The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, June 15, 2006

FINANCIAL SERVICES
Postal dept unveils `cash at doorsteps' scheme
The Postal Department has launched the `cash at doorsteps' scheme for postal saving bank account holders in a function held at the Head Post Office here. Claiming that the new scheme is one more feather in the department's innovative approaches ... More

REGIONAL RURAL BANKS
North Malabar bank logs 25 pc growth in business
MoUs signed to sell insurance products More

INSIGHT
The interest rate paradox
In terms of the logic of demand and supply, an excess of the latter should see a decline in interest rates. This is not happening due to systemic deficiencies. On the contrary, taking the cue from the latest RBI action, banks are raising the lending and deposit rates. The price rise caused by costlier fuel prices cannot be controlled by tinkering with the interest rate. It can only be arrested by increasing supplies and curbing demand, both of which are difficult to do. More

FOREX
Rupee range-bound vs dollar
The rupee was range bound against the US dollar on Wednesday and traded in a narrow range. There was neither too much dollar demand nor selling, said dealers. The rupee opened at 46.07/08 and touched a low of 46.09 before ending ... More

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
TMB posts Rs 101-cr net, to pay Rs 100
The Tuticorin-based Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has posted net profit of Rs 100 crore for the first time. The figure for 2005-06 stood at Rs 101.19 crore, while operating profit was Rs 198.91 crore, up by Rs 24.70 crore compared to the ... More

LIFE INSURANCE
LIC first premium income
The Thiruvananthapuram division of LIC earned first premium income of Rs 330.96 crore last fiscal. Speaking to newspersons today, Mr L. Ajith Kumar, Senior Divisional Manager, said that in the current fiscal, the division has so ... More

RBI & OTHER CENTRAL BANKS
Karnataka disburses 33 pc of World Bank funds
Portfolio performance places Karnataka as second best performing More

PRIVATE BANKS
CSB to lend more to textiles sector
Expects higher exposure in textiles More

PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS
Vijaya Bank hands over complex
As part of its corporate social responsibility, Vijaya Bank has handed over the complex built by it to the Bangalore Police. The public sector bank constructed the complex to house the Vijayanagar Police Station in the city at a ... More

BoB keen to expand overseas
Bank of Baroda (BoB) wants its overseas operations to contribute at least 35 per cent of its net profit and 25 per cent of its business by 2008. Currently, overseas operations, which span 20 countries, contribute about 28 per cent of the net ... More

United Bank hopes to wrap up capital rejig
Bank now operates on the strength of a clean balance sheet More

FOREIGN BANKS
Bank of America has no plans for retail
Sees no let-up in credit offtake by corporates as growth prospects look bright More

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
APSFC targets Rs 675-cr sanctions this fiscal
Aims to bring down NPAs to below 10 pc More

INTEREST RATES
Bank of Baroda has no plans to raise rates now
To negotiate better rates with corporates within PLR range More

GOVT BONDS
Bond prices gain 8 paise
Bond prices gained by around eight paise taking a cue from the fall in the US yields. Dealers said some `bargain buying' drove prices slightly up. US yields had rallied by three basis points to 4.96 per cent on Tuesday, they ... More

SHORT TERM INSTRUMENTS
Call rates unchanged
Call rates remained unchanged between 5.75 and 5.85 per cent. In the first one-day reverse repo auction under LAF, the Reserve Bank of India received and accepted 26 bids amounting to Rs 31,040 crore and in the second one-day ... More

PEOPLE
Banks can appoint treasury chief sans RBI nod
Commercial banks will now be able to appoint head of treasury or international division and dealers from outside the industry without approval from the Reserve Bank of India. In a notification issued today, RBI dispensed with its order passed ... More

TRENDS
Bankers feel the heat of rising expenses
`We have to augment income, improve efficiency' More

BOOKS
Bankable audit inputs
Nitant P. Trilokekar is a Mumbai-based chartered accountant equipped with systems audit credentials. Using his two decades of experience in the banking industry, he has written Contemporary Bank Audit, from Snow White ... More