First woman makes it to BSE board

For the first time in the history of the 122-year-old Bombay Stock Exchange, a woman has been elected as one of the directors to the governing board. Ms. Deena A. Mehta, Mr. Anand Rathi, Mr. Mahendra N. Kampani and Mr. Ramesh M. Damani were elected as Directors for 1997-98. The maximum number of votes were cast in favour of Ms. Mehta, with 382 out of a total of 413, followed by Mr. Rathi at a close second with 374 votes. Mr. Kampani with 365 votes and Mr. Damani 337 votes. The only contender who did not make it to the board was Mr. Neel Dalai who received 194 votes.

Gas field discovered off Andamans

Beginner’s luck seems to have favoured the Indian petroleum and natural gas sector, as the country’s first foray in deep water exploration has indicated the presence of a huge gas field off the Andaman coast. Experts say that the quantity of gas that exists there is enormous. “It is the largest gas field ever discovered in India,” said one top official of the Petroleum Ministry. He, however, refused to put a figure to the possible extent of gas reserves at that location, on the grounds that the available data needed to be processed and interpreted before a final figure could be arrived at.

Forex accounting norms to be revised soon

Accounting norms for revaluation of foreign exchange positions and booking of forex profits and losses are to be finalised shortly. Sources said that the norms are currently being reviewed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a decision will be taken next month. Officials at the RBI said the central bank will approve these norms as soon as they are finalised by the ICAI.