Trai order on call-pays struck down
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has struck down the calling party pays regime notified by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, ruling that the regulator has only a recommendatory role in interconnection issues. The court had stayed the Trai order in this regard on 28 October 1999.

The court said Trai can only regulate interconnect agreements between operators and not impose rates on service providers. The court’s ruling also strikes down the Interconnection (Charges and Revenue Sharing) Regulations on revenue sharing patterns for basic and cellular operators, issued by Trai on 28 May 1999.

The proposed calling party pays regime would have meant that cellphone users would not have to pay for receiving calls on the cellphone. Instead, callers dialling cellular numbers would have been billed at a premium and the difference would have to be shared between the basic and cellular operators on a one-third: two-third basis.
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Port and dock workers on strike
Mumbai: Loading and unloading operations in all the major ports in the country came to a halt on 18 January following an indefinite nationwide strike by port and dock workers. Five federations of port and dock workers have called the strike to press for wage revisions and improvement in service conditions. Earlier talks between the federation leaders and the officials of the surface transport ministry had failed. The federation representatives claimed that work on all the 11 major ports has been halted.
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Private insurance companies in six months
New Delhi: Finance minister Yashwant Sinha has said the formalities required to open up the insurance sector to private and foreign participants will be over in the first week of May 2000. He says the first private insurance company can start functioning in three to six months’ time thereafter.
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Another auction of govt securities
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has announced an auction of Rs 3,000 crore, eight-year government securities on 20 January. The RBI had already mopped up Rs 5,000 crore from the market some 10 days back. It said the present auction is a re-issue of the 12 per cent 2008 government security. Following this auction, the government’s borrowings will touch Rs 92,130 crore, against an target of Rs 84,014 crore.
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Karnataka paper auction oversubscribed
Mumbai: The Rs 200-crore auction of state loans by Karnataka has been over-subscribed by 762 per cent. The Reserve Bank of India said it has received 147 bids for a total of Rs 1,723.5 crore. The RBI has accepted four bids for Rs 100 crore at a cut-off coupon of 11.8 per cent with the weighted average yield working out to 11.7 per cent.

The RBI has also announced the third tranche of 10-year Rs 636-crore state government loans for 1999-2000. An RBI statement said it will conduct the sale of  loans of Arunachal Pradesh (Rs 2.2 crore), Assam (Rs 86.45 crore), Bihar (Rs 400 crore) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 146.86 crore) at a fixed rate of 11.30 per cent on 24 January.
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Banks waiting for RBI to notify CRR
Mumbai: Most banks in the country appear to be waiting for the Reserve Bank of India to announce a reduction in the cash reserve ratio or the key bank rate before they announce cuts in the interest rates. They expect an RBI announcement soon, given the government’s decision to bring down interest rates on small savings schemes. Only ICICI and its bank, ICICI Bank, have announced cuts in interest rates so far.
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SBI to focus on personal finance
Mumbai: The State Bank of India has set aside Rs 1,000 crore each for its foray into housing and consumer finance sectors. The bank wants to give a thrust to personal finance portfolios and get a consumer focus, say senior officials. The bank has already built up a Rs 7,400-crore personal banking portfolio and expects deposit mobilisation of Rs 19,000 crore in this segment.

The bank is also on a major technological upgradation drive. As many as 1,900 of its 2,500 branches will be fully computerised in about a year. It is planning an investment of Rs 500 to 600 crore in automation.

The bank will soon set up a credit information bureau, the first of its kind in India. The bureau will collect information about defaulting companies and individuals.
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ICICI Bank cuts interest rates on deposits
Mumbai: ICICI Bank has reduced interest rates on deposits, which will come into force from 25 January. The bank will offer a 10 per cent interest on deposits with a maturity period of three years to seven years, against the present rate of 11 per cent. The rate in the case of deposits for period from six months to three years will be 10 per cent compared to 10.5 per cent now. The reduction follows the government’s announcement of a cut in the rate of interest on deposits in the public provident fund and post office-based savings schemes.
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New foreign direct investment policy soon
New Delhi: The government is coming out with its new policy on foreign direct investment, under which foreign investors will get automatic clearance for all sectors except a few core areas such as defence, atomic energy and narcotics. Commerce and industry minister Murasoli Maran says a negative list will be announced shortly, following which, barring the few strategic sectors, all foreign direct investment will be permitted through the automatic route.
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