NEW DELHI: The World Bank on Monday predicted the growth of the Indian economy to be of the order of 4.8 per cent in 1999, down from the more than five per cent growth six months ago. Dr Ashok Modi, one of the architects of this year's Global Development Finance Report 1999 told mediapersons here that this was primarily on account of external factors.

AIR, DD staff

NEW DELHI: Agitating cadres of DD and AIR have sought the President's intervention to restore ``normalcy'' to Prasar Bharati, even as the employees were barred from entering the premises of Akashvani Bhawan. In a memorandum to the President, the workers urged him to `` direct the government to open negotiations at the earliest and reach an amicable settlement in a time-bound manner.''

Insat-2E

BANGALORE: A major critical operation -- deployment of the 14-metre-long solar sail and boom on the north face of Insat-2E -- was completed successfully on Monday. With this, the satellite is in the3-axle stabilised final configuration with earth orientation, and the stage is set for turning on the payloads.

UPSC exams

NEW DELHI: All examinations, including interviews and personality tests, fixed for April 14, 1999, by the Union Public Service Commission will be held as per schedule, an official release said here. April 14 has been declared a holiday on account of the birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar.

VSNL-Intelsat JV

NEW DELHI: The state-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) will form a joint venture with global satellite consortium Intelsat to offer Direct-to-Home (DTH) facilities to Indian companies, . sources said .