Hijackers heading for Quetta
New Delhi: The hijackers of the Indian Airlines plane have headed for Quetta in Pakistan along with the three released militants, immediately after they left Kandahar, reports in a Pakistani newspaper said. The paper quoted Taliban information minister Abdul Hayee Mutmaeen as saying the hijackers had started their journey for Quetta, nearly six hours away from Kandahar by road.

Pakistani officials, however, said no communication was received from Taliban authorities about the hijackers' plans. The five hijackers have taken one Taliban officer along with them for security.
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Forex reserves at $35 billion
Mumbai: India's foreign exchange reserves have reached a new high of $34.8 billion. According to the weekly statistical supplement of the Reserve Bank of India, total foreign exchange reserves, including gold and SDRs, rose $450 million during the week ended 24 December 1999 to $34,839 million.

The higher reserves are on account of higher inflows from foreign institutional investors, according to analysts.

During the fortnight ended 17 December, bank credit expanded by Rs 3,856 crore to Rs 4,00,060 crore. This takes the growth in bank credit until year-end to 18.3 per cent, the RBI report said. The ways and means advances of the government declined by Rs 3,615 crore during the week ended on 17 December to Rs 4,336 crore.
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Exports up
New Delhi: India’s exports grew 30.72 per cent in November 1999 from November 1998. The main reason was improved performance in chemicals, engineering, textiles, and gems and jewellery. The increase comes on top of a 21.65 per cent growth in October 1999 and 12.01 per cent growth in September 1999.
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