Utkarsh Micro Finance Launched Small Finance Bank
- Varanasi-based Utkarsh Micro Finance started operating its banking business as Utkarsh Small Finance Bank on January 23, 2017 to cater to the needs of the poor mainly in the northern belt. UK’s Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) has infused Rs. 150 crore in the tier II capital in the company.
- This makes Utkarsh the third company to operate as small finance bank after Capital Small Finance Bank and Equitas Small Finance Bank all of which got final approval from RBI to operate banking business on November 28, 2016.
New Universal Rail Mill inaugurated in Bhilai Steel Plant
- Steel Minister inaugurated the new Universal Rail Mill at Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) on January 23, 2017 and flagged off the mills first and world’s longest single rail of 130 meters from the new Universal Rail Mill(URM).
- URM established at a cost of about Rs 1200 crore. It will take BSP’s total capacity to produce rails at 2.0 million tons per annum (MTPA). This will be the largest rail production capacity in any single location for a plant world over.
Fiscal deficit for FY16 was 4.31%
- According to India’s top auditor, fiscal deficit stood at 4.31 per cent of the GDP in FY16 versus the provisional actuals of 3.9 per cent i.e Rs 53,146 crore higher than estimated in the Budget.
- The gap was Rs 97,452 crore in FY09. Although difference has since narrowed and become negligible in FY14, it is again looking up.
BCSBI to organise ‘know your rights’ programme
- In order to educate awareness on banking codes at grass root level, The Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) will organise know your rights programme in all the states.For this, the organisation will adopt a three-fold approach in the awareness programme focussing Tier II cities, metros and other backward areas.
- With the opening up of innumerable Jan-Dhan accounts and increased usage of formal and transparent modes of financial transactions, it is now imperative for the lesser privileged section of the society to understand their rights.
CBDT Clarifies No TDS or Advance Tax Credit for Income under PMGKY
- The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on cleared that income declared under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) would not be entitled to get any credit by way of advance tax paid or the tax deducted at source (TDS) or tax collected at source (TCS).
- PMGKY was set up to give an opportunity to those who deposited tax-evaded money in bank-demonetised currencies.
- It was opened on December 17, 2016 and will remain open till March 31.Under the scheme, a person declaring undisclosed income would need to pay a tax of 30%, in addition to a penalty of 10% and a Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan cess of 33% on the tax.
- Under the Income Declaration Scheme (‘IDS’), the government has allowed TDS credit in those cases where such credit has not already been claimed in the income-tax return.
Yes Bank Launches India’s First Customisable Savings Account
- YES Bank has launched a first of its kind unique Customizable Savings Account to enable the customers to design an account as per their convenience.
- And therefore, Yes bank has become the first bank in India to launch such type of account that enables the customer to choose various features of a savings accounts that suits one’s own lifestyle.
Market Regulator SEBI Tightens Mergers & Acquisitions Norms Among Unlisted Firms
- In order to to stop the misuse of the existing policies under which route of the merger was used to get an indirect listing for an unlisted company, Capital market regulator of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on January 14 tightened the norms associated to Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) of Indian companies.
- The step is SEBI’s effort to make a listing process more transparent and provide a big say to public shareholders in consolidations of companies.
- The public shareholding of the resultant entity created by the merger of an unlisted and a listed company has to be more than 25% and the unlisted entity can only merge with those companies that are listed on exchanges such as the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE.
- The pricing formula for stocks for merger and acquisitions will be based on the SEBI’s Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements (ICDR) norms. This will help in providing an equitable treatment to shareholders by stopping companies from issuing shares to select group of shareholders.
- The stock exchanges were empowered and this empowerment will allow them to act against listed firms through suspension of trading, the imposition of fines and more for violation of certain sections of ICDR norms.
Mysuru Printing Press Breaks Record by Printing Highest No. of Currency Notes
- The Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt Ltd, a fully controlled subsidiary of RBI has set records in currency note printing in December 2016 by breaking all its past record.
- It had printed 10.9 million currency note in a day that even broke the world record made an American currency printing press of printing 8.7 million notes in a day.
- As per the data, 1350 million currency notes were printed in December 2016 in Mysuru which employess 650 workers who work for 12 hours in two shifts.
SEBI cuts broker fees by 25 pc to Rs 15 per transaction
- In a move that is likely to reduce overall cost of transactions, Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI, has decided to lower broker fees by 25 per cent to 15 rupees per transaction of one crore rupees as part of calibration of various other fees collected by the regulator from different market intermediaries.
- It also decided to give an option to all market intermediaries and companies to make their regulatory payments in digital mode. The move would help in reducing failures due to payment gateway issues.
NPCI declares prize money for NITI Aayog’s lucky draw schemes
- National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in the country has declared Rs. 54.90 crore worth of prize money to over 3.42 lakh winners of NITI Aayog’s Lucky Draw Schemes for consumers and merchants.
- The two schemes are - Lucky Grahak Yojna (LGY) and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojna (DVY). They were launched on December 25, 2016 and will remain open till April 14, 2017. The schemes have total outlay of Rs. 340 crore of which - Rs. 300 crores would be spent on consumers and merchants while the remaining Rs. 40 crore on awareness and publicity. Total winners under the scheme are expected to be over 18.75 lakh.
