Government to retain majority stake in SBI
New Delhi: At a time when it has already gone ahead with plans to reduce its stake in nationalised banks to 33 per cent, the government has made it very clear that it will not reduce its stake in the country’s leading commercial bank, State Bank of India, to below 55 per cent.

This was made clear by the minister of state for finance, even as the draft bill for amendment in the Bank Nationalisation Act in order to facilitate reduction of government stake in other nationalised banks is with the cabinet for its consent.

One reason could be the fact that SBI is a cash cow among all nationalized banks and has also been government’s arm to facilitate major borrowing programmes like the Resurgent India Bond and the India Millennium Deposit.
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Government to tighten drug import rules
New Delhi: In a bid to counter the dumping of drugs in the Indian market, the government is considering strengthening regulations to ensure that only standard drugs are imported into the country.

Under the proposed changes registration will be compulsory for every manufacturer and drug proposed to be imported into the country. The only exceptions will be for new unapproved drugs for testing or for medical reasons and personal licenses will continue to be issued for medical reasons for new unapproved drugs, with the existing practice of charging no fee for such imports being retained.

Also, government hospitals and autonomous hospitals providing tertiary care are to be allowed to import new unapproved drugs to the extent of 100 average patient doses.

The registration, for which the Drug Controller General’s office will be required to give approval within six months of application or within a maximum of nine months, will be valid for five years from the date of issue and then approval will have to be taken again. 
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New credit information bureau being planned
New Delhi: The State Bank of India (SBI), Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), and Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) are planning a joint venture to set up a credit information bureau. Such a bureau, a normal practice in the west, would examine the creditworthiness of a prospective borrower.

The bureau would provide comprehensive data on corporate clients, which banks and financial institutions (FIs) could use.
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