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Corporate Economy Expressions Markets Leisure Friday, March 13, 1998   US Office does an encore, grants patent on pepper byproduct A US-based firm has obtained process patent in piperine, a byproduct of pepper. Piperine, extracted from the fruit of pipernigrum or black pepper, is a composition widely in use in traditional systems of Indian medicine.   It's business as usual at Hindustan Lever offices Business proceeded as usual at Hindustan Lever the day after Sebi's insider trading charges over the Brooke Bond Lipton India Ltd merger rocked the company. The company announced the scheduling of a meeting to decide on the vital swap ratio for the next merger with associate Pond's India Ltd. Sterlite may step up Indal bid to Rs 120 Sterlite Industries' Agarwals are likely to make a higher bid for Indal next Wednesday, according to sources in Enam Financial Consultants, which is handling the deal for the company. The price is likely to fixed at Rs 120 per share. National drugs authority unveils price-tag on more formulati The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has further notified and fixed the prices of 104 more formulation packs. Amongst the cases decided by NPPA includes 4 new cases, 25 cases for price revisions and 75 cases for suo moto approvals.   Nasdaq, American SE in merger talks In a move to challenge the mighty New York Stock Exchange, America's two other main stock markets are discussing a possible merger. A merger between the Nasdaq Stock Market and the American Stock Exchange would have great benefits for both exchanges, both of which have been struggling to compete with their more prestigious and influential rival. Revenue shortfall put past Rs 10,000 crore With a little over two weeks to go for the current fiscal's closure, estimates predict a shortfall of over Rs 10,000 crore in the centre's excise and customs collections. Senior customs and excise officials said the shortfall at the end of February was over Rs 11,000 crore.   CORPORATE Rashid Hussain set to acquire Sime Bank Hyderabad, not Bangalore, is new destination: Ratan ECONOMY Scrap customs bonding, say exporters VP Singh sees fresh election in two years EXPRESSIONS A creative verdict RBI cabaret MARKETS Dematerialisation touches $5bn mark, participants at 10,000 Calcutta Stock Exchange plans to unveil new Sensitive Index LEISURE Use the Net to manage human resource A strong consumer movement is the need of the hour