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Drumbeat: Ad Buzzaar

Politics	Business	Expressions	General
World	Sports	Leisure	States

Monday, May 18, 1998

	States offered Rs 200-cr sops with eye on power ordinance Union Power Minister R Kumaramangalam on Sunday announced an annual concession package worth Rs 200 crore to lure state governments into accepting the controversial Ordinance on Power Tariff Regulatory Commissions. The minister said that any state which notified the SERC could avail of Central loans at cheaper rates.		PM to tackle mounting NPAs Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has stated that his government was seriously considering taking effective measures to recover bad debts of the banks in the country amounting to Rs 45,000 crore. Vajpayee claimed that the entire banking system was under pressure because of these non-performing assets (NPAs).
	Panel for scrapping par value A high-powered committee on improving stock markets has asked the government to abolish the concept of par value of equity shares saying it will improve investor confidence both in the primary and secondary markets. The said the par value concept gave a misleading impression to promoters that only the par value needs to be serviced and that the premium was cost free.		NTPC to form shell cos for mega projects In a novel experiment, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has been asked by the Centre to incorporate 20 "shell" companies to promote a mega power project each in the private sector. These companies would conceive a new project, get all statutory approvals and offer the "readymade project plan" to independent power producers (IPPs).

"We might take over small insurance firms abroad": D Sengupta
Armed with an `AAA' rating from the Crisil, D Sengupta, the Chairman and Managing Director of New India Assurance is gearing up for the competition from the multinationals, if the industry is thrown open to them in the future. New India is the first Indian insurance company to get the `AAA' rating.

Can't all bad years be like this
Cassandras have been proved wrong once again. Fund managers, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and other experts who predicted disaster for the industry are eating crow now. Their expectations, as like many others, of poor performance by companies have not come true, at least as of now.

Dubai gold trade upset by Re fall
Rupee likely to stabilise below 41 level
Quickbites
Guest Column
Figure Watch
India to stock imported oil