Bank deposits up Rs 357 crore
Mumbai: Aggregate deposits with the scheduled commercial banks rose Rs 357 crore during the fortnight ended 19 November, while bank credit increased only Rs 61 crore, according to the weekly statistical supplement published by the Reserve Bank of India. The deposits now stood at Rs 7,69,631 crore, and credit at Rs 3,94,048 crore.

Total foreign exchange reserves, including gold and special drawing rights, rose $231 million during the week ended 26 November to 34,257 million, the report said.
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RBI eases paperwork for private banks
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has decided to make changes in the system of submission of returns/statements by private banks. The RBI has exempted private sector banks from submitting half-yearly progress reports on the action plans for April 1998-March 2000 as the information can be obtained from the DSB returns submitted by these banks. The private sector banks will now have to submit the statement of reservation of posts for scheduled castes/scheduled tribes on a yearly basis against the half-yearly basis as required earlier.
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MTNL cuts Internet rates
New Delhi: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. is slashing its Internet tariffs by 15 per cent from 13 December. MTNL’s chairman and managing director S. Rajagopalan said MTNL’s board of directors has approved the tariff cut and also the company’s plan to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange before end of January 2000.

MTNL now offers different Internet access packages to customers and the charges are about Rs 21.50 per hour. Mr Rajagopalan said there will be an across the board 15 per cent reduction in these charges,. He said new flexible packages, with unlimited usage, will also be introduced.
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WTO talks end in failure
Seattle: Attempts to start a new round of global trade negotiations collapsed as the World Trade Organisation failed to hammer out any agreement on the ministerial declaration that would have acted like a launch pad for the next round. The conference ended without any declaration being issued. It entrused WTO director general Mike Moore with the task of starting a process of consultations with member countries to arrive at a new negotiating process. This will be transparent for all members, and he will look for creative ways to bridge the differences between the countries.

Representatives of non-government organisations present at the venue cheered the failure. Murasoli Maran, India’s commerce minister, who headed the country’s delegation at the talks, said he is disappointed at the failure. India always wanted a multilateral, rule-based and non-discriminatory trading system, he added.

Meanwhile, the US and the European Union said they will push farm trade talks next year despite the failure of efforts to launch broader negotiations.
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