CABINET CLEARS INSURANCE | PENSION | COMPANIES BILLS | Sensex Zooms 188 Pts | Crosses 19K | Rupee Gains 42 Paise At 51.74/$

CABINET OKAYS INSURANCE, PENSION, COS BILLS   The Cabinet today cleared financial sector reform bills seeking to hike foreign direct investment to 49% from 26% in the insurance sector and opening up of the pension sector. Besides, the Companies Bill too got the nod. The Bills will now go to Parliament where the UPA government will need the help of the Opposition to pass them, at least in the Rajya Sabha. The main opposition BJP flayed the government's move and said it will straightaway oppose both the insurance and pension sector bills. The party may even demand referring the Bills again to Parliament's standing committee on finance. read more   NEW REFORM HOPES LIFT SENSEX ABOVE 19,000 PTS   Markets breached the 19,000-mark for the first time in nearly 15 months in anticipation of government unveiling next wave of big-ticket reforms. Investors expect a rush of capital inflows if these big-ticket measures go through the Parliament. Sensex surged to its highest level since July 2011 as investors bought shares across realty, consumer goods, banks, capital goods and power sectors. Sensex surged 188.46 pts to end at 19,058.15. Nifty rose 56.35 pts to close at 5,787.60. read more   TOP STORIES • Re rebounds to 51.74/$ after 5-1/2-mths; up 42 paise   • Services PMI jumps to 7 month high of 55.8   • Govt tweaks foreign owned NBFC norms   • Uncertainty over KFA resuming operations tomorrow   • Salary woes: Wife of KFA engineer commits suicide   • Videocon gets $2.2 bn credit facility from 12 banks   • Carlyle to sell 3.7% stake in HDFC for over Rs 4,000 cr   • Parekh Panel's recos are premature: IIFCL Chairman   • SEBI mulls slashing transaction costs, T+1 cycle   • Rating agency CARE gets SEBI nod for IPO   • Manoj Jayaswal's Abhijeet Power withdraws IPO plans   • Former CEC, ex-Navy chief move SC on coal scam   • TDSAT issues notice to Airtel on Asergis plea   • Cipla wins patent opposition vs Pfizer's cancer drug   • Investors to get e-IPO facility at 400 locations soon   • Office space demand to grow to 180 mn sq ft in 5 yrs   • Obama maintains his anti-outsourcing stand   • Mitt Romney dominates in first presidential debate   • Christie's sale for benefit of Salaam Bombay   • Facebook reaches 1 billion monthly active users   more stories TOP VIDEOS We Will Return To 9% Growth By Continuing On Reform Path: P Chidambaram, Finance Minister   Need Market-driven Pricing For Gas To Resolve Supply Issues. Political Mindset Must Change For Reforming Gas Sector: L Mansingh, Ex-Chairman, PNGRB   MUST VIEW: U.S. Presidential Debate Of The 2012 Campaign: Governor Mitt Romney Takes On President Barack Obama   AT A GLANCE BSE 19058.15 +188.46 NSE 5787.6 +56.35 TURNOVER Rs. 139,759 cr BSE CASH Rs. 2,897 cr NSE CASH Rs. 14,597 cr NSE F&O Rs. 109,060 cr BULLION GOLD 30826 -153 SILVER 62113 -205 CRUDE NYMEX 89.27 +1.13 BRENT 109.66 +1.49 FOREX $ / Re 51.74 -0.42 £ / Re 83.539 -0.45 € / Re 67.19 -0.22 EVENTS TO WATCH 4-6 October 40th National Convention Of Company Secretaries, Aamby Valley, Pune 5 October PMO To Meet Coal, Power Secretaries, New Delhi Pharma Legal & Compliance Summit 2012, Holiday Inn, Mumbai 6 October SEBI Board To Decide On Options Of Reducing Overall Transaction Cost 8 October EGoM On Telecom To Discuss Levying One-Time Spectrum Fee On Existing Telecom Operators, New Delhi

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"What we need is concrete plans from Kingfisher Airlines as to how they will operate, how they wll maintain the schedule and how they will make sure that the planes are safe to fly. So they have to reply to those things. The routes and all that in the winter schedule, we have to look at that carefully anyway." Ajit Singh Civil Aviation Minister "These are decisions taken by a minority government. The minority government cannot play such immoral role. Let us move No Confidence Motion. We have decided to meet the Honourable President on this issue. Yet another set of anti-people decisions of the Central Government have crossed the Laxman Rekha. These decisions have direct bearing on the livelihood of millions of Indians. Is it the intention of the UPA Government to sell out the country? Mamata Banerjee Chief, TMC "We do not have social security net in India, you cannot risk the life long savings of people...we will continue to oppose the move. This is a World Bank-directed move. It is going to be disastrous. The government is desperate. The Prime Minister wants to please international finance capital by taking such measures...the government is shamelessly biased in favour of multinational companies." D Raja Leader, CPI