Lending activities of insurance companies require to be monitored, to avert the possibility of any regulatory arbitrage, said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its financial stability report. This, it said, should be under a prudential framework, closely aligned with that for banks.

The Insurance Act, 1938, defines the various ways in which insurance companies can deploy their funds, which includes various varieties of loans (for instance, against policies and against mortgage of property in India and abroad).

Ashok Leyland is planning to raise about Rs 700 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP). In an announcement to BSE on Thursday, the company said its fund-raising committee had passed a resolution authorising the QIP be opened on June 26. A preliminary placement document in this regard had been filed with the regulator.

Power companies and analysts are hoping the National Democratic Alliance government will provide the sector a slew of incentives in the Union Budget to be presented next month. Their wish list includes extension of a tax holiday, exemption from minimum alternate tax (MAT), reduction in the cost of borrowings, an increase in banks' sectoral limit, incentives for public-private partnership (PPP) projects, restoration of distribution infrastructure and a review of exemption from customs duty for imported goods.

At least 14 people were killed and seven others injured in a fire following a blast in a gas pipeline belonging to GAIL in Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari district today, a senior state minister said.

"As per initial reports we have received, 14 deaths have been reported and some more are critically injured and undergoing treatment," Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu told reporters here.

NEW DELHI: There is enough scope for utilities to ensure uninterrupted power supply without tariff shocks but consumers too need to do their bit by willing to pay for getting 24X7 service and actively help stop electricity theft, minister for power and coal Piyush Goyal told ToI in an interview on Wednesday.

Mumbai: The Indian rupee traded flat against the dollar on Thursday even as other Asian currencies strengthened after poor US growth data weakened dollar globally.

The home currency opened at 60.11 per dollar from its Wednesday’s close of 60.13.

Mumbai: Nudged by the finance ministry, public sector banks have started valuing their non-core assets to divest stake when suitable buyers are found.

Non-core assets are investments by banks not related to lending and borrowing. These investments lie in the bank’s treasury books.

On instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office, the petroleum ministry on Wednesday submitted a proposal seeking a fresh examination of the previous government’s decision to revise natural gas prices. The proposal was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

“Since the new government has been formed recently, it (UPA government approval) may be comprehensively re-examined before a decision is taken,” said the CCEA note which was dashed off to the Cabinet Secretariat Wednesday afternoon.

Sharp fall in stocks of Reliance Industries (RIL) and Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) pulled down the benchmark BSE Sensex further by 131 points in morning trade today.

The market will remain volatile today in view of the last day of futures & options (F&O) segment for June contract.

BSE Auto saw a sharp upmove on Wednesday in the last few minutes of trade after finance minister Arun Jaitley announced that the government has decided to extend the excise duty cut for the sector till December 2014.

The index rose more than 1% between 3.20 pm and 3.26 pm IST, ending with gains of 0.76%. TVS Motors (2.93%), Hero Motocorp (1.01%), Bajaj Auto (2.63%) and Maruti Suzuki (2.56%) were among the major gainers in the auto space, on a day the benchmark Sensex ended slid 0.22% at 25,313.74 points.

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