One of the notable defeats in the elections has been that of Dr Manmohan Singh, former finance minister, who is credited with ushering in India's economic reforms. Mr Singh lost to V.K. Malhotra of BJP in South Delhi. Another former finance minister P. Chidambaram, who has also piloted the economic restructuring, lost the elections in his constituency in Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu. On the other hand, the pro-reform Telugu Desam Party of Andhra Pradesh has made big strides in that state, contributing heavily to the NDA's tally.

Notable winners are Mr Vajpayee, who defeated Dr Karan Singh in Lucknow, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who defeated the BJP's Sushma Swaraj in Bellary, Lal Krishna Advani, who beat former chief election commissioner T.N. Seshan in Ahmedabad, Mamta Banerjee, Madan Lal Khurana, Jag Mohan and Murasoli Maran. Prominent losers are former prime minister Deve Gowda, K.L. Sharma, Murli Deora, Subramanyan Swami and R.K. Dhawan.

The BJP suffered reverses in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, while it made significant gains in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. The BJP's alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu too has proved to be successful.
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NDA's Chautala wants diesel prices rolled back
New Delhi: Even before the counting of votes was over and even before the National Democratic Alliance, which has won a simple majority in the Lok Sabha, could approach the president with a formal proposal to form a new government, Om Prakash, leader of one of the constituents of the NDA, has announced his opposition to the disel price hike announced by the earlier government, also led by NDA leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Mr Chautala has urged the government to withdraw the increase in diesel prices, which have been raised because of the steep rise in global petroleum prices.
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Bangur-backed directors thrown out
Mumbai: Shareholders of Bank of Rajasthan have voted against the reappointment of four Bangur-backed directors as directors to the board. The margin of defeat for all the four is surprisingly the same, at 24,22,328 votes.

The four persons defeated are B P Singh, Vinay Mittal, V K Rungta and Satyajit Mitra. Still, there are two more Bangur-basked directors on the board. They are D B Sogani and O N Chaturvedi. These directors are expected to be removed shortly, with the Reserve Bank of India issuing show cause notices against them.
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Four state corporation bonds downgraded
Mumbai: Crisil has downgraded four Maharashtra state corporation bonds from A+ to A. The state’s fiscal situation is what prompted the rating downgrade by one notch.

Bonds worth Rs.31 crore of Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation, Rs.2,134 crore of Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation, Rs.91 crore of Tapi Irrigation Development Corporation and Rs.308 crore of Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation are those that have been downgraded.
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MTNL faces action
New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has sent a show cause notice to the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd., on the issue of the latter’s move to offer cellular services at reduced rates, without getting it approved from the former. The Trai Act’s sections 29, 30, and 31 read along with section 4, talk about the regulator’s powers to penalise operators that violate norms.

According to MTNL, its service is based on the wireless in local loop technology and hence cannot be considered a cellular service at all.

Meanwhile, MTNL has signed a memorandum of understanding with Telecommunication Consultants India Ltd. for working jointly in Asian and African markets. A new company will be formed with an equity capital of Rs.100 crore. MTNL and Telecommunication Consultants will hold 26 per cent and 25 per cent stakes respectively.
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Rupee moves up
Mumbai: The political scene, where results were flowing in, kept dealers on edge of their seats. The rupee moved up from Rs.43.5925 to Rs.43.55625 to the dollar, up by 3 paise. Dealers feel that with the formation of a stable government, there will be fresh inflow of investments in the nature of foreign direct investments and also from foreign institutional investors.
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Banks likely to pay 3 per cent for gold deposits
Mumbai: State Bank of India, Bank of India and Corporation Bank will offer about 3 per cent for depositors in their gold deposit schemes. The Reserve Bank of India had only on 5 October 1999, announced that banks are free to fix their rates for gold deposit schemes.

Other banks that are expected to announce similar schemes are Canara Bank and ABN Amro Bank.
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Jan 1, Y2K may be declared a banking holiday
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India may declare a banking holiday on 1 January 2000. The RBI is considering this since banks will be able to solve computer-related problems, if any arise. Banks have been asked to set up separate sections for Y2K in their web sites.
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