The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, March 14, 2007

FINANCIAL SERVICES
Western Union upbeat on growth prospects
Western Union, player in the private money transfer business, sees good growth prospects for its services next fiscal on the back of an expanding Indian remittance market. Currently, India is the largest remittance market in the world, ... More

FOREX
Rupee tad firmer
The rupee strengthened by around 5 paise on Tuesday due to stable stock market conditions. The currency opened at 44.23/24, saw an intra day high of 44.19.50/20 and finally closed at 44.20.50 / 21.50 against the previous close at ... More

SOFTWARE
Infosys mulls launching Finacle as service offering
Good demand from smaller banks, credit unions More

CONSUMER FINANCE
Maruti, UTI Bank tie up for car loans
UTI Bank and Maruti have tied up for providing car finance. "The bank will be utilising Maruti's extensive dealer network for marketing its car loans, while Maruti will jointly conduct campaigns for customers of UTI Bank," a bank ... More

GENERAL INSURANCE
Non-life insurance in fast lane
The non-life insurance industry saw some revolutionary changes this year with the free-price regime being ushered in on January 1. Earlier, fire, engineering and motor insurance portfolios were under tariff or ... More

New mediclaim scheme launched in Mangalore
The Dharwad-based Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) — a regional rural bank sponsored by Syndicate Bank — in association with United India Insurance Company Ltd has launched `Vikas Arogya' mediclaim scheme. A press release said ... More

BHN mishap: ONGC gets Rs 864 cr as final claim
ONGC on Tuesday received Rs 864 crore towards final and overall payment of all insurance claims for the BHN accident against the corporation's offshore package. In a statement, the company said that with this settlement, the total amount ... More

PRIVATE BANKS
Tamilnad Mercantile's new branch
Tuticorin-based Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has opened its 180 branch at Bodinayakanur in Theni District. The new branch is fully computerised and networked under core banking solutions and offers anywhere banking facility. ... More

GOVT BONDS
Bond prices fall by 16 paise
Bond prices fell by about 16 paise and yields rose by about one paise on profit-booking by investors and expectations of a higher inflation number this week. "Bond prices opened 25 paise higher on global crude prices reigning low ... More

MONETARY POLICY
Central bank independence: It's no easy call
Monetary policy seems to have no hard and fast rules - at least not yet. It is still evolving — although more than one economist might feel that this is a cavalier statement. Absent are neat formulas to calculate how much a 25bps ... More

CREDIT MARKET
Lending to SEZs: `eGoM to take call on RBI's stand'
Kamal Nath seeks Prime Minister's intervention More

SHORT TERM INSTRUMENTS
Call rates rule unchanged
Call rates ruled unchanged at 5.20-5.40 per cent on comfortable liquidity in the system. Banks offered to park Rs 34,115 crore with the RBI while the central bank accepted Rs 3,000 crore under the reverse repo facility. In the ... More

FIXED DEPOSITS
IndusInd offers 10% for 100 days
IndusInd Bank has started offering 10 per cent for domestic term deposits of 100 days, effective March 6. "The 100 days scheme is valid only for a short period till April 30, 2007," said a press release by IndusInd Bank. ... More

ALLIANCES & JOINT VENTURES
UTI Bank in co-financing pact with IIFCL
UTI Bank and India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for among other things co-financing of infrastructure projects. This was the 11th MoU signed by IIFCL, a wholly owned enterprise ... More

BUSINESS MODELS
ISB comes up with business model for `Social Investment Bank'
The Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurial Development at Indian School of Business (ISB) has come up with a business model for a `Social Investment Bank.' The core of this flexible model is to make banking services simpler for rural people. "The ... More

PEOPLE
Reddy to head BIS Asian Council
The board of directors of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has announced the appointment of Dr Y.V. Reddy, Reserve Bank of India Governor, as Chairman of the BIS Asian Consultative Council (ACC). His appointment is for a term of ... More