The paper attempts to understand the interlinkages and causal relationship between the Nasdaq composite index in the US, the Nikkei in Japan with that of NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex in India during the period January 1999 to August 2004, using daily closing data. The Johansen co-integration test is applied to measure the long-term relationship between the two indices and the Granger-causality test is used to check the short-term causal relationship. The analysis reveals that there is no long-term relationship of the Indian equity market with that of the US and Japanese equity markets. Further, Nasdaq and Nikkei have stronger causal relationship in 1999–2001 which becomes either very weak or disappears in 2002–2004. There seems to be a disassociation in the movements of the Nasdaq and Nikkei with that of the Sensex and Nifty. When the stock markets have no tendency to move together in the long-term and causal effects become weak in the short-term then the markets are segmented and provide ample room for diversification of investments. The recent surge of FII investments to the Indian equity market is primarily a reflection of this trend.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the possibility of financial crowding out in the long-term debt market in India taking the corporate bond market as a proxy. Design/methodology/approach The study follows a two-pronged approach. First, it tests the corporate bond market sensitivity to interest rate, along with other determinants like commercial bank credit and government securities size using the autoregressive distributed lag approach. These are considered instrumental in the development of a long-term debt market. Second, it tests if the interest rate changes are fiscal deficit (FD) induced using Granger causality framework. Findings It finds evidence of both the interest rate sensitivity of the corporate bond market and the interest rates to be FD induced, thereby empirically validating the possibility of financial crowding out in the Indian debt market segment. Research limitations/implications Based on the results, it seems that any deviation from the path of fiscal prudence can prove dear in the development of the corporate bond market. Also, the banking sector is overexposed to the risks it is not geared to handle, given by the serious asset-liability mismatches and contraction it leads in the market debt, like the corporate bond market. The government securities market could be further developed, which would provide a cue to corporate segment further and also a benchmark yield curve. Originality/value The study adds to the very limited literature on the corporate bond market in India, especially in the empirical domain and possibly is the first attempt to empirically explore the aspect of financial crowding out with reference to corporate bond market.

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India initiated its insurance sector reforms in 2000 as an inevitable part of the on-going economic reforms in the country. This long awaited reform was expected to boost the sector. The Insurance reform was marked with the establishment of IRDA, participation of private companies and permission of FDI, and soon it emerged as one of the most vibrant segment of Indian financial sector. India’s insurance sector witnessed many changes and experienced high growth after the privatisation. As the privatised insurance industry has completed more than a decade now and the sector is evolving with the progression of further reform, a close scrutiny of the sector is needed. This paper tries to narrate the story of the development and growth of the insurance sector during the first decade after the privatisation of the sector.

Driven by the twin forces of technological advancement and a growing demand in wake of globalisation, the telecom sector made great strides in the 1980s. Indian government accorded a high priority to telecom sector, that witnessed some fundamental structural and institutional reforms. The opening up of the sector to domestic and international enterprises brought an unprecedented revolution .in availability and costs of telecom services. The entry of private players and sheer size of market made it necessary to put an effective regulatory mechanism in place. This article studies this process of reforms and evolution of regulatory authority. It also gives a background of similar process and experience in other countries. The Indian experience has been unfolded through data that show the competitive environment and advantage, reach of telecom services, and availability of reliable and cost-efficient services to citizens.