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FINANCIAL AWARENESS CAPSULE 2015 JANUARY FINANCIAL NEWS 2015 Fiscal deficit hits 99% of full-year target in April- November period: The deficit in the first eight months of the financial year touched Rs. 5.25 lakh crore, against the Budget target of Rs. 5.31 lakh crore. The Government managed to collect just 43.4 per cent of estimated receipts, while its expenditure was 59.8 per cent. Core sector output hits 5-month high in Nov: These sectors have a weightage of 38 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The output of the core industries grew 6.7 per cent in November. The eight core industries are coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity. Post offices to issue ATM-cum-debit cards for savings account holders: The Centre has amended the Post Office Savings Bank General Rules accordingly. This facility, however, will be available only in post offices that are on core banking solution (CBS) platform. Currently, 676 post offices are on CBS. Banks, LIC told to make claim forms available online: The Finance Ministry has asked public sector banks and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to make available on their Web sites claim forms for the Rs. 30,000 life cover promised under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). LIC should settle claims within 15 days of the receipt of the form. Jan Dhan may be extended to insurance, pension sectors: At present, penetration of insurance and pension in India is very low. Insurance penetration (premiums measured as a percentage of GDP) is just about 4 per cent. As per RBI, with revised targets for opening of basic bank accounts in place, banks will have to ensure opening of at least one account in each household by January 26, 2015. As on December 24 2014, banks have achieved the 10 crore account opening mark under the PMJDY and have issued 7.75 crore RuPay cards. The timeline for providing banking services in villages with populations below 2,000 may be advanced from March 2016 to August 2015.

Cabinet clears land acquisition ordinance: The amendments will strengthen the provisions to protect the interests of the 'affected families' and also reduce procedural difficulties in acquiring land required for 'development'. The ordinance proposes a fast-track process for defence and defence production, rural infrastructure (including electrification), housing for poor (including affordable housing), industrial corridors and infrastructure projects (including projects taken up under the public- private partnership mode). The ordinance does away with the clauses on compulsory social impact assessment and approval of 80% of people whose land is being acquired. Single window to view various bank accounts: Banks, such as ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, are offering customers the facility to view their balances across accounts with different banks on a single page so that they can choose which one to make payments and investments from. This facility, cannot be used to make transactions in other bank accounts. Banks will not be able to see each other's data.


Centre rules out further tightening of KYC norms for Participatory Notes: PNs are instruments issued by registered foreign institutional investors to overseas investors who wish to invest in the Indian stock markets without registering themselves with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. President signs ordinances on coal, insurance: The Coal ordinance is required for the whole e-auction process to go on smoothly. The insurance ordinance intends to hike foreign direct investment to 49 per cent in the sector, besides other things. A higher limit could bring up to $8 billion for the fund-starved insurance industry, which needs Rs. 60,000 crore in the next five years. Rs. 1 paper notes to make a comeback: Government is keen to start printing Rs. 1 notes after a gap of almost two decades. The Government has notified 'Printing of One Rupee Currency Notes Rules, 2015', which will come into effect from January 1, 2015. Due to higher cost and for freeing capacity to print higher denomination notes, printing Rs. 1 note was discontinued in November 1994, followed by Rs. 2 in February 1995, and Rs. 5 in November 1995. The new one rupee note will have the signature of the Finance Secretary. Apart from the one rupee note, all other paper currency ( Rs. 2, Rs. 5, Rs. 10, Rs. 20, Rs. 50, Rs. 100, Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000) have the signature of the RBI Governor, as these are issued by the Reserve Bank of India, whereas Rs. 1 is issued by the Government of India. Jan Dhan cover: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has has asked the IBA — which is the nodal agency for the Jan Dhan scheme — to provide the latest and complete data of all eligible members under the Jan Dhan scheme so that LIC is in a position to inform the Centre about the premium required under the scheme. LIC is bound by the Insurance Act, which prohibits it from providing any cover without receipt of premium. As per Jan Dhan guidelines, life cover be given only to the head of a family and that Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) beneficiaries be excluded. Bharat Ratna conferred on Vajpayee, Malaviya: The Centre has conferred the country's highest civilian award - the Bharat Ratna - on veteran BJP leader and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 90, and noted freedom fighter and educationist Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. Both leaders share a birthday on December 25. RBI gives more time for old currency note exchange: RBI has extended the deadline for the

public to exchange pre-2005 currency notes to June 30, 2015. Non - cooperative borrowers: Borrowers unwilling to repay bank loans despite the ability to do so run the risk of being classified as non-cooperative. The move will ensure that companies classified as non-cooperative will not get fresh funds. A non-cooperative borrower is one who deliberately stonewalls legitimate efforts of lenders to recover their dues. The central bank's cut-off limit for classifying borrowers as non-cooperative would be those having aggregate fund-based and non-fund based facilities of Rs. 50 million ( Rs. 5 crore) from the bank/FI concerned. Tougher norms must for FDI in existing pharma projects: As per the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, the conditions imposed on Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in brownfield projects need to be made more stringent as they are insufficient to counter the dangers posed by take-overs of domestic companies. Constitution Amendment Bill on GST: The Constitution Amendment Bill to enable implementation of the Goods & Services Tax regime has been introduced in Lok Sabha. The Bill is the first legislative step towards implementation of the new indirect tax reforms from April 1, 2016. The new system intends to subsume various Central levies (barring Customs duty) into Central GST (CGST) and State levies into State GST (SGST). This will help in creating a unified national market. Meeting fiscal deficit target a challenge: The Finance Ministry's Mid-Year Economic has forecast a GDP growth of 5.5 per cent for fiscal year 2014-15 and an average retail inflation (based on the consumer price index)of 5.3 per cent for the January-March 2015 quarter, 5.4 per cent in April- June and 5.8 per cent in January-March 2016. As per the Report, the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) position of the Indian banking system compares favourably with developed and developing economies. For example, the share of GNPAs in total advances stands at 3.2 per cent in the US, 2.9 per cent in Germany, 8.2 per cent in Spain, and 5.1 per cent in Italy. Among the emerging economies, in Brazil GNPAs were at 2.9 per cent of total assets and in Russia, at 6 per cent. For India, the GNPA ratio is expected to be around 4.1 per cent of total advances in fiscal year 2014-15. However, if macro-economic conditions deteriorate, the GNPA ratio may increase to around 4.5 per cent under a medium stress scenario and 5.1 per cent under severe stress, by March 2015.


PF trustees retain 8.75% interest rate for 2014-15: The trustees of retirement funds belonging to about eight crore depositors have decided to retain the interest rate at 8.75 per cent for 2014-15. New power Bill in Lok Sabha will boost supply, increase competition: Power consumers will soon have the option of selecting their electricity supplier, with the Government proposing to amend the Electricity Act. A concept of multiple supply licensees has been proposed in the amendment by segregating carriage from content. Carriage will continue to be a regulated activity and it has been proposed that tariff for retail sale of electricity will be capped by the regulator with one of the supply licensee proposed to be a Government controlled company. In a first, SEBI orders imprisonment for not paying penalties: For the first time ever, capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has ordered civil imprisonment of Vinod Hingorani, Non-Executive Chairman of Adam Comsof and Kolar Biotech for six months for failure to pay penalties of around Rs. 1.64 crore (including interest) levied under three SEBI notices from last July demanding payment. Time period for altering birth date: A Government employee can give a request to change his date of birth in official record only within 5 years of joining. Further, it must be established clearly that a genuine bona fide mistake had occurred in recording birthday. The date of birth so altered would not make him ineligible to appear in any School or University or Union Public Service Commission examination in which he had appeared, or for entry into Government service on the date on which he first appeared at such examination or on the date on which he entered Government service. GST Constitution Amendment Bill gets Cabinet nod: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Constitutional Amendment Bill for Goods & Services Tax (GST). The Government intends to introduce GST from April 1, 2016. The Bill needs to be approved by a two-third majority of the house. After this, it needs to be endorsed by at least half of the State Assemblies (15). The new regime would replace a number of indirect taxes currently being levied by the Central and State Governments. Once the new tax system comes into place, there will be three indirect taxes apart from the customs duty (only on imported goods). There will be a Central GST, which will subsume Central Excise Duty, Additional Excise Duties, Service Tax, Additional Customs Duty

(commonly known as Countervailing Duty or CVD), Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD) and Central Surcharges and cesses. Then there will be State GST. This will subsume State VAT/Sales Tax, entertainment tax (unless it is levied by the local bodies), Luxury Tax, Taxes on lottery, betting and gambling, tax on advertisements, State Cesses and Surcharges. The third one will be Integrated GST (IGST) on inter-State transactions of goods and services. There is an agreement on subsuming entry tax in GST. At the same time, petroleum products will be part of GST with 'nil' rate. While alcohol will be out of GST, tobacco will be within its purview. RBI slaps Rs. 50-lakh penalty on ICICI Bank, Rs. 25 lakh on BoB: RBI has imposed monetary penalty of Rs 50 lakh on ICICI Bank and Rs 25 lakh on Bank of Baroda and cautioned State Bank of India, Axis Bank and State Bank of Patiala for violating KYC norms. GSLV Mark-III lifts off successfully from Sriharikota: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has successfully tested its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mark III), carrying a crew module, to be used in manned space missions. LS clears Companies (Amendment) Bill: The Lok Sabha has cleared the Companies (Amendment) Bill. The Companies (amendment) Bill has brought in 14 Amendments to the company law enacted last year. Through these amendments, four categories of changes are being introduced - some with intention of improving the ease of doing business; some to correct existing drafting errors; some to tackle the oversight issues and lastly some to address the oppressive provisions in the law. The amendments propose (a) restricting hearings by special courts to serious offences; (b) Only those "fraudulent" actions that squarely fell under the definition of a "fraud" would invite "bail restrictions"; (c) the condition of minimum capital for private and public companies to be removed; (d) 'special resolution' replaced with 'ordinary resolution' for approval of related-party transactions by minority shareholders. This means companies will require the consent of 50 per cent of the minority shareholders present, instead of 75 per cent (under the current Act); (e) prohibition on public inspection of the board resolutions filed with the Registrar of Companies. The Companies Act, 2013, was notified in August last year by the United Progressive Alliance government. Of the 470 sections in the Act, 283 sections and 22 sets of rules corresponding to these sections have been implemented so far.


Ministry tweaks norms for fraud reporting by auditors: As per the Companies (amendment) Bill, while the auditors will have to report on every fraud coming to their notice in their ordinary course of audit work, only frauds beyond a specified threshold need to be reported to the Union Government. For other frauds, the reporting has to be done to the audit committee of a company. The threshold limit will be defined by the Corporate Affairs Ministry subsequently. Finance panel submits report to President: The Fourteenth Finance Commission, a constitutional body headed by former Reserve Bank of India Governor YV Reddy, has submitted its report to the President of India. The recommendations relate to the period April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2020. Besides spelling out the formula for devolution of Central taxes, the Finance Commission report is said to have made some observations on Goods and Services Tax (GST). It has considered the impact of the proposed GST on the finances of the Centre and States and the mechanism of compensation in case of any revenue loss. For infra sector, 5:25 rule comes as a breath of fresh air: RBI has relaxed norms for structuring of existing long- term project loans to infrastructure and core industries. The 5:25 scheme envisages banks to refinance or sell out their long-term project loans after every five years so that both the borrower and the lender do not face any difficulty. For banks to avail such a facility, the loan tenure cannot be more than 25 years. Vistara gets permission to fly: Tata-Singapore Airlines (SIA) joint venture airline Vistara has been granted flying permit in India by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Exports back on growth track in November: Rise in shipments of engineering goods, gems & jewellery, pharmaceuticals and ready-made garments propped up exports (year-on-year) by 7.27 per cent to $25.96 billion in November 2014. Trade deficit, however, touched an 18- month high of $16.86 billion as imports rose 26.79 per cent during the month to $42.82 billion. Non-oil items such as gold, fertilisers, coal and electronic goods mostly accounted for the rise in imports. Gold imports rose 571.28 per cent to $5.6 billion in November 2014 from $835 million in the same month last year as the government relaxed import restrictions. ARC gives India positive rating with stable outlook: The Europe-based ARC Ratings SA (ARC) has

assigned India 'BBB+' sovereign rating which is a shade better than what has been assigned by the big three global credit ratings agencies. Global credit rating agencies, Standard & Poor's and Fitch have a 'BBB-' (stable outlook) — the lowest investment grade rating — sovereign rating on India. Moody's too has lowest investment grade rating on the country of "Baa3" (stable outlook).

WPI inflation hits zero in Nov: A steep fall in global crude oil prices and lower vegetable prices saw wholesale price index-based inflation reach the 'zero' level in November. It was only in July 2009 that there was disinflation. After that, this is the lowest inflation figure in over five years. NPCI links 10 cr Aadhaar cards to bank accounts: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)- managed National Financial Mapper has crossed the milestone of getting 10 crore bank accounts seeded with Aadhaar numbers. This allows the Government department/agencies to reach out to beneficiaries of direct benefit transfer schemes. The Mapper rides on the Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) system, which went live on January 2013.Through the APB, the NPCI links the Government departments and other State agencies like oil marketing companies and their sponsor banks on the one side and beneficiary banks & the end beneficiary on the other side. October factory output contracts 4.2%: The manufacturing sector index fell 7.6 per cent. Manufacturing accounts for over 75 per cent in the IIP. However, Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation cooled to 4.4 per cent in November from 5.52 per cent in October because of easing food prices. Indirect tax collections rise a modest 7.1% in Apr- Nov period: The Finance Ministry will be


required to achieve 47 per cent of the Budget target for indirect taxes, comprising customs and excise duties and service tax, in just four months (December-March). Life Insurance Council bats for reduction in service tax: Life insurers have asked for parity with other financial products such as mutual funds and fixed deposits, which do not attract service tax on maturity. Currently, life insurance products, attract a service tax of 2 per cent on maturity proceeds for policyholders holding PAN cards and 20 per cent those without PAN cards. Life insurers are mandatorily required to invest 50 per cent of their overall investments in Central and State Government securities. SBI launches first homegrown economic index: SBI, will use its loan book to give indicators on the domestic manufacturing activity from the New Year. The SBI Composite Index will have both monthly and yearly indices. The short-term report, to be released in the first week of every month, will forecast the state of the economy two months down the line. The annual index will make year-on- year forward predictions. Similar economic forecasts published by British lender HSBC, with global business survey compiler Markit, are the HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), HSBC India Manufacturing PMI and the Markit India Business Outlook. Court tells RBI to get tough with banks: The Supreme Court has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to demand responsible behaviour from banks while communicating with customers. In Q2, current account deficit rises to 2.1% of GDP: India's current account deficit (CAD) - a measure of the country's external vulnerability - widened to $10.1 billion in the second quarter of 2014-15 from $7.8 billion in the preceding quarter. The CAD rose to 2.1 per cent of the GDP in the second quarter against 1.7 per cent in Q1. Coal Ministry proposes minimum floor price of Rs. 150/tonne for blocks to be auctioned: The Coal Ministry has proposed a minimum floor price Rs. 150 per tonne for blocks to be put up for auction and Rs. 100 per tonne as the minimum reserve price for allocation to Central and State Government companies. Financial inclusion: RBI Deputy Governor for 'PPP' model: According to RBI Deputy Governor HR Khan India should adopt a "PPP" model for driving its financial inclusion agenda. There is a need to "plan" well, pursue what has been planned and ensure there

is a "pause" to see if it is working well. This PPP model is different from the commonly-known 'public-private partnership' that the Government is looking to encourage in various economic activities. Commerce Ministry launches new portal to give exporters info on FTAs: The trade portal will provide exporters with information on preferential tariffs and rules of origin in such markets.The 'India Trade Portal' will also have other information of importance to exporters such as technical barriers faced by trade in different markets. India has signed a number of FTAs with various countries and regional blocs over the last few years, but exporters have not been able to utilise them well because of lack of knowledge about what the agreements offered. The portal has been developed by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

From April 1, Central PSUs to make 20% of purchases from small units: The government will make it mandatory for all Central public sector undertakings (PSUs) to make 20 per cent of their purchases from medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) from April 1, 2015. The Centre had, in an order in 2012, issued directions to all Central PSUs to procure a minimum 20 per cent of products and services from MSMEs, 4 per cent of which had to be from enterprises owned by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs/STs). White label ATMs can accept international cards: RBI has said white label ATM (WLA) operators can now accept international cards - credit, debit or prepaid - and also source cash from multiple banks. WLA operators (or non- bank ATM operators) can accept the cards issued under card payment network schemes. The RBI also permitted the facility of Dynamic Currency Conversion for the use of international cards at WLAs. WLA operators will be restricted to converting the amount requested by the international cardholder to his or her home currency using a base exchange rate provided by the authorised dealer. In addition, the RBI has allowed operators to tie up with commercial banks for cash supply at WLAs. Earlier, the cash supply had to be managed only through a sponsor bank, which limited the scope of cash management for the operators.RBI has so far authorised seven companies to set up WLAs - Tata Communications Payment, Prizm Payment, Muthoot Finance, Vakrangee, BTI Payments, Srei Infra Finance and RiddiSiddhi Bullions.


Panel set up to clarify tax laws: The Government has set up a High Level Committee to interact with trade and industry to ascertain where clarity on tax laws is required. Former Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahiri will serve as its Chairman.

RBI announces norms for trade receivables discounting system: Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS), will be like an exchange where an MSME that has some receivables pending from a large corporate will be able to trade the bill. So, if an MSME has to realise Rs. 100 from a corporate, it can exchange the bill with one of the participating entities on the exchange for, say, Rs. 95. The buyer of the bill will then recover the Rs. 100 from the corporate concerned. The MSME will benefit because its credit cycle is shortened and it will get a better price on the bill due to competition. Centre relaxes FDI rules in construction: The minimum built-up area requirement for FDI in construction projects has been reduced to 20,000 square meters from 50,000 sq.m. For services plots, the minimum area requirement, earlier at 10 hectares, has been dropped completely. Minimum capital requirement has also been halved to $5 million from $10 million. For encouraging investments in affordable homes, the Centre has exempted the conditions of minimum floor area as well as capital requirement if an investee/joint venture company commits at least 30 per cent of the total project cost for low-cost housing. United Bank of India names United Breweries a wilful defaulter: The defaulter tag comes after the group's grounded airline, Kingfisher Airlines and

its guarantor UBHL, failed to repay loans taken by the carrier. Legal recognition of hallmarked jewellery, precious metals in the offing: The Bureau of Indian Standards Act (BIS Act, 1986) will enable hallmarking of precious metals and jewellery, including gold, by providing 'legal recognition' through amending the Act. Hallmarking of gold jewellery, which assures customers of its purity, was introduced in 2000; jewellers are required to get licences from the BIS and get goods hallmarked by one of 300 BIS-authorised centres. HSBC manufacturing index at 21-month high: Led by the consumer goods segment, India's factory output registered its fastest growth and a 21-month high in November. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for November stood at 53.3, up from 51.6 in October. The PMI is a measure of factory production and based on responses of purchasing executives of around 500 manufacturing companies. A score above 50 shows expansion, and anything less indicates a contraction. Centre invites suggestions from public to help improve banks' performance: With bad debts rising and profit margins depleting, the Centre will use suggestions from public to help improve the performance of public sector banks (PSBs). Government is considering reducing its stake in public sector banks to 52 per cent. Currently, regulation prescribes a minimum of 51 per cent government shareholding in public sector banks, however informally it has been kept at 58 per cent. Modi takes over project-monitoring panel as investments worth $300 bn stuck: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken direct control of a project- monitoring body to fast-track investments worth almost $300 billion and revive manufacturing in the country. Govt notifies draft rules for e-auction of coal mines: The government has prepared rules for e-auction of 92 cancelled coal mines in the first phase, fixing a floor price of Rs 150 per tonne for sectors like steel, sponge iron, cement and captive power. Banks as insurance brokers' provision goes into cold storage: Neither the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008, mentions it, nor is the finance ministry considering this proposal with any seriousness. Earlier, finance ministry had asked banks that they would be required to become insurance brokers so that they could distribute products of multiple companies through their branch network.


This move was resisted by banks from those PSBs that were promoters of insurance companies. Following this, the directive was not implemented. At present, banks are permitted to sell products of only one life, one non-life and one standalone health insurer. 100 million Aadhaar numbers linked to bank accounts: It would enable these individuals to digitally receive subsidies and benefits under government schemes. Issuance of Aadhaars crossed the 720 million-mark as on December 12, 2014. Gems & jewellery, SME, 3 other sectors to come under 'Make in India': The government has identified 25 sectors, including pharmaceuticals, automobiles, textiles, aviation, mining, chemicals, which have potential to make India a leader in their respective fields. Swachh Bharat: Centre to spend Rs 2 lakh cr in 5 yrs: The government would set up a 'Swachh Bharat Kosh' to provide tax and fiscal incentives. Urban India generates about 68.8 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per year, which means about 1.88 lakh tonnes every day. Solid waste generated in rural areas is around 0.4 mt per day. In India, 68 per cent of rural households have no access to toilets, 88 per cent of total diseases in rural areas is due to lack of clean water, sanitation and improper solid waste management. The government proposes to spend Rs 1.34 lakh crore to construct toilets (11.11 crore toilets in rural areas) and about Rs 62,000 crore will be spent in 4,041 cities. He added 2.47 lakh panchayats will be given Rs 20 lakh each for the next five years to keep their villages clean. Retail inflation slows to 4.38% in November: Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation fell to 4.38 per cent in November from 11.16 per cent in the corresponding period last year, the fourth consecutive monthly fall and the lowest since the government started releasing data in this regard (February 2012). Bandhan now closes in on Grameen Bank: Bandhan, the country's largest microfinance company, is competing closely with Bangladesh's Nobel Prize-winning Grameen Bank to become South Asia's largest micro credit provider. It is already the largest non-deposit taking microfinance institution (MFI) in the world. Grameen Bank, founded by Muhammad Yunus in 1976 (founder and institution were jointly given the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006), has been operating as a full-fledged bank since 1983. Irda asks insurers to disclose guarantee scheme details: IRDA has clarified that insurance

companies can promote claim settlement guarantee only if they file it along with the product during file and use. Cabinet nod to cut govt stake in PSBs to 52%: Public sector banks (PSBs) will be able to raise up to Rs 1.6 lakh- crore from markets as the Union Cabinet has allowed the dilution of government equity in these lenders up to 52 per cent. Other decisions of Cabinet include setting up of Debt recovery tribunals at Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Ernakulam, Dehradun, Siliguri and Hyderabad. LS passes Bill for regularisation of e-rickshaws: The Lok Sabha has passed the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, 2014, paving the way for regularisation of e-rickshaws, banned by the high court on safety grounds. The government has also decided to provide low interest loan at 4% p.a. to rickshaw pullers belonging to poor, backward, and minority communities to buy e-rickshaws. Taxpayers can approach AAR for tax liabilities on deals above Rs 100 cr: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified that resident taxpayers who plan transactions valuing Rs 100 crore or above can approach the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) for determination of their tax liabilities under such transaction. HDFC Bank to welcome back its former employees: India's second-largest private-sector lender, HDFC Bank, has decided to take the idea of hiring back former employees a step ahead by introducing a new employee recruitment programme, Khoj. Wi-Fi service launched at New Delhi railway station: Service is free for half-an-hour, after which passengers will be charged Rs 25 for 30 minutes and Rs 35 for an hour. Karnataka becomes first state to have green growth strategy: A consortium of institutions led by the Bangalore Climate Change Initiative - Karnataka (BCCI-K) in partnership with Seoul-based Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), has conducted a study in Karnataka for green growth strategy which details what can be done in adapting to the climate change and how the state can play its part in reducing carbon emissions. Disclose asset, income details of chairman, CIC tells Sebi: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to reveal the details of assets and


liabilities of its chairman, UK Sinha. RBI asks banks to use standardised norms for mobile banking: To improve the penetration of mobile banking, RBI, has asked banks to provide customers multiple options for easy registration, reducing the need to visit a branch. The time taken between registration and activation of mobile banking services should be minimal. AP to clear farm loans of up to Rs 50,000 in Phase I: There are over 8.2 mn agriculture accounts in operation in Andhra of which 4.2 mn accounts have been considered for the waiver in the first phase. The first phase of loan clearance involves 2.6 million farmers who were grouped into 2.2 million family units. Crop loans and tied-loans (loans given to cane and tobacco growers) would get the first priority.

Cabinet approves amendments to Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976: The Union Cabinet, has approved the amendments in the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) Act, 1976 to enhance authorized and issued capital to strengthen their capital base and to bring flexibility in the shareholding between Central Government, State Government and Sponsor Bank. The term of the non-official directors appointed by the Central Government will be fixed not exceeding three years. RRBs are jointly owned by Government of India, the concerned State Government and Sponsor Banks with the issued capital shared in the proportion of 50 percent, 15 percent and 35 percent respectively. As per provisions of the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 the authorized capital of each RRB is Rs. five crore and the issued capital is maximum Rs one crore. RBI releases final charter of customer rights: The guidelines cover a right to fair treatment, transparency, suitability, privacy, grievance redressal and compensation. The banking regulator has also communicated that the customer should not be subjected to unfair business or marketing practices.

In case of a violation of the charter, the affected customer can escalate the matter through the chief customer relations officer of the service provider concerned, which can be further escalated to the banking ombudsman, if necessary. In a bid to address the mis- selling complaints, RBI has also stated that the products offered should be appropriate to the needs of the customer and should be based on an assessment of the customer's financial circumstances and understanding. The customers' personal information should be kept confidential unless the customer gives a go ahead for it to be shared. Customers have the right to protection from all kinds of communications, electronic or otherwise, which infringe upon their privacy. Banks will also be held accountable to facilitate the redress of grievances stemming from its sale of third-party products. RBI doubles limit of prepaid instruments to Rs 1 lakh: RBI has allowed PPIs to issue cards with balance of up to Rs 1 lakh. Earlier, the limit was Rs 50,000. A card can now be issued to the dependant or family member only if the account is fully KYC compliant. But only one card per beneficiary can be introduced. For such PPIs, the maximum cash out allowed per month is Rs 25,000 and Rs 10,000 per transaction. Banks can also issue rupee denominated cards to foreign travelers and to NRIs by overseas branches of banks in India directly or by cobranding with the exchange houses/money transmitters. The maximum amount to be loaded on these cards is Rs 2 lakhs but the cash withdrawal from these cards is restricted to Rs 50,000 every month. The validity of gift cards has been increased from one year to three years. UP has 3rd highest employable population: As per India Skills Report 2015, released jointly by Wheebox, PeopleStrong and LinkedIn Uttar Pradesh has been ranked third for having the highest employable population in India. The report, places Delhi on top, followed by Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.

FEBRUARY FINANCIAL AWARENESS Fiscal deficit exceeds full-year target in 9 months: The Central government's fiscal deficit has exceeded the Budget estimate for the full financial year in the first nine months (April-December) of the current fiscal year. The fiscal deficit is the difference between the government's income and expenditure. Data released by the Controller General of Accounts show that the deficit during the April- December


period was over Rs. 5.32-lakh crore as against the Budget estimate of Rs. 5.31-lakh crore. NITI Aayog replaces Planning Commission: 'NITI Aayog', the body which replaces the 'Yojana Aayog' (Planning Commission), will have a three-tiered structure headed by the Prime Minister. NITI stands for National Institutions for Transforming India. The body will have a Governing Council comprising State Chief Ministers and Lt Governors of Union Territories. Regional Councils will address specific issues and contingencies impacting more than one State or a region. There will also be a full-time organisational framework headed by the PM. The three layers will be formed for a specified tenure. Govt to release new series of CPI: For presenting a more accurate and realistic price situation, the Government will release next month a new series of Consumer Price Index (CPI) with 2012 as Base Year for computing the retail inflation rate. The first series (Revised) would be compiled for January, which will be released on February 12. Further, from January 2016 onwards, inflation rates would be compiled using the actual CPI of the revised series.

Shift to new base year lifts GDP growth in FY14 to 6.9%: The Indian economy recorded 6.9 per cent growth in 2013-14, almost 50 per cent higher than the 4.7 per cent estimated earlier. The growth estimate was revised on account of the CSO's move to adopt 2011-12 as the base year for computation of national incomes. In January 2010, the base year had been fixed as 2004-05. The CSO has decided to adopt the international practice of presenting industry-wise estimates as 'Gross value added at basic prices' (GVA). With this move, 'GDP at market prices' will be the basis for ascertaining GDP. The earlier concept, which relied on 'GDP at factor cost' has been done away with. Now, over 98% households have a bank account: As per the Finance Ministry, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has enabled over 98 per cent of the households in the country to have a bank account. Bombay High Court ruling on "Brand" treatment: The Bombay High court has ruled in the case of Tata Sons that a "Brand" is a commodity. The court has upheld the Tax department's decision to collect sales tax from the Tatas for the royalty it charges from Group subsidiaries for using the Tata

Brand Name. The Group firms pay 0.25% of their revenues for using the Tat Brand name. ECB launches €1 trillion bond-buying programme to revive euro zone economy: The ECB said it would purchase sovereign debt from this March until the end of September 2016, despite opposition from Germany's Bundesbank and concerns in Berlin that it could allow spendthrift countries to slacken economic reforms. Centre launches National Heritage Yojana: The Centre has launched the National Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) under which 12 cities from the country have been sanctioned funds for the first phase. Prime Minister's constituency Varanasi got the highest allocation at Rs.89.31 Core. The scheme seeks to promote an integrated, inclusive and sustainable development of heritage sites, focusing not just on maintenance of monuments but on advancement of the entire ecosystem including its citizens, tourists and local businesses. RBI working on comprehensive consumer protection norms for NBFC sector: The central bank will also soon align the private placement norms specified for NBFCs with that of the stipulations in the new company law enacted in 2013. Under the new company law, private placement cannot be undertaken with more than 200 persons in a financial year. As per the RBI specified norms, private placement by NBFCs cannot exceed 49 persons in a year. PM'S green signal to flagship scheme "Housing for All": Prime Minister gave green signal to the Ministry of Housing and Poverty Alleviation's Flagship Scheme "Housing for all by 2022". It will cover urban poor living in slums, urban homeless and new migrants to urban areas in search of shelter. It would cover metros, small towns and all urban areas. The first priority under the new scheme would be on towns and cities along the banks off Ganga and its tributaries. A large portion of the programme is to be financed in a public-private partnership mode by leveraging land and other resources in urban areas. RBI asks banks to put up loan details online: RBI has asked banks to enhance transparency on customer loans. This includes displaying on their website the interest rate range of loans granted to different categories of individual borrowers in the past quarter. The banks should also provide the average interest rates for such loans. The total fees and charges applicable on various types of loans to individual borrowers should also be displayed on


banks' websites and should be disclosed at the time when a loan is processed as well. These instructions for enhancing transparency in pricing of credit will come into force from April 1, 2015. Rating Agency S&P to pay penalty for misconduct: Credit Rating Agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) will pay $77 million and be barred for one year from rating certain commercial-backed mortgage securities, as part of a major settlement with the US and State Regulators over "Fraudulent misconduct". The case marks the first time that the Securities and Exchange commission has ever levied charges against one of the big three credit raters. SEBI does away with mandatory participation norm for delisting: To ease the process of delisting, mandatory participation of 25 per cent of shareholders holding shares in demat mode would not be applicable if the acquirer and the merchant banker are able to demonstrate that they have contacted all the public shareholders about the offer. SEBI has also amended regulations to issue debt instruments by incorporating express provisions for enabling consolidation and re-issuance of debt securities and call and put options. Consolidation and re-issuance of debt securities will lead to creation of a larger floating stock for corporate bonds that are otherwise illiquid. Companies listed on exiting regional stock exchanges have been given 18 months to comply with the listing norms of nationwide stock exchanges. Till such time the shares of these companies will remain on the dissemination board of nationwide bourses. Govt for use of RuPAY Cards with cash back offer: The government, which is striving to take banking to every household in the country and reduce the number of cash transactions, aggressively promoting the use of state- backed RuPay Cards by offering 1% cash-back, in a direct challenge to card companies such as Visa and Master Card. RuPay is an Indian domestic card scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India that can be used at ATMs, POS terminals and e-commerce websites. Apart from all public sector banks, RRBs and Co-operative banks issue RuPay Cards in an effort to promote financial inclusion. RBI for regulating payment instructions in bourses: RBI wants an amendment in the Payment and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill to provide for regulation of the clearing and settlement of payment instructions in stock exchanges and commodity exchanges.

ICICI Bank launched banking services on Twitter: ICICI Bank, India's Largest Private Bank, launched its banking services on Twitter, enabling customers to transfer money through the micro-blogging website. Customers can send up to Rs.5000 per transaction with a limit of Rs.10000 a day. Online NEFT charges will apply. Savings account customers can register their twitter accounts with one time passwords and link their account numbers. Both recipients and senders need to have twitter accounts. Govt launches Venture Capital Fund Scheme for SCs: The Government has launched a $32 million (Rs.200 Crore) Venture capital Fund to back entrepreneurs from the scheduled casts (SC), a social group representing people from socially backward strata in the country. The fund would invest up to Rs.15 Crore in backing such entrepreneurs with a six year investment horizon. IFCI, which also runs a separate VC Fund to back SMEs, will act as Sponsor, Asset Manager to operate the scheme. SEBI notifies Insider Trading Rules: SEBI has notified the Prohibition of Insider Trading (PIT) regulations, 2015, which will replace the present two-decade-old, Framework. Under the new definition, an insider would now mean a person who is in possession of or has access to price sensitive information. The new regulations would tighten the screws around company officials who communicate information to a select group of people. The new rules will come into effect from May 2015.

Axis Bank MD's term extended: The board of Axis Bank has reappointed Shikha Sharma as Managing


Director and CEO of the bank for a further period of three years with effect from June 1, 2015. Sharma had joined the bank in 2009 and is set to complete a second three-year term in May. SEBI proposes easier norms for Domestic Mutual Funds: To make it easier for Domestic Mutual Funds (DMF) to manage offshore pooled assets, SEBI proposed to drop the "20-25 Rule" which requires a minimum of 20 investors and a cap of 25% investment by an individual investor in a particular scheme, for certain foreign entities. Besides, SEBI has suggested to do away with the rule that requires appointment of separate fund managers for managing offshore funds. India's GDP growth rate set to surpass China's in 2016-17: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has become the latest organisation to predict that India is on track to outpace China in the next few years and become the world's fastest growing large economy. The IMF said India is likely to grow 6.5 per cent in 2016-17, higher than 6.3 per cent for China. The World Bank had said that India is expected to outpace China in 2017-18 with growth of 7 per cent (as against China's 6.9 per cent) on the back of reform initiatives of the Government. Supreme Court ruling on promotion quota for SC/ST bank officers: Public Sector Banks accord 15% reservation for SC and 7.5% for ST candidates. It is done at the initial level of recruitment and also for promotion in the clerical cadre. This is allowed also for promotion from clerical grade to the lowest rank in the officers grade, commonly known as JMG Scale-I. But when the promotion comes from Scale-I to higher cadres, banks have not been making any reservations. Now the Supreme Court has ordered the Public Sector Banks to provide for reservations while carrying out promotions from Scale-I to upward to Scale- VI. Banks can spread up only if borrower's credit profile deteriorates: The RBI has advised banks that the spread (or the mark up over the base rate) charged to an existing borrower by banks should not be increased except on account of deterioration in the credit risk profile of the customer or change in the tenor premium. What this means is that if the credit rating of an existing borrowing unit deteriorates, then, at the time of the annual renewal of loan limit, the spread charged over the base rate will be increased. Otherwise, the interest rate remains unchanged. World Bank Chief on India's reform measures:

According to the World Bank Chief, the measures taken by the Indian Government such as the Constitution Amendment Bill for a Goods and Services Act (GST) would provide an opportunity to make "Doing Business in India" easier. Centre's move to gradually eliminate diesel subsidies if made permanent, will improve the country's fiscal position, reducing the cost of borrowing and public investments. No refund for returns selected for scrutiny: The processing of a return cannot be undertaken after notice has been issued under sub-section (2) of Section 143 of the Income-Tax Act, 1961. It will, however, be desirable that scrutiny of assessments in such cases be completed expeditiously. Tax refunds are issued only after the assessment is completed. Finmin agrees for commission on DBT: The Finance Ministry has agreed to banks' long outstanding demand for commission on Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) transactions. The move will boost lenders' fee income and make account opening under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) viable. Earlier, a task force headed by Nandan Nilekani, former chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) recommended a commission of 3.14% to be paid for all DBTs handled by banks and business correspondents. Now the Government is expected to make budgetary provisions for these expenses. Banks unlikely to act as insurance brokers: Most banks that have promoted insurance companies or have existing joint venture agreements for insurance partnerships are unlikely to seek a broking licence whereby they can sell policies of multiple insurance companies. However, public sector banks that have not promoted or entered into joint venture insurance partnerships may be keen (to float an insurance broking arm) as they will be able to provide a wider bouquet of products from different insurers to their customers. ICICI Bank launches contactless credit - debit cards: ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank launched the "Country's First Contactless Debit and Credit Cards", enabling its customers to make electronic payments by just waving the cards near the merchant terminal in lieu of dipping or swiping them. These cards are based on the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, which provides customers the improved convenience of speed. Moreover, these cards require significantly less time than traditional cards to complete a transaction.


Banks promised zero interference: The Finance Ministry has communicated to all the Central Ministries and Departments that banks have been assured that there will be no Government interference in their decision-making process. Govt allowed full FDI in medical devices: The Union Cabinet has approved liberalizing the FDI Policy for the cash starved medical devices sector. As per the decision, FDI up to 100% through the automatic route has been permitted for manufacturing of medical devices in the country. Banks not reporting credit information of individual members of self-help groups: According to the chief of CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services, individual members of self-help groups (SHG) can become eligible for bigger loans from banks only if the credit history of the intra group borrowings is captured. As of now, banks report only credit information pertaining to the groups and not of individual members. An SHG, as defined by the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, is a voluntary association of 10-20 poor people with mutual affinities — same kind of livelihood, similar community, caste — who have a common goal of social and economic empowerment. Group members save small amounts of money and lend them to each other. On satisfactory functioning of the SHG, it can get loan from the bank. Govt announces new roadmap for accounting norms: The corporate Affairs Ministry has announced a revised roadmap for implementation of the long awaited Indian Accounting Standards. The revised roadmap, which does not cover banking and insurance companies and NBFCs, envisages a two phased implementation. The new standards will be mandatory for financial years beginning on or after April1, 2016, together with comparative information for the previous year. Arvind Panagariya takes charge as NITI Aayog Vice- Chairman: NITI Aayog, which replaces the Planning Commission, came into existence on January 1. Panagariya is an Indian-American economist, who has held the post of Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank. He has also worked for the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO, and UNCTAD in various capacities. Govt amends cost record rules: According to the new norms notified by the Government, corporates having annual turnover of Rs.35 Crore and above would be required to mandatorily maintain cost records. At the same time, the Corporate Affairs

Ministry has expanded the ambit of cost auditing by individual entities that are into coffee, tea and milk powder business. The requirement of maintaining cost records would be applicable to certain class of companies that meet the threshold level of Rs.35 Crore. Such entities have been broadly classified into regulated and unregulated sectors. Centre promulgates ordinance for amending Mining Act: The amendments to the MMDR Act include auctioning of the mineral concessions. Also renewals have been done away with and the concession period has been increased to 50 years from the current 30 years. At the end of the concession period, the mining lease will be put up for auction again. For the existing lease holders, the mining lease of existing lease holders has been extended till March 31, 2030 and for merchant miners it has been extended till March 31, 2020. In order to ensure there are no delays, the ordinance empowers the Centre to prescribe deadlines for various processes and also issue binding directions to States. Govt. splits CMD post in State-Run banks: The Government has separated the posts of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) in nationalized banks. It has also appointed Managing Directors (MD) for four banks, and they have been designated as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). According to the finance Ministry, henceforth, in public sector banks, other than SBI, the Chairman will be a part-time Board member who would preside over the board meetings but will not be an executive chairman. The procedure for selection of part-time chairman would be announced shortly. The four new MDs and CEOs are- (1) P. Sriniwas for United Bank of India, (2) Animesh Chauhan for OBC, (3) R. Koteeswaran for Indian Overseas Bank and (4) Kishore Kumar Sansi for Vijaya Bank.

Banks need to revisit credit exposure limits of firms: Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Urjit Patel has said that banks may have to revisit at an opportune time the individual company


credit exposure limits, as well as sector exposures as part of their learning for the future for better risk management practices over the business cycle. Post Offices to issue ATM-cum- Debit cards: Post Office savings bank accounts can now be operated through ATMs. The Centre has amended the Post office Savings Bank General Rules accordingly. This facility, however, will be available only in the post offices that are in Core Banking Solution (CBS) platform. Currently, 676 post offices are on CBS. Industrial output at 5-month high; retail inflation inches up in Dec: Factory output for November 2014 came in at a five-month high of 3.8 per cent on the back of improved manufacturing performance. This is a clear positive for the economy given that the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had contracted 4.2 per cent in October 2014. Manufacturing — which has 75 per cent weightage in IIP — grew 3 per cent in November, compared with a contraction of 2.6 per cent in October. For April-November 2014, IIP recorded 2.2 per cent growth, higher than 0.1 per cent in same period in the previous year. Meanwhile, retail inflation for December 2014 came in at 5 per cent, higher than the 4.3 per cent in November. SEBI frames new norms for Municipal Bonds: To give a boost to the centre's "small cities" initiative, SEBI proposed a new set of norms for listing and trading of municipal bonds on stock exchanges so as to channel household investments into urban infrastructure development. According to the Regulator, a municipal authority issuing the bonds will have to obtain rating from a credit rating agency registered with SEBI. Also known as "Muni Bonds" these instruments will have a minimum tenure of three years.

In a first, Kerala allows mobile towers on govt land, buildings: The Kerala Government has decided to allow mobile telecom service providers to set up towers on government land and buildings. This is the first time that a State Government is throwing open its own land, buildings and offices to mobile companies. It will expand mobile connectivity, improve the quality of mobile conversations, make access to the Internet faster and easier, and also facilitate 4G services. The government will charge 10 per cent of the market value of the land on which the tower is put up as the lease rent.

Govt. approves ordinance to ease land acquisition: The ordinance does away with the requirement of written consent from 70% of land owners for PPP projects in the infrastructure and social infrastructure sectors. Also, social impact assessment would not be required for such projects. PPP Projects account for 60% of Rs.18 Lakh Crore worth of stalled projects. SEBI's proposed curbs on 'wilful defaulters' is advantage banks: As per Moody's Investor Service, Market regulator SEBI's proposal to bar 'wilful defaulters' from accessing capital markets to issue debt and most forms of equity is "credit-positive" for Indian banks. In SEBI's proposal, an issuer, its controlling/key shareholder, group company or director on the list of wilful defaulters would be prohibited from a public issue of equity shares, debt securities, and preference shares. It would also be prohibited from controlling any other listed entity. Currently, wilful defaulters are only prohibited from issuing convertible debt instruments. They will, however, be allowed to make a rights issue or a private placement to qualified institutional investors. The list itself would be maintained by a central repository authority, although not SEBI, and banks would provide wilful defaulters' names to the authority. Finmin tells banks and LIC on claim forms: The Finance Ministry has asked the public sector banks and LIC to make available on their websites, claim forms for the Rs.30000 life cover as promised under Jan Dhan Yojna. Also, LIC has been asked to settle claims within 15 days of the receipt of the form. The settlement process should not exceed 30 days in any case. Regulator red flags high agent attrition in life- insurance space: The insurance regulator has raised concerns over the high rate of agent attrition in the life insurance industry. Cabinet Nod for Hiking Stake in IFCI: IFCI was set up in 1948 as a Statutory Corporation under the Industrial Finance Corporation Act, 1948. Thereafter, IFCI Ltd. Was registered under the Companies Act 1956 on March 31, 1993. The current shareholding of Government of India in IFCI is 47.93%. Therefore IFCI is not a Government Company under Section 2(45) of the Companies Act 2013. Now the Centre has approved raising its stake in IFCI Ltd. to 51% by infusing Rs.60 Crore in the country's oldest Financial Institution.


For banks, home loan portfolio is losing sheen: The retail loan portfolio of banks is seeing a marginal shift away from housing and towards unsecured and consumption- based lending. Reserve Bank of India data show that the pace of growth of home loans declined to 16.4 per cent in November 2014, from 18.1 per cent in the year-ago period. On the other hand, growth in consumer durables and other personal loans improved to 46.8 per cent (32.8 per cent in the year-ago period) and 16.2 per cent (13.3 per cent), respectively. Supreme Court Ruling on Tribunals: The recent trend of setting up tribunals in various sectors to lighten the High Courts' burden and speed up decisions suffered a setback when the Supreme Court struck down the National Tax Tribunal Act on grounds that "it encroached upon the power of the Judiciary and the Principle of Separation of Powers". Jan Dhan: banks want fund to help cover overdraft defaults: Banks have requested the Finance Ministry to quickly set up a credit guarantee fund to cover possible delinquencies in overdrafts they extend to account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana. With two months to go for the first set of account holders to become eligible for an overdraft (OD), the matter has assumed urgency. PMJDY was launched on August 28 last year, as a national mission for financial inclusion. Under the Yojana, banks can provide an OD of up to Rs. 5,000 after six months of satisfactory performance, in terms of operations, savings, and credit history.

Reserve Bank red flags 'quick money' schemes:

The Reserve Bank of India has cautioned the public against getting taken in by unscrupulous entities peddling multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes that promise high returns. Entities running such chain marketing or pyramid schemes promise easy or quick money upon enrolment of members. Income under such schemes comes primarily from enrolling more and more members from whom hefty subscription fees are taken. A portion of the subscription amounts so collected is distributed among the members at the top of the pyramid. Any break in the chain leads to the collapse of the pyramid, and the members lower down are the ones affected most. Acceptance of money under money circulation, MLM or pyramid structures is a cognisable offence under the Prize Chit and Money Circulation (Banning) Act, 1978. CBDT notifies new draft of income computation and disclosure standards: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has come up with a new draft of 12 income computation and disclosure standards (ICDS). The Income Tax Department is looking to prescribe its own set of standards so as to ensure that income is computed correctly for income tax purposes. Number of export documents set to come down: The paperwork involved in exporting and importing goods is set to come down significantly from the next fiscal year. The move will cut down transaction costs and time for industry and also improve the country's global ranking in the World Bank's 'ease of doing business' index. The Revenue Department is likely to bring down the number of mandatory documents required for exports to three in the new fiscal year from the seven cited in the World Bank's report. The reduction in export documents to three will put India at par with countries such as the US, Canada, Singapore and Japan. E-rickshaws now get legal status: The President has given his nod to amend the Central Motor Vehicles Act (CMVA). With this, e-rickshaws and e-carts can be registered by Regional Transport Offices, and will have to comply with rules regarding display of registration marks, size of letters and numerals of the registration mark, transfer of ownership and validity of certificates and fitness. State governments will have to register e-rickshaws as per the amended rules. PM launches new domestic lighting scheme: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scheme for distribution of LED bulbs, under the domestic efficient lighting programme, and a National Programme for LED-based Home and Street Lighting.


Under the scheme, consumers in Delhi will be able to request for LED bulbs under the Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme through a new website. Consumers can register for this scheme either through the website or by sending an SMS to a designated number. Under the programme, consumers will pay Rs. 130 per LED bulb as compared to market prices, which range from Rs. 350 to Rs. 600. Let Department of Posts run a bank: The panel on leveraging the post office network headed by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian, has stated that large banks suffer from "small customer fatigue". There is considerable empirical evidence in this regard as reflected in increasing minimum balance requirements, high transaction charges and barriers for cash handling across bank counters. Moreover, for cultural, social and historical reasons, large banks find it difficult to motivate their city based employees to work in rural areas. The panel has suggested for the Department of Posts (also known as India Post) to set up a new bank to achieve the government's agenda of universal financial inclusion.

MARCH/APRIL FINANCIAL AWARENESS Global Leader: Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani was named Young Global Leader from India by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Stockholm Water Prize: Environmental activist Rajendra Singh has been awarded with the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize this year for his innovative water restoration efforts and courage to empower communities in Indian villages. Gandhi Peace Prize 2014: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) won Gandhi Peace Prize 2014. The Indian space agency successfully launched Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and at a very cost effective price of 450 crore rupees. Also it was its first attempt to launch a Mars Orbiter mission. Pradhan Mantri Kausahal Vikas Yojna: The Union Cabinet has approved the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) to provide necessary skills training to youth across the country. The PMKVY Scheme will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). Dadasaheb Falke Award: Actor Shashi Kapoor has been awarded with this year's Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest honour in cinema.

Air to Air Missile: India's indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile 'Astra' was successfully tested from a Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft at the Integrated Test Range located at Chandipur in Odisha. Chillr: A mobile application Chillr that allows customers to instantly transfer money to any person in India is a first-of- its kind application that is linked directly to customers' bank accounts and is exclusively for customers of HDFC Bank. The maximum transaction limit is Rs.5000/- per day and Rs. 50000/- rupees a month. Swaraj Bhoomi: Girgaum Chowpatty has been renamed as Swaraj Bhoomi to honour veteran freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The Girgaum beach was called Chau-pati because of four channels of water that existed there. SEBI Board approves IFSC guidelines: Sebi has approved a relaxed set of norms for setting up of stock exchanges and other capital market infrastructure in International Financial Services Centres. Stock exchanges and clearing corporations would be provided concessions for setting up ventures in the IFSC. All existing exchanges would be allowed to set up their subsidiaries in the IFSC under the relaxed regimes.Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) would be the country's first IFSC, with which top bourses BSE and NSE have already signed MoUs for setting up international exchanges there.

SEBI approves listing of Municipal Bonds: To help in the government's 'smart cities' programme, Sebi has approved a new set of norms for listing and trading of municipal bonds on stock exchanges, while channelizing household investments for urban infrastructure development. After SEBI approval for such municipal bonds, also known as 'muni bonds', municipal authorities would raise funds including for


setting up of smart cities.

India overtakes US as 3rd Steel Producer: India has overtaken the US to become the third-largest steel producer in the world with a production of 14.56 million tones (MT) in first two months of the year. India has been the fourth largest steel producer for the past five years, behind China, Japan and the US. Asian Development Bank Report: As per Asian Development Banks annual publication Asian Development Outlook, 2015 India is all set to overtake China's growth rate by clocking 7.8 per cent GDP in 2015-16 and 8.2 per cent during the following fiscal on the back of structural reforms and government's 'pro-investment' attitude. Rural Banks told to cut jobs: Based on the recommendations of S.K. Mitra committee on HR policy for RRBs, the Government has directed regional rural banks to become slim by cutting jobs and outsource non-core functions such as IT maintenance, cash remittance and housekeeping. Currently, there are 56 RRBs with 19,400 branches and a collective business volume of Rs 4.50 lakh crore. India's GDP growth forecast increased: International Monetary Fund had increased India's GDP growth forecast to 7.2% for the current financial year. Last year, IMF had forecasted a growth rate of 5.6% for the current financial year, and 6.4% for the next financial year. UK annual inflation rate drop to zero: UK annual inflation rate dropped steeply to zero in February for the first time due to falling prices of recreational goods, food, furniture and oil. UK inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 0% in February compared to 0.3% in January. India's foreign exchange reserves: jumped by USD 4.261 billion to all time high USD 339.991 billion in the week ended 20th March. The jump was mainly due to increase in foreign currency assets which was increased by USD 4.539 billion to USD 314.886 billion in the same week. Central Bank of India with maximum bad loans: According to the data published by the RBI, Central Bank of India has topped the list of public sector banks with maximum bad loans including restructured assets as a percentage of total advances. As per the list, CBI has 21.5% loans as either bad assets or has been termed as non-performing assets (NPAs).

FDI cap in insurance sector: The Reserve Bank has notified the decision to raise foreign direct investment (FDI) cap in the insurance sector to 49% from existing cap of 26%. As per the notification, FDI up to 26% will be under automatic route and beyond 26% till 49% will be allowed with the approval of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). Government to reduce holding in PSBs: Government has decided to bring down its holding in public sector banks (PSBs) to 52% in a phased manner to ensure that capital needs of banks are taken care of. Capital Infusion for 9 PSBs: The government has allocated Rs.7,900-cr for recap of PSU banks. Digitisation of Women SHGs: NABARD has started a pilot project to improve the quality of interface between members and banks for efficient and hassle free delivery of banking services. Digitisation will bring transparency, credibility to operations of SHGs thereby increasing the comfort of bankers in credit appraisal, disbursement and monitoring. 15 cr accounts linked to Aadhar: NPCI, the umbrella organisation for all retail payments system in India, reached a major milestone of successfully linking 15 crore bank accounts with Aadhaar number. NPCI is the nodal agency for all retail payment systems under the Jan Dhan scheme. New Investment pattern for PFs: The new investment pattern mandates up to 50% Investment in government securities, 45% in debt securities, 15% in equity instruments, 15% in exchange traded and indexed funds and 5% in real estate assets. Sec 66A of Information Technology Act: In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court has struck down a provision in the cyber law known as Section 66-A of the Information Technology Act which provides power to arrest a person for posting allegedly 'offensive' content on websites in order to protect freedom of expression. Pragati: Govt. launched ambitious multi-purpose and multimodal platform PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) with the aim of addressing common man's grievances and concerns. It will also help in simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the Government of India as well as projects flagged by state governments.


IMF and ADB to support AIIB: China has received support from International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank to establish a new multilateral development bank named as Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), that will provide project loans to developing countries and will begin its operations by the end of 2015. Indian Railways launched RuPay Card: The card will enable passengers to book their Rail tickets and do shopping using RuPay pre-paid debit cards. Card can be availed from either the Union Bank or the IRCTC. RuPay is India's own card payment gateway network and provides an alternative system for banks to provide debit card service. Bank Board Bureau: The Bank Board Bureau is being set up which would be responsible for appointments at state- run lenders. The Board will work as search committee or appointments board and will consist of professionals with only one government representative. The proposed Board would have six members with at least three former bankers, two professionals and secretary, department of financial services as the government representative.

MAY FINANCIAL AWARENESS

Bhartiya Mahila Bank MOUs with insurance companies: Bhartiya Mahila Bank has entered into MOUs with the New India Assurance Co. and LIC to provide insurance cover to its account holders. The insurance covers are being provided under PM Jan Dhan Yojana and PM Jeevanjyoti Bima Yojana schemes. The insurance option is voluntary and comes at a premium of Rs.12 and Rs.330 respectively. The age eligibility under the former is 18-70 years and under the later is 18-50 years. The enrolment period will be from June 1 to August 31. Cabinet nod to amend Negotiable Instruments Act: The Cabinet approved a proposal to amend the Negotiable Instruments Act so as to clarify on jurisdictional issues for trying cheques bouncing cases. The main amendment is the stipulation that the offence of rejection/return of cheques under section 138 of the negotiable Instruments Act will be enquired into and tried only by a court within whose local jurisdiction the bank branch of the payee, where the payee presents the cheques for payment is situated. Guidelines to set up shop in IFSCs: RBI has issued the operational guidelines for Indian and foreign banks to set up shop in International Financial

Service Centres (IFSCs), the first of which has come up in the Gujarat capital Gandhinagar. Public and private sector banks authorized to deal in foreign exchange will be eligible to set up IFSC Banking Units in IFSCs. Only foreign banks having a presence in India will be eligible to set up IBUs and specific permission from the Home-country regulator will be required. Eligible banks will be permitted to establish only one IBU in each IFSC. Parent Banks will be required to provide a minimum capital of $20 million or equivalent in any foreign currency to enable their IBUs to start operations in IFSCs.

RBI removes curbs on United Bank of India: RBI has lifted the restriction on loans to be made by United Bank with a condition that the bank maintains its capital adequacy ratio at 9.5% and keep credit-deposit ratio at or below 70%. RRBs come under RuPay Cards: National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organization for all retail payments system in the country, has enabled all 56 regional rural banks (RRBs) under its Central Payment Systems Network with RuPay cards and access to National Automated Clearing House Service. Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 notified: The long- awaited Five-year Foreign Trade Policy has been notified by the Government. The policy has expanded the scope of incentive schemes for merchandise and service exports and it also targeted to almost double value of exports to $900 billion by 2020. Further to ensure stability in the policy regime, the Centre has opted for a mid-term review instead of an annual review. The Policy also spells out measures for increased digitization of exports and imports with the aim to gradually move towards a paperless office and self- certification by established exporters and importers. MEIS and SEIS replacing multiple schemes introduced: In the new Foreign Trade Policy, the Government has introduced two new schemes, Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) and Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) by replacing earlier multiple schemes. The MEIS will be targeted for export of specified goods to specific markets and SEIS is meant for exports of notified services. The rate of rewards under MEIS now ranges from 2% to 5%, from the 2% to 7% range earlier. On the other hand, under SEIS, the rate will range from 3% to 5%, from the 5% to 10 % range earlier.


Govt. mulls new norms for PSB top appointments: The finance Ministry is seeking to rework the eligibility norms to appoint MD & CEO for five large nationalized banks. The age criteria for eligible candidates are to be relaxed from 55 years to 57 years and also to reduce the requirement for board level experience from three years to one year. The move will allow some of the EDs in public sector banks to be eligible for the post of MD and CEOs for which separate interviews will be conducted. Govt revamps new norms on Non-official Directors: The government has revamped the procedure for appointment of non-official directors on the Boards of Public sector Banks, Insurance Companies and Financial Institutions. Besides, creating a dedicated web portal, where interested persons can apply online, the procedure also provides for setting up of a high level search committee. The committee will go through the available applications and would recommend names to the government for approval. The applicant should have at least a graduation degree, should be less than 67 years of age and have 20 years of work experience. Such directors could be appointed for maximum six years or two terms. RBI concern for Public Sector Bank's Board Members: RBI will attempt to make the remuneration package of public sector bank board members as appealing as that of their private sector counterparts. RBI also conveyed its decision to do away with the list of issues that PSU banks place before their board members, giving the top management more time to deliberate on strategic issues. At a time when private sector bank directors are being paid in Lakhs for every board meeting they attend, the payment in public sector banks is in the range of Rs.5000 to Rs.10, 000 bands in accordance with the government guidelines on remuneration. The difference in pay has made it difficult for PU banks to attract and retain professional directors on their boards. SEBI penalties for no woman on Board: The deadline for appointing at least one woman director expired on March 31. Listed companies that have not appointed a woman director face a fine of Rs.50, 000. If they do not comply by June 30, an additional fine at the rate of Rs.1000 a day will be imposed till a woman director is appointed. After September 30, the fine will go up to Rs.1.42 Lakh plus Rs.5000 a day till the date of compliance. Govt announces relief package for farmers: The Government has announced a relief package for

the farmers hit by unseasonal rains. The criteria has been reduced from 50% to 33% crop damage enabling more farmers to get compensation for their loss. The compensation amount has been increased to 15 times. Banks have been asked to restructure farm loans while insurance companies have been asked to settle claims of farmers on a priority basis. PM launches MUDRA Scheme: The Prime Minister has launched "MUDRA" scheme. The Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) has been registered as an NBFC with RBI and has a corpus of Rs.20, 000 Crore and can lend up to Rs.50,000 and Rs.10 lakh to small entrepreneurs. The Microfinance institutions and NBFCs can avail loans from MUDRA for on lending to the borrowers. It will provide refinance to banks and other institutions at 7% rate of interest. The Government has appointed Jiji Memon as the CEO of MUDRA, who was a Chief General Manager of NABARD. National Consumer Commission Ruling on ATM fraud: The National Commission, said that there was a foul play by a third person who manipulated the ATM machine and unauthorizedly withdrew money. The Commission concluded that there was deficiency in bank service. The Commission further ruled that "A bank can not escape its liability by claiming the security systems are foolproof. If there is a flaw or a loophole in the system, the bank would be liable to make good the loss caused to the customer".

Sahoo Panel recommendations on ECB: Government appointed Sahoo Panel has recommended that Indian banks should not be allowed to extend ECBs to domestic corporate houses out of their overseas subsidiaries or branches. This norm should also be applied for guarantees which mean that Indian banks based abroad should not be allowed to


extend guarantees for ECBs. The Panel has recommended that the restrictions on borrowers, lenders, end-uses, amount, maturity, all-in-cost ceiling must be removed. The Panel does not want that both lender (Indian bank based abroad) and the borrower (Indian Company) to face forex risk on the same loan transaction. RBI for interoperable cash deposit machines: RBI is looking to the National Financial Switch (NFS) which will make them interoperable and allow customers to deposit cash into their accounts from any bank's machine. ATMs are already part of the NFS and now there is proposal from National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to link all cash deposit machines to the NFS. This will allow any other bank customers to put in money from any machine. Panel proposes Small Banks merger with Large Banks: The Working Group on Consolidation and Restructuring of Public Sector Banks has proposed that the small public sector banks with assets of less than Rs.2 Lakh Crore should be readied for merger with five large public sector banks. Ahead of the consolidation, the small PSBs will need to reorient their portfolio and improve operational efficiencies over the next one year. Any consolidation should be driven by market forces and decisions taken independently by the board of each bank. RBI allows banks to tie up with e-commerce companies: RBI has allowed banks to enter into joint ventures with ecommerce firms to smoothen payments or appointing them as Business Correspondents for acquiring new customers. Integrating e-commerce with their own platforms will allow banks to work around the two factor authentication requirement while doing transactions. Further to ensure reliability of banking transactions in the mobile space, RBI has asked the TRAI to give priority to banking transactions over others while messaging. Govt allows EPFO to invest in ETF: The Government has allowed the EPFO to invest 5% of its corpus in Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) which will result into an inflow of around Rs.5000 Crore into the stock markets during this fiscal. As per estimates, the EPFO's incremental deposits for 2014-15 would be around Rs.80, 000 Crore. During the current fiscal, the incremental deposits could be around Rs.1 Lakh Crore as the body had increased the monthly wage ceiling for coverage under its social security schemes to Rs.15, 000 from Rs.6500 in September last year.

Govt proposes change in corruption law for good officials: The Centre proposes to differentiate a "Corrupt decision" from an Erroneous decision" to ensure that its officers take decisions without any fear. The proposal is to amend section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 which defines what constitutes criminal misconduct by a public servant and specifies penal provisions, including jail of up to seven years. SEBI proposal for venture capital funds: SEBI proposed to allow venture capital funds to invest up to 25% of their investible funds in foreign companies that having "Indian connection". Currently the cap is fixed at 10%. Indian connection would include companies having front office overseas but back office operations in India. Many Indian entrepreneurs have been setting up their headquarters outside India with backend or research and development operations in India. Therefore, there is need to allow higher overseas investment by VCs more than existing 10% limit.

GOVT. formulates new project "Life MGNREGA": With an aim to promote self-reliance and improve the skill base of MGNREGA workers, the Government has formulated a new project linking the flagship rural job scheme with skill development programmes. "LIFE-MGNREGA" is likely to be


implemented in the middle of July. The project has been formulated in consultation with Deen Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana and National rural Livelihood Mission. IFSC Banking Units (IBU) by Indian Banks: RBI has formulated a scheme for the setting up of International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) Banking Units (IBUs) by banks in IFSCs as per Foreign Exchange Management (International Financial Services Centre) Regulations, 2015. Government of India has already announced setting up of an IFSC in Gujarat namely Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

JUNE FINANCIAL FINANCIAL AWARENESS

New Service Tax rate from June 1: The new service tax rate of 14% will come into effect from June 1. The service tax is currently levied at the rate 12.36%, including education cess. FDI limit in pension sector hiked to 49%: The Indian government raised the limit of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the pension sector to 49% in line with the FDI cap raised in the insurance sector. The hike covers FPI, FII, QFI, FVCI, NRI and DR. No government approval is required till 26%, but the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval would be needed for investment beyond 26% and up to the cap of 49%. All investments in the pension sector, however, will have to abide by the pension sector regulator the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). Private and foreign banks to appoint outsiders as Internal Ombudsman: New generation private banks, public sector banks and foreign banks with a large retail base have been asked to appoint an outsider as an internal Ombudsman to look after consumer grievances. The internal Ombudsman, who will be designated as chief customer service officer (CSSO), will be the first port of call for grievance redressal even before approaching the banking ombudsman. The public sector banks, the private lenders who will have an internal Ombudsman are ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank Ltd, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank NA and HSBC. These banks have been selected on the basis of their asset size and business mix. AXIS Bank opens 24x7 express branch: Axis Bank, India's third largest private bank, opened its first Express Branch, a retail banking initiative to

deliver superior Omni channel digital experience to customers at ITPL, Bengaluru. These branches would primarily be opened in metro cities to offer customers round-the-clock banking services for their convenience and ease and would offer cash withdrawals, instant cash deposits, cheque deposits, etc. GDP to grow further after 7-7.5% last year: Economists polled by Reuters pegged India's 2014-15 economic growth at 7.4 per cent and 7.8 per cent for the current year in terms of standard gross domestic product (GDP). As per new way of measuring GDP, India's statistics office has overtaken China as the world's fast-growing major economy, at an annual 7.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year that ended on March 31. FDI Cap hiked:: The Government has decided to increase the limit for foreign investment proposals needing Cabinet nod and also allowed to treat Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) as eligible financial instruments under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The move is expected to boost foreign inflows into the country. The latest step is expected to help several companies looking to raise funds via REITs, which are yet to take off. During the April- February period of 2014-15, the foreign fund inflows have grown by 39%, year-on-year, to $28.81 billion. HDFC among World's top 10 list of consumer finance firms: Mortgage lender HDFC has emerged as the only Indian company among the world's 10 biggest consumer financial services firms, after American Express, Visa and Mastercard. HDFC is ranked 7th on the list, compiled by business magazine Forbes, where American Express is placed on the top. Public Sector Banks' profiles to improve only in the medium term: According to Moody's, improvement in the credit profiles of Indian public-sector banks (PSBs) will be achieved only in the medium term, given their high levels of impaired loans and weak capital positions. PSBs represent more than 70% of total banking system assets in India. A longer time-frame is needed for the credit profiles of public- sector banks to improve, because their asset quality is tied to the slow, multi-year recovery of corporate balance sheets, and the lagging recognition of associated credit costs. The banks are therefore highly dependent on the Indian government (Baa3 positive) for fresh capital. AMFI asks mutual funds to check 'Bonus Stripping' practice: AMFI has asked Mutual fund


houses to check the practice of 'bonus stripping', which has come under scanner for possible misuse of the bonus plans of mutual fund schemes for avoiding paying taxes. The bonus stripping typically involves an investor buying a bonus plan of a mutual fund scheme, book a loss on it and then set it off against capital gains from other sources. ICICI Bank launches voice password facility for users: ICICI Bank has launched a service where customers can make transactions using just their voice, without using other means of authentication like a password. The voice recognition service authenticates customers based on their speech patterns & allows them to execute banking transactions through the bank's call centre. Their voice will now act as the password for banking transactions through the call centre.

Small banks for merger with large PSBs: A Finance Ministry appointed Working Group on Consolidation & Restructuring of PSBs has recommended Small public sector banks, with assets of less than Rs.2-lakh crore, should be readied for merger with five large PSBs. PSBs with less than Rs.2 lakh crore assets (loans plus investments) include Andhra Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Dena Bank, PSB, Vijaya Bank, and United Bank of India. The large PSBs, with the capability to acquire include Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, PNB and UBI. Ahead of the consolidation, the small PSBs will need to reorient their portfolio and improve operational efficiencies over the next one year. The Working Group has proposed that as a means to improve profitability by leveraging economies of scale & avoiding duplication, all PSBs should share infrastructure, including back-office space, IT backbone & telecom contracts through a "shared

service organisation." ・The banks will need to raise

almost Rs.4.50-lakh crore in Tier 1 capital (which includes Rs.2.40- lakh crore equity capital) by March 2019 under Basel III norms. The Working Group has suggested that over the next one year all PSBs focus on four areas - improving risk management capabilities, shifting to profitability-linked performance metrics, leveraging technology to reduce costs, and developing capital-light business models. IBA sign wage revision pact: Bank unions have signed the new wage revision agreement with the industry body Indian Banks Association (IBA) one of

the heads of the unions. The pact, is going to benefit 8.5 lakh employees from all the state-run banks, old generation private banks and some large foreign

banks. ・

Banks' Gross NPAs rises to 4.45%: The banking sector's asset quality further worsened in the last one year, with gross non- performing asset (GNPA) ratio inching to 4.45% in March 2015, compared to 4.1 per cent in March 2014. Stressed assets ratio, which is GNPA plus restructured standard advances for the system, stood at 10.9 per cent, as at the end of March, 2015 compared to 10 per cent in March, 2014 and 10.7 per cent in September 2014. GNPAs for public sector banks as on March 2015 stood at 5.17 per cent, while the stressed assets ratio stood at 13.2 per cent, which is nearly 230 bps more than that for the system. RBI had taken various steps in the last one year to tackle the problem of rising bad loans. For early recognition of stress in the system, banks have been asked to form joint lenders' forum (JLF) to initiate the resolution mechanism. According to the latest data, the capital adequacy ratio of the banking system has been steadily declining and at the end of March 2015, it stood at 12.70 per cent as against 13.01 per cent in March 2014. The government has taken a decision to infuse capital in banks that show better efficiency in terms of return on equity and return on assets. As a result, only nine public sector banks have received capital from the government in the previous financial year. Mechanism for banks to check frauds: The RBI has put in place a new framework to check loan frauds including by way of early warning signals at banks and red flagging of accounts, while defaulters will have no access to further banking finance. Besides, the central bank will set up a Central Fraud Registry that can be accessed by all banks to identify borrowers having committed frauds with any bank in the past. The CBI and the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) will also share their databases with banks. PM launches 'KISAN TV': To mark the completion of his government's first year in office, the PM has launched 'Kisan TV' which would provide information about best agricultural practices. The government has made it a 'must carry' channel making it mandatory for cable and Direct to Home (DTH) operators to provide it to their subscribers. World's 50 most valued banks in 2014: Among other sector-specific lists, there is no Indian entity on the list of biggest major banks topped by China's ICBC. For the regional banks, China Construction


Bank tops the chart, while India's SBI is ranked 22nd,

ICICI Bank is at 29th place and HDFC Bank is at 40th position. For Oil and Gas sector, Reliance Industries is ranked 15th globally, while ExxonMobil is on the top. In Computer Services, Google tops the list and India's TCS is at 7th place, followed by Coginzant at 9th and Infosys at 10th position. New Data on Indian Exporters released: India's statistical office will release new data for the first time to identify where India's exporters are located and what they are selling. This move is expected to help the government to make more informed manufacturing and trade policy decisions in the context of its 'Make in India' programme and the stiff $900-billion exports target set for 2020.

FORD Foundation to be under a watchlist: The Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered to put Ford Foundation, one of the most powerful international funding organizations under a watch list in 'National interest and security' of the country and has also decided to take Greenpeace type of action against Ford Foundation. Putting it on prior permission list, MHA has ordered that all the funds coming from Ford Foundation, US, for any agency or NGOs in country will first need to be cleared by the ministry. The action has been taken under Section 46 of the FCRA. Cabinet approves changes to Child Labour laws: In a major overhaul of child labour laws, the Cabinet approved a complete ban on employment of children below 14 years, except for some family businesses, entertainment and sports activities, while raising the punishment for violations to up to three years of jail. Making child labour a cognizable offence, the fine has also been increased to up to Rs 50,000 for the employers. The children can be employed only in non-hazardous family enterprises, TV serials, films, advertisements and sporting activities (except circus) with a condition that they would be made to do these

jobs after school hours. First BRICS Bank Chief: The ICICI Bank Chairman K.V. Kamath has been named as the first President of the BRICS Bank, the multilateral funding agency with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Simplified Income Tax Return Form: Finance Minister has announced extremely simplified Income Tax Return form which will replace the existing 14-page ITR which sought information like all bank accounts and foreign trip details. WHITLEY Awards: Two Indians Dr. Ananda Kumar and Dr. Pramod Patil have been awarded with the prestigious Whitley Awards also known as 'Green Oscar' for their contribution to wildlife conservation. Dr. Ananda Kumar was awarded the prize in recognition of his work using innovative communication systems to enable human elephant co-existence in Southern India whereas Dr. Patil was conferred this award for his work to protect the iconic great Indian bustard in the Thar desert. Low - value 'Tap and Pay' without PIN: Reserve Bank of India allowed banks to enable transactions in contactless cards for values up to Rs 2,000 without requiring a separate PIN authentication. The move is expected to hasten acceptance of `tap and pay' electronic payments at retail outlets, in transport services and for toll payments. Banks are free to facilitate their customers to set lower per- transaction limits. The responsibility for authorizing the contactless payment based on such card-based limits will lie with the card issuing banks. Indian Promoter must hold 26% stake in Insurance Joint Ventures: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has mandated a minimum 26% equity holding by the Indian promoter in any insurance company to ensure that the local investor does not use the liberal foreign investment and listing policy to dilute accountability. The regulator insists that the mandatory 26% stake to be held by the local promoter will ensure that there is accountability and that the management does not rest with the foreign company alone in the event of a single block of holding falling below 25%, public shareholding limit - when a company goes for listing. As a result of this move, the insurance regulator aims to control transfer and dilution of ownership in insurance companies to prevent financial investors from flipping investments for short term gains that may hurt long term prospects. USTAAD: The Government proposes to launch its


first scheme for minorities - a national crafts programme called 'Ustaad' linked to the 'Make in India' campaign from Varanasi. Although most programmes being run for minorities had been initiated by the earlier UPA regime, 'Ustaad' is the first scheme being crafted by the Najma Heptullah-headed minority affairs ministry. The scheme will cover centres such as Bhadohi, Murshidabad, Hyderabad and Moradabad etc. It will be aimed to help make these traditional crafts more compatible with modern tastes and markets. PF Contribution likely on 'Contributory wages': In a breather to employers, the labour ministry has proposed that contribution by companies towards their workers' EPF schemes would be a portion of 'contributory wages' which will not include house rent and travel allowances. The concept of 'contributory wages' has been included in the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Bill, 2015, which will soon be placed before the Cabinet for approval. While the unions wanted that 12 per cent PF contribution by the employers should be on total take home salary, the employers were opposed to the idea as it would have increased their PF liability and reduced workers' pay. E-Tourist Visa: Indian Govt. has announced to provide e- tourist visa to 31 more countries, including France and Canada. The e-tourist visa has been launched in Nov. last year for 45 countries from nine designated Indian airports. DBS first MNC bank to go for local arm: DBS has emerged the first off the block among multinational banks to apply for a subsidiary license in India. The bank's global chief executive officer announced the decision to go local in India, citing an opportunity to scale up business using the digital platform coupled with the bank's success in lending to small and medium enterprises elsewhere in the world. The bank put in an application for subsidiarization with the Reserve Bank of India. Bank wants to scale up from being a corporate bank to being a universal bank. CCEA raises FDI approval floor to Rs 3000 crore: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has raised the threshold for foreign direct investment requiring its approval to Rs 3,000 crore from the present Rs 1,200 crore. This decision is expected to expedite the approval process and result in increased foreign investment inflow. Presently, investments up to Rs.1,200 crore are cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of the finance ministry. Those above this limit require approval of

the CCEA as well. This was done in line with the govt's effort to boost the Make in India campaign & increase the flow of foreign investment. Govt. allows investing 5% of EPFO corpus in stock markets: In a move that could see over Rs. 7,500 crore of retirement savings of workers going into the capital markets for the first time, Labour ministry has notified the new investment pattern for the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The new pattern allows the retirement fund body to invest 5% of its incremental income in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) from the current financial year. The limit of investment in ETFs, starting from 1% with effect from April 1 and reaching 5% by the end of the year, is the lower end of the range recommended by the finance ministry that had proposed 5-15% in equities. Worldwide, pension funds have 52% of their investment in equity with US at 57%, followed by Australia (54%), UK (50%), Canada (48%) and Japan (40%), as per the study by Towers Watson. The EPFO has more than five crore subscribers across the country and has a corpus of over Rs 6 lakh crore. NPCI cuts ATM switch charges by 10%: National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has cut the switching fee for ATM transactions by 10 per cent to 45 paise on the surge in transaction volumes to 270 million per month from 80 million per month four years ago. The new rate is effective May 1. Switching fee is charged by the NPCI for routing ATM transactions through connectivity between banks' switches. This enables customers to use any ATM of a connected bank.

Limit for withdrawals at Micro ATMs: Banks have firmed up the upper limit on withdrawals at micro automated teller machines (ATMs) at Rs.10,000 as part of rules governing small transactions, especially under financial inclusion. They will levy an


interchange fee of Rs.2 for withdrawal up to Rs 2,000 per transaction. The charge will rise to Rs 15 per withdrawal for amount between Rs.5,001 and Rs. 10,000. Banks will not levy interchange fee for non- financial transactions at micro ATMs. The switching fees have been waived up. The rates and rules are applicable for cash withdrawals using a card at micro ATMs. Micro ATMs are similar to point of sale (PoS) terminals but are called as the handheld devices and are used by business correspondents to accept deposits and dispense cash. IGIA ranked as World's best Airport: Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi has been ranked as the world's best airport for the year 2014, under the category of handling 25 to 40 million passengers per annum, as per Airports Council International (ACI) report.

Powers to regulate govt bonds: The Government dropped plans for the time being to strip the RBI of its powers to regulate government bonds and give them to an independent agency. The Finance Minister withdrew the proposal from the Finance Bill, 2015, and said the government, in consultation with the RBI, will prepare a roadmap to pursue a separate debt management agency later in line with the global practice. In his first full year Budget, the Finance Minister, had proposed to set up a Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) and shift the regulation of government bonds from the RBI to market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The proposal generated lot of controversy, with the RBI raising concerns and questioning the timing of the move. The Persi Mistry report of 2007, the Raghuram Rajan Committee report of 2009 have both strongly argued for separating the debt management functions from the RBI. RBI issues draft norms for Mass Transport Pre paid cards: The Reserve Bank issued draft guidelines for prepaid payment instruments to be

used in mass-transit systems which will also enable shopping inside the transport hubs. The 'semi-closed' prepaid instruments will be issued by the mass-transit operators like the Delhi Metro, and will be regulated under the Payment & Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Such instruments should help in automated fare collection and may also be used at other merchants who are allied to or are carried on within the premises of the transit system only. The responsibility of getting the merchants on board will be of the operator. Minimum validity for the PPI-MTS (prepaid payment instrument for mass-transit system) will be six months. The know-your customer (KYC) requirements for issuing the instruments have been left for the issuer to decide. India crosses a billion telephone numbers in April: According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the telephone subscriber base was 996.49 million at the end of March, with 969.89 million wireless subscribers. The number of telephone connections in India crossed one billion at the end of April. India is behind China, which had 1.28 billion mobile subscribers and 246.94 million fixed-line subscribers at the end of February. Chinese telephone subscribers account for 94.5 per cent of the country's population, but in India the coverage is 77-80 per cent because of multiple connections and inactive users. Chief of National Human Rights Commission: Justice Cyriac Joseph has been appointed as an interim Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission. He succeeds KG Balakrishnan. Soft Bank Group: Nikesh Arora has been appointed as the President of Japan's multinational telecommunications and internet company Softbank Corp. Before that, he was Vice Chairman of the company and the CEO of SB Group US, Inc.

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