RBI collects another Rs 2,000 crore from market
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has sold five- and 14-year paper worth Rs 2,000 crore in the open market on 6 August in addition to mopping up Rs 3,000 crore through the sale of 10-year paper on 5 August. This is seen as a move by the central bank to control the money market and excess speculative activity in the forex market.

Market analysts said the extraordinary action of the Reserve Bank has brought the volatility in securities prices under control.
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Open up repo market, suggests sub-group
Mumbai: The repurchase agreements market should be opened up for corporate dealings, a sub-group set up by the Reserve Bank of India to suggest liberalisation in this sector, has recommended. The sub-group has also called for urgent amendment in legislation to expand this market.

The report said all entities, including companies, may be allowed to undertake repos and reverse repos in gilts, corporate debentures and bonds of financial institutions.
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Rupee slides again
Mumbai: The rupee lost seven paise to the dollar, ending at 43.47/4750, its lowest close since 20 August 1998. The rupee had lost 15 paise in one week.

The central bank had around this time last year staged a rescue act to save the falling rupee, but this time money market analysts say it appears to be not intervening since the depreciation has been steady.

The current fall in the value of rupee against the dollar is a result of demand for dollars from public and private sector enterprises, especially a number of small firms in textiles, cables, plastics and diamond industries.
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UP government to encourage use of IT
Mumbai: The government of Uttar Pradesh wants to encourage the growth of the information technology industry in that state. As a beginning, it says it will create a "smart" government, which will use information technology for speedy, transparent, and accountable and efficient conduct of government systems and services.

Towards this end, the state government has entered into a strategic partnership with the Lotus Development Corporation. The aim is to create groupware and messaging solutions based on the Lotus Domino and Notes platform, which will be designed for government use.

Announcing the strategic partnership between the government and Lotus Development Corporation in Mumbai on 6 August, A.K. Gupta, secretary for information technology for Uttar Pradesh, said the joint venture partner of Lotus in India, Cyberspace Infosys, will implement the solutions.

The state's information technology minister Raja Aridaman Singh said the government aims to bring information technology within the reach of the common man and make it useful to his daily needs. "Our main endeavor will be to put the state first on the IT map of India and then to make it the destination for investment by major global players," he said.

A state government's delegation has been in Mumbai to assess the information technology initiatives taken by the government of Maharashtra.
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SBI plans to involve associate banks in card venture
Mumbai: SBI Cards and Payments and Systems, the credit card venture of the State Bank of India with GE Capital, is planning to join hands with all State Bank associate banks to launch co-branded cards.

The tie-up will enable the company to take the card business to centres where the associate banks are located. The bank expects to launch its new cards by December 1999.
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Canfin Homes to enter consumer finance
Bangalore: Canfin Homes will enter the consumer finance business. It expects to do this by the last quarter of 1999-2000.

The company will table a special resolution to alter its memorandum of association for this purpose at its annual general meeting on 25 August.

Canfin Homes proposes to extend finance for consumer products, consumer durable, equipment and machinery, vehicles, home appliances, furniture and fixtures, air-conditioners and the like.
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Deutsche Bank introduces automated payment system
Mumbai: Deutsche Bank has launched its financial system integration interface that will eliminate the manual process of sending payment instructions between a client and the bank.

The system called db-direct eliminates the step of manual re-keying of payments and also automates the transfer of payment instructions from the ERP application of the client to the bank's electronic banking system. Through db-direct, corporate clients of the bank will have direct access to the bank's accounts around the world.
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