Supreme Court rules status quo on Ayodhya
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that status quo must be maintained in Ayodhya and that no puja or shiladaan would be permitted.

Soon after the Supreme Courts rejection of the government's contention that a symbolic pooja could be performed at undisputed land at Ayodhya, government's crisis managers went into a huddle to contain the anger of allies.

The allies were furious at the government defence in court - that the proposed pooja should be permitted - because they felt that this argument was no different from the VHP's.

VHP international general secretary Praveen Togadia said that the VHP would take the issue to the people's court.
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Cabinet okays national policy on co-operatives
New Delhi: The cabinet has approved the national policy on co-operatives aimed at professionalisation and democratisation of operation of co-operatives. It will facilitate their development as self-reliant and economically-viable organisations.
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Expressway to Myanmar, Thailand
Kolkata: India, Thailand and Myanmar have agreed to construct an international expressway connecting the three countries. Each country will bear the construction cost of the stretch that falls in its territory.

This was disclosed by Kyaw Thu, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Myanmar in India.

The expressway will start at More in Manipur and go up to Chengmai in Thailand. It will pass through Tamu, Kalewa, Monywa, Mandale, Yangon and Myawadi.

India and Myanmar have also agreed to re-introduce shiplink between Kolkata and Yangon.
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Three bidders for central India pipeline
Mumbai: Reliance Petroleum, L&T and Sun Group are bidding to build and operate the 1,400-km central India pipeline project. The pipeline will link Jamnagar in Gujarat to Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh on the main line with an offshoot going to Nagpur in Maharashtra.

Bid documents were collected at the end of February and the actual bids are expected to be in by May. The project, expected to cost about Rs 2,200 crore, maybe awarded by September and the bidders will be able to bring in partners to form a consortium.

Reliance is expected to bid on its own, while L&T is expected to tie up with another company for the operation. The Sun Group is already a consortium with two Russian companies.

The project will be awarded on a build own operate and transfer (BOOT) basis.
The BOOT is for a 15-year-tenure after which the asset will be transfered to Petronet Central India pipeline company.
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World Bank sees economic recovery next year
Washington: The global economy will rebound strongly out of its deep slowdown next year, but growth rates in many countries will not be high enough to reduce poverty quickly, according to the World Bank.

In its annual global development finance report, the World Bank said it expects global economic growth to reach 1.3 per cent this year, making the slowdown from 3.9 per cent growth in 2000 the sharpest in 30 years.

Global growth is expected to pick up again next year to 3.6 per cent but the turnaround is likely to be uneven, the report said.

The bank also predicted a weakening of the US dollar over the next few years due to an adjustment in the current account.

According to the World Bank report, the developing world will lead the way to recovery, with East Asia expected to expand at the fastest pace of 5.2 per cent in 2002, soaring to 6.9 per cent next year.
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Nasscom plans overseas events
New Delhi: The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) is organising a slew of international events starting April to help the Indian IT companies find easy access to international markets.

Nasscom, along with the New York Stock Exchange, is organising the India Technology forum at New York on 5 April. About half-a-dozen Indian IT companies are likely to participate in the forum.

Later in April, Nasscom is sending a delegation to Israel. Then again in May, it will send a couple of delegations to Ireland, Belgium and Sweden.
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Workers to bid for govt stake in MOIL
Nagpur: The workers union affiliated to the Indian National Trade Union Congress (Intuc) has proposed to buy Manganese Ore India (MOIL) if the government offers it for sale.

The Central government intends to reduce its stake in the public sector undertaking by 51 per cent from the present 81.57 per cent.

Intuc said it was prepared to take the stake if the government went ahead with the proposal by the disinvestment commission.

Part of MOIL's equity is also held by the Maharashtra (9.62 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (8.81 per cent) state governments.

MOIL has posted profits for the past several years and did particularly well in 2000-01, registering a 23 per cent rise in turnover at Rs 165.22 crore. It made a post-tax profit of Rs 20.05 crore, an increase of 71 per cent and returned a dividend of 27 per cent.
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