On what the government felt on the interest rate scenario, Economic Affairs Secretary R Gopalan said, &ldquo;We see a possibility of growth picking up if the interest rates are reasonable.

FinMin seeks rate cut by RBI to spur ecomomic growth

Business Standard

Guess who is ready to don the sleuth&rsquo;s hat? Bankers will soon get an opportunity to join the ranks of inspectors in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Bankers offered 25% raise to turn investigators

In a radical change, the recently-constituted Health Insurance Forum is set to recommend that fees charged by hospitals from patients with mediclaim policies might be capped.

Health insurance forum to suggest sweeping changes

Subscribers to the New Pension System (NPS) would have a choice of six insurance companies from which they can buy annuity products after exiting the scheme. Annuity products are those designed to provide payments to holders at specified intervals, usually a year.

NPS subscribers to have six firms to buy annuities from

The proposal to exempt foreign banks on capital gains and permit them to carry forward unabsorbed losses would give a push for converting their branches into subsidiaries, according to bankers and tax experts.

Tax relief for foreign banks on subsidiarisation a big positive

The depreciating rupee, which hit a record low on Wednesday, may impact companies&rsquo; profits, particularly of those using imported material. This is because in the current scenario of low demand, these do not have the pricing power to pass costs on to customers. This would harm the overall economic growth, say economists.

Rupee depreciation may impact corporate profits: Economists

Even as the depreciating rupee is helping some exporters take home a higher margin over their exports, the same cannot be said about the rice exporters.

Falling Re fails to make rice exporters smile

After warning public sector banks that urban branches not generating profits for a year may be ordered to be closed, the government is now advising them to do as private banks do while opening a new branch in these areas.

'Learn from private banks'

Nabard has sanctioned Rs 144.49 crore to the Punjab government under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF-XVII) for two projects. The first project for "Construction of seven Rural Roads in six districts" of the state has a total financial outlay of Rs 82.73 crore and RIDF loan of Rs 66.17 crore.

Nabard sanctions infra projects to Punjab govt

Nabard&rsquo;s financial assistance for supporting agriculture, rural development and rural infrastructure development in Gujarat touched Rs 4340 crore during the financial year 2011-12 as against Rs 2894 crore in 2010-11.
The aid comprises Rs 3270 crore refinance support to banks for expanding farm and non-farm sector loans, Rs 780 crore loan to Government of Gujarat under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund [RIDF], Rs 205 crore direct finance to District Co-operative banks, Rs 69 crore

Nabard's financial assistance to Guj up 50%

The government on Wednesday asked insurance regulator Irda to take steps to contain the tendency of &ldquo;suicidal competition&rdquo; among insurance companies, which are undercutting one another by offering policies at low premium to grab a bigger market share.

FM asks Irda to check 'suicidal competition'

Press Trust of India

The slowdown in economic growth might hamper banks&rsquo; asset quality but the government was committed to infusing capital in public sector banks, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday.

Slow economic growth may hurt banks' asset quality, says Pranab

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) on Tuesday said the financial support extended by it in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry witnessed a growth of 47 per cent to Rs 6,318.27 crore in 2011-12 from Rs 4,288 crore in 2010-11.
Lalitha Venkatesan, chief general manager, said the bank had sanctioned Rs 1,339.15 crore to Tamil Nadu and Rs 139.88 crore to Puducherry under its Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for creating infrastructure facilities such as irrigation

Nabard support to TN, Puducherry up 47%

To ensure its financial inclusion drive is not restricted to meeting branch opening targets, the Union finance ministry is to ask banks for a performance report of the &lsquo;ultra small&rsquo; branches set up in the past two years in about 73,000 villages.

Low-cost bank branches under lens

Ahead of the monetary policy for 2012-13 on Tuesday, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D Subbarao on Saturday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the macroeconomic situation of the country.

Subbarao meets PM, FM ahead of RBI policy

The Microfinance Bill in its present form may hurt the growth of the Self-Help Group (SHG) programme being run across states to bring people above the poverty line, according to Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh.

'Microfinance Bill impediment for self-help groups'

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has strongly come out in support of a government-backed health insurance policy, which is in the works with an aim to provide health cover to a large population.

Irda for govt-backed health insurance scheme

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued the details on its announcement of last Thursday allowing airline companies to tap external commercial borrowing (ECB) for working capital needs.

RBI issues norms for airlines raising ECB for working capital

Clarifications on bank investments in mutual funds

Markets Report

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