[Grapevine] For June 17, 1999

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______Headlines______
(Details below)

News:
 Pak-trained militants held
 US may impose sanctions against Pakistan for Kargil agression
 *Pawar lacks political maturity* : Thackeray
 Heavy rains in city, monsoon toll 8 in Maha
 MTNL defers decision on Internet price revision
 Will monsoon mar the last solar eclipse of the millennium?
 Greene smashes 100 metres world record
 BSE: Equities continue upward march, Sensex crosses 4100-mark
 Pivotals rise further smartly at NSE         


Forex and Weather below


______News_______
(From various agencies)

 Pak-trained militants held
   Two of a gang of four hard-core militants, Kulwant Singh and Sandhu
   Singh, arrested from the city today, had been trained in handling arms
   and ammunition at Lahore in Pakistan by the Inter Services
   Intelligence(ISI), police said here. Kulwant had smuggled in a huge
   quantity of RDX from across the Punjab border in 1998 and was involved
   in blowing up a bus in Bhatinda. Both are suspected of involvement in
   killing of politicians in Punjab.
  

 US may impose sanctions against Pakistan for Kargil agression
   United States is likely to impose sanctions against Pakistan if it 
   continues to ignore Washington's call to withdraw forces from the 
   Indian side of Line of Control (LoC).

   'Washington is drawing up a list of punitive measures if Pakistan
   does not withdraw. Among them: reimposing a ban on aid from
   international monetary organizations,' 'USA today', in a despatch
   under the heading "Clinton warily watches India, Pakistan battle"
   said.

   Pakistan, the paper noted, has so far rebuffed Clinton, insisting
   that Kashmiri Muslim guerrillas -- not Pakistani soldiers-- had taken
   an area, including a ride overlooking the only highway India can use
   to resupply its forces.


 *Pawar lacks political maturity* : Thackeray
   Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray today came down heavily on Nationalist 
   Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar, saying the latter 
   lacked *political maturity* and accused him of playing *the party reins 
   and till recently was praising her for rejuvenating the party*, Thackeray 
   told the sena mouth-piece *Saamna* in an interview here.

   He said Pawar revolted against the congress leadership only after he
   realised that his ambition would not be fulfilled by remaining in the
   party.

   Thackeray said Pawar had hijacked the agenda of foreign origin of
   Sonia Gandhi, raised by him about eight years back. *plainly
   speaking, Pawar has plagiarised my agenda*, he said.

   The Sena chief reiterated that those with foreign origin should not
   be allowed to assume the offices of President, Vice-President, Prime
   Minister or even a cabinet berth.



 Heavy rains in city, monsoon toll 8 in Maha
   Heavy rains lashed the city and suburbs since last night disrupting 
   road and rail traffic for a few hours early today on account of flooding 
   in low lying areas even as the toll in monsoon-related mishaps rose 
   to eight in Maharashtra.

   In Mumbai, thousands of commuters were stranded at Wadala, Kings
   Circle, Dadar, Kurla, Vikhroli and Ghatkopar as trains on Central and
   Western railway routes and Harbour section were running much behind
   schedule due to water-logging.

   The weather bureau has forecast heavy rains in the city and suburbs
   till this evening. It recorded 134.4 mm rainfall in Santacruz and
   79.4 mm in Colaba during the 24-hour period ending 0830 hours today.

   According to city police control, road traffic was disrupted this
   morning due to flooding at Kings Circle. Vehicles were moving at a
   snail's pace even as the traffic was partially diverted from Sion
   Hospital to clear the jam.

   Harbour train services were totally withdrawn between 0430 hours to
   0700 hours. The services were partially restored after 0800 hours,
   railway sources said.


 MTNL defers decision on Internet price revision
   Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) today deffered its decision on 
   revising internet tariff till next month.

   'The board wants to take a long-term view of internet tariff. Certain
   companies are offering internet services at very low prices and we
   have to take that into account', MTNL Chairman and Managing Director
   S Rajagopalan told reporters after the company's board meeting. 

   MTNL had fixed internet tariffs for a period of three months
   initially when the services were launched in February, and it was due
   for review.

   The corporation is charging Rs 2,550 for 100 hours, Rs 5,525 for 250
   hours and Rs 8,500 for 500 hours apart from a registration fee of 
   Rs 500 on the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) internet account.

   The board does not want to take any hasty decision in this regard as
   internet is projected to be a big revenue earner for MTNL, financial
   advisor of MTNL S D Saxena said, while indicating that internet
   prices could be lowered by about 15 to 20 per cent.

   Apart from MTNL, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) and Satyam Infoway
   are major players. Bharti Telecom had also launched internet services
   about two weeks back in association with British Telecom in major
   cities including Delhi and Mumbai.



 Will monsoon mar the last solar eclipse of the millennium?
   Worried over the prospects of a spoilsport monsoon, Indian and 
   European astronomers are trying to figure out vantage points to have 
   unhindered view of the millennium's last total solar eclipse on August 11.

   'All astronomres are pondering over a single question -- where will
   the monsoon be least disturbing on the d-day,' M P Birla planetarium
   director R Subramanium told PTI.

   The veteran astrophysicist, who has witnessed six total solar
   eclipses till date, says this one has a sentimental value for many in
   his clan.'no one would like to miss the last one of the millennium.'

   The total eclipse will be visible in India for a little over a minute
   in Baroda, Gujarat, cut across south-east to north of
   Vishakhapattanam in Andhra Pradesh and set in the Bay of Bengal.

   'During that time the monsoon will be at its peak in Gujarat and
   their is a strong possibility of overcast clouds marring the grand
   show,' subramanium said.



 Greene smashes 100 metres world record
   Athens: World champion Maurice Greene of the United States smashed the 
   100 metres world record at an international athletics meeting today 
   when he clocked 9.79 seconds.

   The previous record of 9.84 seconds was set by Donovan Bailey of
   Canada on his way to winning the atlanta olympics final in July 1996.

   Greene, the indoor world record holder at 60 metres, led from the
   start and came home clear of Trinidad's Ato Boldon who finished in
   9.86. Third place went to Bruny Surin of Canada in 9.97.

   The American had previously twice equalled Bailey's record of 9.84,
   once at the end of last month and once in June 1998, but both were
   wind-assisted.

   AFP adds: 
   Since the introduction of electronic timing in the 1960s, no runner
   had managed to slice such a margin off the record.

   In setting the new mark, Greene equalled the time run by Canadian Ben
   Johnson in winning the 1988 olympic gold medal at Seoul. Johnson's
   time was annulled after the Canadian tested positive for steroids.






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______Market_______

 To get today's complete NIFTY (the NSE index) listing send an e-mail to
                    get-nse@mumbai-central.com



 BSE: Equities continue upward march, Sensex crosses 4100-mark
   Mumbai: Equities continued their upward march pushing
   the Sensex past 4100-mark at the midsession on the stock market today
   on sustained buying support from operators as well as fresh purchases
   by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

   The BSE sensitive index opened up at 4046.80 and gradually moved
   upwards to 4122.96 at 1245 hours as against yesterday's close of
   4021.40.

   Though Pakistan had denied that its forces entered the Indian
   territory, dealers anticipated some positive developments on the
   border front following U.S. President, Bill Clinton's call to
   Islamabad to withdraw its forces from Indian side of Line of Control
   (LoC).

   Among the major gainers, p&g spurted by 6.47 per cent followed by
   mtnl (5.87 per cent), pentafour software (5.11 per cent), hindalco
   (4.50 per cent), sbi (4.39 per cent), atlas copco (4.37 per cent),
   titan ind (3.88 per cent), digital equipment (3.79 per cent), hpcl
   (3.62 per cent) and hind lever (3.54 per cent).



 Pivotals rise further smartly at NSE
   Pivotals rose further smartly on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) today 
   on increased buying by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) as well 
   as domestic funds and pushed the nifty up by 28 points.

   The market started on a positive note and rose further to close with
   good gains over the last close.

   The s&p cnx nifty started with overnight strength at 1148.95 and shot
   up further to 1181.90, before closing at 1176.35, showing a sharp
   rise of 28.20 over the last close of 1148.15. Cnx nifty junior opened
   better at 1887.35 and closed at 1900.55, revealing a gain of 13.40
   from the last close of 1887.15. S&p cnx defty rallied by 22.15 points
   to end at 944.25 from yesterday's close of 922.10. S&p cnx 500 firmed
   up by 14.10 to 792.20 from 778.10 yesterday. Cnx midcap 200 edged up
   by 3.50 to end at 665.65 from the last close of 662.15.

   The total turnover was 2,030.43 crore from 993.36 lakh shares and in
   2,92,694 trades. Debenture turnover was rs 21.88 lakh.

   In the market, 590 sahres advanced with 339 declined and 84 held
   steady. 37 securities had hit their price bands.

   The most actively traded securities of the day were sbin with a total
   turnover of 289.65 crore, reliance rs 229.87 crore, pentsfware rs
   181.17 crore, satyam comp rs 170.07 crore, itc rs 125.54 crore and
   ranbaxy rs 103.78 crore.







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______Forex_______

      
  1 DMark  = 22.81068    INR    
  1 FFranc  = 6.801482    INR    
  1 U.K. Pound  = 68.66660    INR    
  1 US $  = 43.13500    INR    
  1 Yen  = 0.359578    INR    
  1 Singapore $ = 25.34 INR
  1 UAE Dirham = 11.74 INR


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______Weather_______
(From the Weather Underground)

 
Temperature: 81 F / 27 C
HeatIndex: 87 F / 31 C
Humidity: 84%
Dewpoint: 75 F / 24 C
Wind: South  at 7 mph / 11.3 km/h
Pressure: 29.62 in / 1003 hPa
Conditions: Haze
  
Tonight: Low: 73 F / 23 C Thunderstorm 
Friday: High: 82 F / 28 C Thunderstorm 
Friday Night: Low: 75 F / 24 C Thunderstorm 
Saturday: High: 84 F / 29 C Thunderstorm 
Saturday Night: Low: 75 F / 24 C Thunderstorm 
 

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               This is the Mumbai Grapevine 
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