Current Affairs of 4 January 2015

 1. Centre announces Rs. 1,900-cr e-gov project Panch Deep
 The Union Government has announced a Rs. 1,900 crore e-governance project, Panch Deep, to automate all transactions between the organisations and employees with regard to ESIC (employees state insurance corporation).
The government will deploy a massive ERP (Enterprise wide Resource Planning) across the country connecting all the ESIC and other organisations in the ecosystem)
Announcing this at a press conference here on Sunday, Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattareya said the employees will get unique biometric cards.
The IT backbone will also develop a huge repository of medical records, making it easier for doctors and patients.
The e-gov project will also take care of payments of third party bills.


2. RBI signs an information sharing agreement with US banking regulators
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed an information sharing agreement with United States (US) banking regulators for better coordination with them in supervising financial institutions.
Earlier in December 2014, RBI had concluded a Statement of Co-operation (SoC) on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with the US banking regulators  like Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System(FRB), Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
SoC was signed by Michael S Gibson- Director, FRB; Martin Pfinsgraff, Senior Deputy Comptroller-OCC; Doreen R Eberley, Director-FDIC and Indian counterpart P R Ravi Mohan, Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Banking Supervision, RBI.
 RBI by signing such MoU/SoC with supervisors of other countries is seeking to promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information among the authorities.
In this regard, RBI in total has signed 22 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and one SoC, with overseas regulators/supervisors.

3. Kiran Bhai Vadodaria elected as INS president
Kiran Bhai Vadodaria  was elected as President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for 2014-15. He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Gujarati newspaper Sambhaav Metro.
He succeeded Ravindra Kumar of The Statesman. The appointment was announced at the 75th annual general meeting of the organization in New Delhi.
PV Chandran of Grihalakshmi was elected Deputy President of the INS while Somesh Sharma of Rastradoot was made Vice President.
Mohit Jain of Economic Times and V Shankaran were appointed as Treasurer and Secretary General of INS.

4. ICICI Bank launched Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat
The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank  launched Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat.
The project was launched in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochar.
The project aimed to provide services ranging from cashless banking to digitised school teaching. The digital village has three themes i.e. cashless, comprehensive and connected.

5. Bharat Forge acquired France-based Company Mecanique Generale Langroise
Bharat Forge Limited (BFL)  acquired France-based Company Mecanique Generale Langroise (MGL) for nearly 90 crore rupees.
The acquisition aimed to consolidate its position in the oil and gas space. Bharat Forge acquired MGL via its German arm CDP Bharat Forge GmbH.
The acquisition will enhance BFL's ability to provide turnkey solution and simultaneously strengthens the product offering in the oil and gas sector.
Saint Goesmes based MGL focuses on precision machining and other high value processes like cladding for critical application in the oil and gas industry. It also supplies turnkey components for drilling applications in addition to components for power sector.

6. Sri Lankan Cricketer Kumar Sangakkara Joins Elite 12,000-Runs scorer Club in Test Cricket
Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara has joined an elite group of cricketers to make 12,000 runs in Test Cricket. He reached this milestone in Sri Lanka’s second Test match against New Zealand held in Wellington, New Zealand.
He has become the fifth cricketer to make 12,000 runs. Other four cricketers are Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (15,921 runs), Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting (13,378 runs), Jacques Kallis from South Africa (13,289 runs) and India’s Rahul Dravid (13,288 runs).
Earlier in December 2014, he had achieved another feat by becoming only the fourth batsman to surpass the 13,000-run mark in one-day internationals (ODI’s).
Other three batsmen in this list are Sachin Tendulkar (18,426 runs), Ricky Ponting (13,704 runs) and Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya (13,430 runs).

7. GDR route under scanner in black money probe
 As a probe continues into misuse of stock markets for routing black money and tax evasion, regulatory and other agencies suspect that GDR route is being used for bringing back suspected illicit funds stashed abroad.
The modus operandi, in cases currently under scanner, involves an intricate web of entities registered in various jurisdictions, including Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mauritius, Dubai and Canada, for multi-layered transfers of funds before bringing them back to India.
Sources said that the capital markets regulator SEBI has come across quite a few cases where GDR (Global Depository Receipt) route could have been used for round-tripping of funds in the name of capital-raising activities of listed companies from abroad. The issue has also been flagged by some other agencies while probing financial matters.
GDR is a popular financial instrument used by listed companies in India, as also in many other countries, to raise funds denominated mostly in US dollar or euros. GDRs are typically bank certificates issued in more than one country for shares of a company, which are held by a foreign branch of an international bank. While shares trade on a domestic stock exchange, which happens to be in India in the present case, they can be offered for sale globally through the empanelled bank branches.

8. Gyan Sangam: Bankers resolve to act, ask more commitment from govt
 The two day bankers retreat -- Gyan Sangam -- ended in Pune on Saturday, with
 bankers collectively resolving to improve on five points and even demanded some commitment from the government to improve the state of banking in the country.
In a presentation made to the Prime Minister, on behalf of all bankers, State Bank of India Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya reportedly said, "We as a group (all public sector banks) have decided to adopt five major resolutions."
The five points include -- a decision to re-orient the portfolios of small public sector banks to focus on specific and differentiated niches, build people capacities, use of more technology (especially in the top 30 processes), strengthen risk management practises and strengthen the partner channels such as business correspondents.
Financial Services Secretary, Hasmukh Adhia, said, "This is something banks have said they will work upon...we have specified no timelines for any of them."
At the same time, bankers have also asked the government for some commitment which Adhia said will be looked into "positively."
The bankers have requested the government to move from a state-owned structure to a state-linked structure, as recommended by the P.J.Nayak committee report. This would entail, among other things, setting up of a banking bureau comprising of professionals and eminent bankers to appoint and empower individual bank boards.
Other commitments requested by the banks, of the government include: fully empower banks on human resource related decisions, creating the right environment for minimal interference, strengthening the legal framework for recovery of loans, strengthening and simplify processes for credit insurance, eliminate debt waivers and do away with interest rate caps, and finally creating the enabling infrastructure for digital banking. 
 1. Centre announces Rs. 1,900-cr e-gov project Panch Deep
 The Union Government has announced a Rs. 1,900 crore e-governance project, Panch Deep, to automate all transactions between the organisations and employees with regard to ESIC (employees state insurance corporation).
The government will deploy a massive ERP (Enterprise wide Resource Planning) across the country connecting all the ESIC and other organisations in the ecosystem)
Announcing this at a press conference here on Sunday, Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattareya said the employees will get unique biometric cards.
The IT backbone will also develop a huge repository of medical records, making it easier for doctors and patients.
The e-gov project will also take care of payments of third party bills.


2. RBI signs an information sharing agreement with US banking regulators
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed an information sharing agreement with United States (US) banking regulators for better coordination with them in supervising financial institutions.
Earlier in December 2014, RBI had concluded a Statement of Co-operation (SoC) on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with the US banking regulators  like Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System(FRB), Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
SoC was signed by Michael S Gibson- Director, FRB; Martin Pfinsgraff, Senior Deputy Comptroller-OCC; Doreen R Eberley, Director-FDIC and Indian counterpart P R Ravi Mohan, Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Banking Supervision, RBI.
 RBI by signing such MoU/SoC with supervisors of other countries is seeking to promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information among the authorities.
In this regard, RBI in total has signed 22 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and one SoC, with overseas regulators/supervisors.

3. Kiran Bhai Vadodaria elected as INS president
Kiran Bhai Vadodaria  was elected as President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for 2014-15. He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Gujarati newspaper Sambhaav Metro.
He succeeded Ravindra Kumar of The Statesman. The appointment was announced at the 75th annual general meeting of the organization in New Delhi.
PV Chandran of Grihalakshmi was elected Deputy President of the INS while Somesh Sharma of Rastradoot was made Vice President.
Mohit Jain of Economic Times and V Shankaran were appointed as Treasurer and Secretary General of INS.

4. ICICI Bank launched Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat
The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank  launched Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat.
The project was launched in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochar.
The project aimed to provide services ranging from cashless banking to digitised school teaching. The digital village has three themes i.e. cashless, comprehensive and connected.

5. Bharat Forge acquired France-based Company Mecanique Generale Langroise
Bharat Forge Limited (BFL)  acquired France-based Company Mecanique Generale Langroise (MGL) for nearly 90 crore rupees.
The acquisition aimed to consolidate its position in the oil and gas space. Bharat Forge acquired MGL via its German arm CDP Bharat Forge GmbH.
The acquisition will enhance BFL's ability to provide turnkey solution and simultaneously strengthens the product offering in the oil and gas sector.
Saint Goesmes based MGL focuses on precision machining and other high value processes like cladding for critical application in the oil and gas industry. It also supplies turnkey components for drilling applications in addition to components for power sector.

6. Sri Lankan Cricketer Kumar Sangakkara Joins Elite 12,000-Runs scorer Club in Test Cricket
Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara has joined an elite group of cricketers to make 12,000 runs in Test Cricket. He reached this milestone in Sri Lanka’s second Test match against New Zealand held in Wellington, New Zealand.
He has become the fifth cricketer to make 12,000 runs. Other four cricketers are Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar (15,921 runs), Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting (13,378 runs), Jacques Kallis from South Africa (13,289 runs) and India’s Rahul Dravid (13,288 runs).
Earlier in December 2014, he had achieved another feat by becoming only the fourth batsman to surpass the 13,000-run mark in one-day internationals (ODI’s).
Other three batsmen in this list are Sachin Tendulkar (18,426 runs), Ricky Ponting (13,704 runs) and Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya (13,430 runs).

7. GDR route under scanner in black money probe
 As a probe continues into misuse of stock markets for routing black money and tax evasion, regulatory and other agencies suspect that GDR route is being used for bringing back suspected illicit funds stashed abroad.
The modus operandi, in cases currently under scanner, involves an intricate web of entities registered in various jurisdictions, including Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mauritius, Dubai and Canada, for multi-layered transfers of funds before bringing them back to India.
Sources said that the capital markets regulator SEBI has come across quite a few cases where GDR (Global Depository Receipt) route could have been used for round-tripping of funds in the name of capital-raising activities of listed companies from abroad. The issue has also been flagged by some other agencies while probing financial matters.
GDR is a popular financial instrument used by listed companies in India, as also in many other countries, to raise funds denominated mostly in US dollar or euros. GDRs are typically bank certificates issued in more than one country for shares of a company, which are held by a foreign branch of an international bank. While shares trade on a domestic stock exchange, which happens to be in India in the present case, they can be offered for sale globally through the empanelled bank branches.

8. Gyan Sangam: Bankers resolve to act, ask more commitment from govt
 The two day bankers retreat -- Gyan Sangam -- ended in Pune on Saturday, with
 bankers collectively resolving to improve on five points and even demanded some commitment from the government to improve the state of banking in the country.
In a presentation made to the Prime Minister, on behalf of all bankers, State Bank of India Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya reportedly said, "We as a group (all public sector banks) have decided to adopt five major resolutions."
The five points include -- a decision to re-orient the portfolios of small public sector banks to focus on specific and differentiated niches, build people capacities, use of more technology (especially in the top 30 processes), strengthen risk management practises and strengthen the partner channels such as business correspondents.
Financial Services Secretary, Hasmukh Adhia, said, "This is something banks have said they will work upon...we have specified no timelines for any of them."
At the same time, bankers have also asked the government for some commitment which Adhia said will be looked into "positively."
The bankers have requested the government to move from a state-owned structure to a state-linked structure, as recommended by the P.J.Nayak committee report. This would entail, among other things, setting up of a banking bureau comprising of professionals and eminent bankers to appoint and empower individual bank boards.
Other commitments requested by the banks, of the government include: fully empower banks on human resource related decisions, creating the right environment for minimal interference, strengthening the legal framework for recovery of loans, strengthening and simplify processes for credit insurance, eliminate debt waivers and do away with interest rate caps, and finally creating the enabling infrastructure for digital banking. 

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