European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 17, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters tuesday january 17, 1995 today a rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound .1.61 dutch Guilder 1.68 German Mark 1.50 Nita the rates above apply Wittin Trio Host country. Figures Ara expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign cur Rescics a it austrian Schilling 10.81 Bahrain Dinar 0.37675 belgian franc 31.635 British Pound 1.5694 Canadian Dollar 1.4123 danish Krone 6.0520 dutch Guilder 1.7159 French franc 5.2937 German Mark greek drachma italian lira 1,603.00 Kuwait Dinar 29065 norwegian Krone .6.7158 portuguese escudo  158,45 saudi Royal .3,7504 Spanish peseta 133.25 Swiss franc 1.2835 turkish lira. 39,900.00note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound a other  the Dollar Agold quota $377.25 an ounce a Silver quote $4.77 an ounce a. Sources merchants National Bank. Amp Trust co. And the associated press 1.5315 238.90 Continental plans 10% downsizing Houston a Continental airlines plans to reduce its work Force by As much As 10 percent nationwide As part of an Effort to Weed out Money losing routes and return to profitability. The reductions a As Many As 4,000 jobs a will come through Early retirements leaves of absence and Normal attrition the airline said. Some employees also will be Laid off Continental spokesman Ned Walker said sunday. He did not have an exact figure. Continental said the cuts Stem from a plan announced last year to eliminate the Airbus a300 from its Fleet and the rerouting of its Low passenger routes to the East coast. The removal of the Airbus Fleet Means a capacity reduction of 8 percent. On tuesday in the first step of what Continental chief executive Gordon be Thune is calling Continentals go Forward plan the airline trimmed 7 percent of its flights and grounded eight of its Airbus a300 jets Large planes that each require three flight officers and seat 250 passengers. Power struggle sabotages Abc Turner merger talks by Bill Carter new York times new York a a planned merger of Turner broadcasting system inc. And Abc collapsed during the weekend. Both sides issued statements sunday that attributed the failure to a disagreement about which Side would have retained management control. The decision came after a meeting Between John Welch jr., chairman of general electric co., which owns Abc and , chairman of Turner broadcasting. ,. A. Abc executives continued to express some Hope that the talks could resume. But a Turner executive who spoke on condition of anonymity said a the Deal is just Over. They were so far away from where we were. We were talking at different ends of the room. If they came into this never intending to turn Over control of Abc that was not articulated to  a v a. Robert Wright the president of Abc who also participated in the discussions with Turner said a we held discussions that did not result in anything because the nature of the proposal be made transferred control to be and that was unacceptable to  Turner could not be reached for comment. A a a a a senior Abc executive speaking on condition of anonymity said Welch had determined that Abc was too valuable an asset to be and never had any intention of parting with control of the network. Quot a. A a a a . Be also argued that it was a More profitable entity than Turner broadcast my a Point intensely disputed by the Turner executive. The Turner executive said it was pointless for be to try to assume control of the merged companies because if Turner intended to relinquish control he would be obligated to offer his company first to the two Cable giants who controlled his Board of directors Tele communications inc. And time Warner inc. The two sides had been in discussions about some form of merger for some time but Only last week when the two chairmen met did the proposal for a final Structure take place. As described by executives close to the negotiations the merger would have brought the Turner Cable Empire under be and Abc. That Empire consists of the Cable channels can int Tbs headline news the cartoon network and Turner classic movies. Ted Turner chairman of Turner broadcasting system inc., and his wife Jane Fonda arrive at the Cable Ace awards show in los Angeles on sunday the same Day that officials announced that a Turner merger with Abc had fallen apart. The merged entity would have had enormous strength especially with opportunities such As combining Abc news with can. A v. A Abc already owns two Cable channels the Cnoc financial business Channel and americans talking. The network also has staged a Strong comeback in the prime time ratings this season owning the years biggest new hit the drama . What Abc proposed for Turner was a ride that the Abc executive described As a a not unlike what he has now in fact he would have had More authority than he has  under the Deal. Turner would have retained the title of chairman though he would have been chairman without executive authority. Instead Wright would have had the title of president and have been the chief executive of the merged company. The Abc executive said Turner resisted what the executive called a the Perccy. Tion that he would no longer be in control of his  but he added that Turners current ownership Structure already restricts his authority. He cannot spend More than $2 million without the approval of Tele communications and time Warner the executive  . Signs pact with India new Delhi India apr . Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown oversaw the signing monday of .-Indian business agreements Worth $1.4 billion but reported no Progress in persuading India to Speed economic reforms. Brown began a we Klong visit to India on sunday to urge top government officials to open its service sector wider to foreign investment and increase its Protection of intellectual property rights. Executives of top american companies that do business in India told him monday that they still face Many obstacles despite reforms to Date. The executives urged Brown to encourage India to lower tariffs further simplify time consuming regulations and reduce corruption in the bidding procedure for new business deals. Later Brown oversaw the signing of Indian-, business deals valued at $1.4 billion mostly in indians antiquated markets of telecommunications and Power production. Brown and Commerce minister Pranab Mukherjee also signed an agreement creating the .-Lndia commercial Alliance a panel of government and private sector officials to promote More deals. The panel will encourage Indian-. Trade in areas such As Oil Power mining telecommunications and transport India launched reforms in 1991 that Are opening its Economy and allowing the third world nations industries exports and foreign investment to grow rapidly. But the government has admitted that the reforms still have a Long Way to go and that some sectors of India oppose them. Despite the reforms1, India still lags behind nations such As China and Indonesia in attracting foreign investment. Brown met with local executives of . Companies such As Citibank at amp to Pepsico. Hewlett Packard and general electric to discuss indians economic reforms. Many of the executives urged Brown to ask the government to Speed reforms so it will be easier to do business in the country. We need reductions on tariffs and duties on products we want to manufacture and irn port to India a Scott r. Bayman the president of be India told Brown during the breakfast meeting. Bayman said american companies also need major improvements in indians outmoded roads Telephone services and Power systems a to reach our global customers in a timely  Sunil Mehta a Citibank vice president said India has barely begun to deregulate inc Complex and out of Date regulations that still control Bow and where Banks can invest and lend Money. Suresh c. Rajput president of Hewlett Packard India ltd., complained that India like Many other to i countries does no to adequately protect intellectual pro erty rights