SISI, Tata AIG sign agreement to train insurance advisors
Chennai: The Small Industries Service Institue (SISI), Chennai, has inked a pact with private sector life insurance company Tata AIG to train unemployed youth as insurance advisors. The programme, 'Creative Intercrop Career Opportunity,' will ensure self-employment for youth ready to take up new ventures, SISI director VS Karunakaran and Tata AIG zone head (South) Sushanto Mukerjee told reporters here on Friday. Under the MoU, SISI will identify youth who could be trained to sell insurance in accordance with IRDA regulations and Tata AIG will train and recruit them as advisors after they get their licence from IRDA. To begin with, 60 candidates will be selected for training after an objective entrance test, Karunakaran said. Initially the programme will be confined to Chennai and later extended to other parts of the state. SISI will launch a month-long programme to develop entrepreneurs ensuring self-employment in biotech ventures from 21st of this month, Karunakaran said.
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Dena Bank plans more tie-ups for ATM sharing
Chennai: Dena Bank plans to enter into tie-ups with banks to share ATMs, according to the bank's chairman and managing director A G Joshi. Dena Bank has a similar tie-up with Corporation Bank. He said that the bank is one of the more technologically advanced public sector banks, with 99.8 per cent of the metro and urban branches computerised. Also, 300 branches were interconnected, and customers could do 'multi-branch banking' in these branches, he said.
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SBI's RIB mop-up products to be named soon
Thiruvananthapuram: The State Bank of India (SBI) has worked out new security products to retrieve a chunk of the Rs 25,000-crore Resurgent India Bonds (RIB) as they get closer to maturity. After consultation with RBI, these will be named this month, according to SBI group chairman A K Purwar. The bank targets recouping at least 35 per cent of the total RIB outgo, Purwar told reporters on the sidelines of an office-opening function, here, in reply to a question. The five-year RIBs, targeting NRIs, are due to mature this year.
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Exim Bank extends line of credit to ABSA Bank
Mumbai: Exim Bank has extended a line of credit of $10 million to ABSA Bank, the largest commercial bank in South Africa, to support India's exports to that country. An agreement to this effect was signed in Pretoria on Friday by P R Dalal, general manager, Exim Bank and Peter Gordon, head-international banking, ABSA Bank, said Exim Bank in a press release. Exim Bank's line of credit affords a risk-free, non-recourse export financing option to Indian exporters. Under the facility to ABSA Bank, the importers from South Africa are required to make advance payment of 10 per cent of contract value to the Indian exporters and the balance 90 per cent of it would be reimbursed by Exim Bank to the Indian exporters, upfront upon the shipment of goods, said the release. India's exports to South Africa amounted to $351 million during the year 2001-02, registering a growth of 13.8 per cent over the previous year. Agriculture and processed food products, transport equipment, cotton yarn, fabrics, ready made apparels, madeups, machinery and instruments and manufacturers of metal were the principal items in the export basket.
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LICHFL says it is open to interest rate cut
New Delhi: Indicating another cut in home loans, LIC Housing Finance (LICHFL) on Friday said it was open to it, while aiming at a Rs 2,500 crore mop up in 2003-04 from both domestic and overseas markets and 50 per cent rise in business. "If the market forces permit and cost of funds go down, there is always scope for it (cut in interest rates)," LICHFL chief executive SC Jain said here. Addressing reporters after the opening of its property information centre, which gives information on properties and price range, he said at present the soft interest rate bias continues and is favourable for further cut. Pointing out that the current cost of funds stood at 7.6 per cent, he hoped it would be brought down to 7.0 per cent. LICHFL's interest rate ranges from 8.75 per cent to 9.75 per cent for floating rate schemes of different tenure and for the fixed rate option, it ranges between 9.75-11.5 per cent. He, however, said there had been poor response to the fixed interest rate scheme and added that a customer could shift from fixed to floating by paying one time payment of 0.5 per cent on the amount taken as loan. On borrowings, Jain said "we have set a borrowing target of Rs 2,500 crore this year, which could be mobilised from diverse sources, including external commercial borrowings (ECBs).
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