Nestle SA to buy 60% stake in Excelsia Food: Nestle SA is set to pick up a 60 per cent stake in Excelsia Food Ltd -- a joint venture between Dabur India and Osem of Israel, an associate company of Nestle SA. This will be Nestle SA's first-ever direct venture in the business of producing biscuits outside the US. Analysts said the move to make a direct entry was highly significant when placed against the backdrop of Britannia's tie-up with Dannon.

`Banks violating insider-trading norms': Markets regulator Sebi has found violations of its insider-trading norms in banks' investments in stockmarkets. The markets regulator has written to the Reserve Bank asking it to instruct banks to segregate the functioning of their investment and credit departments. Sebi's contention is that since banks use privileged information about clients to invest in the market, it amounts to insider trading.

Centre to implement PIO card scheme soon: The government will soon implement the persons of Indian origin (PIO) card scheme which will put these card holders on a par with non-resident Indians, prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said on Thursday. He said PIO card holders will have a visa-free entry into the country and will be allowed to acquire and transfer immovable properties and invest in housing schemes of central and state government agencies.

Revenue unions plan indefinite strike: The three-day nation-wide strike called by the revenue department has resulted in a revenue loss of around Rs 1,000 crore. According to union officials, the Co-ordinating Committee of Federations in the departmentof revenue is likely to announce an indefinite strike soon. A final decision on the matter will be taken in a couple of days.

India goes down in WEF ratings: India has slipped by five notches this year in the World Economic Forum's ratings on international competitiveness since last year. The country emerged 50th in a list of 53 countries surveyed by the forum in 1998. In a rating conducted by another Geneva-based organisation, the Institute of Management Development, India fared 41st in a survey of 46 nations.

IBP seeks dues from OCC: IBP, the stand-alone oil marketing company, has sought the recovery of its dues on marketing margins of around Rs 200 crore from the Oil Coordination Committee. The company has made the request as both its funding avenues, a public issue and a rights issue, will not materialise this year. While a weak market has already put the lid on its plan for a Rs 40-crore public issue, sources said that its Rs 382-crore rights issue may also fail to takeoff.

Goodyear gets stay against excise wing order: Cegat has granted an unconditional stay to tyre major Goodyear India against the central excise department's order directing the company to pay Rs 25-crore excise duty. The company had contested the department's order to pay Rs 12.5 crore as additional excise duty and a penalty of an equal amount on alleged evasion of duty on rubberised tyre cord fabrics manufactured and captively used by it between April 1, 1995 and July 31, 1997.

Daewoo, GM may work together in India: Daewoo Motor Corporation and General Motors are exploring possibilities to cooperate in India in the form of sharing components and extending it to models at a later stage. Speaking at the launch of the 796cc Matiz on Thursday, Tae Gou Kim, Daewoo Corporation chairman (automotive business) Tae Gou Kim said, "The two companies are working together on a lot of joint efforts for the global market and India figures in that list."

LML unveils mobikes from Daelim: LML Ltdwill foray into the motorcycle segment next year when it launches four-stroke mobikes developed in technical collaboration with Daelim Motor Company of South Korea. LML executive director (marketing) RK Caprihan said the ex-showroom prices of the bikes would be between Rs 37,500 and Rs 45,000 in Delhi.

MUL board meet: The board of Maruti Udyog met on Thursday to draw up strategies to fight the intense competition in the small car segment. The meeting came in the wake of industry minister Sikander Bakht's recent visit to Japan, where he met the officials of MUL's joint venture partner Suzuki Motor Corporation and sought immediate introduction of new models to counter competition. Company officials, however, declined to comment on the same.

Reliance spurts on buyback rumours: The Reliance counter clocked a turnover of 2 crore shares in merely 30 minutes on Thursday on rumours that the company would buy back its shares at a premium of 20-25 per cent to the market price. The share price zoomedto Rs 127 from Rs 117 during the same period. Rumours that the company had closed a negotiated deal with UTI at a price of Rs 145 also fuelled the rally with the counter recording a phenomenal volume of 3.2 crore shares on the NSE and BSE.

RBI on preference shares: The Reserve Bank has extended the general permission granted for issue of equity shares to foreign investors under the automatic route to preference shares as well. The automatic approval route for issuing preference shares would also include issues to NRIs/OCBs as per the 100 per cent scheme, the central bank said.

IDBI Bank slashes rates on term deposits: Banks have started slashing interest rates on term deposits, thanks to the ever increasing pressure on spreads. With deposit growth far outstripping the growth in credit offtake during the current fiscal, banks are being forced to make their deposit rates unattractive. IndusInd Bank and IDBI Bank have taken the lead by reducing interest rates on their term deposits by as muchas 200 basis points.

Import duties on steel to be revised: The North Block plans to issue a notification this week, revising the import duty structure for some grades of steel like `defectives' and some steel-making raw materials. The mid-term revision of import duties on steel and its inputs was recommended by a working group set up by the finance minister last month to devise a pep-up package for the recession-hit steel industry.

Power boards owe Rs 2,500 cr to NPC: The country's state electricity boards owe a whopping Rs 2,500 crore to the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation. The Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board heads the list with Rs 562 crore, inclusive of Rs 396 crore as payment for electricity and Rs 166 crore for delayed payment. Of the total dues of Rs 2,433 crore owed to NPC, over Rs 900 crore accounts for the interest due to delay in payment, sources said.

100% FDI in airports via special permission: The government on Thursday announced that 100 per cent foreign directinvestment would be allowed in airports through a special permission route. "While 74 per cent FDI in the sector would be allowed through the automatic route, 100 per cent FDI would be permitted only through the special permission route," said civil aviation minister Ananth Kumar.

`Minimum return clause for power producers to go': Union power minister R Kumaramangalam on Thursday said that the clause on minimum return on investment would henceforth not be built into any agreement with private power producers. The government would, however, honour all previous agreements in this regard, he added.

Japan unveils new economic package: Japanese prime minister Keizo Obuchi's ruling party on Thursday outlined plans for Japan's biggest stimulus package ever to jumpstart the country's anaemic economy. The centerpiece of the party's package calls for 10 trillion yen ($82 billion) in public works-related spending through next March and 4 trillion yen ($33 billion) in income tax cuts next year. Alongwith other tax relief measures, it will likely total a record 18 trillion yen ($148 billion).

US orders military buildup in Persian Gulf: Defence secretary William Cohen ordered a major buildup on Thursday of US military force in the Persian Gulf. President Bill Clinton said giving in to Iraq on weapons inspections would undermine UN credibility and embolden president Saddam Hussein to act ``recklessly'' against his neighbours.