PAN numbers online from August 1'
Minister of state for finance Dhananjaya Kumar has said the permanent account numbers would be provided online throughout the country to all new applicants from August one this year. Kumar also said 73 new towns and cities would be connected to the income tax online facility during the current year.

Cement producers increase prices
In a last-ditch attempt to prop up realisations ahead of the monsoon, cement manufacturers have hiked the cement prices in Mumbai by Rs 10-15 per bag. Industry biggies, including ACC, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, and Larsen & Toubro are contemplating another round of price hike, possibly by another Rs 5 per bag, early next month.

Rossell shares
The Unilever group, which has acquired a 52 per cent stake in Rossell Industries, may ask subsidiary Hindustan Lever to pick up a critical extra chunk that may be blocked by the Centre. Rossell's new chairman SK Dhall, one of the Unilever nominees, pointed out that the extra chunk of 37.5 per cent is already with Unilever Overseas Holding BV.

WorldCom's long-distance business
Worldcom Inc is considering getting out of the consumer long-distance business entirely in the wake of the Justice Department's decision to block its proposed acquisition of Sprint Corp, according to people close to the situation. The possibility of WorldCom selling or spinning off its consumer long-distance unit, much of which it acquired when it bought MCI Communications, was raised in talks with Justice Department officials in recent days as a potential consequence of a veto of the deal by regulators.

Thermax net falls 15%
Thermax has registered a dip in both sales and net profit for the year ended March 31, 2000. While the net profit is down by 15 per cent, sales have dropped by 12.89 per cent. A 121 per cent jump in other income has not helped Thermax improve its bottomline.

HSE asks for facts from DRL
The governing board of the Hyderabad Stock Exchange has asked Dr Reddy's Laboratories to furnish the facts relating to the strike and disruption of work at the formulations unit no 2 located at Bachupally village on the outskirts of the city.

Sebi permits ASE to start ALBM
The Securities & Exchange Board of India has granted permission to the Ahmedabad Stock Exchange for automated lending and borrowing mechanism. With this, the exchange will become the country's first bourse to have both badla and ALBM.

Exim Bank ties up with 3 Israeli banks
The Export-Import Bank of India has tied up with three leading banks in Israel for improving financing of bilateral trade between the two countries. Exim Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, and Israel Discount Bank for setting up lines of credit to finance trade flows.