BusinessLine 20 years ago today: Panel on dual nationality for PIOs soon

The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, today announced that the government would soon appoint a committee to decide on the question of providing ‘dual nationality’ to Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) settled abroad. He said the committee would submit its report "within three months" while noting that the issue needed to be considered in depth before a clear-cut policy could be formulated and translated into legislative action.

The World Bank has declined to support the concept of trading in power. It has questioned the viability of the Power Trading Corporation, an integral part of the recently-announced mega power policy. Further, it has pointed out that since power can be bought only by the State electricity boards (SEBs), reflecting a lack of depth in the trading market, power trading would be a high-risk operation and the trading corporation cannot be considered a credit enhancement mechanism. In a communiqué to the government, the World Bank has said that the trading corporation as an intermediary between the electricity board and the producer would take upon itself the high credit risk posed by the financially fragile SEBs.

The Reserve Bank of India has made it mandatory for Indian companies to report the inflow of foreign remittances within 30 days from the date of receipt. The move is aimed at helping the RBI in monitoring and compiling foreign inflow data in time. In a press release issued today, the RBI said that this requirement is in addition to the submission of the prescribed documents within 30 days from the date of issue of shares.