The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for introduction of the Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2008, for amendment to the Insurance Act, 1938, the General Insurance Business (nationalisation) Act, 1972 and the Insurance Regulatory and development Authority Act, 1999 in the Rajya Sabha.
The Cabinet also decided to introduce the Life Insurance Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2008 in the Lok Sabha.
The Cabinet also gave its approval for signing of the Horizontal Agreement and the Joint declaration between the European communities and the Government of India. The agreement was signed by the Prime minister Manmohan Singh, last month during his visit to France.
The Union Cabinet also gave its approval for presenting the South Asian University Bill before the Parliament. The draft South Asian University Bill will be introduced in the current session in the Parliament. The Bill has been finalized in consultation with the Ministry of Law, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Human Resource Development and University Grants Commission (UGC).
The South Asian University (SAU) - expected to begin functioning in the first half of 2010 - will be allotted 100 acres of land by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) at the request of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The cost of the land, about Rs 75 crore, would be borne by the MEA.
The Cabinet also considered the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for revival of the Barauni unit of Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation (HFCL) through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to be promoted by fertilizer PSUs. The proposal also includes the revival of closed units of the Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd (FCIL).
The cabinet also approved the Protection and Utilization of Public Funded Intellectual Property Bill, 2008.