National Insurance has become the third largest non-life insurer in India based on premium collection amounts. IRDA has asked insurers to stop providing credit default insurance and has concluded that some insurers are underwriting risks without proper regulation. There has been a sharp decrease in the number of unit-linked insurance plans, with 208 schemes withdrawn and only 42 new schemes launched to replace them as regulations have become more stringent. The government has expanded its rural health insurance scheme beyond those below the poverty line to a wider group, which could lower insurance premiums and hospital treatment costs. India lags behind Brazil and Russia in attracting foreign debt investors due to a lack of sovereign dollar bonds and regulatory hurdles. The stock market hit a 33

1. WEEKLY NEWS (27th SEPT TO 2nd OCT)

2. National Insurance pips Oriental to become 3rd largest insurer State-run has pipped Oriental Insurance to become the third largest non-life insurer in terms of premium collection. According to IRDA data, National Insurance Company has mopped up Rs 2,376 crore premium during April-August this year compared to Rs 1,847 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. Overall, the general insurance industry grew 22.53 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal by collecting Rs 17,423 crore premium.

3. IRDA stops insurers from providing credit default insurance (IRDA) has asked the general insurers to stop giving credit default insurance, a cover which is provided to banks against by borrowers. A credit insurance cover provides for a cover against losses resulting from the inability to repay a loan. The Authority, after examining the credit default insurance contracts has come to the conclusion that the insurers are underwriting risks which do not have proper regulatory framework or sanction.

4. Insurers pull out 208 Ulip schemes, unveil just 42 There has been a sharp rationalistion in terms of the number of unit-linked plans being sold by life insurance companies after regulations became more stringent. At least 208 unit-linked policies were withdrawn from the market during August. In exchange, only around 42 new were launched from September. Insurers now feel that every company will have only 3-5 schemes. Companies such as , , , , Reliance Life Insurance, and have all withdrawn anything between 10 and 30 products each. However, all of them launched 2-3 new policies each in return.

5. Contd. Life Insurance Council chief executive SB Mathur said about a year ago, there were around 500 Ulip policies catering to every segment of the market. This number almost halved to around 250 from January 2010. Following the second revision of Ulip guidelines, which came into effect from September, the number of policies have shrunk further. He said he expected the total number of Ulip plans to stabilise at a little above 100.

6. Govt. widens ambit of rural health cover The government has extended a health insurance scheme earlier restricted to people living below the poverty line to a wider range of groups, a development which could drive down insurance premiums and treatment costs at hospitals. RSBY offers the so-called cashless medical insurance facility in which payments are made directly by the insurance company to the hospital. could alter the face of the health insurance market in , as it solves a fundamental problem faced by insurers — high risk of losses due to fraudulent claims, inflated bills put up by hospitals and lack of standardized rates for medical procedures and surgeries. Access to health insurance is crucial for reducing the incidence of poverty, as many Indians slip below the poverty line due to high out-of-pocket spends on healthcare.

7. Contd. Access to health insurance is crucial for reducing the incidence of poverty, as many Indians slip below the poverty line due to high out-of-pocket spends on healthcare. While the cashless promise of mediclaim policies available in the market has become unreliable in recent months, the RSBY functions like a smart credit card that allows the insured to choose between private and public hospitals with no upfront costs. Moreover, fixed rates have been assigned for medical procedures for all the hospitals empanelled under the scheme. So, consumers will not be left stranded waiting for reimbursements while insurers and hospitals fight it out over costs — as they now do under mediclaim policies available in the market. Expanding the scheme will also mean more business for the 4,500 odd private hospitals and 2,000 public hospitals that are part of the scheme. The premium for providing Rs 30,000 medical cover to a poor household of five varies from Rs 300-600 across states

8. India lags behind emerging peers in debt race The country lags behind Brazil and Russia in attracting debt investors as a lack of and regulatory hurdles deter firms like Daiwa SB Investments and KBC Asset Management. India, which has no sovereign bonds denominated in dollars, euros or yen, isn't included in JPMorgan Chase's bond indexes tracking 41 countries in that are benchmarks followed by some of the world's biggest bond funds. Indian debt attracted $419 million of net inflows from global, high-yield and emerging-market bond funds this year, as on September 22, according to data compiled by EPFR Global, a research firm tracking companies managing $13 trillion in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That's 1.4% of the $31 billion funnelled into emerging-market bond funds. Brazilian debt lured $3.6 billion and Russia attracted $2.3 billion, the data shows.

9. Street hits 33-month high, 21k not too far India’s benchmark indices raced to their highest in 33 months, showing signs of further gains, after a key political risk in the Ayodhya court verdict passed off peacefully and raised economic growth forecast. Soaring Asian markets, after manufacturing in surpassed expectations, and surging commodities aided domestic shares. “This is a liquidity-driven bull market and as long as there are no negative events in the US, the feel-good factor will remain. Sensex has gained 10% this month and is at its highest since January 2008.

10. Contd. The NSE gained 1.9% at 6,143.40. Gainers outnumbered losers 1,993:984. The critical monsoon rains have been better than expected. We are, therefore, increasing our agricultural growth forecast for FY11 to 6% from 4.3%,” the investment bank said. It also raised the inflation target for the year to 6.5% from 6%.