mumbai construction firm ivrcl infrastructures projects ltd said on wednesday it has secured new orders worth 518 billion rupees other details were not immediately available new delhi universal sompo general insurance a joint venture between allahabad bank sompo japan insurance corporation indian overseas bank karnataka bank and dabur investment on monday entered into the general insurance space with the launch of two policies the two products standard fire and special perils policy and aapat suraksha bima were launched by finance minister p chidambaram here new delhi public sector housing finance firm housing and urban development corporation on saturday cut floating interest rates on advances made to the government sector by 25 basis points the announcement come close on the heels of hdfc slashing retail home loan by 025 per cent the reduction is likely to help the state government and their agencies in getting access to cheaper resources for implementing housing and infrastructure activities hudco said in a statement the reduction in interest rates has been made after a gap of more than three years it said