Govt. introduces two bills
New Delhi: The government introduced the insurance bill and the
amendments to the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (SCRA) that will open up the
insurance sector and permit derivatives trading in the Indian markets respectively.
The Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata
Dal and the Left have dubbed the Insurance Bill as anti-national.
More than 200,000 insurance personnel
throughout the country will strike work today (29 October 1999) protesting against the
privatisation of the insurance sector.
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FDI limit may
go up in petroleum, auto sectors
New Delhi: The department of industrial policy & promotion is
contemplating an increase in the automatic approval of foreign direct investment in the
automobile and petroleum sectors from the current 51 per cent to 74 per cent. It is also
intending to make the sectors where the automatic approval limit is currently 74 per cent
to be made 100 per cent.
Sectors such as films, roads,
non-conventional energy and ports are expected to come under the 100 per cent automatic
clearance system.
Other sectors where the automatic approval
system is expected to go up from the current 51 per cent to 74 per cent are bulk grain and
tourism.
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Minimum
capital norms for LIC, GIC wings
New Delhi: Within six months of the ratification of the Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, the Life Insurance Corporation and arms of the
General Insurance Corporation will have to increase their minimum capital base to Rs.100
crore. The Rs.100 crore capital limit is the same as that fixed for the new entrants into
the private sector.
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SBI net down
Mumbai: The State Bank of India has reported a drop in net profit of
around 18 per cent to Rs.702.4 crore during the first half of the fiscal year 1999-2000.
During the corresponding period in the previous year, the net profit was Rs.857.7 crore.
Interest income and other income have gone
up by 19.5 per cent and 10.2 per cent respectively. For the half year-ended September
1999, the interest income was Rs.10,507.3 crore while other income was Rs.1,610.4 crore.
Interest expenses and operating expenses
grew by 25.1 per cent and 11.1 per cent respectively. The public sector major managed to
post an operating profit of Rs.1,745.4 crore for the half-year ended September 1999 which
is a growth of 4 per cent from the corresponding period in the previous year.
The bank has stated that the decision to
make a larger-than-required provision for non-performing assets has caused a drop in the
net profit.
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Stay awarded
to MTNL on CPP
New Delhi: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. has been granted a stay on the
calling party pays or CPP system that was supposed to come into effect from 1
November 1999.
The CPP system simply means that if a call
is made from a land-line to a cellular number, the caller has to pay an amount over and
above the amount that is paid as normal call charges. The revenue thus arising would be
shared by the land-line and mobile operators. Incoming calls for mobile phones were also
to become free from 1 November.
MTNL and the consumer organisation,
Telecom Watchdog, which had filed a public interest litigation against the
revenue sharing system, have been told that the next hearing on the case will be on 16
November 1999.
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