The cabinet on Thursday cleared a plan by the state-run Indian Oil Corporation to set up a 9-million-tonne grassroots refinery at Paradeep port in Orissa. The project, a joint venture with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, is expected to go on stream four years from now and will entail an investment of nearly Rs 9,000 crore.

RH Patil's term at NSE extended: The ebullient RH Patil will continue as National Stock Exchange's managing director for an additional two-year term. The exchange board, which met some time last month, decided to extend his tenure--which was to have ended in November this year--up to 2000. The move, which is yet to be cleared by markets regulator Sebi, is seen as a recognition of Patil's efforts to modernise the exchange and propel it on the path of technological excellence.

Videocon puts off rights issue: Consumer electronics firm Videocon Appliances has put on hold its planned rights issue citing an adverse market.The 1:1 issue, which Sebi had cleared a few days ago, would have helped the Dhoots-owned firm to retire high-cost debt and meet its capital expenditure. Videocon had planned to offer the rights shares at a premium of Rs 25 each.

Ashok Leyland may trim working week: Commercial vehicles major Ashok Leyland, which recently reported a 85 per cent slump in its profits for 1997-98, is likely to curtail the number of working days in a week in a bid to ride out the recession. The move, if implemented, will effectively trim its working week to just three days. Analysts say the move might help the Hindujas-owned firm to bring down its inventory in line with the suppressed market demand.

Bayer, Zydus in marketing tie-up: German chemicals giant Bayer AG on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ahmedabad-based Zydus group to set up a pharmaceutical joint venture. The venture, in which Bayer Industries will hold a majority 51 per cent stake, will market the pharmaceutical brands of thealliance partners. According to a joint statement, the ambit of the pact will not extend to sharing manufacturing facilities.

Centre firm on Maruti pact: The centre will not renege on its rapprochement with Suzuki Motor Corporation, industry minister Sikander Bakht has said. Bakht, who is scheduled to meet Maruti Udyog union employees on Saturday, says that though he is willing lend a sympathetic ear to staff demands, he would make it clear to them that there is no question of going back on the detente. Piqued Maruti Udyog employees have threatened to go on a strike, seeking a repeal of the patch-up signed recently.

Jet plan grounded: The Director General of Civil Aviation has spiked a proposal by Jet Airways to induct three Boeing 737 aircraft into its fleet. The authority says that the carrier, which has already taken the three aircraft on dry lease from a Malaysian airline, had flouted the new aviation-policy guidelines, which forbids leasing of aircraft from a foreign firm.

SAILsales spurt: The state-run Steel Authority of India said on Thursday that its domestic sales in the first quarter of 1998-99 had increased by over 2 lakh tonnes to spurt past 16 lakh tonnes. Chairman Arvind Pande said the leap in sales--which has helped the company trim its inventory to a 15-month low--was an indication that `efficient management decisions' had turned the tide in favour of the steel behemoth.

Accounting change aids Tisco: Steel major Tisco showed a higher profit of nearly Rs 10 crore in 1997-98 helped by a significant change in its accounting policy. The Tata group flagship has adjusted expenses incurred for issue of shares, secured premium notes and the like against its share-premium account. The expenses were earlier amortised by a charge to the profit-and-loss account.

Intron plans rights float: Intron, a local subsidiary of Swedish white goods giant AB Electrolux, plans to double its equity base by tapping the capital market with a 1:1 issue of rights. The issue,priced at par, will augment the company's working-capital needs. The company has piled up huge losses far exceeding its net worth.

Sensex down 49 points: The weathervane 30-scrip Sensex dipped 49 points on Thursday after foreign funds put out a `sell' order on select stocks. Dealers said that punters were busy squaring up their open positions for the better part of the day, which, too, led to the fall of the index. The Sensex closed the day at nearly 3181 points after domestic institutions' funds infusion failed to perk up market mood.

SEBI okays Alcan offer: Markets regulator SEBI has cleared Canadian firm Alcan's move to accept two out of every five Indal shares offered to it by public shareholders of the Calcutta-based company. Alcan had made an open offer to shareholders of Indal following a takeover bid mounted by the Anil Agarwal-owned Sterlite Industries.

Rupee dips yet again: The rupee failed to do an encore on Thursday, slipping by 32 paise in the wake of a renewed demandfor dollars. Analysts said that the rupee, which opened the day at 42.19-20, weakened to 42.40-42 before closing at 42.52-55 after corporates prompted forex dealers to go long on the greenback on fears of an expected appreciation in the value of the spot dollar. Analysts said forward premiums rose in sync with the falling rupee, with the six-month dollar rising by nearly 25 paise.

Tarapore lays down challenge to bankers: Former deputy governor of Reserve Bank SS Tarapore says that banks will no longer be able side-step such sensitive issues as downsizing and mergers, not to talk of concepts like narrow banking. Tarapore, who was addressing a seminar in Mumbai on Thursday, took a swipe at critics of narrow banking, saying that no bank had, in recent memory, turned itself around by just rasing its credit-deposit ratio.

"Pokharan fuelled nuclear ambitions": Home minister LK Advani said on Thursday that the BJP had conducted the Pokharan nuclear tests in a bid to give a leg-up to New Delhi'savowed ambition of becoming a nuclear power. Though successive governments had parroted their stance of keeping nuclear options open, it took a government headed by Vajpayee to exercise the option, he said.

US firms yet to gear up for euro launch: Multinational US companies have hardly prepared themselves for a unified Mediterranean economy what with the European Monetary Union set to fructify soon, analysts say. Accounting firm Ernst & Young says that of the 200 US MNCs it had polled in a survey, just 45 per cent had set up teams to evaluate how the euro and the resulting new, deeper economy would affect their fortunes.

US firms yet to gear up for euro launch: Multinational US companies have hardly prepared themselves for a unified Mediterranean economy what with the European Monetary Union set to fructify soon, analysts say. Accounting firm Ernst & Young says that of the 200 multinational US corporations it had polled in a survey, just 45 per cent had set up teams to evaluate how the euroand the resulting new, deeper economy would affect their fortunes.