Chemists strike called off: The indefinite strike of the Chemists & Druggists Association in the city was on Thursday called off on the third day following negotiations and discussions between its representatives and Shiv Sena youth leader Udhav Thackeray and the BJP Mumbai unit president Kirit Sommaiya. Convener of the joint coordination to abolish octroi on medicines Jayesh Pandya said Sommaiya and Thackeray assured the association they would look into its problems and do the needfulwithin seven days.

Economy to turn around by year-end, says Sinha: Finance minister Yashwant Sinha struck an optimistic chord on the economy on Thursday and said he expects recessionary trends to start tapering off by the end of this month, and hoped there would be a "definite upturn" by the end of the year. Sinha said the strategy to reverse the trend was to stimulate demand by increasing government spending in the private and public sectors, especially in areas like agriculture, rural development and infrastructure.

VSNL to set up five earth stations for TV uplinking: The state-owned VSNL has chalked out a Rs 300-crore plan to set up five earth stations exclusively for TV uplinking. As per the plan, the earth stations will be set up at Korattur, near Chennai, Dehradun, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The broadcast bill, expected to be passed during parliament's winter session, aims to make it mandatory for all broadcasters beaming programmes into India to uplink from the country.

State,Wipro sign MoU: The state government and the Rs 1,600-crore Bangalore-based Wipro Corporation signed an MoU on Thursday, paving the way for the company to set up a plant at Hinjewadi near Pune with an investment of Rs 50 crore over a three-year period. This is the second major investment in the software sector in Maharashtra after the Bangalore-based Infosys chalked out a Rs 100-crore investment for the state.

Swissair plane crashes off Canada's coast: A Swissair plane with 229 passengers and crew crashed into the Atlantic off Canada's coast and at least 18 bodies but no survivors were found on Thursday. The Swissair MD-11, Flight 111 en route from New York to Geneva, crashed off Nova Scotia at 9.30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (0130 GMT on Thursday) as it prepared to make an emergency landing. Aviation experts said that both Swissair and its MD-11 planes had good safety records before Wednesday's crash.

Opel Astra 1.7-litre TD model rolls out: The Rs 600-crore General Motors India in acountry-wide launch rolled out the first Opel Astra 1.7-litre turbo diesel (TD) car from its Halol factory, about 150 km from Ahmedabad on Thursday for the mid-segment market. President Richard C Swando said the target was to produce 275-300 cars.

Raasi Cement accounts come to haunt Raju: BV Raju may now find himself in the line of fire over Raasi Cement's management during his tenure. The company's audited statement of accounts for 1997-98 has created doubts regarding transactions, which reflect possible diversion of funds from Raasi Cement to other firms in which the Raju family was either directly or indirectly interested.

Exide plans to pay off debts: The Rahen Raheja-controlled Exide Industries said on Thursday in Calcutta it plans to repay a major portion of its debts this year. The company aims to pay Rs 48 crore in interests and Rs 59 crore of its debts in the current year.

Daewoo Motors launches two buses: Daewoo Motors India has entered the commercial-vehicle segment bylaunching two new mid-size buses `Royale' and `Caravan' in New Delhi on Thursday. The buses, priced at Rs 8.08 lakh and Rs 7.60 lakh respectively (ex-showroom in Delhi), are being offered in the Deluxe and Standard variations. The company is targeting 15 per cent of the market within one year.

Rhone-Poulenc turnover rises 32%: Rhone-Poulenc (India) said on Thursday that its turnover for the first five months of the current fiscal has risen 32 per cent to Rs 83.10 crore, compared with Rs 63.11 crore in the previous year's corresponding period. Chairman and managing director DD Chopra told shareholders that at the company's AGM in Mumbai the sales growth was mainly achieved because of the generics division's contribution.

Naidu bags Businessperson of the Year award: Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has been named the Businessperson of the Year by The Economic Times. Among the front-runners for the choice of the award were Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, LN Mittal, Azim Premji ofWipro and NR Narayana Murthy of Infosys.

Sebi kicks off plan to tackle Y2K problem: The country's securities industry has finally woken up to the Y2K problem even as brokers and the investing community are spending sleepless nights over the losses on the bourses. Markets regulator Sebi has kicked off the `Y2K Preparedness Project', which is a time-bound schedule for the implementation of a comprehensive plan to combat the problem.

LIC sees better policy growth this year: LIC sees better percentages in premium income and policy growth this year, compared with the previous year when growth had slowed down. For the first quarter, LIC has recorded 22.4 per cent growth in premium income and 15.2 per cent in policies issued.

Centre may treat NRIs on a par with nationals: Buoyed by the success of the Resurgent India Bonds, the government is considering treating non-resident Indiansat par with Indian nationals to attract more investments for economic development. Finance minister YashwantSinha on Thursday said that more proactive economic policies for NRIs would be announced soon.

Adjournment given in Fairgrowth case: Four weeks adjournment has been granted in the civil case concerning distribution of assets by Fairgrowth Financial Services. The adjournment was sought by the revenue department as the income-tax department is in the process of apportioning the tax liability of thee company between April 1991 and June 1992.