Hijack drama ends, hostages released
New Delhi: The New Year seemed to be starting on a positive note, at least for the 159 hostages held by the hijackers of the Indian Airlines plane at Kandahar in Afghanistan for the last eight days. Their ordeal came to an end after the government conceded the hijackers' demand and released three terrorists from Indian jails. All the passengers returned to New Delhi on New Year's Eve night. The three militants – Masood Azhar, coordinator of Harkat-ul Ansar, a Pakistani-based militant organisation engaged in terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, Mushtaq Zargar, another militant who operated in  Kashmir, and Ahmed Omar Sayed Sheikh – were taken to Kandahar by a special plane and handed over to the Taliban authorities. India's external affairs minister Jaswant Singh travelled to Kandahar to oversee the handing over of the militants and freeing of the hostages.

The hijack drama, which began in Kathmandu on Christmas-eve, saw the slaying of 25-year-old Rupen Katyal by the hijackers. Reports from Kandahar said there were five hijackers although earlier it was said that they were six in number. India could wangle a settlement with the release of three militants against a demand for release of 36, payment of $200 million and return of coffin and body of an Afghan militant, killed in a Jammu jail some five months ago while attempting to escape.
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Sky marshals on IA flights
New Delhi: The government has decided to have at least two sky marshals in 40 international and domestic flights operated by Indian Airlines in view of the recent hijacking incident. A civil aviation department official said the sky marshals drawn from the National Security Guards will fly on certain identified routes.
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Indian Bank appeals against Sebi order
Mumbai: Indian Bank has challenged the order of the Securities and Exchange Board of India directing it to pay Rs 70 crore to investors in the bank subsidiary’s mutual fund scheme, Ind Prakash. The bank has filed an appeal before the appellate authority in the finance ministry. Sebi has ordered the bank to meet its commitments in terms of assurances given at the time of offer of the scheme. The bank had contended before the regulator during hearing of the case that the returns were indicative and not assured returns and hence it was not binding on the bank to pay the investors.
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IDBI to set up infotech subsidiary
Mumbai: The Industrial Development Bank of India is floating a subsidiary company to handle information technology operations. IDBI’s board of directors has cleared the proposal at a recent meeting. The company is likely to come into being by end-March 2000. IDBI will have a strategic international partner for the subsidiary, which will function as a portal. It will offer IDBI’s products on the web, information technology-related services and consultancy.

IDBI chairman and managing director G.P. Gupta said the subsidiary is part of IDBI’s plan to extend its operations into e-commerce and universal banking.
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GIC pays dividend to government
New Delhi: The General Insurance Corporation of India has presented a cheque of Rs 64.5 crore to finance minister Yashwant Sinha as dividend due to the government. In addition to this, GIC and its four subsidiaries have raised Rs one crore for the Orissa cyclone fund, a cheque for which  was also handed over to the finance minister by GIC chairman and managing director D. Sengupta.
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HDFC Bank plans stake in Computer Age
Mumbai: HDFC Bank is likely to pick up a 26 per cent holding in Chennai’s Computer Age Management Services, a leading registrar and transfer agent with a network of 17 branch offices all over India and an equity capital of Rs one crore. It has a five-lakh investor base.

HDFC Bank intends to enter the mutual fund sector, and the alliance is expected to help the bank in this effort. The two parties have signed a memorandum of understanding in this regard.
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