September 4, 2002

Indian government steps in to rescue country's largest mutual fund manager, state-owned Unit Trust of India, whose investment performance has fallen far short of returns it promised to tens of millions of retail investors; government injects $3 billion in tax money into trust to cover shortfalls in US-64, country's oldest and largest mutual fund (M)

SAP AG says founding shareholders have dissolved agreement that bundled their shares; pooled voting rights, totaling 30.17 percent, were split among founders Hasso Plattner, Dietmar Hopp and Klaus Tschira to simplify company's capital structure and conform to generally accepted accounting practices; photo (S)

Brazil, faced with huge import tariffs, has unilaterally opened its market over last decade and is now negotiating major trade accords on three fronts: with US, to form Freed Trade Area of Americas, with European Union, as de facto leader of South America's trade bloc Mercosur and multilaterally, in World Trade Organization; Brazil still exports less than 10 percent of its gross domestic product and, though it is among world's top 10 economies, accounts for less than 1 percent of global trade; recent devaluation of its currency, the real, has made country much more competitive, especially in agribusiness; country currently runs world's biggest agricultural trade surplus, totaling $20 billion per year (M)

British fund manager Schroders reports 58 percent decline in profit in first half of year; net income was 13.3 million pounds ($20.7 million), compared with 31.3 million pounds year earlier; chairman Peter Sedgwick will retire on Dec 31 (S)

Andrew M Cuomo abruptly pulls out of race for Democratic nomination for governor of New York week before primary, avoiding what polls indicate would have been big loss to Comptrolelr H Carl McCall; Bill Clinton and Repr Charles Rangel flank Cuomo as he makes announcement that is humiliation for man who entered race in defiance of party leaders and tried to act as rebellious outsider; McCall becomes presumptive candidate, although Cuomo remains on Liberal Party line; photos; McCall camp had rebuffed what were considered Cuomo's presumptuous efforts to negotiate terms of withdrawal (M)

Roger Clemens was alone by his locker about 45 minutes before he would throw his first pitch against the Boston Red Sox last night, when Yankees Manager Joe Torre glided by with a simple yet stern message. ''Roger,'' Torre said, ''we really need you tonight.''

Large number of signs and billboards, especially large store signs, put up in New York City are illegal; contractors are bypassing sign hangers' union--Sheet Metal Workers International Assn--and using cheaper nonunion labor, knowing that city inspectors are too busy to enforce law; union is doing its own inspections and has brought instances of illegal signs and billboards to city's attention; photos (M)

Telecom Italia will name Riccardo Ruggiero as co-chief executive, with Carlo Buora, replacing Enrico Bondi, who resigned last week (S)

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column discusses Monica Seles, once dominating force in women's tennis, and now still contender despite admitting that game has changed; photo (M)

US begins most aggressive effort yet to wipe out coca growing in Colombia, with full support of new Colombian President Alvaro Uribe; round of aerial spraying last month opens new phase aimed at reversing years of setbacks as coca continues to spread drastically; crop dusters will operate more, with fewer restrictions, in places like Guamuez Valley, coca-growing heartland where fields of brown are all that remain after spraying; former President Andres Pastrana had forbade some missions for fear of alienating peasants during delicate peace talks with leftist rebels, so that 80 percent of crops in Purumayo province were replanted and cocaine trafficking continued unabated; US goal now is to kill up to 300,000 acres of coca this year; analysts warn planting may just spread to wider area, which has happened already after decade of US spraying (M)

Dow Jones industrial average drops 355.45 points, or 4.1 percent, at 8,308.05; Nasdaq composite index declines 51.01 points, or 3.9 percent, to 1,263.84; Standard & Poor's 500-stock index falls 38.05 points, or 4.2 percent, to 878.02; yield on two-year note, which is often sensitive to expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cut, falls to 1.98 percent, from 2.15 percent; results of Treasury auction of three- and six-month bills noted; charts; graphs; photos (M)

Customers and employees of Consolidated Freightways, trucking company that shut down on Sept 2, are trying to determine what happens next; hundreds of thousands of shipments are stuck at terminals, and more than 15,000 members of Teamsters union lost their jobs overnight; Consolidated's competitors may take over some of its shipments and hire some of workers, but changeover promises to be tedious; Consolidated spokesman Michael C Brown estimates that more than 200,000 shipments are still in company's terminals; terminals will reopen Sept 4 so other companies can pick up shipments; Consolidated has appealed to Yellow Corp, Roadway Corp, ABF Freight System Inc and USF Holland to hire its employees; photos (M)