The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	ULIP Row Plugging Regulatory Gaps Montek for setting up financial council New Delhi, April 14 Attributing the differences between SEBI and IRDA over administration of ULIPs to regulatory gaps, the Planning Commission today said the establishment of the Financial Development and Stability Council (FSDC) will help in resolving such issues. Speaking on the sidelines of a function, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia also said differences between the two warring regulators have not caused any uncertainty in the market. "I don't think there is any uncertainty in the market. This (regulatory dispute) happens all over the world", he told reporters, replying to questions on the ongoing turf war between SEBI and IRDA. As regards the proposed FSDC, Ahluwalia said it would "rework the system to close these (regulatory) gaps". Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his Budget speech proposed to set up the council to address "inter-regulatory coordination" issues. The government, however, is yet to finalise the structure of the FSDC. The dispute between SEBI and IRDA relates to who should regulate ULIPs, a hybrid investment instrument which are issued by life insurance companies. Describing the issue as "complex and legal", Ahluwalia further said, "I think the matter has been resolved... One of the major problems in the financial sector is that different parts of the financial systems have developed in different times, so there are always regulatory gaps." Following the dispute and conflicting orders by the regulators, the Finance Ministry on Monday brokered a peace by persuading the IRDA and SEBI to seek a legally binding agreement from a court and restore status quo ante, the position that prevailed before the issuance of SEBI order on April 9, 2010. SEBI in its order had banned 14 life insurance companies, including those belonging to SBI, Tata, ICICI and the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, from issuing ULIPs. Within 24 hours, IRDA directed the insurers to ignore SEBI's order and continue business, forcing the Finance Ministry to intervene in the matter. SEBI yesterday came out with a second order on the ULIP issue which said that companies cannot issue any fresh schemes, but can operate schemes launched prior to April 9, 2010. SEBI, IRDA asked to move court at once Concerned over the ongoing public spat between the two regulators, the government on Wednesday asked SEBI and IRDA to move court immediately on the contentious issue of who will regulate unit-linked insurance products. At the same time, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla did not find anything amiss in SEBI's yesterday's order asking insurers not to issue any fresh ULIPs, which some analysts felt was against the status quo ante directed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday. "We want them to go to the court at the soonest. Finance Minister has mentioned status quo ante, which means that whatever prevailed before the date of the SEBI order will continue unhindered... That is what SEBI has said," Chawla told reporters. — PTI
	Pilots of four major airlines join hands Tribune News Service Mumbai, April 14 Pilots of four major airlines in the country have come together to form the Air Line Pilots Association of India (ALPAI) with the aim, of what they say, is focusing on safety issues of the aviation sector. The ALPAI will be affiliated to the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Association (IFALPA), the new ALPAI said in a statement. The pilots’ associations that are part of the new ALPAI are the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) of Air India, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) of the old Indian Airlines, Society for Welfare of Indian Pilots (SWIP) representing those from Jet Airways and the Integrated Pilots’ Welfare Association (IPWA) comprising pilots from Kingfisher Airlines. The combined strength of the ALPAI is 2,000 of the 4,000 pilots flying in India. Expatriate pilots numbering 500 are not part of the body. An office-bearer of the IPG said the new body's aim was to work along with organisations like the International Civil Aviation Organisation and IATA on issues relating to safety. He denied that new body was a fresh attempt at unionising pilots across different airlines.
	Indian investors most confident in Asia Mumbai, April 14 Fast improving domestic demand and strong signs of economic recovery have helped push up investors sentiment in the country, a survey said today. Reflecting the rising investor confidence, the India Investor Sentiment Index rose to 174 in the first quarter of 2010 from 169 in the fourth quarter of 2009 in line with the improvement in the domestic demand, the survey prepared by the global financial services major ING said. "Strong domestic consumption and positive economic outlook have driven the India investor sentiment to highest level in Asia," said ING Investment Management India managing director and CEO Navin Suri, while releasing the survey. According to the survey, a whopping 91 per cent of investors in the country expect the economic situation to improve over the next quarter. Signalling the continued confidence in the domestic economy, risk appetite among domestic investors has also increased over the past few months, Suri said, adding, "the confidence showed by investors in the country is based on domestic consumption and their anticipation of the return to robust economic growth." Given that the global economy has stabilised, investors are recommended to look into consumer, capital goods, construction and infrastructure sectors to capitalise on the domestic growth prospect, Suri said. In line with the growing optimism, 76 per cent of domestic investors believe that their personal financial situation improved during the first quarter of this year and nearly 83 per cent believe that the local stock market will rise an average of 9.66 per cent in the second quarter of 2010. — PTI
	Expect 4G services sooner than expected Girja Shankar Kaura Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 14 Telecom regulator TRAI having already started consultation for the next level of telecom services, the mobile phone subscribers can expect the fourth generation (4G) services to be launched in the country much sooner than expected. Reports suggested that the 4G spectrum has more space available and is ready for use which could actually allow the government to hold the auction for the ultra-high-speed services soon after the completion of 3G spectrum auction underway now. The sale for 4G, which will provide ultra high-speed Internet connections and data handling, will begin as soon as operators roll out their 3G networks this year, Communications Minister A. Raja has said. Officials here said this was possible as most of the 4G space was lying vacant and would also provide an opportunity for the start-up telecom operators to survive in the highly competitive field. They said the 4G services could start as early as in the first quarter of the next calendar year. The Tribune had reported earlier that with the process for 3G spectrum auction being put off repeatedly, some of the private telecom players would want to wait for 4G technology rather than participate in the 3G auction. Officials said a number of telecom operators had chosen to stay away from the 3G process due to the high bidding that was expected. But with the 4G ready for auction, they would want to remain in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets and opt to go for the latest technology. The government is hoping to garner at least Rs 3,500 crore from the sell-off of 3G airwaves and a follow-on auction of broadband wireless access spectrum that began last Friday. With 22 rounds of auction completed till late yesterday, the auction for the 3G could continue for weeks. The auction would not be stopped for any circle till the time the demand is equal to the number of slots available in each circle. The operators believe that 4G will bring near-broadband speed technology to mobile phones, allowing users to receive multimedia such as TV broadcasts and online games up to 10 times faster than those possible on 3G networks. "I do not want any delay in 4G services. We should be with the rest of the world in 4G," Raja said. Earlier, TRAI chairman JS Sarma had said “Yes. We are starting the process and would come out with a consultation paper to look into various issues relating to 4G telecom services”. Germany, incidentally, on Monday began Europe's first auction of 4G frequencies.
	Duty imposed on cotton exports New Delhi, April 14 The government has imposed a duty of Rs 2,500 per tonne on raw cotton exports in order to moderate prices of the commodity in the domestic market and help the local textiles industry. The Central Board of Excise and Customs has notified the export duty on the natural fibre, which has seen a sharp rise in prices in the recent few months. The measure follows the decision by a high-level meeting chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last week. The export duty has been levied for six months, an official in the textiles ministry said. The domestic textile industry has been pitching for cotton export restrictions in the wake of steep rise in prices of the natural fibre. The price of Shankar-6 variety, the premium quality of cotton, has risen to around Rs 28,500 per candy from around Rs 25,000 per candy (356 kg) in November 2009. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Infosys to manage Microsoft's IT services
Bangalore: IT major Infosys on Wednesday said it has signed an agreement with Microsoft to manage internal IT services of the software giant globally. As part of this three-year agreement, Infosys would streamline implementation processes, simplify support and service and, at the same time, would lower enterprise costs by using latest Microsoft solutions such as Windows 7, the Bangalore-headquartered company said. — PTI

RCom customer service
Chandigarh: Reliance Communications (RCom) is launching a chat-based online customer care for its data customers as part of its overall plan to increase its customer service delivery channels through prolific outlets. An official release said RCom will go live with the service across 15,000 towns with a plan to cover 24,000 towns by end of June. As part of the launch, the live chat channel will service RCom’s over 1.3 million data customers. The company plans to extend the live chat service to its voice and corporate customers too. — TNS

Venus Remedies
Chandigarh: Venus Remedies Ltd has received a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) approval from Botswana, a key market in Africa. The GMP has been granted for four of its facilities of oncology liquid, oncology lyophilised, dry powder cephalosporin and dry powder carbapenem, said an official release by the company. — TNS

iGATE revenue up 29 pc
New Delhi: Nasdaq-listed IT services company iGATE on Wednesday said its net income for the quarter ending March has more than doubled to $11.6 million from $5 million registered in the same period a year ago. iGATE CEO Phaneesh Murthy said revenue was up 29 per cent, at $57.9 million, for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, compared to $44.8 million during the same period last year.— PTI

Jaypee Infra IPO
Mumbai: Jaypee Infratech has reserved 10 per cent of its proposed initial public offer for shareholders of Jaiprakash Power Ventures, of which the company is a subsidiary. "Ten per cent of the issue size have been reserved for allotment to the shareholders of Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd, on competitive basis," Jaiprakash Power said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.— PTI

Essar Oil net dips 73 pc
Mumbai: Ruias-led Essar Oil on Wednesday posted a decline of nearly 73 per cent in net profit at Rs 180 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, over the corresponding period a year earlier. Net sales of the company stood at Rs 10,650 crore, during the last quarter of FY'10, against Rs 6,985 crore of the same period last fiscal, Essar Oil said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. — PTI

Mumbai-Johannesburg flight
New Delhi: Private carrier Jet Airways on Wednesday commenced daily non-stop flights from Mumbai to Johannesburg. The carrier has deployed Airbus 330-200 aircraft on the route, it said in a statement.— PTI