The Delhi high court on Friday issued notices to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), its chairman D R Mehta, secretaries of finance, law and company affairs and agriculture and Registrar of Companies for their alleged failure to check illegal activities of plantation companies.

Volatility margins: BSE has decided to impose additional volatility margins of 5 per cent on the net outstanding sale positions of Albright & Wilson Chemicals India, Dalmia Cement (Bharat), DSQ Software, Mastek, Telco, Videocon International, Voltas and Yokogawa Blue Star.

BSE seeks information on warehouse deals: BSE has asked its trading member brokers to report all transactions warehoused on behalf of FIIs. The brokers have been asked to report the trades done on behalf of FIIs, including warehoused trades, latest by 4.30 pm on the day the trade is executed.

BSE revises brokers' contributions: Beginning settlement 88 which commences onAugust 3 for the equity segment and August 6 for debt segment, BSE has decided to revise the contributions made by brokers towards association commission, trade guarantee fund and brokers' contingency fund. The association commission will be charged at the rate of Rs 1.25 on a gross turnover of Rs 1 lakh. For the trade guarantee fund, brokers would be required to pay their contributions at the rate of Rs 1.50 for every Rs 1 lakh of gross turnover. For the brokers' contingency fund the contribution would be at the rate of 25 paise for every Rs 1 lakh of gross turnover, except in carry forward transactions.

Sebi suspends Percept Financial registration: Sebi has suspended the certificate of registration of Percept Financial Consultant Pvt Ltd till the expiry of registration for non-payment of the annual registration fees.

Sebi warning for MPSE member: Sebi has warned Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange member Barajesh Kumar Neema for irregularities in the issuance of contract notes, dealing withunregistered sub-brokers and failing to report off-the-floor transactions to the exchange.

Atlas Copco: The board of directors of Atlas Copco (India) Ltd will meet on July 31 to consider the unaudited financial results (provisional) of the company for the quarter ended June 30, 1998.

Kopran: The board of Kopran Ltd will meet on July 28 to approve the company's unaudited results for the nine-month period ended June 30, 1998.Orient Press: The board of directors of Orient Press Ltd will meet on July 30 to take on record the unaudited financial results (provisional) of the company for the quarter ended June 30, 1998.

Tata Infotech AGM: The annual general meeting of Tata Infotech Ltd will be held at the Bombay House auditorium on July 27.

CSE shares end down: Share prices continued to lose value on the Calcutta Stock Exchange on Friday with buyers refraining from making fresh commitments at any level. The 40-share CSE Index ended at 1,808.14 points, the intra-day high and lowbeing 1,837.55 points and 1,803.46 points, respectively. Losers included Tisco at Rs 104.50, Telco at Rs 126, ITC at Rs 640.70, Bata at Rs 194.90, Reliance at Rs 134.30, Colgate at Rs 254, Castrol at Rs 534.50 and Bajaj Auto at Rs 640.

DSE Index down 8 points: Bears tightened their grip at the Delhi Stock Exchange on Friday, following sustained selling by nervous bull operators amidst a fluid political scenario. The DSE Index lost 8.11 points to end at 702.55 points. Reports of of a drop in Telco's sales in June also affected market sentiment.

MSE Index drops 41 points: Share prices continued to decline at the Madras Stock Exchange on Friday following heavy selling pressure. The MSE Share Price Index ended at 3,577.01 points, down 40.52 points from the previous close. L&T drifted down by Rs 9.10 to Rs 210, Reliance by Rs 1.90 to Rs 134.80, Tisco by Rs 7.40 to Rs 105.80 and Telco by Rs 132.80. Software Solution moved down by Rs 2 to Rs 342.

Software stocks buck weak trend at BgSE:Equities remained divergent at the Bangalore Stock Exchange on Friday. There was no let-up in the weak trend that prevailed, said marketmen. The turnover on the bourse stood at Rs 27.07 crore. Software scrips, however, managed to buck the trend and quoted at higher levels. Satyam Computers, BFL Software and DSQ Software saw gains at Rs 487 (Rs 483.60), Rs 414 (Rs 410) and Rs 220 (Rs 215), respectively while ITC declined to Rs 640.15 from an opening of Rs 651.80. Reliance and Tisco remained weak at Rs 133.80 (Rs 136.30) and Rs 104.40 (Rs 107).

OTCEI shares end down: Share prices declined moderately at the OTCEI on Friday following fresh selling pressure. The OTCEI Composite Index opened at 114.67 points and declined to close at 114.27, losing a marginal 0.29 point over the last close.

Skindia Index falls 3.6%: The Skindia GDR Index dropped by 3.60 per cent from 678.34 to 653.90 on July 23. The Skindia GDR Index p/e ratio was 15.15 on July 23, compared with 15.64 on July 22. The top gainer wasBombay Dyeing which quoted at $1.60 ($1.55). Losers included SAIL, Ashok Leyland and Indian Rayon which quoted at $2.70 ($2.95), $2.30 ($2.50) and $3.80 ($4.10), respectively.

Call rates end at 5.75%: The overnight rates quoted slightly firmer on Friday. The rates opened at 6-6.25 per cent and hovered in the 6.10-6.25 per cent band for most part of the day. The call rates closed higher at 5.75 per cent compared with their previous close of 5.60 per cent.

Rupee weakens vs dollar: The rupee opened at 42.50/52 on Friday compared with its previous close of 42.46/48. According to dealers, the rupee opened weaker owing to continuous buying pressure from corporates to meet month-end commitments. The rupee finally closed at 42.52/54.

Silver zooms, gold steady: Silver prices shot up on the bullion market on Friday on higher London advices. Ready silver (.999) rose sharply to end at Rs 8,415, up Rs 165 from the previous close. Standard gold at Rs 4,280 and 22-carat at Rs 3,960 endedunchanged.