This announcement was made by foreign ministry spokesperson Nirupama Rao. "Since the December 13 attack on Parliament, we have seen no attempt on the part of Pakistan to take action against the organisations involved," Rao told a press conference.

India has demanded that Pakistan government shut down two Islamic militant organisations - the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad - who are accused of carrying out the attack on Indian Parliament that killed eight people.
Pakistan has rejected India's accusations that its intelligence service supported the attack and said it would take no action until India supplies proof.
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Subsidy on kerosene, LPG to be phased out
New Delhi: The government favours a five-year period to phase out subsidies on petroproducts after removal of pricing controls in April.

The five-year subsidy phaseout would provide a cushion to consumers from a sudden spurt in the prices of cooking gas and kerosene.

At present, each LPG cylinder has a subsidy of 36-37 per cent amounting to Rs 140-150. This will come down to 15 per cent after decontrol, leading to a price increase of Rs 92.
Kerosene does not pose such a challenge as the stipulated 35 per cent subsidy would entail only a hike of about Rs 1.20.
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Harshad remanded till Jan 4
Mumbai: A special court on 21 December rejected the bail plea of Harshad Mehta and his brothers Sudhir and Ashwin and remanded them to judicial custody till January 4 in a case of misappropriation of funds worth about Rs 250 crore from 27 lakh missing shares of 90 blue chip companies.

Harshad's another brother, Ashwin, could not be produced in the court as he is admitted to the J J hospital since November 22 following complaint of giddiness.
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India cuts export growth target to 3%
New Delhi: India on 21 December cut its export growth target for 2001-02 (April-March) to 3 per cent from 12 per cent on account of the adverse effects on the global economy in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks on the United States. The events of 11 September seriously disrupted supply lines and depressed consumer sentiment in developed markets, particularly in the US, European Union, and Japan which account for 45 per cent of our exports, a government statement said.

Indian exports fell 2.88 per cent to $24.38 billion in April-October 2001 over the corresponding period last year.
Exports in October were down 7.39 per cent at $3.44 billion over the corresponding month last year.
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Telecom equipment exports up 150% in 2000-01
New Delhi: India's export of telecom equipment in 2000-01 stood at Rs 450 crore while its import was to the tune of Rs 2,051 crore.

While the export of telecom equipment during 2000-01 reflected a growth of 150 per cent from Rs 180 crore in 1999-00, the imports of telecom equipment were up 35.2 per cent.

The value of telecom items produced by the industry during 2000-01 was Rs 12,271 crore, up 14 per cent from Rs 10,760 crore in 1999-00.
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RBI to issue new Rs 1000 notes
Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue Rs 1,000 notes in Mahatma Gandhi series with capital letter 'A' inset in numbering panels bearing the signature of RBI governor Bimal Jalan.

Except for the change in inset letter, the design of the Rs 1,000 notes to be issued now would be similar in all respects to those issued earlier in the Mahatma Gandhi series, RBI said in a release.
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Euro-III compliance to cost Rs 35,000 crore
New Delhi: An investment of about Rs 35,000 crore would be required for improvement in auto fuel for meeting Euro-III equivalent vehicular emission norms, according to petroleum minister Ram Naik.

"An investment of Rs 35,000 crore would be required for meeting Euro-III norms," Naik told the consultative committee meeting of ministry of petroleum.

Naik said petrol quality has been improved by completely removing lead content and increasing Octane number at an investment of Rs 3,000 crore while sulphur content in diesel has been reduced to 0.25 per cent max at an investment of about Rs 7,000 crore.

Sulphur content in diesel supplied in four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai is just 0.05 per cent, which is comparable to diesel quality supplied in Europe and US and was better than Australia (0.15 per cent sulphur content) and China (0.50 per cent sulphur content).
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