The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, June 02, 2007

FOREX
Forex reserves rise $952 m
The country's foreign exchange reserves rose by around $952 million to $204.934 billion for the week ended May 25, due to the RBI's intervention in the forex market. In the week ended May 18, the reserves had fallen by $9 million to $203.98 ... More

Tirupur knitwear exporters seek quick relief
A delegation representing knitwear exporters from Tirupur which recently called on Dr C. Rangarajan, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, to highlight the adverse impact caused by the appreciating rupee on their ... More

Rupee gains 9 paise
The rupee strengthened by about 9 paise against the greenback on Friday "owing to strong FII inflows into the market," said a dealer with a private bank. Dealers said that the rupee was largely range-bound throughout the day. The ... More

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
Punjab & Sind net profit zooms 102%
Punjab & Sind Bank saw a sharp rise in profitability and a steep decline in its non-performing assets (NPAs) for 2006-07. The bank's net profit more than doubled in 2006-07 to Rs 218.53 crore from Rs 108.32 crore (102 per cent) in the ... More

LIFE INSURANCE
Premium per insurance policy rises 47%
LIC reports substantial increase in unit-linked plans' sale More

RBI & OTHER CENTRAL BANKS
RBI lets firms hedge exposure to metals
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday notified that domestic producers and users of aluminium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc had been permitted to hedge their price risk by taking hedge positions in international commodity futures exchanges. ... More

PRIVATE BANKS
UTI Bank plans to raise fresh capital
Through overseas issue, preferential allotment More

GOVT BONDS
Bond prices up 5 paise
Bond prices rose by around 5 paise on value buying. Total traded volumes on the order matching system were at Rs 3,630 crore (Rs 4,685 crore). Dealers said the prices were range-bound during the day but ended higher as there was ... More

SHORT TERM INSTRUMENTS
Call rates range bound
The inter-bank call rates remained range bound to close at 0.50 - 0.70 per cent on Friday quite similar to the previous close of 0.50 - 0.75 per cent. "There was surplus cash in the system worth about Rs 20,000 crore," said a ... More

CREDIT CARDS & DEBIT CARDS
Indian Bank unveils biometric card
Indian Bank has launched biometric-enabled smart cards to bring about financial inclusion in the unbanked areas. The card was launched at a function held at Dharavi, Mumbai. Launching the card, the Indian Bank Chairman and ... More

MORTGAGE
NHB relaxes age limit for reverse mortgage loans
Married couples where one of the partners is below 60 years can now avail themselves of reverse mortgage loan (RML) facility. Earlier, the National Housing Banks (NHB) norms required both the partners to be above 60 for availing themselves of ... More

FIXED DEPOSITS
Karnataka Bank hikes NRE rates
Karnataka Bank Ltd has increased interest rates on its NRE and FCNR(B) deposit schemes with effect from June 1. A bank release said here on Friday that the interest rate on NRE deposits has been increased to 5.39 per cent (5.30 per cent) for ... More

ALLIANCES & JOINT VENTURES
Govt, IRDA get tough with foreign insurance cos
May disallow re-entry for those who exit joint ventures midway More

PEOPLE
New Zonal Manager for PNB
Mr Krishnan Ramaiah has taken charge as the new Zonal Manager of Punjab National Bank, Kerala Zone. He will be heading the bank in the State having a network of 131 branches. He is a chartered accountant having 31 years of ... More