Centre secures $100 mn ADB loan to boost urban facilities, tourism in Tripura
The Government of India has signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to avail a $100 million loan to improve urban services and tourism facilities in Tripura. The project will improve municipal infrastructure and public services in the urban local bodies (ULBs) along the main national highways in Tripura, besides upgrading the key tourism sites. It will upgrade urban water supply systems by installing 42 km new transmission and distribution pipes, establish four new water treatment plants, and improve 55 km of stormwater drains. It will improve 21 km of urban roads that will incorporate features that respond to the needs of the elderly, women, children, and differently-abled. To strengthen the delivery of urban services, the project will build the capacity of 12 urban local bodies on planning, infrastructure operations and maintenance.
Tripura:
- Capital: Agartala
- Chief minister: Manik Saha
- Bird: Green imperial pigeon
- Flower: Indian rose chestnut
- Districts: 8
Razorpay, Cashfree receive final RBI nod to operate as payment aggregators
Payment processing major Razorpay and Cashfree has received the final authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as Payment Aggregators (PA). Neobanking fintech Open has also received final approval from RBI to Operate as a Payment Aggregator. The move comes after a year since RBI paused companies like Razorpay, Cashfree and Stripe to stop on-boarding new merchants till they receive the final nod for PA license. PAs are entities that enable e-commerce sites and merchants to accept various instruments from customers to complete their payment obligations without the need for the merchants to create their systems. PAs get the payments from customers, pool and transfer them to th e merchants. PayTm, PayU and JusPay are still awaiting RBI’s final nod.
Razorpay:
- Founders: Harshil Mathur, Shashank Kumar
- Founded: 2013
Cashfree:
- Founders: Akash Sinha, Reeju Datta
- Founded: 2015
Adani Group acquires 50. 5% stake in news agency IANS
Adani group has acquired a 50. 5 per cent stake in newswire services provider IANS India Pvt Ltd for Rs5. 1 lakh. The acquisition was done through Adani Enterprises’ subsidiary AMG Media Networks, which signed an agreement with IANS and its shareholder Sandeep Bamzai. In November this year, Adani Group bought the remaining 51% stake in Quintillion Media, in which it already owned 49% stake. AMG Media will have all the operational and management control of IANS and the right to appoint all directors to its board. With this acquisition, Adani owns three media properties – the NDTV broadcasting network, Quintillion Business, which operates the business and financial news digital media platform BQ Prime, and now IANS.
IANS:
IANS, or Indo-Asian News Service as it is called, was set up in 1986 originally to cater to the Indian diaspora in North America. About three decades later, it changed its focus to India and South Asia and became a full-fledged wire agency.
- Founder: Gopal Raju
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Editor-in-Chief & CEO: Sandeep Bamzai
RBI fines four banks in Mumbai and Pune
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed monetary fines on a bank in Mumbai and three cooperative banks in Pune for breaching its regulations. The RBI imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Janakalyan Sahakari Bank Limited, Mumbai, for failing to comply with the guidelines on reporting significant exposures to the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC). The RBI imposed another penalty of Rs 1 lakh on Pune Merchants Co-operative Bank Limited, Pune (the bank) due to their failure to comply with the directions issued on ‘Maintenance of Deposit Accounts— Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks’. RBI imposed a penalty of ₹1 lakh on Pune Municipal Corporation Servant’s Co-operative Urban Bank Limited, Pune. This penalty was imposed due to the bank’s failure to comply with the directions on ‘Maintenance of Deposit Accounts: Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks’. The Indapur Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd. , Pune, has been penalised by the RBI with a fine of Rs 5 lakh for failing to comply with the directives regarding ‘Investments by Primary (Urban) Cooperative Banks’, ‘Maintenance of Deposit Accounts—Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks’, and ‘Income Recognition, Asset Classification, Provisioning, and Other Related Matters—UCBs’.
ADB raises India’s GDP growth forecast to 6. 7%
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has raised its forecast for India’s economic growth rate to 6. 7 per cent for Financial Year 2023-24 from 6. 3 per cent that it had announced in September. The upward revision is based on India’s higher-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7. 6 per cent in the September quarter. Meanwhile, ADB’s growth forecast for FY25 remained unchanged at 6. 7 per cent.
ADB
- Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Philippines
- Founded: 19 December 1966
- President: Masatsugu Asakawa
- Membership: 68 countries
Automatic payment limit through UPI raised to Rs 1 lakh
The Reserve Bank of India increased the limit for automatic payments through UPI to Rs 1 lakh per transaction from the existing Rs 15,000 for certain categories, including subscription to mutual funds. As of now, relaxation in Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) is permitted while processing emandates/ standing instructions on cards, prepaid payment instruments and UPI (Unified Payments Interface), for subsequent recurring transactions with values up to Rs 15,000. UPI has emerged a preferred mode of payment for a large section of the population with over 11. 23 billion transactions recorded in November.
SEBI to introduce ASBA-like facility for secondary mkt trading
To safeguard investors’ money from misuse, an ASBA-like facility for trading in secondary markets will be available from January or February. This Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA)- like facility already available for the primary market, ensures that the investor’s fund gets moved only when the allotment is completed. Now, the facility will be available for the secondary market from January or February, the Sebi chairperson said at the CII Global Economic Policy Forum. The move could also help investors to save as much as Rs 3,500 crore annually, she added. Under the framework, funds will remain in the client’s account but will be blocked in favour of the Clearing Corporation (CC) till the block mandate expires. Further, settlement for funds and securities of client funds and securities by the member. Sebi chief added that the regulator is ready to introduce same-day settlement of trades on the stock exchanges by March 2024.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI):
- Formed: April 12, 1988 (Established), January 30,1992 (Acquired Statutory Status)
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Chairperson: Madhabi Puri Buch
- Parent department: Ministry of Finance,Government of India
Union Cabinet approves Rs 2,500 crore for Interest Equalisation Scheme
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved an additional allocation of Rs 2,500 crore for the continuation of the Interest Equalisation Scheme till June 30, 2024. This would help exporters from identified sectors and all MSME manufacturer exporters to avail of pre and postshipment Rupee export credit at competitive rates.
Interest Equalisation Scheme:
Currently, the Scheme provides an interest equalisation benefit at the rate of 2% on pre and postshipment Rupee export credit to merchant and manufacturer exporters of 410 identified tariff lines at 4-digit level and 3% to all MSME manufacturer exporters.
LIC fourth largest insurer in the world based on reserves: S&P Global study
Insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is the fourth largest insurer in the world, according to a ranking based on life and accident & health reserves of companies in 2022 by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The state-owned insurer is ranked after Allianz SE, China Life Insurance Company and Nippon Life Insurance Company. According to the report, LIC’s reserves stood at $503. 7 billion. Germany’s Allianz SE ($750. 20 billion), China Life Insurance Company ($616. 90 billion) and Nippon Life Insurance Company ($536. 80 billion) are the top three insurance companies in the world.
LIC:
- Founded: 1 September 1956
- Chairperson: Siddharth Mohanty
SBI buying another 20% stake in SBI Pension Funds
SBI plans to acquire the 20 percent stake in SBI Pension Funds held by SBI Capital Markets. SBI already owns a 60 percent stake in SBI Pension Funds. With this current transaction, the company will own an 80 percent stake in SBI Pension Funds. SBI will do the acquisition for 229. 52 crore. SBI Funds Management holds the rest of the 20 percent stake in SBI Pension Funds. The central bank RBI and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) have approved the proposed acquisition.
SBI
- Founded: 1 July 1955
- Headquarters: Mumbai
- Chairman: Dinesh Kumar Khara
- CFO: Kameshwar Rao Kodavanti
RBI imposes penalty on HDFC Bank, Bank of America for violating FEMA norms
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 10,000 each on HDFC Bank and Bank of America, citing a violation of reporting requirements under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). RBI fined HDFC Bank, a leading private sector bank, for accepting deposits from non-residents and flouting RBI’s directions under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme of FEMA, 1999. A similar fine of Rs 10,000 has been levied on Bank of America for violating FEMA regulations.
Bank of America:
- Founders: Amadeo Giannini (Bank of Italy),Hugh McColl (NationsBank)
- Chairman and CEO: Brian Moynihan
HDFC Bank:
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Chairman: Atanu Chakraborty
- CEO: Sashidhar Jagdishan
S&P raises forecast for India’s GDP growth
The US-based ratings agency released growth outlook for the Asia-Pacific region, revised upwards India’s growth projection for FY24 by 0. 4 percentage points to 6. 4 per cent. However, S&P has cut the country’s growth estimates for FY25 to 6. 4 per cent from 6. 9 per cent. Note: The RBI estimates growth to remain at 6. 5 per cent for FY24.
S&P Global
- Headquarters: New York, United States
- CEO: Douglas L. Peterson
- Subsidiaries: S&P Global Ratings, etc.
- CFO: Ewout Steenbergen
- Founders: James H. McGraw, John A. Hill
- Founded: 1860
