LIC, GIC employees plan strike on December 11: Over two lakh LIC and GIC employees all over the country will observe a nation-wide strike on December 11 in protest against the Vajpayee government's move to privatise the insurance sector bypassing parliament, according to Gurudas Dasgupta, member of parliament. Dasgupta said that four unions of the LIC and GIC employees will stage demonstrations on November 13, stay out from work for one hour on November 20 and launch a march to the parliament on December 8 in support of thedemand.

FIPB okays Rs 400cr plans: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board on Saturday approved 25 proposals totalling nearly Rs 400 crore which included the plans of Essar Shipping and Enron. The FIPB cleared a proposal by Essar Shipping to bring in $50 million through foreign convertible currency bonds to be arranged by Union Bank of Switzerland. The FCCB is to fund the Rs 1,435 crore all-weather port and terminal facility at Vadinad in Gujarat for crude and petroleum, oil and lubricants imports.

Ortel becomes Internet service provider: Ortel Communications Ltd of Orissa has become the first private sector company in the country to be licensed by the Department of Telecom as an Internet Service Provider. Ortel director Jaggi Mangat Panda said: "We were the number one applicant for the licence. Since the licences were issued on first-come-first-serve basis, Ortel has become the first private sector company in the country to provide ISP."

Ban on use of mustard in vanaspati lifted: The government has lifted the ban on use of rapeseed/mustard expeller in the manufacture of vanaspati but has restricted its usage to 20 per cent, official sources said in New Delhi on Saturday. ``An order lifting the ban on use of mustard oil was issued earlier this week. But a restriction of 20 per cent has been placed on use of expeller mustard," joint secretary, department of sugar and edible oils, Sushama Nath, said.

Crompton Greaves buyback plan: Crompton Greaves will finalise its buyback plans in six months and is presently examining the guidelines while seeking clarifications from the Sebi. Chairman and managing director KK Nohria said at a press conference in Mumbai on Saturday that the company was likely to divest further in some of its joint ventures to fund the buyback. The total investment in these ventures is around Rs 150 crore which is today valued at about Rs 500 crore, he added.

Infosys to set up software campus in Chennai: Software major Infosys Technologies Ltd willinvest over Rs 50 crore in setting up a world-class software campus at the old Mahapulipuram Road area in Chennai as a strategy to prepare the company for future expansion needs. This investment will be part of an overall plan to spend Rs 200 crore in various expansion projects which aims to take the company's total employee strength to 3,500 to 4,000 people in the next two years or so, company deputy managing director Nandan M Nilekani said.

CDC equity investments: The Commonwealth Development Corporation has said that its new equity investments have exceeded $80 million in the third quarter of 1998. The corporation said that it plans to make equity investments to the tune of $100 million by the year-end. A release from CDC said that from January to September 1998, CDC has invested $80 million in 10 companies.

NSE declares member defaulter: The National Stock Exchange has declared Neeraj Kumar Singal defaulter on account of his failure to fulfil his obligations with effect from November6. According to the exchange, Singal was not permitted to trade from June 12 due to non-payment of margins. The member's open position in that settlement was closed out. NSE has also suspended the trading membership of Globe Stocks & Securities Ltd and Emerging Primary Securities with effect from November 6 due to their failure to meet obligations or liabilities to the exchange.

Skindia GDR Index rises 5%: The Skindia GDR Index for the week ended November 5 improved by 27.52 points to finish at 550.12 points, up from its previous week's close of 522.60 points. After a relatively dull previous week, the week under review saw some buying interest in the GDR market. The Skindia GDR Index was up 5.27 per cent at 550.12 points from 522.60 points on October 29.

LIC Housing Finance engages Crisil: LIC Housing Finance Ltd has engaged the services of Crisil to rate its creditworthiness. The general manager of LIC Housing Finance, AK Gangooly, said that the company would have to obtain credit ratingso that it could avail of funds for securitisation of its loans with commercial banks and financial institutions. He said that LIC Housing Finance has got the permission from National Housing Bank for loan securitisation of an amount of Rs 25 crore.

Mani Shankar appointed Congress spokesman: AICC secretary Mani Shanker Iyer has been appointed as party spokesman and secretary of the media department. Chairman of the media department of the party, Shivraj V Patil, told reporters in New Delhi that the appointment made by party president Sonia Gandhi would be effective Saturday. Iyer is the third spokesperson who will be assisting the party during the elections. Earlier, the party had appointed Anil Shastri and Ambika Soni as the two spokespersons to assist the party in the absence of Ajit Jogi and Girija Vyas in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Jaya steps up demand for DMK ouster: A day after alleging a secret understanding between prime minister AB Vajpayee and Tamil Nadu chief minister MKarunanidhi, AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha on Saturday stepped up her demand for the dismissal of the DMK government even as BJP dismissed the charge as baseless. The Tamil Nadu government also denied any secret deal between the prime minister and the chief minister to save the DMK ministry.

Five injured in Calcutta fire: Five persons were injured when a devastating fire swept through the second and third floors of McKinon McKenzie building on Strand Road in Calcuta early on Saturday morning, severely damaging most of the four-storied structure. While the fire brigade or police could not immediately ascertain the source or the cause of fire which broke out at around 0400 hrs, eyewitnesses said the blaze spread from a godown on the building's first floor. Offices of several corporate houses like SAIL, UTI and ICI are situated in the building.

Samajwadi Party activist shot dead: Samajwadi Party activist Mohammed Issaq Ansari was shot dead by four unidentified gunmen in Mumbai on Saturday,police sources said. Ansari, 35, who resided in a chawl at Agripada in south-central Mumbai was found lying in a pool of blood by local residents. He succumbed to his injuries at around 0930 hours.

Mustard oil prices likely to go up: Mustard oil prices are likely to rise in the current oil year, during the period November 1998 to October 1999, according to the Central Organisation for Oil Industry & Trade (Cooit). Cooit president Govindbhai Patel said that prices of mustard oil would be on a slight upswing till the arrival of new mustard seed crop in end-march 1999. DoT sets up `focus action group': The department of telecommunications has set up a "focus action group on private investment promotion" to give a fillip to private investment in the telecom sector.