Welcome 2002, goodbye mark. That's how Germans will ring in the new year on January 1, 2002. By February 28, 2001, 300 million people in 12 European countries will bid farewell to their national currencies and adopt one single currency-the euro (abbreviation: EUR). After that one can travel from Helsinki in Finland to Lisbon in Portugal with just one currency. No more currency exchanges , no more exchange commissions. Currencies as weak as the Italian lira and as strong as the German mark (one rupee equals 46 Italian liras, but only 0.46 mark) will merge into the euro (see table). There will be seven denominations of euro notes and eight of euro coins-to be called cents.

NEWSNOTES RATE OF CHANGE Starting Jan 1, 12 European currencies will be replaced with a single euro. Here's what the currencies' worth in euro is: VALUE OF 1 EURO 1. Austrian Schilling 13.76 2. Belgian Franc 40.34 3. Finnish Markka 5.95 4. French Franc 6.56 5. German Mark 1.96 6. Greek Drachma 340.75 7. Italian Lira 1936.27 8. Irish Punt 0.78 9. Luxemburg Franc 40.34 10. Dutch Guilder 2.20 11. Portuguese Escudo 200.48 12. Spanish Peseta 166.39 Indian Rupee 42.02 All values on December 24, 2001

After Germany adopts the euro from January 1, Netherlands will switch from guilder to euro on January 28 and France will renounce franc on February 17. The remaining countries will follow suit on February 28. Though retail transactions in local currencies will end on that date, the central banks in most of the 12 countries will continue to exchange the remaining currencies for the euro till 2004, and in a few countries for an indefinite period.

The march to a single currency, which started in December 1995 when heads of 11 European states formally agreed on the euro, is a major step toward emergence of a single European identity. The European Union is India's largest trading partner. A recent FICCI survey of Indian companies with interests in the 12 European countries lists gains to India from euro.

The most obvious benefit would be a reduction in transaction costs, the costs associated with converting one currency to another for cross-border business. Reduction in foreign exchange risk is another likely benefit. The euro will also reduce the dominance of the US dollar in India's trade. Currently Indian traders transact in dollars to avoid dealing in too many currencies with changing values. The dollar is a stable neutral currency. The single euro will mitigate the need to trade in the dollar. But nobody is sure if the euro will rival the US dollar as the pre-eminent global currency. That's because the 12 member countries have vastly different levels of economic development that could affect the stability of the euro. But for Europeans celebrating the advent of the euro, that's not the worry now.

-Rohit Saran

Mystery surrounds 28-year-old Richard C. Reid, the man caught trying to blow up an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami with explosives hidden in his shoe. Is he British, Sri Lankan or from the Carribean region? And why did he try to set off the bomb in full view of passengers? He has been charged only with intimidation, not possession of explosives.

While investigative teams try to ascertain his identity, French airport officials are having a tough time explaining how he was allowed to pass through security since he had been stopped a day earlier after he aroused suspicions. For US air operators this could not have come at a worse time. Fares have already hit rock bottom, and passenger confidence may now take longer to recover.

-Anil Padmanabhan

COMEBACK
Test Passes Poll Exam

TOP SCORER: Laxman

As India's cricketing year draws to an indifferent end, a little feelgood afterglow has come the team's way courtesy a source that not long ago would have sent shivers down some cricketers' spines: a bookmaker. In a worldwide opinion poll on cricket website Cricinfo.com sponsored by London bookmakers Ladbrokes, 3,000 respondents from 65 countries voted V.V.S. Laxman's score of 281 against Australia at Kolkata's Eden Gardens as the "Performance of the Year". That match was also voted the "Match of the Year". The Australians were commended by many for their result-oriented approach which has added an exciting edge to Test cricket which had begun to fall off the popularity charts for being a boring, slow version of the game. The ICC's running of the game didn't escape attention either. Though praised for introducing the concept of the World Test Championship, respondents found the game's ruling body out of sync with the needs of the modern game. Jagmohan Dalmiya might agree.

-Samrat Choudhury