Government will meet divestment target: Sinha
New Delhi: The government will meet the disinvestment target of Rs 10,000 crore set in the budget and if necessary devise innovative means to meet the objective, finance minister Yashwant Sinha told the national council of the Confederation of Indian Industry. He said he would look at two or three "big ticket" items to meet the target.

Mr Sinha said he has advised representatives of financial institutions to suggest new and transparent ideas for meeting the target. He also warned the industry representatives that the country is on the brink of a debt trap, and soft options are no more a viable proposition.

Meanwhile, sources in the government said offloading government stakes in various cooperatives like Kribhco and Iffco is one of the options to meet the disinvestment.
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NOC system for 100% subsidiaries to continue
New Delhi: Indian industry needs to be protected and the government is committed to this, says Union commerce minister Murasoli Maran. To this extent, the government is going to continue the procedure of no-objection certificates for the creation of wholly-owned subsidiaries of foreign companies in the country.

"It would become difficult for them to survive if wholly-owned subsidiaries crop up without checks," Mr Maran told pressmen in the capital, referring to Indian businessmen.

He said the government would protect both domestic promoters and shareholders, but the country cannot afford to lose foreign investors. A balance has, therefore, to be found, he said. He is also not averse to the idea of an alternative to the Foreign Investments Promotion Board to facilitate foreign exchange flows.
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Musharraf proclaims himself ruler
Islamabad: Pakistan's army chief, General Pervez Musharraf, who overthrew the civilian regime in the country and assumed power, has declared himself as the new ruler. He also declared a state of emergency and suspended the country's constitution.

Gen Musharraf has also frozen the bank accounts of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, federal ministers and senior politicians. The country's president Rafiq Tarar remains in office.
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Banks will be credit-rated soon
Mumbai: Credit rating of banks, based on the CAMELS model is on the anvil. The Reserve Bank of India will discuss the issue with bankers on 22 October 1999. CAMELS stands for 'capital adequacy, asset quality, management, earnings, liquidity and systems and controls'. Banks will be rated on a scale of 1 to 5 based on the CAMELS criteria.
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SBI to adopt GAAP
Mumbai: As a precursor to its American depository receipts issue in mid-2000, the State Bank of India will prepare its accounts for the financial year ended March 2000 on the basis of the US Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. According to G G Vaidya, chairman, SBI, a consultant will be appointed who will advise the bank on the implementation of the US GAAP.

SBI will also seek a reduction in the government’s stake held in it and also for increasing the ceiling for foreign institutional investors to 30 per cent from the current 20 per cent.
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New telephone connections may get cheaper
New Delhi: The department of telecommunications has decided to reduce the minimum charges for new telephone connections to Rs.500 from Rs.3,000 and has empowered chief general managers CGM of the respective circles to decide on the minimum levels.

The CGMs will also be able to provide higher commissions to STD/PCO operators who generate huge long-distance revenue for DoT.

Madhya Pradesh, where Bharti Telenet is likely to be the first private sector basic operator to compete with DoT, may become the first state where CGMs of DoT will be able to offer bulk discounts to large customers.
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Call rates go up
Mumbai: Banks that borrowed heavily to bridge the cash reserve ratio gap, took the call rates to 25 per cent. Towards the end of the day, the rates eased to about 17 per cent.
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ING Insurance wants one more partner
Mumbai: Dutch ING group company ING Insurance is scouting for a third partner in its planned insurance venture. It already has a memorandum of understanding with Vysya Bank. ING is looking only at the life insurance business in India, according to N N Joshi, chief advisor.
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