The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday said banknotes in circulation witnessed higher than average increase during 2020-21, on account of precautionary holding of cash by people due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its prolonged continuance. The value and volume of banknotes in circulation increased by 16.8 per cent and 7.2 per cent, respectively, during 2020-21, as against an increase of 14.7 per cent and 6.6 per cent, respectively, witnessed during 2019-20, said the RBI annual report. In value terms, the share of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 banknotes together accounted for 85.7 per cent of the total value of banknotes in circulation as on March 31, 2021, as against 83.4 per cent as on March 31, 2020.
The senior IPS officer said that 45 percent of cyber financial frauds taking place in the country are originating from the South East Asia.
False and acrimonious debates such as Modi versus Manmohan might allow for victories that are political and partisan. But the real loser is the nation, India and Bharat, notes Arvind Subramanian, former chief economic advisor to the Modi government in its first term.
Reliance Industries, construction major L&T and IRB Infrastructure are some of the top companies that have used an infrastructure investment trust structure to reduce part of their debt and generate returns for their investors. Earlier this month, IRB Infrastructure InvIT was listed on the National Stock Exchange, giving its investors an option to exit by selling their units. The listing came within months of the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) guidelines for conversion of private unlisted InvITs into listed ones were issued.
From Mumbai to Silvassa in Daman, and back.
Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran on Tuesday said India is not defending the rupee and the Reserve Bank of India is taking necessary steps to ensure that the movement of the rupee is gradual and in line with market trends. Nageswaran further said that the rupee is being managed in a manner that reflects the fundamentals of the economy. "India is not defending the rupee... I don't think Indian fundamentals are such that we need to defend the rupee. "The rupee can take care of itself," he said at an event in New Delhi.
Global rating agency Moody's on Monday raised India's growth forecast for 2024 calendar year to 6.8 per cent, from 6.1 per cent estimated earlier, on the back of 'stronger-than-expected' economic data of 2023 and fading global economic headwinds. India's real GDP expanded 8.4 per cent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2023, resulting in a 7.7 per cent growth for full-year 2023. Capital spending by the government and strong manufacturing activity have meaningfully contributed to the robust growth outcomes in 2023, Moody's Investors Service said.
Even though the Health Ministry and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have been insisting that there is 'no solid evidence' of community transmission so far, the government has started scaling up health infrastructure to deal with any situation.
The Bombay high court has passed an ex-parte interim order restraining several entities from operating websites etc claiming to provide PAN card services on behalf of the government-owned UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited (UTIITSL) and noted such an act poses a "national level threat". A single bench of Justice Bharati Dangre, in its order of January 12, said the Union government has made it mandatory for PAN card holders to link the same to their Aadhar Card, which is an acceptable proof of identification. Therefore, any potential misuse of the licence/ authorization to issue PAN cards would be highly detrimental not only to the interest of the company but also to national interest, the HC said.
AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi made the allegations against the agency at a press conference and called the entire probe a "scam" in itself.
While inaugurating the projects, Modi said highways construction has reached 27-km a day from mere 12-km a day during the Congress regime.
The only real solution to the jobs crisis, whether in India or abroad, is to direct tech innovation towards job enhancing sectors, and disincentivising job-replacing ones, observes R Jagannathan.
Technology infrastructure solves many problems, but it cannot build roads or bridges and provide clean water. However, such activities are essential for human progress, and their creation provides jobs, says R Gopalakrishnan.
Three countries share a common interest in warding off cyber attacks from various agencies PLA is developing and training in China.
As of last year, India had 1.3 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
'A mid-year review makes the end-of-year financial review manageable and less stressful.'
'As long as businesses do not consider cyber recovery an integral part of their enterprise IT, they remain greatly vulnerable.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pitch for electing a strong and stable government in an uncertain world beset by geopolitical tensions as the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday released its manifesto, prioritising development and welfare while shunning populist measures and contentious issues like the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed hope that G20 will draw inspiration from the vibrancy of the Indian economy and work towards bringing back stability, confidence and growth on the global landscape.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) will invest nearly $4.4 billion (Rs 36,000 crore) in India by 2030 and support more than 48,000 jobs externally through a new regional service launched on Tuesday, said the on-demand Cloud computing company. AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) is the company's second infrastructure region in India, six years after it opened its first Cloud region in Mumbai in 2016. The Hyderabad region will give customers access to AWS technologies for data analytics, security, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
It's time the government accepts that Digital India is too distant.
In August, the Fed announced that it would develop a "new interbank 24x7x365 RTGS with integrated clearing functionality to support faster payments in the United States". The Fed Board asked for comments on FedNow by November. In reply to this, Google mentioned its experience of launching Google Pay -- Google's payments app which uses the UPI -- in India.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor were also present with the PM as he interacted with the students inside the train.
There was no smooth surge in middle class prosperity for foreign businesses to tap into because of the Indian economy was mismanaged, argues Debashis Basu.
CJI Chandrachud said courts across the country are likely to become paperless soon.
Why is the RBI harsh on Paytm Payments Bank? Why did it give Rana Kapoor of Yes Bank Ltd such a long rope?Often, it's a long investigation process, but the RBI doesn't discuss this openly since that can threaten financial sector stability, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
India's dream to be in the forefront of international politics has come true. India has placed itself firmly as a major player in the shaping of a new world order, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Indian IT giants are outstanding companies with great management teams, but they have been held hostage by their past success.
The silver lining for India's presidency is likely to be the support by almost all G20 countries to its proposal to include the African Union as a permanent member of the bloc that has emerged as perhaps the most influential multilateral forum after the United Nations.
'They (the ransomware attackers) are not after any VVIP data.' 'Had that been the case, they would have quietly installed a different malware.'
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At the retreat, PSBs had suggested the government cut its stake in these entities to less than 51 per cent over a period of time and empower the boards of individual banks.
Right to apprenticeship, legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nation-wide caste census and scrapping of Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto released on Friday.
'Mumbai main branch (SBI headquarter) has all the data ready-made. It doesn't take even an hour to out the data from the system.'
The prime minister said gradually people are "shedding their hard currency mindset" and moving towards digital currency and the youth are leading the way using their mobile phones as the new tool to make and receive payments.
Bankers need to take a call on whether they will allow technology firms to run banks or banks themselves will turn into tech firms, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The share of foreign companies in private sector investments, directed towards building new factories and other facilities, has declined over the past six months. A mix of large domestic announcements and relatively lower growth in foreign capital expenditure (capex) plans have played a role, although foreign investments remain near record levels. The share of foreign companies in the overall private sector investments over the four quarters ended June 2023 has dipped to 14.9 per cent, as shown by a Business Standard analysis of data from the project tracker Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.
Modi cautioning that cryptocurrency can spoil the youth.
Global investment firm KKR will invest Rs 2,069.50 crore in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd for a 0.25 per cent additional stake of the retailer at a valuation of about Rs 8.36 lakh crore, Reliance Industries Ltd said on Monday. After this investment, KKR's shareholding in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), the holding company of the retail business of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led RIL, will increase to 1.42 per cent from 1.17 per cent. The investment is at "a pre-money equity value of Rs 8.361 lakh crore (around $100.87 billion)", said a joint statement.
