma, chairman of ECGC said that claims with relevant documents will besettled within a period of 30 days. Sharma, who was attending a meeting of the Maharashtra State Council of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), agreed to the suggestion that wherever ECGC is not able to provide the requisite facility or coverage to any particular country, the exporter should be given the option to seek the same from a foreign insurance company.

Visa International in pact with Equifax: Visa International has entered into a strategic alliance with India's leading consumer payment processing services company, Equifax Venture Infotek, to enhance the growth and development of India's payment card industry. The agreement will deliver considerable benefits for the industry by enabling payment card transactions to be more safe and secure as well as providing quicker and more efficient processing of payment card transactions. The Visa-EVI alliance will also provide a platform for the introduction of new Visa products such as debit cards as well as smart cardsin the future.

HDFC Bank mulls tie up with CESC: HDFC Bank is planning a dialogue with the RPG Enterprise flagship, CESC Ltd, for introducing a system of collection of electricity bills of the power utility's consumers over telephone or through automated teller machines. The bank relocated one of its branches in Calcutta and on Monday launched its operations at the new location.According to managing director Aditya Puri, HDFC Bank has been appointed clearing bank for the Calcutta and Ahmedabad stock exchanges.