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Plane still in hijackers’ custody
New Delhi: The hijacked Indian Airlines Airbus 300 continued to be in the
custody of hijackers at the Kandahar airport in Afghanistan for the third day, with 160
passengers and crew on board. A UN delegation, which entered preliminary negotiations with
the Afghanistan government, later returned to Islamabad. The hijackers released one
person.
The hijackers are demanding the release of
a Pakistani terrorist now in an Indian jail, Maulvi Masood Azhar. Meanwhile, the
Afghanistan government has allowed the aircraft to be refuelled. The Taliban government
had warned that it would demand that the hijacked plane leave the country unless
negotiations begin early.
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WPI norms being revamped
New Delhi: The government is planning to change the weightage given to
various items used in the compilation of the wholesale price index. It intends to give
additional weightage to manufactured products and reduce that of food-related items in
order to be in line with the current tends in the economy. In addition to finished
products, the government will also give additional weightage to fuel and energy items.
These proposed changes may have a significant impact on the wholesale price index as the
prices of finished products as well as energy and fuel are volatile.
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Uco board not happy with
Hong Kong losses
Calcutta: Uco Bank’s board has expressed concern over the
bank’s Hong Kong branch operations, especially the rise in bad loans at the branch.
The Reserve Bank of India had earlier made queries about the non-performing assets at the
Hong Kong branch, and the bank attributed the problems to external factors like
fluctuating currency rates.
Bank sources said the Hong Kong branch operations may
affect the bank’s overall profitability, even as the bank faces a proposal to wind up
its overseas branches. In the past, the bnak's foreign branches, especially in Hong Kong
and Singapore, were sources of surpluses.
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Zurich Financial plans
bid on Royal & Sun
London: Zurich Financial Services is planning a 7 billion bid for Royal
& Sun Alliance. Newspaper reports said Royal & Sun will fill in an important gap
for the Anglo-Swiss group, whose general insurance operations are not very strong.
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