Allahabad Bank lends through the net
Calcutta: Allahabad Bank has started accepting applications and sanctioning its educational loans through the Internet. It is also thinking of doing the same with car and home loans.

The bank has a website called www.allahabadbank.com. During the financial year 1999-2000, more than 50 per cent of its educational loan applications have come through this website. The website contains an application form, which can be filled and sent to the bank online. The online application can be used by students getting into courses such as IIT and IIM.

Allahabad Bank has achieved Y2K compliance.
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RBI sucks out Rs.4,500 crore
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has absorbed over Rs.4,500 crore from the system by way of open market operations, which accounted for Rs.2,000 crore, and Rs.2,500 crore by way of auction of 11.99 per cent 2009 paper.

The central bank is in the process of mopping up the excess liquidity in the market. For the financial year 1999-2000, the amount sucked out has touched over Rs.23,495 crore, while for the entire financial year 1998-99, it was Rs.29,579 crore.
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Amex to launch global credit card
Mumbai: American Express Bank will launch its global credit cards in India in the next couple of weeks. All existing card holders of the bank will be able to change their cards into global cards at no extra fee.

After Standard Chartered Bank and Citibank, Amex is the third bank to offer its global card in India.

Amex had earlier entered the credit card market in November 1998 and offered the best monthly rates. Currently, the bank has a credit card customer base of 80,000. In comparison, Standard Chartered has a base of around 1 lakh customers for its global credit card.
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Civil aviation ministry draws Y2K contingency plan
New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry has drawn a plan that will be activated at 11.30 pm on 31 December 1999, according to a reoprt in The Economic Times. A contingency route structure and an alternative plan in case there is a communication or other system failures has been developed in consultation with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and neighbouring countries.
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CBDT issues circular on tax exemption for research bodies
New Delhi: The Central Board of Direct Taxes has issued a circular on tax benefit on donations, stating that scientific research bodies can now apply to the central government directly, instead of the director general income tax, exemptions, or DGITE. Approval of the secretary, department of scientific and industrial research has also been done away with.

Donations made to certain scientific research organisations are eligible for a deduction of 125 per cent. This benefit is applicable only for organisations approved under section 35(1)(ii) and 35(1)(iii) of the Income Tax Act. They have to file for exemption using form 3CF.

All applications pending with the DGITE as on 25 June 1999 and pertaining to assessment year 2000-2001 or later will be transferred to the central government. Applications pending with the DGITE for assessment year 1999-2000 or earlier will continue to be with the DGITE.
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All exchanges to be Y2K compliant by October: DoT
New Delhi: On Y2K, the department of telecommunications has told the International Telecom Union that Y2k solutions were pending on only 2,065 of the total 25,784 exchanges and 386 trunk automatic exchanges. Most of the 2,065 exchanges were C-DoT exchanges, where Y2k solutions were difficult to implement owing to geographical limitations.

According to the DoT, all transmission systems, 457 satellite earth stations, terminals and intelligent network systems were Y2k-complaint. By October 1999, INET, the public data network used in more than 100 cities, will be Y2k-compliant. The department further says that the equipment supplied by MTNL, ITI, HTL and TCIL are all Y2k compliant.

DoT also states that three of the 22 cellular operators, 55 of 139 internet licensees, two out of four voice mail providers, five out of 15 radio paging service providers, eight out of 10 VSAT licensees and 17 out of 21 radio trunking service providers are Y2k-compliant.

Incidentally, 10 state-run nuclear power exchanges have said that they will be Y2k compliant by September 1999.
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Moody’s says ratios do not show true worth of banks
Mumbai: According to Moody’s Investors Service, financial ratios are not adequate to evaluate banks in the emerging markets. The rating agency says that financial ratios are generally lagging rather than lead indicators. It says that in emerging markets, economic environment is a more important measure of financial strength.
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VSNL approved to invest more on bandwidth
Mumbai: The board of the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. has approved a $50 million investment for buying more bandwidth. This will help VSNL strengthen its internet business.

VSNL now plans to buy 155mbps of bandwidth on the SAFE cable that contains a 5gb bandwidth and runs between Malaysia and the US via the Pacific.

Private internet service providers are egging VSNL on to buy more bandwidth and provide better connectivity to Internet users. VSNL currently has a bandwidth of 165mb, which would go up to 320mb as per current plans of the company.
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Syndicate Bank to redeploy staff
Mumbai: Syndicate Bank has planned to redeploy its excess staff in recovering loans, doing door-to-door canvassing for deposits and working in ‘boutique branches’. It is planning to come out with a Rs.125-crore public issue at par, opening on 25 October 1999 and closing on 5 November 1999. A tenth of the issue has been set aside for employees.
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IBA panel on policy issues
Mumbai: The Indian Banks Association has set up a panel of 11 members to advise on policy issues. The members are, Dinesh Vyas, Ajit Balakrishnan, Gurcharan Das, Mukesh Ambani, N V Iyer, Omkar Goswami, Sampat Singh, G V Ramakrishna, M B Athreya, S M Datta and Y H Malegam.
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Tokyo-Mitsubishi eyes minority stake
Tokyo: The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, the biggest Japanese bank, is eyeing a minority stake in Kokusai, the country’s fourth largest brokerage. This could mean that the tie-up will extend automatically to Nomura Securities too, which holds more than 30 per cent of Kokusai. BTM is in talks with Nomura for picking up a five per cent stake in Kokusai.

BTM previously had ties with Nikko Securities, which formed an alliance with Citigroup of the US.
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