Ahead of the Union Budget, the banking sector, through the Indian Banks' Association (IBA), has made recommendations to the Union finance ministry on direct tax, including removing Section 194N of the Income Tax Act. According to Section 194N, tax deduction at source (TDS) has to be done if a sum or sums withdrawn in cash by a person in a fiscal year exceed Rs 20 lakh if no income-tax return (ITR) has been filed for the three previous assessment years, and Rs 1 crore if ITRs have been filed in all the three previous assessment years.
With the addition of the seven banks - South Indian Bank, Karur Vysya, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Bikaner, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Mysore, and Punjab and Sind Bank - the number of banks allowed to import the precious metals now stands at 30.
'He asserted in his usual jovial style that he was not an MBA like his audience at IIM-Ahmedabad but perhaps had an even better business degree: MBB'. 'He went on to explain to his perplexed, blue chip B-School audience that MBB stood for "Marwadi by birth"!' Shivanand Kanavi salutes Shashi Ruia, co-founder of the Essar group who passed into the ages on November 25, 2024 in Mumbai.
Soon, there will be an exchange-like platform for trading in loans.
Do not underestimate the ingenuity of the Deep State in America to have its way. Keeping the guard down will be a catastrophic mistake on the part of the Delhi establishment. We could get hit when least expected. That's what happened in Bangladesh and Syria, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Officials said the IBA had three major agendas to discuss, the most important being to persuade the unions to accept the new pension scheme, otherwise known as the contributory pension scheme, for new bank employees. Currently, the bank unions are vehemently opposing it since unions of no other sector has accepted it to date.
Macroeconomic (macro) concerns, along with a cautious approach towards discretionary information technology (IT) spending, will see the revenue for Indian IT firms decelerate by 5 per cent through 2024-25 (FY25), from the highs of 12-18 per cent in 2022-23, said analysts from S&P Global Ratings. "The reason behind this slow growth is a macro slowdown. "Customers are cutting their discretionary IT spending, especially on projects that take longer to deliver quantifiable outcomes. "We also acknowledge that there are still strong economic headwinds for the next few years," said Spencer Ng, associate director, corporate ratings, S&P Global Ratings, over a call in a media briefing.
Of the three major Budget announcements related to the banking sector, privatisation of PSBs is the most audacious, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The All India Bank Employees Association, Bank Employees Federation of India, All India Bank Officers' Association and National Union of Bank Employees have given a call for one day country-wide strike.
'It is the responsibility of industry to take the very bright talent whose knowledge of software engineering basics is very high, and then give them additional skills.'
Banks would soon be able to determine whether a property is already mortgaged when a borrower approaches them for a loan against it and this would help in checking the increasing instances of housing loan frauds.
'An in-house contest encourages employees to share yoga and well-being practices with their families.'
In a dazzling resurgence, foreign investors have graced the Indian equity markets with an influx of nearly Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 2023, fuelled by optimism over the country's resilient economic fundamentals amid shadows of a gloomy global scenario. Experts believe that the positive trend may continue in 2024. This follows Indian equities witnessing the worst-ever net outflow of Rs 1.21 lakh crore by FPIs in 2022 on aggressive rate hikes by the central banks globally after net inflows for three consecutive years.
As against an allocated Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion), subscription by retail investors stood at Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion), while an additional subscription of nearly Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) came from other investors, including high net-worth individuals.
The Reserve Bank working group, constituted to revisit benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR), is likely to recommend two types of PLRs and may put a ceiling on banks' sub-PLR lending, a source said.
It further asked the government to make suitable arrangements for smooth functioning of the bank.
Over the years, India has enjoyed bipartisan support in the US and this asset must be kept intact and nurtured through across the board political and civil society engagement, suggests former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The commerce department has reaffirmed its plans to launch the 'Trade Connect' e-platform to help exporters connect with stakeholders of international trade, as a part of the new government's 100-day action plan, a senior government official said.
'The last year's growth is a foretaste of things to come in the retail credit market.'
The Centre is pushing for bilateral trade with Cuba and its settlement in rupee as a part of its strategy to internationalise the domestic currency. A delegation from Cuba, including officials from its central bank, met Indian government officials and banks last month to discuss bilateral trade and settlement using the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) payment mechanism in rupee, said people aware of the matter. Since the Cuban nation has opened up its economy and is looking to implement reforms to attract investments from India, Cuban banks have evinced interest in opening special rupee vostro accounts (SRVAs) with Indian banks.
The Delhi Police Cyber Cell has arrested 12 people, including three HDFC Bank employees, for allegedly trying to withdraw money from the account of an NRI, officials said on Tuesday.
The apex bank has sent a communication in this regard to Indian Banks' Association and this is expected to be implemented shortly, IBA chairman K Ramakrishnan told PTI. Since April 1, RBI had declared third party ATM usage, including cash withdrawals and account enquiries, free for all customers and said that banks can charge Rs 18-20 per month from other banks in case of third party ATM transaction.
The bank will have around 501 branches.
Banks are also weighing the option of hiring experts for help in specialised areas.
Bank employees will get a lumpsum that should be used to meet financial goals.
Alternative investment funds (AIFs) have not seen any significant redemptions from financial institutions even though the 30-day timeline provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to liquidate their holdings or make full provisions ends recently. Sources said the industry is awaiting certain relaxations or extensions based on the recommendations submitted to the banking regulator. On December 19, the RBI restricted financial institutions and banks from investing in AIFs where there is any downstream link or exposure to a debtor firm.
While seeking responses of various governments, a bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Deepak Misra said it is 'very serious issue.'
Jaitley said the government had earmarked Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion) for recapitalisation.
Making a strong case for banning cryptocurrencies, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar on Monday said they are even worse than ponzi schemes and threaten the financial sovereignty of a country. Observing that crypto-technology is underpinned by a philosophy to evade government controls, he said they have been specifically developed to bypass the regulated financial system. More substantially, he added, cryptocurrencies can wreck the currency system, monetary authority, banking system, and in general the government's ability to control the economy.
The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada) has raised concerns over the rising inventory levels of four-wheelers at dealerships which have now reached a 60-day stockpile or around 550,000 units. This situation could mean a significant financial burden on dealerships due to the additional interest cost for the extended holding period. These 60-day inventory levels are nearing the 2018-19 levels when inventory days had approached 70 days, leading to the closure of around 282 passenger vehicle dealerships.
Say 30 days not enough to resolve stress; want higher provision norms deferred till economy picks up
Keeping up his tradition of celebrating the festival with soldiers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sir Creek near the Indo-Pak border in Gujarat's Kutch district and offered sweets to jawans.
Infosys chief mentor, N R Narayana Murthy is likely to become the non-executive chairman of the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) being set up to handle the retail payment operations of the Reserve Bank of India.
The RBI's projection for WPI inflation for this fiscal is 5.5 per cent.
