Bahubali Gulabchand passes away: Noted industrialist and former chairman of the Walchand group, Bahubali Gulabchand died in Mumbai on Friday. He was 75. He had been ailing for the past three months following a heart attack. Gulabchand, nephew of renowned industrialist Walchand Hirachand, was chairman of the Walchand group comprising Premier Automobiles, Hindustan Construction, Ravalgaon Sugar, Walchand Nagar Industries, Premier Construction Companyand Indian Hume Pipe of which he was chairman and managing director till 1994.

GH Singhania elected ICC president: J K Synthetics Ltd managing director Govind Hari Singhania, a past president of Assocham, has been elected president of the International Chamber of Commerce, India, for 1998-99. Rungta Enterprises chairman AK Rungta, a past president of Ficci, has been elected vice-president.

Court reserves order on Sterlite plea: The Madras high court on Friday reserved its orders on a plea by Sterlite Industries to restart its copper smelter plant at Tuticorin, closed on the orders of the court on the basis of a report by Nagpur-based Neeri on the functioning of the plant. The case was reheard by a division bench comprising justice NK Jain and justice M Karpagavinayagam. The bench had commenced rehearing of the controversial case on Thursday after it was referred to it on December 16 by chief justice MS Liberhan, who alongwith justice E Padmanabhan had heard arguments on the case for aboutseven days.

Pepsi plans legal move against Coke: The Coco-Cola Company's decision to buy out Cadbury Schweppes' brands outside the US has put a bee in PepsiCo's bonnet. Indications now are that Pepsi will be filing an anti-trust case against Coca-Cola to prevent the deal.

L PTA case adjourned for 18th time: Two cases filed by the CBI against Reliance Industries, Dhirubhai H Ambani and 13 others (one since deceased) for allegedly back dating letter of credits for import of PTA worth around Rs 180 crore have been adjourned for the 18th time to March 17, 1999. The investigative agency had filed two chargesheets in the metropolitan court on January 5, 1996. In 1998, the cases came up for hearing five times only to be adjourned. At Friday's hearing before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate, Usha Iyer, no arguments took place, and prosecution (the CBI) represented by OP Verma, did not even object to the demand of a long adjournment. The matter stands posted after three months, on March17. It may be noted that Ambani has sought withdrawal of the summons and criminal proceedings against him in these cases.

ntre to wind up two HFC sick units: The government has decided to wind up sick Haldia and Gorakhpur units of public sector Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation, minister for chemicals and fertilisers SS Barnala informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday. But in place of the Gorakhpur plant, a new unit would be set up by Krishi Bharati Cooperatives, he added.

Satyam Online launched in Mumbai: Satyam Infoway has launched its ready-to-use Internet service, Satyam Online in Mumbai. Satyam has also announced a strategic alliance with Intel to bundle their on-line services with Intel architecture-based desktops. The online package comes with a CD which contains a free version of licensed value-added software worth Rs 4,000.

Infosys reserves decision catches market fancy: Infosys Technologies is back in news. This time round, the counter was the most talked of among market circleson account of the company's decision to share its reserves with investors. Considering the general reserves is pegged at a high of Rs 111.85 crore as on March 31, 1998, analysts seemed to have made a strong case for the company to maintain the ratio of 1:1 in 1999 also.

SEBI plans rolling settlement for dematerialised scrips: SEBI is looking at kicking off mandatory rolling settlements in scrips with 100 per cent dematerialised settlement from June next year. Currently, there is a rolling settlement in the pure dematerialised segment, while the physical segment (which will become a dematerialised segment from January 4) will continue to have a weekly settlement.

Sugar millers body to fight cheap imports: Apex sugar millers body on Friday said cheaper imports of sugar into the country was a gameplan of multinationals to kill domestic industry and vowed to "fight to finish" dumping of the commodity from abroad.

EU presses for open Indian car market: The European Union has for longbeen pressing for a more open Indian market so that its car-makers can have free access and a level playing field. So far EU has been disappointed by the lack of response from India. The EU talks with India this month in Geneva proved inconclusive and now it is considering whether to take up the matter under the dispute settlement procedures of WTO.

Telecom finance body proposed in new policy: The new telecom policy envisages the creation of a specialised financial intermediary, Telecom Finance Corporation, for promoting investment and meeting finance needs of the telecommunication industry. The institution is proposed to be set up on the lines of Railway Finance Corporation and Power Finance Corporation.

Power ministry plans bonds to recover SEB dues: The power ministry will soon seek cabinet's clearance for floating bonds up to Rs 7,000 crore to partially securitise outstanding dues of electricity boards to central power utilities, ministry sources said in New Delhi on Friday. The ministrywill seek approval to create a special purpose vehicle for the purpose. Central utilities outstandings soared to about Rs 17,000 crore by September this year from Rs 12,400 crore at the beginning of the current fiscal due to financial unviability of most of the SEBs.