Insurance industry is gearing up to clear claims from the attack on Mumbai even as many of the injured are finding it tough to produce the required documents.
A committee headed by Irda's member actuary R Kannan has suggested a grace period of 15 days for policyholders who pay premium on a monthly basis, while a 30 days grace period will be available to those who pay their premium annually, half-yearly or quarterly.
At a time when the global banking industry is feeling the pinch of the global credit crunch, Central Bank of India is planning to expand its foreign presence.
In a move to boost liquidity, the government and the Reserve Bank of India are considering a special window to enable banks with farm loan relief scheme arrears, a major factor impacting liquidity, to raise funds. The move will help inject liquidity into the system till Parliament approves the Rs 25,000-crore reimbursement.
The bank approached RBI for the second time in August this year. The erstwhile development financial institution had approached the regulator in 2007 to get into the private equity business. While no formal proposal was moved, RBI had then advised the bank to concentrate on its upcoming life insurance business. Its joint venture with Fortis and Federal Bank is now up and running.
As the tides of investments change over time, venture capital funds are shifting their focus to businesses related to consumer demand such as education, media and entertainment, food & beverages and alternative energy.
According to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India, the growth was significantly higher than the 24.51 per cent rise in the value of plastic money transactions in 2006-07 and was partly attributed to banks encouraging people to use cards for transactions. In recent months, banks have increasingly put in place schemes, like cash-back offers, to entice people to use more of debit cards.
The government has asked the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority to open the retirement scheme--which has so far been confined to central government employees--to the self-employed and those in the unorganised sector.
After years of waiting, finally there seems to be hope for the passage of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, thanks to the Left's withdrawal of support from the government. The passing of the Bill will provide statutory backing to the regulatory agency, enabling it to issue guidelines and allow non-government employees to save for the long-term. PFRDA Chairman D Swarup spoke to Business Standard about the issues involved.
Instead of training executives at a time when delinquency rates are rising across segments, lenders have approached industry body Indian Banks' Association and IIBF to lower the fees, which are in the range of Rs 6,000-8,000 for every agent. Bankers said they were finding it difficult to keep employees and agents away from work for 15 days when they undergo the 100-hour training and certification programme mandated by the RBI.
The four Left parties may no longer be allies of the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance, but their concerns on the pension Bill will still be addressed by the government.
With each form costing Rs 250, the bank has raked in around Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million).
Membership to help domestic banks access developed markets.
A day after Fitch lowered India's local currency outlook to negative, international rating agency Moody's said it was also worried about the reversal of India's fiscal situation due to high oil prices and the lack of policy adjustment by the government. Moody's, however, said it was unlikely to change its investment grade rating to India's sovereign foreign currency rating or the domestic currency rating, which is below investment grade.
Last week, after months of scrutiny, the Forward Markets Commission, the regulator for futures trading in commodities, approved a proposal from state-owned MMTC Ltd and finance-to-real estate group Indiabulls to set up a national multi-commodity exchange.
Coal ministry says Sasan coal cannot be used for other plant.
It's a difficult time for banks both at home and abroad. But Sanjay Nayar, Chief Executive Officer, Citi India, shrugs off Citigroup's problems in the US saying they haven't really impacted the Indian operations. Nayar admits there have been a few problems with the consumer finance business but tells Business Standard that Citi's India operations are well-positioned to see double digit growth over the next few years.
The United Progressive Alliance government has made it clear to states that it will not permit them any relaxation in labour laws in special economic zones, petrochemical hubs and industrial parks such as easing norms for hiring and firing and employment of women and restricting union activity, among others. Over the last two weeks, at least three state governments have seen their proposals for relaxing labour laws in duty-free areas being rejected by the Centre.
The move comes even as Bank of India on Wednesday said its corporate clients will suffer mark-to-market losses of around Rs 125 crore. It has 34 clients with 74 derivative transactions. Last week, State Bank of India said its clients may incur MTM losses of up to Rs 700 crore at the end of March 2008.
With little clarity on the list of companies that have mark-to-market losses on derivatives transactions, banks are now asking their corporate banking departments to scan the books of borrowers and also seek details of their foreign exchange exposure. Within this pie, banks are segregating companies with turnover of Rs 30-40 crore (Rs 300-400 million) to Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) and those which are above this threshold.