The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Bankers circumspect on farm credit target
WHILE bankers have welcomed the Centre's proposals for boosting agricultural credit, they are circumspect about the sustainability of meeting the 30 per cent disbursement target year after year. In the current year, banks are expected to ... More

INSIGHT

Stock market calls reformers' bluff
NO talk of privatisation. No mention of disinvestment. No changes in labour laws to enable hire and fire. No proposal to close down losing public sector enterprises. That is the 2005-06 Budget. Can one get away with all this? Because they are ... More

BUDGET

Tax on cash withdrawals 'retrograde, unnecessary'
`Why tax on such a small amount as Rs 10,000 as ordinary employees will have to pay the tax when they withdraw their salary' More

`RBI gets more leeway on policy'
THERE have been several positive proposals in the Budget with respect to the financial sector, according to Mr Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC. Allowing mutual funds to offer gold traded exchange funds is a positive move, especially with Indians ... More

FOREX

Bond prices plunge; rupee tad weaker
MUMBAI: The rupee ended at 43.73 against the US dollar on Tuesday, down from its Monday close of 43.68, due to buying by state-run banks, said dealer. The rupee had opened unchanged on Tuesday, at 43.68. A dealer at a private bank said ... More

SOFTWARE

i-flex tool ranking
MUMBAI: i-flex Solutions' flagship product FLEXCUBE has been ranked the world's number one selling core banking solution for 2004 by International Banking Systems, UK, in its annual sales league table for the third consecutive year, said a ... More

HOUSING FINANCE

'Boost to residential mortgages'
THE National Housing Bank (NHB) has welcomed the Budget proposal to widen the definition of `securities' under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 to include securitised mortgage debt. "The move would have tremendous positive impact ... More

LIFE INSURANCE

Birla Sun Life to hike capital by Rs 300 cr
BIRLA Sun Life Insurance Ltd will increase its equity capital by Rs 300 crore to Rs 650 crore. The two joint venture partners — Aditya Birla group with 74 per cent stake and Sun Life Financial Inc holding 26 per cent — will be ... More

PRIVATE BANKS

Net worth floor for private banks fixed at Rs 300 cr
PRIVATE banks will have to maintain a net worth of Rs 300 crore at all times and those who are yet to achieve this will have to submit a time-bound programme for capital augmentation to the Reserve Bank of India. In its guidelines on the ... More

PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS

SBH opens 100th branch

FIXED DEPOSITS

Allahabad Bank revises NRI term deposit rates
ALLAHABAD Bank has revised the interest rates on Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR) deposits and Non Resident (External) rupee term deposits (NRE) with effect from March ... More

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

`Involuntary' bank mergers to get income-tax breaks
BANK mergers prompted by the Government action - `involuntary' mergers - would be given tax breaks under the Income-Tax Act with the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, proposing insertion of a new clause to provide for set off of losses of a ... More

PEOPLE

Shetty is new IDBI chairman; Khandelwal to head BoB
IDBI and Bank of Baroda have new chiefs at their helm. The Government has cleared the appointments of Mr V.P. Shetty as the new Chairman of IDBI and Dr Anil K. Khandelwal as the Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of Baroda. Both the new ... More

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Pick a Winner Stock Market Contest

Partnership firms will have to file I-T returns

Experts seek rollback of cash withdrawal tax

Ashok Leyland mulls plant in North India

Net worth floor for private banks fixed at Rs 300 cr

`In the right direction for hardware sector'

Fringe tax to bite deeper into smaller IT cos

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