SK Kanwar, chairman and managing director at United India Assurance, has assumed charge as the chief of New India Assurance with effect from Monday. Meanwhile, the centre may appoint KN Bhandari, general manager at National Insurance, as the chief of the Chennai-based United India; and BD Baneerji, general manager at GIC, as the managing director of GIC soon.

RBI rejects Business India Hire Purchase registration:

The RBI, in exercise of the powers conferred on it under section 45 IA of the RBI Act, 1934, has rejected the application for grant of a certificate of registration submitted by Business India Hire Purchase Co Ltd, which has its registered office at Kochi. The company cannot transact the business of a non-banking financial institution.

Syndicate Bank-aided RRBs performance: The 10 regional rural banks sponsored by Syndicate Bank have achieved a deposit level of Rs 1,912 crore and an advances level of Rs 1,471 crore for the year endedMarch 31, 1998. The banks, together, have achieved a credit-deposit ratio of 77 per cent, which is much higher than the national average of 48 per cent for other RRBs in the country. The RRBs sponsored by Syndicate Bank account for 9.17 per cent of the total deposits mobilised and 15.31 per cent of the total lending by all the 196 RRBs in the country. The Syndicate Bank-sponsored RRBs have set an ambitious target of Rs 2,215 crore in advances and Rs 1,688 crore in deposits for the current year.

KM Bhattacharya is new IndusInd Bank ED: KM Bhattacharya has joined IndusInd Bank as executive director (credit) with effect from September 1, 1998. Preceding his new assignment, Bhattacharya was chief general manager (accounts and compliance) at State Bank of India at its central office in Mumbai. Bhattacharya has over 35 years of experience in commercial banking, covering a variety of assignments in administration, personnel management and credit management.

Crisil reaffirms Corporation Bank rating:Crisil has reaffirmed the triple-A rating assigned to the Rs 200 crore bond issue of Corporation Bank. The rating agency has also reaffirmed the P1+ and triple-A ratings assigned to the bank's certificate of deposit programme and fixed-deposit programme respectively. The ratings reflect the bank's comfortable capital adequacy ratio, its above-average asset quality and profitability and the high growth demonstrated by the bank in both deposits and advances.

JY Divanji appointed Syndicate Bank ED: JY Divanji has taken charge as executive director at Syndicate Bank with effect from September 14, 1998. He will be based at the bank's zonal office in Mumbai. Prior to his appointment, Divanji was a general manager at Bank of India.

Crisil downgrades GIPCL debentures: Crisil has downgraded the Rs 13.05 crore non-convertible debenture programme of Gujarat Industries Power Company Ltd from A to triple-B. This accounts for the non-convertible portion of the Rs 24 crore partly-convertible debentureprogramme of the company. The Rs 12 crore non-convertible debenture programme of the company has also been downgraded to triple-B from A. The revision in rating takes into account the various risks associated with the Surat Lignite Power Project being developed by GIPCL, especially the financial risk. The delay in equity flows for the project and debt funding has added to the financial risk profile of the company, resulting in higher gearing.

Three-day repos results: The RBI received two applications amounting to Rs 2,800 crore at the three-day 8 per cent fixed-rate repos held on Monday. The central bank accepted both the applications in full.

Three-day repos today: The RBI has announced three-day 8 per cent fixed-rate repos in Government of India dated securities on September 15 for parties holding SGL and current accounts with it at Mumbai. Applications may be accepted fully or partially and will have to be submitted on September 15. Payment by applicants will be on September 15 andrepurchase by the RBI on September 18.