DoT has said the continuity of Koshika Telecom's cellular service could only be ensured by taking over its entire network. The department's view came up on Saturday during the proceedings of a case in the Ghaziabad civil court over the disconnection of the company's cellular network in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa.

Prasar Bharati plans marketing system

The Prasar Bharati board has decided to set up its own marketing system and approach the Centre seeking licence for Doordarshan to be the first direct-to-home platform provider in the country. The board, which met in Delhi on Saturday, will seek the licence for five years. The board has also decided to dispense with DD's sports consortium for marketing of future events.

Forex reserves dip $200 million

The country's forex reserves fell by $200 million in the third week of June, due to the RBI's intervention to cool the currency market in wake of the Kargil crisis. According to RBI's weeklystatistical supplement, the forex reserves were $33.289 billion on June 18, down from the week-ago level of $33.489 billion. According to analysts, the drop was expected as RBI Governor Bimal Jalan said on Friday that the central bank had sold dollars to the SBI last week.

IOC refinery's pricing impact

IOC's recently commissioned Panipat refinery has become the latest pricing point for motor spirit and high speed diesel, making controlled products cheaper in regions close to Panipat. Freight and other overheads like sales tax are factored into the final cost of the product which will not be the case now with the new pricing point.

Commercial vehicles grow 25%

The commercial-vehicle market grew by 25 per cent in April-May 1999 compared with the corresponding period last year, according to figures available with Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. Exports dipped 25 per cent during the same period. Telco continued its hold over the segment with sales of 3,974 units in May 1999,followed by Ashok Leyland.

Bank of Maharashtra net falls

Bank of Maharashtra's net for the year ended March 1999 came down from Rs 56.29 crore last year to Rs 51.89 crore. The bank's NPAs too have gone up from 8.66 per cent to 8.72 per cent.

Grasim GDR commands premium

Infosys and Grasim GDRs continued to command high premia over their domestic share prices. Infosys ADR commanded a premia of 44.6 per cent against its domestic stock price of Rs 3,455, while Grasim GDR was commanding a premium of 40.10 per cent, with the scrip at Rs 235 on BSE.

Bansi Lal survives trust vote

The Bansi Lal government in Haryana on Friday night won a vote of confidence in the state assembly by a comfortable margin after the 12-member Congress and nine independents bailed it out declaring they would keep the "communal" BJP out. In a house of 89 members, the Haryana Vikas Party got the support of 55 members.