COMPANIES

• M&M offers reduced conversion price for FCCBs
• Essar Steel mortgages shares to IDBI
• Essar Projects gets Gujarat contracts
• ASC Enterprises will tie up funds by year-end
• Escorts plans divestment in subsidiaries
• Thapars plan to hike stake in Thai company
• CA pact with NIIT for training courses
• Videocon to go ahead with Calcutta plans
• Voltas employee-shareholders criticise company plans
• RPG plans more alliances in Lanka
• VSNL rejects BT proposal
• Haldia Petrochem raises another loan
• Matiz sent to Egypt
• Honda targets 11,000 cars
• Viacom to buy CBS
• Lucent introduces the Stinger
• Daewoo gets additional help
• BASF to acquire Norsk Hydro unit
• Hilton acquiring Promus Hotels
• British Biotech-Schering deal
• Telstra joins Maosco group for Multos system

GENERAL

• IRA’s norms
• DoT says 3 firms may default
• Union Bank’s bonds sell easily
• Working group constituted by RBI for SMART card
• LIC to focus on its brand
• HSBC’s new card may give currency notes a run for their money

CAPITAL MARKET

• Sensex down 59 points
• Elections at CSE
• BSE plans for reviving smaller bourses
• MFs could collect around Rs.45,000 crore in the FY 1999-2000
• NSE announces complaints list, suspends 14 companies
• Kale Consultants to float issue

PEOPLE

• S.K. Gupta takes over as CMD of VSNL
• Parvathisem is new Nalco chief
• Vignaud seeks Indian support for FAO post