Mahindra Satyam — brand identity of Satyam Computer Services Limited — which recently announced that it had agreed to pay $125 million to settle class action suits in USA, is yet to get Reserve Bank’s nod to transfer the funds, a senior company official said. “It (RBI) wanted some clarifications. We are in the process of submitting documents. It is just a matter of time,” the official told PTI.
The Reserve Bank will bring out a second draft of the proposed guidelines for issuance of new banking licences in the next 15 to 20 days, the Finance Ministry said today. “Second draft guidelines for new bank licences in next 15 to 20 days,” Financial Services Secretary Shashikant Sharma told reporters here.
Tele-callers of insurance products should be trained according to the syllabus prescribed by IRDA and they should inform clients that the call is being recorded and that the client is entitled to a voice copy, according to the new guidelines issued by the insurance watchdog. “The training shall be for duration of not less than 25 hours as per syllabus to be prescribed by the IRDA in matters related to regulations, disclosures, ethical conduct of business and specific instructions to be complied with while making the calls,” the Insurance Regulation and Development Authority (IRDA) said.
India will have to wait till the end of this year to get information about funds stashed in banks in Switzerland where Parliament will take time to ratify the tax treaty signed between the two in August last year. India and Switzerland had signed an agreement on August 30, 2010 to amend the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with a view to facilitating exchange of information between the two countries.
The government hopes to collect Rs 350 crore in taxes from the fourth edition of high voltage Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament beginning tomorrow. The revenue will accrue to the government as the organisations will be required to deduct tax at source (TDS) while making payments to players, umpires, coaches, commentators and others involved with the tournament.
National carrier Air India has introduced Mobile Check-In facility that will allow travellers to perform basic check-in functions through web-enabled mobile phones. The new facility, which will help in reducing queues at airports, will be available at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai,Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore on domestic travel, the airline said in a statement.
After Nifty index futures, the Singapore Exchange will start trading in Nifty options in the next six months which will give investors one more avenue, a senior official said. “We have been doing Nifty futures and the next obvious thing is to give investors more options…there is a good interest in it,” SGX’s Senior Vice-President (Derivatives), Janice Kan told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here today.
EFTA Negotiations likely to be Concluded by Year End. Bilateral Trade Touches 20 Billion US $ . hri Anand Sharma, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, in a business meeting with Mr. Johann Schneider-Ammann, Federal Councilor Minister for Economic Affairs of Switzerland, here today stated that, “India has always stood for an open, equitable, predictable, non-discriminatory and rule-based multilateral trading regime. India gives primacy to engagements in multi-lateral negotiations at the World Trade Organization. India is committed to successful conclusion of Doha Round and support multi-lateral and bilateral engagement with rest of the world”. He stressed that developed world is resorting to protectionist tendencies which hurt both developed and developing economies. The Minister informed, “In our lifetimes, we have seen a tectonic shift in global growth and investment patterns and while Europe and Americas dominated the economic discourse in the centuries we left behind, the 21st century is decidedly a different one in which emerging economies of Asia, Africa and Latin America are playing a much larger role. India which is home to a sixth of world’s population is finally beginning to realize its true potential on the global stage’.
MSME Minister Virbhadra Singh today said his ministry is in consultation with the Prime Minister office and other departments to make specific schemes for medium enterprises. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Minister said enough schemes are there for micro and small industries, but there is no particular scheme for medium ones.
Sports Ministry has constituted a Committee under the chairmanship of Justice Mukul Mudgal, retired Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, to examine, in details, the comments and suggestions received from various quarters and make appropriate recommendations to fine-tune the draft National Sports Development Bill.
