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Politics	Business	Expressions	General
World	Sports	Leisure	States

Saturday, May 16, 1998

	US bank stalls Rs 80 cr loan A financial package of Rs 80 crore for India routed through CoBank, a prominent US-based cooperative bank, has been suspended following sanctions imposed after the nuclear tests. The fund was supposed to be used for rural development, agribusiness and cooperative development.		Sensex drops 48 points Pivotals remained subdued on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today mainly on selling pressure by foreign funds and lack of local support. The Sensex lost 48 points. The sentiment was also affected due to end-account considerations. The closing rates showed widespread small-to-modest losses.
	Govt clears 18 oil projects The Union petroleum ministry has approved 18 production sharing contracts of the unincorporated joint ventures between national oil companies and the private sector. The nods, which were hanging fire for the last three years, pave the way for a total foreign investment of $ 40 million in oil exploration and production.		Rupee falls further The rupee fell to a new low of 40.80 before closing at 40.55/60 against the dollar at the inter-bank foreign exchange market in Mumbai on Friday. This is the lowest-ever closing price of the spot rupee. State Bank of India, which prevented the Indian currency from a free fall, is estimated to have sold $ 100-200 million.

$8.1 bn WB loan to continue
Following the Japanese decision to disallow the annual Aid India consortium meet in Tokyo next month, the World Bank may relocate the meeting to Paris. Paris is is the usual venue for the meeting, but it was changed to Japan at the specific request of the Japanese government.

ITC Hotels net profits decline by 16%
ITC Hotels has announced a 15.58 per cent fall in net profit to Rs 26.21 crore during the year ended March 1998 on a virtually stagnant turnover of Rs 130.85 crore. The board of directors have, however, recommended a dividend at Rs 3 per share (30 per cent), same as the previous year.

US cos find embassy clueless
Japanese cos halt Indonesian operations
C&G profits move down
Unilever's plans are long-term
Bizbits