COMPANIES

• Bajaj Auto profit at Rs 538 cr in ’02-03
• Pharma R&D fund to offer higher flexibility
• Usha Martin net profit up 36 per cent
• FACT may resume operations next week
• RIL initiates action plans to look into BSES tangle
• IA awaiting govt’s green signal to resume flights to Kabul, Karachi
• IBM to merge Indian arms, to hire more staff
• Satyam ends 1-yr sabbatical, visits institutes again
• Daimler set to relaunch Mercedes `C' class soon
• NTPC sounds Govt on ADRs — `5 per cent of equity would net Rs 1,500 cr'
• ASPET ties up with German cos for export
• Infy unveils ethics code to check financial frauds
• Minors drag major cos to court
• Binny plea for Chennai land sale dismissed
• Philips Glass to replace ECBs with domestic loans
• Taylor Nelson buys NFO of US for $425 mn
• iDreams heads westward with Bollywood masala
• Bharti offers 20 per cent free ISD calls

GENERAL

• Brussels backs India’s stand on QRs
• Service tax on new items not before July 1
• Centre-state meet on drought contingency plans on May 28

BANKING AND FINANCE

• Peerless General gets RBI stamp
• LIC eastern zone tops national charts
• LIC plans lower-rate credit card
• Moody’s retains negative view of American insurance sector
• ICICI Lombard to cover medicinal plant cultivation
• Oriental Bank credit card this month
• Corpn Bank 2002-03 net rises 35 per cent to Rs 416 crore
• Co-op bank victims appeal to AP Governor
• IDBI Bank sees assets on books growing 148 pc
• Bank of India hikes deposit rates
• ICRA in talks with Arab cos for services
• AMP Sanmar's gambit paying off
• HDFC business up 30 per cent in Gulf region
• IRDA devises `simple' pension plan

CAPITAL MARKET

• Dr Reddy's grants stock options to employees
• Shasun Chem touches 52-week high
• HLL rebound props up Sensex
• Textile stocks gain on Budget sops, WTO
• Nalco plans IPO in Sept, strategic sale delinked
• Order talk lifts Hexaware
• Re up; gilts range-bound

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

• Nestle works on Dreyer's deal, mum on WSJ report
• Dollar advances tepidly on Euro
• SABMiller to buy majority stake in Italy’s Peroni for $283 million
• SEC to hold hedge fund hearings this week