New Delhi, August 2
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved creation of the Special National Investment Fund for financially sick PSUs to meet the requirement of minimum public shareholding of 10 per cent.

The six PSUs that have been identified are Andrew Yule, Fertilizers & Chemicals (Travancore), Hindustan Photo Films, HMT, ITI and Scooters India.

Since these companies are not financially sound, it was found difficult to meet the minimum public shareholding guidelines of SEBI. However, the government was keen to comply with the requirement in all government companies.

The Department of Disinvestment discussed the matter with SEBI and has proposed to meet the minimum public shareholding in the above six companies.

The government has been going for offer for sale in several PSUs to meet the SEBI listing requirements. However, since these companies are not feasible, any divestment may not be possible in the market.

Under the arrangement, the number of shares that is required to make the six companies compliant with the minimum public shareholding will be transferred to the Special National Investment Fund out of Government of India shareholding on irrevocable basis without any consideration.

The Fund will be managed by independent professional fund managers and will sell the shares within five years.

The funds realised from the sale of shares would be used for social sector schemes of the government. The modalities of the sale of shares in the Fund would be decided by the existing EGoM.

As per the new listing norms on stock exchanges, all government companies are required to have at least 10 per cent public shareholding and where public shareholding is less than 10 per cent, the companies are required to comply with this condition within three years by following methods permitted by SEBI for this purpose.

Mumbai, August 2
The BSE Sensex today surrendered initial gains from liberalised FDI norms and declined 153 points, the eighth day of losses, as the rupee weakened past the 61 level again.

The 30-share Sensex opened at 19,399.55 points and climbed to a high of 19,451.70 on buying in some blue chip counters. Dragged down by a weak rupee and FII selling, the index then declined to 19,078.72 before closing at 19,164.02, a loss of 153.17 points, or 0.79 per cent.

The Nifty dropped 49.95 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 5,677.90. The SX40 index on the MCX-SX closed 0.94 per cent lower. — PTI

New Delhi, August 2
In order to provide loans at cheap rates to farmers, the Cabinet has approved continuation of the interest subvention scheme.

The scheme will provide short-term crop loans at a concessional rate of 7 per cent to farmers, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said today.

The loans will be provided up to Rs 3 lakh. This scheme has already been extended to crop loans borrowed from private sector scheduled commercial banks in respect of loans given within the service area of the branch concerned.

An additional subsidy of 3 per cent is being provided to those farmers who repay their loans on time making the effective rate of interest for such farmers at 4 per cent per annum. The estimated budgetary implication of this scheme for 2013-14 is Rs 15,385 crore.

The government will also provide interest subvention at 7 per cent to small and marginal farmers having Kisan Credit Card loans against negotiable warehouse receipts for post harvest, on the same rates as those available for crop loan, for another six months.

Banks have been consistently meeting the target set for agricultural credit flow in the past years. For the year 2013-14, the target for agricultural credit flow has been raised to Rs 7 lakh crore from Rs 5.75 lakh crore in the year 2012-13.

New Delhi, August 2
Looking to provide some relief to the beleaguered telecom sector, the government may notify the long-awaited ‘unified licence’ regime over the next few days.

The regime, which has been in the pipeline for sometime now, aims to free players from limitations on use of technology for services and allow them to take benefits under the new sectoral policy.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of National Telecom Summit organised by CII here today, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, who also doubles up as Law Minister, said, "The file has come to me and I have to sign it".

The DoT has sent the file for clearance to the Law Ministry after bringing about the required changes in the licence regime to bring about a unified regime.

Sibal’s comments came after Telecom Secretary MF Farooqui, while addressing the summit, said "Unified Licence is something which we should be coming out within a day or two and that would be another step forward in giving required flexibility completely. It would allow flexibility to those who are taking liberalised spectrum to use that spectrum for any technology that may come up."

Under the new licences, operators would be able to provide services such as internet telephony.

Mumbai, August 2
The rupee fell a massive 67 paise to all-time closing low of 61.10 against the dollar despite a slew of steps taken by the government and the central bank in the past few weeks to support the battered currency.

There was heavy dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, and some banks on behalf of their clients as hopes of a strengthening dollar overseas weighed on sentiment, a forex dealer said. Better-than-expected US GDP growth has boosted the US dollar.

At the forex market, the rupee resumed lower at 60.61 a dollar from the previous close of 60.43 and touched a high of 60.58.

As local stocks declined, the rupee continued its downward march and touched a low of 61.17 before closing at an all-time low of 61.10, a fall of 67 paise or 1.11 per cent. The previous record low closing was 60.72 on June 26. — PTI

Mumbai, August 2
The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) has revoked the patent granted to the British drug major GlaxoSmithKline Pharma for its breast cancer drug - Tykerb.

However, the Board has upheld the patent for Lapatinib compound, which is the active ingredient in Tykerb, citing innovative merit. Tykerb is the salt form of Lapatinib compound that is sold in the country.

The ruling was delivered on July 27 by Justice Prabha Sridevan, chairperson of the Chennai Bench of the patent appeals agency which functions under the Commerce Ministry. A GSK Pharma India spokesperson said the Board's ruling was a mixed bag for the company.

"We are disappointed that the IPAB has revoked our expiring patent for the Lapatinib ditosylate salt. This ruling only relates to the Lapatinib ditosylate salt patent in the country and does not affect our basic patent for Tykerb or corresponding patents in other countries.

"We are studying the IPAB decision but maintain our belief in the inventiveness of the Lapatinib ditosylate salt and will consider the possibility of taking further steps before the appropriate authorities to validate this," the spokesperson said in an e-mail response. — PTI

Mumbai, August 2
Market regulator SEBI has sought details from various brokers about their direct and indirect exposure to the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL), even as shares of its listed group entities Financial Technologies and MCX continued to bleed for the second straight day.

The regulator is also seeking to ascertain that the brokerage firms and individual brokers have put in place effective 'chinese-wall' like structure to ensure that the problems in spot commodity markets do not spill over to the equity and other segments.

According to sources, SEBI wants the brokers to ensure that their exposure to NSEL are secured by sufficient collaterals and any problems on that front do not affect the liquidity position for their brokerage operations in equity, currency and other segments.

NSEL, which offers an electronic platform for spot market trading in various farm commodities as also bullion contracts, has suspended trade in almost all its products.

While the exchange has said it would meet all its payment and settlement obligations, its decision to defer the settlement to a 15-day period has raised concerns about potential payout defaults.

NSEL chief Anjani Sinha last night said the exchange has physical stock worth Rs 6,200 crore, which exceeded the total outstanding contracts of Rs 5,000-5,500 crore.

As many brokerage firms trading on NSEL platform are also present in other segments like equity, currency and derivative markets, any payout default at NSEL could lead to collateral damage in various segments of capital markets that are regulated by SEBI.

A major crisis erupted at NSEL yesterday after it suspended most trades on its platform, prompting the government to order an enquiry by the commodity regulator FMC, while Sebi also began a separate probe amid a crash in shares of two listed group companies.

The share price of NSEL's promoter entity Financial Technologies fell 65 per cent yesterday, while another group firm Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) plunged 20 per cent. — PTI

New Delhi, August 2
India has been ranked lowest in basic money management skills among Asia-Pacific countries, according to MasterCard's latest Index of Financial Literacy.

India with 59 index points was ranked at the 15th place among the 16 countries surveyed ahead of Japan which was at the bottom with 57 index points. In overall financial literacy, New Zealand continued to rank number one with a score of 74 index points, ahead of Singapore (72 index points) and Taiwan (71).

"Even though India's overall index is low, it is heartening that the country has showed improvement on the parameter of financial planning," Ari Sarker, MasterCard South Asia Division president, said.

Sarkar further said: "Overall, however, the index highlights clear gaps in the financial literacy space and the need to inculcate better budgeting, savings and responsible credit habits."

The survey was conducted between April 2013 and May 2013 with 7,756 respondents aged between 18 and 64 in 16 Asia-Pacific countries.

The survey was conducted on three aspects of financial literacy, including consumers' basic money management skills, investment knowledge and financial planning. — PTI

New Delhi, August 2
HDFC Bank and Axis Bank have raised fixed deposit rates by up to 4 per cent. It has raised interest rates by 1 per cent for maturities between 15 days to 6 months one day effective July 27, as per information available on its website. The bank has increased the interest rate by 0.75 per cent for maturity buckets less than 1 year but over 6 months one day.

Axis Bank has raised interest rate on deposits with maturity between 14-29 days by 4 to 8%, while in case of 7-14 days the increase is by 3.5 to 7.5% on bulk deposits above Rs 1 crore, effective August 1. — PTI