All banks are eligible for privatisation. A committee of secretaries will decide which banks will be privatised, says Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday pledged to make 30 million 'Lakhpati Didis', up from the 10 million rural women who have already achieved the feat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday released the BJP's manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The manifesto says the ruling party will continue the quarterly financial disbursements under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN) yojana.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has liberalised the procedure for facilitating the import of rough diamonds (termed roughs in the trade).
The near-doubling of gas prices to $8 per million British thermal units that will kick in from next month will accrue to all producers in the country.
rediffGURU Ramalingam Kalirajan answers your personal finance queries.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday launched payment of cash in lieu of the additional 5 kg of rice to beneficiaries under the government's 'Anna Bhagya' scheme.
Mudra Bank will be a Rs 20,000-crore institution, which would "primarily be responsible for refinancing all micro-finance institutions.
Chidambaram said the government will not go back on its decision to raise gas prices for both public sector and private producers from April 1.
A consortium led by Ajay Singh is initially expected to invest Rs 1,200 cr, largely to cover liabilities.
Record liquidity infusion by the central bank in the banking system during the financial year 2020-21 amid sluggish economic activity resulted in banks investing more in safe government papers than in extending loans, data from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed. This trend has not been seen in nearly two decades, barring 2016 - the year of demonetisation.
The government has also set targets for the next 25 years. We are working on the target of becoming a $5-10 trillion economy as well as taking exports to a record high, he said.
'The new ceiling will cover around 93 per cent of all deposit accounts, up from 90 per cent earlier,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said when the elections are over, people will only remember him as the PM who indulged in 'divisive and communal speeches filled with lies' to avoid an inevitable defeat.
Switching to a damage-control mode, bankers and government officials claimed that Jet Airways wouldn't fall even if Etihad refuses to back the resolution plan and exits.
All the bank notes in the denomination of Rs 20 issued by the RBI in the earlier series will continue to be legal tender, it clarified.
Official is accused of taking a bribe of Rs 2 cr to issue order in an appeal favouring Balaji Trust
The airline not to be put on cash and carry mode
rediffGURU Jinal Mehta answers readers' financial planning and health insurance queries
Pune Warriors India are disappointed at being axed from the IPL but expressed hope that it would not be the end of the road as far as their relationship with the BCCI is concerned.
In big bang reforms, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a relief package for the telecom sector that includes a four-year moratorium on payment of statutory dues by telecom companies as well as allowing 100 per cent foreign investment through the automatic route. Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said nine structural reforms for the telecom sector were approved. The definition of AGR, which had been a major reason for the stress in the sector, has been rationalised by excluding non-telecom revenue of telecom companies.
The tax department has deployed about 40 large and small machines to count currency notes and brought in more department and bank staffers to finish the counting process, which began on December 6 following raids against Boudh Distillery Pvt Ltd and others, they said.
'The CM kept his cool, but his adviser was liberal with filthy language.' Tamal Bandyopadhyay recreates the diary of a general manager in a public sector bank, providing a glimpse of how they balance their work and life.
The party's research department team, which Rajya Sabha member M V Rajeev Gowda heads, has sifted through the suggestions received in the last five months, and the manifesto is slated to be released later this month, reports Archis Mohan.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has initiated discussions with banks to address financial stress in the telecom sector, particularly Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) that urgently requires fund infusion to stay afloat. There was a meeting of DOT officials and senior bankers on Friday on the issue of Vodafone, sources said, adding that banks have been asked to look for a solution within the prudential guidelines. According to sources, senior officials from the country's biggest lenders State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda were also present among others in the meeting. More such meetings are expected to take place in the coming days, they said.
Sources said the Cabinet had in December last year stipulated that the new gas rate will apply to all producers excepting eastern offshore KG-D6 block where the contractor, which is fighting government against levying penalties for output shortfall, will have to give bank guarantees equivalent to the incremental revenue it would get from the new rates.
For now, Modi's government appears singularly focussed on demonstrating that it is not in any way inhibited by the BJP's loss of a majority, and will continue along its patented path of bulldozing all opposition and doing just as it likes, asserts Prem Panicker.
The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Wednesday its verdict on a plea of jailed Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy seeking modification of an earlier order asking him to pay Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) in cash besides a bank guarantee of an equivalent amount for securing his release.
Roy, who has been in jail for over five months, said that he cannot reveal the name of the party and the bank, saying that their confidentiality has to be protected till the deal is signed.
Facing difficulty in procuring large quantities of rice required to fulfil its poll guarantee, the state government on Wednesday decided to pay cash into the beneficiaries' accounts at the rate of Rs 34 per kilo, for the additional 5kg of rice under the free rice scheme.
A land-owning class, the Jats are a powerful community and account for 28 per cent of Haryana's population. The time, they believe, has now come for them to take revenge.
Holding that the electoral bonds scheme was not fool-proof, the Supreme Court said on Thursday that information about funds received by a political party is essential for voters to exercise their freedom to vote effectively.
This article examines the call for the government to reduce its majority ownership in public sector banks ostensibly with the objective of improving the functioning of these banks.
Few finance ministers announce any taxation measure that could upset the stock market. Ms Sitharaman decided to take that risk, observes A K Bhattacharya.
The ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company's net premium income in the third quarter (October - December) of the current financial year (Q3FY24) swelled by 4.9 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to touch Rs 9,929 crore. Income from investment rose 111.3 per cent Y-o-Y to touch Rs 16,315 crore. The Annual premium equivalent (APE), and new business premium (NBP) increased by 4.8 per cent Y-o-Y. Both declined 7.5 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively, quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q).
With the fiscal deficit target staring at the government, the FY25 Budget has limited expenditure options, points out A K Bhattacharya.
The apex court asked Securities and Exchange Board of India to release title deeds of the property to be sold by Sahara in favour of purchasers for arranging the money.
An open letter to the prime minister on the Rangarajan formula doubling the price of KG basin gas
The stimulus package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman "fails to involve" banks in the economic revival process, a member of the Reserve Bank of India's central board said on Wednesday. The stimulus package is "imaginative and forward looking, yet fails to involve banks as frontline warriors in revival of economy," Satish Marathe, a member of RBI's central board, said in a social media post.
This election will be remembered for being the first election where the Election Commission failed to take action on gross violations involving the ruling party that repeatedly used religion, communal slurs, lies and undocumented allegations, observes Ramesh Menon.
The agency on Monday questioned three general managers of the Punjab National Bank who have handled the -International Banking Division and Treasury department of the bank, officials said without revealing their identity.
