rUrAlMaMa

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – Fixtures
Below is the entire fixture schedule for the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.

All match start times are listed in GMT – please adjust for your time zone accordingly.


Start Time Teams Venue
19 Feb,2011 08:30 AM GMT IND vs BAN Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
20 Feb,2011 04:00 AM GMT NZ vs KEN MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
20 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT SL vs CAN Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota
21 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT AUS vs ZIM Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera
22 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT ENG vs NED Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
23 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT PAK vs KEN Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota
24 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT SA vs WI Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
25 Feb,2011 04:00 AM GMT AUS vs NZ Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
25 Feb,2011 08:30 AM GMT BAN vs IRE Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
26 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT PAK vs SL R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
27 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT IND vs ENG M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
28 Feb,2011 04:00 AM GMT ZIM vs CAN Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
28 Feb,2011 09:00 AM GMT WI vs NED Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
01 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT SL vs KEN R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
02 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT ENG vs IRE M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
03 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT SA vs NED Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
03 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT PAK vs CAN R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
04 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT NZ vs ZIM Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera
04 Mar,2011 08:30 AM GMT BAN vs WI Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
05 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT AUS vs SL R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
06 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT SA vs ENG MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
06 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT IND vs IRE M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
07 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT CAN vs KEN Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
08 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT PAK vs NZ Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
09 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT IND vs NED Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
10 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT SL vs ZIM Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
11 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT WI vs IRE Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
11 Mar,2011 08:30 AM GMT BAN vs ENG Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
12 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT IND vs SA Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
13 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT NZ vs CAN Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
13 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT AUS vs KEN M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
14 Mar,2011 03:30 AM GMT BAN vs NED Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
14 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT PAK vs ZIM Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
15 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT SA vs IRE Eden Gardens, Kolkata
16 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT AUS vs CAN M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
17 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT ENG vs WI MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
18 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT NED vs IRE Eden Gardens, Kolkata
18 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT NZ vs SL Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
19 Mar,2011 03:30 AM GMT BAN vs SA Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
19 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT AUS vs PAK R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
20 Mar,2011 04:00 AM GMT ZIM vs KEN Eden Gardens, Kolkata
20 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT IND vs WI MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
23 Mar,2011 08:30 AM GMT A1 vs B4 (1st Quarter Final, C) Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
24 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT A2 vs B3 (2nd Quarter Final, D) Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium, Motera
25 Mar,2011 08:30 AM GMT A3 vs B2 (3rd Quarter Final, E) Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
26 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT A4 vs B1 (4th Quarter Final, F) R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
29 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT Winner C vs Winner E (1st Semi Final) R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
30 Mar,2011 09:00 AM GMT Winner D vs Winner F (2nd Semi Final) Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
02 Apr,2011 09:00 AM GMT SF1 vs SF2 (Final) Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

The husband of a pregnant wife was thinking of buying insurance for his unborn baby.

So he asked Birla Sun Life and the agent said "Don't worry man, we'll provide insurance right FROM THE BASKET TO THE CASKET".

The man was impressed but thought that he should probably seek another opinion.
He then approached ICICI Prudential and the agent replied "Oh, we have a new insurance policy which can protect your unborn child FROM THE WOMB RIGHT UP TO THE TOMB".

The man was stunned but thought that maybe all salesmen like to bullshit and decided to see the agent from LIC of India.

He told the LIC agent what Prudential and Birla had to offer. The LIC agent thought for a while and then said "Tell you something, we have one that is even better than Prudential and Birla. We'll insure your child FROM ERECTION TO RESURRECTION".

7 Steps for Right Recruitment
1. Understanding the Requirement
Make sure you have understood the requirement very well. You should not only look at the technical requirements but also try to understand the entire environment and situation of the vacancy. Why the vacancy is there? Is it a new vacancy or a replacement? If it is a replacement, what are reasons the previous employee on that position left the job or shifted or promoted?
2. Analyzing the position and team situation
After understanding the requirement, make sure you analyze the team environment and situation where the vacancy is open. Figure out the size of the team one has to work with. For example, if the team size of the position is 10 people, and if the incumbent has never worked in such team size, he won’t be able to get adjusted easily. There are people who only get adjusted with small teams and there are also professionals who can only work in big teams. This is the case with leading and management positions as well. If you try to hire a person who has led a team of 100 people and if he has to lead a team of only 5 people, there are always chances that he will be not satisfied and not get adjusted in the environment.
One also needs to check what kind of person the incumbent has to work with. Who is his supervisor; what kind of attitude he has and so on. In most of the cases, the study has found that an employee leaves because of his supervisor. Ultimately, the supervisor is the person who deals with him directly!!
3. Sourcing the right person
After analyzing the above two steps, now is the time to look for a right person. Match the technical skills, match the above two criteria and then call him for the interview. Salary is always an important criteria so never forget to match what he expects, what he has drawn, what is he drawing and what you can offer.
4. Gathering basic information
Many recruiters find it silly to gather the basic information about the candidate. However, this is where they make a big mistake. Basic information like birth place, current location, family background, marital status, hobbies etc. make a big difference. These are the details which can help a recruiter to figure out the candidate's current situation, his attitude, his hidden talents and skills and many more.
For example, if you have sourced a candidate who is female, recently married; there are chances for her to ask for maternity leave and the organization has to suffer. If you have a candidate who is relocating himself from his native location to a distant place, there are chances that if he gets a good opportunity in his native, he will accept it and run away. Similarly, if you find out the hobbies of a candidate you can figure out little about his attitude. If a candidate has been a soccer player in past, he may prove to be a good team member. If he is tennis player, he may like to work independently and so on..
So next time you interview someone, make sure you gather the basic information.
5. Interviewing
I will not discuss about the common things we ask while interviewing a candidate. Most of the recruiters or interviewers know what he has to check. But there are some other factors which need to be considered while interviewing. These are not the questions but hints we can get while interviewing.
Body Language
Facial expressions
Speech
Attitude
Habits
6. Presenting profiles to management
It is very important for a recruiter to see how he is presenting the profile to the management. Once a recruiter has short listed one profile, he should wait for few more to get short listed. A recruiter should always give choices to the management and not just one resume. The management should have a chance to compare at least 3-4 profiles for a position. So make sure, you always present at least 3-4 resumes for a position to your management.
7. Recruiter as a sales person
I always consider a recruiter as a sales person. He is actually selling jobs to a right candidate and again selling the right candidate to the management. The sales always include after sales service. Always make sure you update the candidates and management about the latest status and keep both of them updated and posted.

7 Steps for Right Recruitment
1. Understanding the Requirement
Make sure you have understood the requirement very well. You should not only look at the technical requirements but also try to understand the entire environment and situation of the vacancy. Why the vacancy is there? Is it a new vacancy or a replacement? If it is a replacement, what are reasons the previous employee on that position left the job or shifted or promoted?
2. Analyzing the position and team situation
After understanding the requirement, make sure you analyze the team environment and situation where the vacancy is open. Figure out the size of the team one has to work with. For example, if the team size of the position is 10 people, and if the incumbent has never worked in such team size, he won’t be able to get adjusted easily. There are people who only get adjusted with small teams and there are also professionals who can only work in big teams. This is the case with leading and management positions as well. If you try to hire a person who has led a team of 100 people and if he has to lead a team of only 5 people, there are always chances that he will be not satisfied and not get adjusted in the environment.
One also needs to check what kind of person the incumbent has to work with. Who is his supervisor; what kind of attitude he has and so on. In most of the cases, the study has found that an employee leaves because of his supervisor. Ultimately, the supervisor is the person who deals with him directly!!
3. Sourcing the right person
After analyzing the above two steps, now is the time to look for a right person. Match the technical skills, match the above two criteria and then call him for the interview. Salary is always an important criteria so never forget to match what he expects, what he has drawn, what is he drawing and what you can offer.
4. Gathering basic information
Many recruiters find it silly to gather the basic information about the candidate. However, this is where they make a big mistake. Basic information like birth place, current location, family background, marital status, hobbies etc. make a big difference. These are the details which can help a recruiter to figure out the candidate's current situation, his attitude, his hidden talents and skills and many more.
For example, if you have sourced a candidate who is female, recently married; there are chances for her to ask for maternity leave and the organization has to suffer. If you have a candidate who is relocating himself from his native location to a distant place, there are chances that if he gets a good opportunity in his native, he will accept it and run away. Similarly, if you find out the hobbies of a candidate you can figure out little about his attitude. If a candidate has been a soccer player in past, he may prove to be a good team member. If he is tennis player, he may like to work independently and so on..
So next time you interview someone, make sure you gather the basic information.
5. Interviewing
I will not discuss about the common things we ask while interviewing a candidate. Most of the recruiters or interviewers know what he has to check. But there are some other factors which need to be considered while interviewing. These are not the questions but hints we can get while interviewing.
Body Language
Facial expressions
Speech
Attitude
Habits
6. Presenting profiles to management
It is very important for a recruiter to see how he is presenting the profile to the management. Once a recruiter has short listed one profile, he should wait for few more to get short listed. A recruiter should always give choices to the management and not just one resume. The management should have a chance to compare at least 3-4 profiles for a position. So make sure, you always present at least 3-4 resumes for a position to your management.
7. Recruiter as a sales person
I always consider a recruiter as a sales person. He is actually selling jobs to a right candidate and again selling the right candidate to the management. The sales always include after sales service. Always make sure you update the candidates and management about the latest status and keep both of them updated and posted.

DEAR RURAL MAMA MEMBERS,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR..........2011..........................

Congratulations Mr.Rajakumar for getting promoted as Agency Manager.Joined as Unit Manager under the leadership of Mr Ajit Nalinakshan.Rajakumar is a qualified lawyer and is presently staying with his wife and children at Trivandrum.He is originally from Pooyapally,Kollam

The year 2010 saw the PC evolving from being a niche device to a mainstream portable computer. Tablets have an intriguing form factor and come with lesser functionality than a laptop, but they are touch-enabled and very adept at delivering media and the Internet. If Netbooks were the most wanted gadgets in 2009, then it was the iPad this year. Apple Inc's iPad has been the talk of the town since its launch. In India, they haven't launched it yet, but of course, other tablets are already making news. The Dell Streak is somewhere between a smartphone and tablet. With a screen of 5 inches, it sits squarely in between the 'standard' 3.3 inch screen of smartphones and the tablet. But surely, this smart gadget may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Touted as the toughest competitor to the iPad, Samsung's Galaxy Tab is smaller and lighter than other tablets. This Android tablet gives the device a number of selling points Apple's iPad can't claim, including full-featured multitasking, support for Adobe Flash, and unrestricted access to applications. With a 7-inch display and a weight of 0.8 pound, the Galaxy Tab is small enough to fit into some tight spaces (such as a roomy pocket), light enough to hold with one hand, and large enough to provide satisfying viewing. Not that there aren't other good tablets in the market - this is just a dekko at the two most popular ones till the iPad arrives on Indian shores

Our Birth is our Opening Balance !

Our Death is our Closing Balance!

Our Prejudiced Views are our Liabilities

Our Creative Ideas are our Assets


Heart is our Current Asset

Soul is our Fixed Asset

Brain is our Fixed Deposit

Thinking is our Current Account

Achievements are our Capital

Character & Morals, our Stock-in-Trade

Friends are our General Reserves

Values & Behavior are our Goodwill

Patience is our Interest Earned

Love is our Dividend

Children are our Bonus Issues

Education is Brands / Patents

Knowledge is our Investment

Experience is our Premium Account

The Aim is to Tally the Balance Sheet Accurately.

The Goal is to get the Best Presented Accounts Award

Rs14,000cr hole; loss at LIC MF; govt scrutiny
LIC’s problems echo those at Unit Trust of India a decadeago when its assured return scheme ran into trouble

Tamal Bandyopadhyay, Baiju Kalesh& Anirudh Laskar
Mumbai: Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC),the country’s largest financial institution with an asset base of Rs12trillion, is running a valuation deficit of around Rs14,000 crore in threeplans of its guaranteed-return annuity policies—Jeevan Dhara, Jeevan Suraksha and Jeevan Akshay. Not all plans under these three brands are affected.
There are at least 1.3 millioncustomers of these three plans, but none will be affected.
In a parallel development, allinvestments made by LIC during fiscals 2007-08 and 2008-09 are under thegovernment’s scanner, following complaints made about its investments in a fewcompanies.
The finance ministry is alsoclosely looking at the exposure of its subsidiary, LIC Mutual Fund AssetManagement Co. Ltd (LIC MF), to liquid and money market schemes that led to aloss of Rs120 crore. “The unitholders have nothing to worry. We’ll fix theresponsibility and take stern action (against those responsible),” said aministry official familiar with the development, who asked not to beidentified.
Another person, who also did notwant to be identified, said “heads will roll” in LIC MF.
While LIC MF has disclosed its lossin its half-yearly earnings and reported this to the capital market regulator,the notional loss or valuation deficit of LIC’s three guaranteed return pensionschemes is not mentioned in its balance sheet as the insurer does not discloseits profits or losses across segments.
These plans were launched in the1980s and the 1990s with assured returns of 11-12%, but with the drop ininterest rates the actual yield on investments is much less than what investorshave been earning. They were launched under the Jeevan Dhara, Jeevan Surakshaand Jeevan Akshay brands. Subsequent schemes launched under the same brands arenot suffering from any notional losses.
These three loss-making old schemesare annuity plans, offering periodic payments after the retirement of apolicyholder. They address the longevity risk and in some cases, inflation riskin a limited manner.
As the payout phase is usually longand uncertain, such schemes require the matching of assets and liabilities overa fairly long period.
“The valuation gap varies accordingto the movement of interest rates. In future, it can widen or even shrink. Atthe current interest rate scenario, the net present value of the deficit forthese schemes, which will expire after a few decades, is around Rs14,000crore,” said an LIC official, who asked not to be named.
Apart from the interest rate trend,the mortality rate will also have a bearing on the actual loss that LIC willsuffer eventually. Mortality rates have been progressively coming down and thismeans longer payouts to the investors. The LIC official said that there is noplan to discontinue these schemes and added that LIC has a solvency margin ofRs46,000 crore and this is being used to take care of the valuation gap. “We’reusing surpluses to make good this gap and not using other policyholders’money,” he said.
A senior Insurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority (Irda) official said the regulator would not haveapproved these LIC schemes had it been in existence when they were launched.“There is indeed a deficit… This is not a good practice. We’d not have clearedsuch products if they were to come to us for approval,” the Irda official said,asking not to be identified.
“It would be unwise for LIC tobuild up such losses in their accounts. Pension funds are required to behandled very carefully,” he added.
If interest rates keep falling andthe people covered under these LIC policies do not claim their incomes, thelosses could build up further. “If it calls for a corrective action, we’dcertainly act,” said Irda chairman J. Hari Narayan.
Irda came into being in 1999.
The schemes
LIC introduced two personal pensionplans, a deferred pension plan by name Jeevan Dhara and an immediate pensionplan by name Jeevan Akshay in 1987-88, offering 1% assured return per month.The government had allowed premium on these two plans up to Rs40,000.
Both plans had managed to attractmillions of customers due to tax incentives offered. Investments in suchschemes were exempted from one’s income while computing tax. Demand for theschemes continued till 1992, when the government withdrew the tax incentive.
In 1996, once again, LIC introduceda deferred pension plan, Jeevan Suraksha. The government allowed premium of upto Rs10,000 for the policy.
The latest data available for theseschemes shows that till March 2003, LIC had nearly 1.3 million customerscovered under them.
The arithmetic
The premium money collected underannuity and pension plans is predominantly invested in government securitiesand highly-secured corporate bonds; some portion is also invested in equity.
Interest rates in India wereregulated until 1997–98, when the medium and long-term rates were approximately12-13%. Since then they started falling and simultaneously, the mortality ratestoo fell as life expectancy increased. Currently, the yield on the government’sbenchmark 10-year bond is about 8.1%.
When an insurer launches aguaranteed annuity product, it assumes that the securities where the premiummoney is invested are fairly long-term in nature and will mature roughly duringthe payout phase (the period when the annuitants start claiming their income).
If investments mature before thepeople covered die or start claiming their income, the insurer needs toreinvest the money in other securities. If the reinvestments fetch interestrates lower than the returns guaranteed by the insurer, it starts incurringhuge losses. The losses keep multiplying year-on-year and if the interest rateskeep falling, the company may be badly hit.
“The interest rates fell moresteeply than we had expected and the life expectancy has increased to 90 yearsfor the policyholders,” the LIC official said.
Solvency issues
In order to ensure that the lifeinsurers in Indiaare capable of honouring claims against any of their policies any time, Irdastipulates that firms must maintain a solvency margin. The solvency margin issimply the excess of the value of assets over the value of life insuranceliabilities and other liabilities of policyholders’ and shareholders’ funds.
Irda also specifies that forpension schemes, an insurer is required to recognize the risk of decline infuture interest rates.
LIC has an overall solvency marginof Rs46,000 crore currently. A member of the Instituteof Actuaries of India, who hadearlier worked with LIC, said solvency margins are prudential measures and maynot be sufficient to handle an insurer’s overall liabilities. An insurer needsto ensure it has the right kind of reserves, reinsurance or derivatives to backits guarantees credibly as far as annuities are concerned, he added, asking notto be identified.
The valuation deficit at LIC issomewhat reminiscent of the infamous US-64, the assured return scheme of theerstwhile Unit Trust of India (UTI), the nation’s oldest MF that crumbled underthe burden of assured payouts to the millions of investors in US-64. Thegovernment had bailed out UTI and bifurcated it into two separateentities—Special Undertaking of UTI for managing all the tax-free assuredreturn schemes, and UTI Asset Management Co. Ltd for managing the assets underother MF schemes.
The LIC official said that “it’s notfair to compare (LIC’s schemes) with US-64” as investments made by the pensionschemes are all held to maturity and LIC does not need to value them inaccordance with their market price or follow the so-called mark-to-market (MTM)accounting practice.
Losses in MF
LIC MF has posted a Rs120 croreloss following a new norm of capital market regulator Securities and ExchangeBoard of India (Sebi) that directs all MFs to value their investment in allsecurities maturing 91 days and above on an MTM basis.
In its effort to enhancetransparency in valuation of debt schemes, Sebi in February had ordered all MFsto value all money market and debt securities, including floating ratesecurities, with residual maturity of up to 91 days on the basis of theirmarket value.
Nearly 60% of the MF industry’sassets are in debt securities. The Rs7.13 trillion industry invests money underincome schemes, liquid and money market schemes in such securities. At the endof September, LIC MF’s average assets were Rs19,726.97 crore and Rs16,911.18crore of this was in debt funds, says Value Research, a Delhi-based MF tracker.
“We’ve a substantial holding inlong-dated securities under our mutual fund business. We’re now strengtheningour mutual fund team. Actions are being taken,” the LIC official said.
Sushobhan Sarkar, who used to headLIC’s MF business, has recently been made the head the insurer’s internationaloperations, and Mohan Raj, an executive director, is now heading the MFbusiness.
Govt investigation
A three-member panel constituted bythe finance ministry is closely looking into all investments made by LIC in2008 and 2009. Tarun Bajaj, joint secretary (insurance and banking), departmentof financial services; Sanjeev Kumar Jindal, director, department of financialservices, and Ravneet Kaur, joint secretary (banking and insurance) are themembers of the panel.
R. Gopalan, financial servicessecretary, said: “This is a routine investigation. Millions of policyholders’money is involved and we should act responsibly.”
“Whenever there’s any complaint,the government examines if there is any merit in it. If there are verifiablefacts, the government questions and checks the investment books. One of therecent complaints regarding LIC’s investments involved four to five firms. Theinvestigations are going on and we’re cooperating fully,” the LIC officialsaid.
A series of discussionsbetweenMintand anumber of LIC officials disclosed that LIC’s equity investment portfolioincludes investments in 475 unlisted firms of which 14 are strategicinvestments, including those in the National Stock Exchange and the BombayStock Exchange.
The book value of such investmentis around Rs1,521 crore.
Currently, LIC holds equities of atleast 1,000 companies and the market value of these investments stood at Rs3.75trillion as on 30 September.
“Our holdings are fairly long termin nature. Naturally, there is always a possibility of companies gettingdelisted, turning the stock illiquid,” a second LIC official said last week,asking not to be identified.
He also said, “There is noloss-making investment and if required LIC can liquidate its stake (in suchcompanies) at substantial profit.”
However, another person familiarwith LIC’s investments in illiquid stocks said the insurer is trying to“dispose of such investment fast at best possible way”. This person, whodoesn’t work for LIC and asked not to be named, said no new investment is madeby the insurer in any firm unless it is listed and has a track record of payingdividends for three consecutive years.
The insurer has an investmentcommittee that meets roughly once in six weeks. Gopalan is one of the membersof the committee.
According to Irda rules, a lifeinsurer is permitted to invest at least 50% in government securities, 15% insecurities of infrastructure-related companies and projects, and the remaining35% in equities, non-convertible debentures, commercial papers, certificate ofdeposits and MFs.
The insurer plans to invest nearlyRs2 trillion this fiscal, including equity and other instruments. LIC’s netprofit went up by 11% to Rs23,478 crore during 2009-10 against Rs21,152 crorein the previous fiscal.

Source:http://www.livemint.com/2010/11/16085127/LIC8217s-triple-blow-Rs14.html?h=A1

Bribe scam unearthed; top LIC, bank officials held
Vinaya Deshpande
MUMBAI: The Economic Offences Wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation has unearthed a multimillion-rupee bribery scam and arrested top officials of public sector banks and financial institutions, including the Chief Executive Officer of the Life Insurance Corporation Housing Finance Limited.
On Tuesday, the CBI conducted raids in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur, Kolkata and Jalandhar and seized some documents. “Five separate cases have been registered,” Joint Director P. Kandaswamy told a press conference here on Wednesday.
The arrested include Naresh K Chopra, Secretary (Investment), LIC, Mumbai; Ramchandran Nair, Director and Chief Executive Officer, LIC Housing Finance Limited, Mumbai; R.N. Tayal, General Manager, Bank of India, Mumbai; Manindersingh Johar, Director (Chartered Accountant), Central Bank of India, New Delhi; Venkoba Gujjal, Deputy General Manager, Punjab National Bank, New Delhi; Rajesh Sharma, chairperson and managing director of Money Matters, Mumbai; and Suresh Gattani and Sanjay Sharma, also of the private financial services company.
Mr. Kandaswamy said Money Matters used to bribe officials of these public sector banks and financial institutions to facilitate large-scale corporate loans and other facilities.

courtesy:The Hindu

short but not formal

Where does it end?

Are they ships or pillars!!!!

Date : 28th June, 2010
GUIDANCE NOTES ON RECENT REGULATORY CHANGES RELATED TO UNIT LINKED INSURANCE PRODUCTS (ULIPs)

INTRODUCTION:
IRDA has, from time to time, taken various initiatives for protecting the interests of policyholders by bringing out Regulations, Guidelines, Circulars etc applicable to insurers and intermediaries covering the various stages in the lifecycle of an insurance product, commencing from solicitation, sale, policy servicing, to claims servicing and grievance redressal.

With expansion of the insurance sector and more and more innovative insurance products, in particula, the Unit Linked Insurance Products coming into the life insurance market, IRDA has been sensitive to the changing scenario and the challenges that go with it. In particular, IRDA has been conscious of how these changes have been impacting the policyholder and has taken several steps to bring in changes in the regulatory framework to address various concerns of the policyholder.

IRDA had stipulated that insurers must provide the prospect/policyholder all relevant information regarding amounts deducted towards various charges for each policy year so that the prospect could take an informed decision. Insurers were required to provide Benefit Illustrations giving two scenarios of interest rates, 6% and 10% respectively. The prospect was required to sign on the illustration while signing the proposal form. This was done to ensure transparency and proper disclosures by the insurers.

It is necessary to demystify complex products and ensure that proper product disclosures are made to the prospect/policyholder. Towards this end, IRDA has already come out with an exposure draft on need to issue Key Features Documents. Responses received by the Authority are under examination and the initiative will be taken forward further. Similarly, Needs Analysis is another initiative identified by IRDA as a step in curbing wrong advice and mis-selling. An exposure draft on this requirement is already circulated and responses are coming in. Whilst on mis-selling, IRDA has identified Distance Marketing as yet another area of concern and draft guidelines in this regard have been put up as an exposure note for all stakeholders to respond to.

Mention must be made of what is perhaps the most important step that the Authority has taken keeping in view the interests of policyholders. IRDA set up an exclusive Consumer Affairs Department that focuses on consumer related issues and initiatives including grievance redressal and consumer education through Insurance Awareness Campaigns. With a view to creating a central repository of industry-wide insurance grievance data and facilitating monitoring of disposal of grievances by insurers, IRDA is on the verge of implementing the Integrated Grievance Management System (IGMS). IGMS will not only help monitor the redress systems of insurers but also create a gateway for policyholders to register complaints with insurance companies first and if need be escalate them to the IRDA Grievance Cells. The Consumer Affairs department goes beyond facilitation and works towards taking grievances to their logical end by calling for explanations where required, carrying out enquiries and inspections etc. It is proposed to make the institution of the Insurance Ombudsman handle all types of complaints including those relating to policy sale and servicing rather than just restricting it to claims. IRDA is also shortly making its Call Centre operational for policyholders to lodge their grievances and also seek their status over phone/e-mail.

Further, keeping in view the need for efficient functioning of the insurance sector for protecting the interests of policyholders, it is necessary to have reliable, timely and accurate data relating to insurance. In order to ensure that proper data is collected, processed and disseminated in the manner required, IRDA has set up an independent body, namely the Insurance Information Bureau (IIB). The IIB has started functioning and has already made good progress.

RECENT REGULATORY INITIATIVES

More recently, IRDA has taken a holistic view of the features of ULIPs and addressed issues impacting the policyholders including the way such products are sold/bought; how ULIPs can be better financial instruments for providing risk coverage; how sale by unlicensed personnel and several other malpractices existing in this market may be curbed by plugging legal loopholes and tightening of the regulatory ambit; legal mandate to initiate direct penal action against Corporate Agents etc. IRDA therefore initiated exposure drafts covering these areas and received considerable feedback from various stakeholders on the issues put forth. The issues were then presented to and discussed with the members of the Insurance Advisory Committee as well as the members of the Board of the Authority. The following regulatory initiatives have been approved by the Authority during the Board meeting on 31.05.10.

I. Distribution channel related changes:

1. IRDA has amended the IRDA (Insurance Advertisements and Disclosure) Regulations to remove any scope for the involvement of unlicensed personnel/entities in the sale of insurance products.
   
2. IRDA has amended the IRDA ( Licensing of Corporate Agents) Regulations to further tighten the Code of Conduct of corporate agents to ensure that the prospect does not deal with any unlicensed person. The Regulations have also been amended to ensure that there is no scope for any kind of remuneration other than commission where sale has been effected. This measure will reduce the expenses of the insurer, thereby lowering premiums to be paid by the policyholder.
   
3. Regulations for referrals: IRDA has also addressed the issue of Referrals by bringing out separate Regulations leaving no scope for misuse of the system. Companies which wish to share their database of customers with insurers would need to get approval from IRDA after having conformed to the requirements as laid down in the Regulations. Further, there are restrictions on the business activities of the referral company to ensure that there is no misuse of the system. For instance, the referral company shall not be in any business of extending loans and advances or accepting deposits etc though there are exceptions such as for Regional Rural Banks, Co-operative banks etc. The Regulations cast obligations on the referral company as well as the insurer including submission of data as and when called for by the Authority.

II. ULIP STRUCTURE RELATED CHANGES:

(1) Lock in period increased to five years:

IRDA has increased the lock-in period for all Unit Linked Products from three years to five years, including top-up premiums, thereby making them long term financial instruments which basically provide risk protection.

(2) Level Paying Premiums:

Further, all regular premium /limited premium ULIPs shall have uniform/level paying premiums. Any additional payments shall be treated as single premium for the purpose of insurance cover.

(3). Even Distribution of Charges:

Charges on ULIPs are mandated to be evenly distributed during the lock in period, to ensure that high front ending of expenses is eliminated.

(4). Minimum Premium Paying Term Of Five Years:

All limited premium unit linked insurance products, other than single premium products shall have premium paying term of at least five years.

(5). Increase In Risk Component:

Further, all unit linked products, other than pension and annuity products shall provide a mortality cover or a health cover thereby increasing the risk cover component in such products.

(i) The minimum mortality cover should be as follows:

Minimum Sum assured for age at entry of below 45 years
Minimum Sum assured for age at entry of 45 years and above

Single Premium (SP) contracts: 125 percent of single premium.

Regular Premium (RP) including limited premium paying (LPP) contracts: 10 times the annualized premiums or (0.5 X T X annualized premium) whichever is higher. At no time the death benefit shall be less than 105 percent of the total premiums (including top-ups) paid.
Single Premium (SP) contracts: 110 percent of single premium

Regular Premium (RP) including limited premium paying (LPP) contracts: 7 times the annualized premiums or (0.25 X T X annualized premium) whichever is higher. At no time the death benefit shall be less than 105 percent of the total premiums (including top-ups) paid.

(In case of whole life contracts, term (T) shall be taken as 70 minus age at entry)

(ii)The minimum health cover per annum should be as follows:



Minimum annual health cover for age at entry of below 45 years
Minimum annual health cover for age at entry of 45 years and above

Regular Premium (RP) contracts: 5 times the annualized premiums or Rs. 100,000 per annum whichever is higher,

At no time the annual health cover shall be less than 105 percent of the total premiums paid.
Regular Premium (RP) contracts: 5times the annualized premiums or Rs. 75,000 per annum whichever is higher.

At no time the annual health cover shall be less than 105 percent of the total premiums paid


(6). MINIMUM GUARANTEED RETURN FOR PENSION PRODUCTS:

As regards pension products, all ULIP pension/annuity products shall offer a minimum guaranteed return of 4.5% per annum or as specified by IRDA from time to time. This will protect the life time savings for the pensioners, from any adverse fluctuations at the time of maturity.

(7). RATIONALISATION OF CAP ON CHARGES:

With a view to smoothening the cap on charges, the capping been rationalized to ensure that the difference in yield is capped from the 5th year onwards. This will not only reduce the overall charges on these products, but also smoothen the charge structure for the policyholder.

III. DISCONTINUANCE OF CHARGES:

IRDA has also addressed the issue of discontinuance of charges for surrender of ULIPs. The IRDA (Treatment of Discontinued Linked Insurance Policies) Regulations brought out by IRDA in this regard ensure that policyholders do not get overcharged when they wish to discontinue their policies for any emergency cash requirement. The Regulations stipulate that an insurer shall recover only the incurred acquisition costs in the event of discontinuance of policy and that these charges are not excessive. The discontinuance charges have been capped both as percentage of fund value and premium and also in absolute value. The Regulations also clearly define the Grace Period for different modes of premium payment. Upon discontinuance of a policy, a policyholder shall be entitled to exercise an option of either reviving the policy or completely withdrawing from the policy without any risk cover. Further, the regulations also enable IRDA to order refund of discontinuance charges in case they are found excessive on enquiry.

These regulations are applicable to all new ULIP products approved by IRDA after these regulations are notified