The Age Of Stars

equities / insurance · 19 January 1956

Life insurance nationalised by ordinance

Market reaction not quantified by me. Use the Bombay Stock Exchange index (RBI Bulletin) for Jan 1956.

UnconfirmedOfficial record. Source: LIC Act 1956

Life insurance nationalised (ordinance 1956-01-19; LIC formed 1956-09-01)

245 Indian and foreign insurers merged, including British life offices operating in India

ReportedOfficial record. Source: LIC Act 1956

Industrial Policy Resolution, 1956-04-30

Schedule A (17 industries exclusively state), Schedule B (mixed), Schedule C (private)

Mahalanobis heavy-industry strategy; import substitution in capital goods.

ReportedOfficial record. Source: Government of India resolution

RBI (Amendment) Act 1956 (Oct 1956): minimum reserve system

Replaced the 40 per cent proportional reserve with a minimum of Rs 515 crore (Rs 400 crore foreign securities…

Replaced the 40 per cent proportional reserve with a minimum of Rs 515 crore (Rs 400 crore foreign securities + Rs 115 crore gold)

ReportedOfficial record. Source: GKToday summary of the RBI Act amendment (primary: RBI Act 1934 as amended, India Code)

Middle East / Suez

Suez Crisis; canal blocked 1956-11 to 1957-04

Suez carried most India–UK/Europe trade. Rerouting via the Cape raised freight and transit time and fed into (but did not by itself cause) the 1957–58 foreign-exchange crisis of the Second Plan. India proposed its own settlement plan at the London conference (Aug 1956) and sent troops to UNEF

ReportedOfficial record. Source: FRUS 1955–57 vol. XVI (e.g. doc. 99, 1956-08-19, ); UN UNEF records (history.state.gov)

Middle East

Suez crisis: canal closed Nov 1956 ~ April 1957

Diversion via the Cape. A CIA estimate put US-to-India grain freight up by about US$4/ton from East/Gulf Coast ports and US$2–3/ton from the West Coast. Freight rose on UK–India trade too. It sped up the 1956-57 reserve drain (reserves −US$464 mn in FY 1956-57), and the Feb 1957 IMF drawing followed. Nehru condemned the Anglo-French invasion, which strained Commonwealth relations.

ReportedOfficial record. Source: CIA reading room, "The Suez Canal closure and Indian food grain supplies" (CIA-RDP79T00826A002200100001-0); Economic Survey App. 6.1(B)

Europe

Soviet intervention in Hungary

India abstained on the first UN resolution, which was criticised in the West. No measurable market channel found.

ReportedPeer-reviewed. Source: general histories

Middle East / Suez

Suez Crisis aftermath: canal closed Nov 1956 to about April 1957

Rerouting via the Cape raised freight and insurance on UK–India trade. Import costs rose and the 1956–57 reserve drain sped up, contributing to the Feb 1957 IMF drawing.

ReportedOfficial record. Source: FRUS 1955–57 vol VIII doc 170; general histories

insurance / corporate

Dalmia–Jain group: Bharat Insurance embezzlement (Ramkrishna Dalmia) and the Vivian Bose…

Dalmia convicted (1962). Amounts not extracted.

UnconfirmedPeer-reviewed. Source: secondary histories

insurance / corporate

Dalmia–Jain group affairs (Commission of Inquiry under Vivian Bose; Bharat Insurance…

Commission report about 1962–63. Dalmia convicted in the Bharat Insurance case. Amounts not extracted.

UnconfirmedPeer-reviewed. Source: secondary histories

all (hull & cargo)

Suez Canal transit (UK/Europe ↔ India/Gulf)

UnconfirmedOfficial record. Source: [M1] FRUS 1955–57 vol. XVI doc. 99 (1956-08-19)

cargo liners, tankers

Cape of Good Hope diversion (UK ↔ India)

UnconfirmedOfficial record. Source: [M2] not found

grain carriers

Suez closure; US Gulf/East Coast → India via the Cape

UnconfirmedOfficial record. Source: War-risk and cargo premia were not found by me. The only figure found is a freight increase, not an insurance rate: +about US$4/ton (US East/Gulf) and +US$2–3/ton (West Coast) to India (CIA estimate). Primary source for premia: Lloyd's List, Nov 1956 to Apr 1957.

general cargo / tanker

Suez / UK–Bombay (diverted via the Cape)

UnconfirmedOfficial record. Source: Not found by me. Qualitatively, war-risk and freight surcharges rose with the diversion. Primary source: Lloyd's List Nov 1956 to Apr 1957.