Repayment crisis in education loans worries banks

Non-performing assets in educational loans stood at Rs 528.16 crore, accounting for 5.02% of the educational loan business on June 30. For co-operative banks, this figure stood at Rs 1.6 crore representing 1.25% of the total educational loan portfolio of such banks, as per a report of the State Level Bankers' Committee.

In case of educational loans, repayment normally commences after completion of course or after bagging a job. With professional courses like engineering and medicine being four to five years long, repayment is an issue, said M Narendra, chairman, SLBC, Tamil Nadu, and CMD, Indian Overseas Bank.Only 30% of students in the state get recruited from campus. The rest have to look for jobs. So repayment becomes a problem, he said. While there is no security required for educational loans up to Rs 4 lakh, the co-borrower (usually the parent) stands as guarantor for loans between Rs 4 and Rs 7.5 lakh. Educational loans in India normally range between Rs 4 and Rs 45 lakh with the repayment period being seven to 10 years.

Loans disbursals in the state registered a growth of 37% to touch Rs 12,103 crore in September compared to Rs 8,841 crore last year. While the percentage of NPA in priority sector advances has come down in all categories between March and June, it has gone up in educational loans considerably, says the report.One reason is the recent influx of students from north India to engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu. "Many of them don't have a permanent address and it becomes difficult to track them once they complete the course,said SN Mishra, convenor, SLBC.

Rising interest rates have resulted in higher educational EMIs and this has contributed to the rise in delinquencies, said bankers.Bleak employment opportunities abroad have also contributed to rising NPAs.Earlier, women graduating from nursing colleges used to bag jobs abroad within six months to a year. Opportunities abroad have dwindled since 2008 and this is being reflected in the repayment pattern, said a senior official from Central Bank of India.

Kingfisher Airlines launches direct flights from Kolkata to Patna

Kingfisher Airlines, India's only Five Star Airline rated by Skytrax, launched direct flights connecting Kolkata to Patna and Ranchi to Raipur. With the launch of flights on the Ranchi Raipur route, Kingfisher Airlines is the only airline to offer direct flights between the two cities. The flights are being operated using the ATR family of aircraft featuring the award winning Kingfisher experience.

The flights between Kolkata Patna and Ranchi Raipur are being operated as Kingfisher Red service. The Kingfisher Red service is a unique class of low fare flying from Kingfisher Airlines and offers guests a whole host of benefits, besides the renowned Kingfisher service at compelling low fares. The Kingfisher Red service features complimentary hot, delicious food and a choice of beverages, reading material, frequent flier privileges and multiple check-in options.

The daily flights between Kolkata and Patna are conveniently timed with flight, IT 4579 departing from Kolkata at 6.25 pm and arriving in Patna at 7.55 pm. The daily return flight, IT 4580 takes off from Patna at 8.20 pm and reaches Kolkata at 10.00 pm. The Kolkata Patna alternate day flights Tuesday/ Thursday/ Saturday/ Sunday are conveniently timed with flight, IT 4581 departing from Kolkata at 9.05 am and arriving in Patna at 10.40 am with the return flight, IT 4582 departing from Patna at 12 noon and arriving in Kolkata at 1.30 pm.The Ranchi-Raipur direct flights operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and are conveniently timed with flight, IT 4573 departing from Ranchi at 7.30 am and arriving in Raipur at 9.00 am. The return flight, IT 4574 takes off from Raipur at 10.20 am and reaches Ranchi at 11.45 am.

Commenting on the launch of the new sectors, Prakash Mirpuri, Vice President Corporate Communications, Kingfisher Airlines Limited said, I am delighted to announce the launch of Kingfisher Airlines’ new services from Ranchi to Raipur and the addition of the second flights between Kolkata Patna. Kingfisher Airlines is the only airline to offer direct air connectivity between Ranchi and Raipur. With our excellent onward connectivity, we expect that these flights will offer corporate travellers, businessmen and leisure travelers a convenient option.

Kingfisher Airlines caters to all segments of the air travel ranging from low fare service Kingfisher Red, to the premium economy service Kingfisher Class, to the luxurious Kingfisher First. As India’s market leading airline, Kingfisher Airlines offers the maximum number of flights offered by any single airline network in India. Kingfisher Airlines connects 63 cities in India and 7 international destinations and has over 360 daily departures with a fleet of 67 aircraft.Kingfisher Airlines has blazed a trail of innovations and introduced a range of market firsts that have completely redefined the whole experience of flying. By elevating its customers to a level of being ‘guests’ and not just passengers, Kingfisher Airlines has endeared itself to consumers.

Department of Education to service federal student loans.

Department of Education to service federal student loans.
The decision on the contract has been anxiously awaited by investors in the largest U.S. student-loan company, commonly known as Sallie Mae it will provide income that would help offset the loss in revenue stemming from the Obama administration's plans to rein in subsidies paid to student lenders.
We are very pleased to be awarded the opportunity to apply our experience and expertise for the benefit of students and the American taxpayer, said Chief Executive Albert Lord, in an email to Dow Jones Newswires sent by a press official at the company. We look forward to being a partner with the Department in this important effort.

The stock of the Reston, Va.-based company was at $8.60, up 11.83% after the close of the regular trading day in the U.S. market. Still, the shares are way off their 52-week high of $25.05, reached in June last year.
Sallie Mae, which makes private and federal student loans, gets nearly one-third of its income from the federal student loans it makes on behalf of the government. It earns another third of its income from the interest it charges on private student loans; the remaining one-third comes from a number of smaller businesses, including fees from college savings plans and collecting defaulted student debt.
Investors have been concerned about the Obama administration's proposal to eliminate the income that Sallie Mae gets from federal student loans. But they hoped that this loss in income would be somewhat offset by the plan's requirement for the participation of private lenders, such as Sallie Mae, for the servicing of federal student loans.
To be sure, Sallie Mae's earnings are still expected to suffer as a result of the potential revenue loss under the Obama proposal. But additional income from servicing the federal student loans should help make up for that; the extent to which it would help depends on the volume of student loans Sallie Mae would service.
Aside from Sallie Mae, three other companies were also awarded the loan servicing contract, including Nelnet Inc. (NNI).

The contract comes on top of improvements in the company's funding position in the last month that helped dispel investors' concerns about its liquidity. Making use of a federal program aimed at reinvigorating the market for asset-backed securities, Sallie Mae sold $2.6 billion of bonds made up of pools of student loans in May.
The student lender also garnered a one-year extension on a crucial $21.8 billion asset backed commercial paper facility, which was set to expire in April. In addition, it scored an asset backed commercial paper facility from the Department of Education that allows Sallie Mae to fund as much as $16 billion of federal student loans.

women busince start up

woman small business owner looking for funding to start up your business.

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The start-up money is not there. At least, not how it used to be. However, don't give up hope!

Funding opportunities for women starting up small businesses do exist. You just need to know where to look.

Three Places to Find Small Business Start-up Money

1. Visit to find out if your business purpose fits within federal grant guidelines.

On this site you can find and apply for federal grants. For small business start-up loans, redirects you to SBA.gov. That's because the federal government works through agencies like the SBA when funding money for small business start-ups.

2. Search for information on the Small Business Administration's website.

This is an excellent site for all your small business needs. Plus, as a bonus, there are many local SBA offices around the country where you can go and talk with a real live person.

a. Finance Start-up page:

This page gives a list of grant and loan programs, though not the grants or loans themselves.

b. Local Resources:

On this page, you can search for your nearest SBA.

3. If your business is in a rural area, contact the Rural Development Administration
The provides assistance to businesses starting up in rural areas. Assistance usually comes in grant-loan combos, or just low interest loans.

Five Strategies for Finding Small Business Start-up Money

1. Take advantage of any assistance or information offered to small business owners by your state, county, or city government.

2. Ask owners of similar businesses how they funded their start-ups.

3. Look for larger companies, organizations and foundations that share your purpose.

4. Consider a loan-grant combo.

5. Google: small business start-up grant your type of
business.

If you are a woman small business owner looking for money to start up your business, you've probably noticed how hard it is to find any. Money for starting up businesses is hard
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Don't give up yet! Funding opportunities for women small business owners do exist. Follow the information and links in this article to discover how and where you can get
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