Trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange was stopped today following a fire in the adjacent Rajabahadur Mansion. Official sources said that three persons were killed and 25 injured, of whom 10 were in serious condition. Short circuit is believed to be the cause of the fire which broke out around 1 p.m. Eyewitnesses say that the fire started on the ground floor of the building and spread upwards. Unable to find a way out, people jumped out of their offices. A BSE press release said that as smoke started affecting the persons in the ring, trading was stopped at 1-20 p.m. and the building was vacated by 1-45 p.m. However, there was no damage to P. J. Towers (which houses the BSE).

Reliance refinery capacity hike okayed

The Cabinet Committee on Foreign Investment (CCFI) has given the go-ahead to Reliance Petroleum for an increase in its refinery capacity to 15 million tonnes with a revision in capital outlay to Rs. 7,584 crores and an increase in foreign equity by Rs. 100 crores. Reliance Petroleum had earlier obtained clearance for setting up a nine-million-tonne refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat at an estimated cost of Rs. 5,142 crores with a foreign equity of $ 100 millions.

Central excise laws simplified

The Centre today simplified Central excise laws by rescinding 95 notifications and replacing them with 11. The new provision will come into effect from October 1. An official release states that to claim rebate on export duty, there will be only the new Rule 12 against Rules 12, 12A and 191A of the Central Excise Rules. For export of goods under bond Rule 13, 191B and 191BB would be replaced by a new Rule 13.

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