Indian currency rupee life-time low against Dollar
- The rupee hit an all-time intra-day low of Rs. 68.86 (against the dollar) on 24 November 2016 beating previously hit its all-time intra-day low of 68.85 on 28 August 2013.
- This happened amid sustained foreign capital outflows with investors being inclined towards US dollar, hoping protectionist measures by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Lok Sabha passes second amendment to Taxation Laws Bill
- Lok Sabha under huge disturbance has passed Amendment of new taxation law
- New Taxation law Bill seeks to tax up to 85 percent on those caught with undisclosed income post demonetisation.
Airtel Payments Bank Ltd became India’s first operational payments bank
- Airtel Payments Bank Ltd. (APBL) On 23 November 2016 became the first payments bank to start operations in India by offering services in Rajasthan in a limited scale on pilot basis.
- The pilot will run at 10,000 Airtel retail outlets where basic banking services will be provided. Airtel Payments Bank is planning to expand its merchant network in Rajasthan to 100,000 by the end of the year.
- Bank accounts can be opened by customers without documents using Aadhaar based e-KYC and subscriber’s mobile number would function as a bank account number and transfer from Airtel to Airtel phone numbers would be free.
- Customers will be offered an interest rate of 7.25% on deposits in savings account, higher than the 4-6% commercial banks are offering.
- APBL was the first applicant to receive the final payments bank licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in April 2016. Kotak Mahindra Bank holds 19.9% in it.
Historic agreement between India and Switzerland
- India and Switzerland on 22 November 2016 signed a historic agreement in which after Septemebr 2018, Swiss govt. all come into force for "automatic sharing of information" of Swiss bank accounts of Indians in a big move towards fighting black money stashed overseas.
- However, Swiss authorities will not share details about accounts held prior to that period, while the first such exchange will happen in September 2019.
SBI Plans to Raise Rs 5,681 crore
- State Bank of India said it proposes to raise Rs 5,681 crore by issuance of preferential shares to the central govt, its majority shareholder.
- The bank will take fresh approval to raise up to Rs 15,000 crore from various means, including public offer & overseas issuance of shares.
- The funds raised will help the bank meet global risk norms, Basel III, which will kick in from March 2019.
Reserve Bank of India consider ‘Islamic window’ in conventional banks
- In the information that was revealed when a copy of the letter was sent to Press Trust of India, in response to an RTI filed by it, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed to open an ‘Islamic window’ in conventional banks. The move is a stepping stone to its consideration of introducing Islamic banking in the country.
- The RBI and the Union Government have been exploring the possibility of introducing the Sharia-based foundation since quite long in order to include even those sections of the society that remain outside the banking circuit due to religious reasons.
India, Cyprus Ink New Tax Pact
- India & Cyprus signed a new double tax avoidance Agreement (DTAA) and replaced the existing DTAA which was in place since 1994
- Under which capital gains tax will be levied on sale of shares on investments made after April 1,2017.
- The agreement provides for assistance between the two countries for collection of taxes and source based taxation of capital gains.
South Indian Bank Got RBI Approval
- South Indian Bank has received RBI approval to open a representative office in Dubai and thus it will be a major boost to the bank’s efforts to reach out to the NRI customers in the UAE.​
Mastercard, RBL Launches Payment System
- Mastercard announced the India launch of Masterpass QR, a quick response (QR) mobile payments solution that help mobile banking users safely pay for face-to-face purchases using their smartphone.
- Mastercard has tied up with Ratnakar Bank (RBL Bank) and thus become the first lender to integrate the Masterpass QR service with its its mobile platform –the OnGo digital wallet.
Union Budget to be presented on February 1, 2016
- After Union Government scrapping of the 92-year old practice of presenting a separate Railway Budget and merged it with the Union Budget it has announced that it will present the Union Budget for 2017-18 on February 1 and the budget session may begin in January 2016.
- The government had issued the customary budget circular in September.
