The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced a set of liquidity measures through open market operations (OMOs), dollar-rupee buy-sell swaps, and long-term variable rate repo (VRR) operations, in a bid to infuse liquidity into the banking system.
The iconic Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi will be "dismantled" to create a Sports City that will cater to all major disciplines and include lodging facility for athletes.
NDTL develops new metabolite for greater accuracy in dope testing
Reserve Bank on Friday decided to cut Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by a huge 1 per cent, which will unlock Rs 2.5 lakh crore liquidity to the banking system for lending to productive sectors of the economy. With the reduction in four equal tranches ending November 29, 2025, the CRR would come down to 3 per cent.
The change in stance to neutral from accommodative in the June monetary policy meeting does not necessarily signal that the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) rate setting body - monetary policy committee (MPC) - will go on a prolonged pause on rate cuts going forward, believe experts.
'We never waste a crisis. There will be learning and the supervisory tools will get better with each episode.'
India's doping woes came to the fore once again with the country topping the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2023 testing figures among countries which analysed 5,000 or more samples even as the sports ministry promised an "aggressive clean-up" and an amended Anti-Doping Act after addressing objections from the WADA.
The WADA first suspended NDTL in August last year for a period of six months. A fresh round of inspection by the world body, much to the embarrassment of country's sporting establishment, showed that non-conformities still existed.
To ease the potential liquidity stress, the Reserve Bank on Friday slashed Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to 4 per cent, a move that would unlock Rs 1.16 lakh crore bank funds. The RBI on May 4, 2022 had raised CRR to 4.5 per cent from 4 per cent in an off-cycle Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, with effect from May 21 the same year.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the accreditation of NDTL for six months in a massive blow to the country's anti-doping programme, the cost of which will rise significantly now.
NADA's 'mistakes' have jeopardised the anti-doping programme
The need for money among banks, especially for short-term funds, may turn more intense in the last month of the financial year to feed the demand for capital for tax payments and meet year-end targets. The mobilisation of funds via the certificate of deposits (CDs) has seen a threefold increase to over Rs 60,000 crore in the fortnight that ended February 23 from around Rs 20,000 crore in the fortnight of January 26, 2024, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data.
The WADA first suspended NDTL in August 2019 for six months and extended the de-recognition period after its inspections showed that non-conformities still existed.
Concerned over inflationary pressures in the economy, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is bringing down surplus liquidity in the system rapidly. It has fallen to pre-Covid levels and almost 2 per cent of banks' net demand and time liabilities (NDTL). NDTL shows the difference between the sum of demand and time liabilities (deposits) of a bank (with the public or the other bank) and the deposits in the form of assets held by the other bank.
The Sports Ministry has got a fillip with the government allocating Rs 3,397.32 crore, an increase of Rs 723.97 crore, in the Union Budget on Wednesday.
Many federations and former athletes alike have been calling for an anti-doping legislation to implement the existing rules.
The banking system's liquidity slipped into deficit for the first time in the current financial year (2023-24) due to the imposition of the Incremental Cash Reserve Ratio (I-CRR) for banks and outflows from goods and services tax (GST) payments, according to dealers. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data shows it injected Rs 23,644 crore on August 21. The last time liquidity was in deficit was on March 27, when the RBI injected Rs 45,575 crore.
From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Wipro, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank and Tata Motors were among the major laggards. HCL Technologies, Power Grid, Titan, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, State Bank of India and Mahindra & Mahindra were the gainers.
Dutee Chand had claimed before NADA's Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) that it was a case of "unintentional consumption".
The liquidity in the banking system could ease in the coming week due to an increase in government spending - a development that would be the key for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to decide whether to extend the incremental cash reserve ratio (I-CRR) mandate for banks. There are signs of improvement in the liquidity scenario as banks parked Rs 25, 833 crore with the RBI on Thursday. Market participants expect liquidity to gradually improve by the end of the month or during the first week of September, aided by government spending.
BCCI is set to seek an update from the National Anti-Doping Agency about its choice of laboratory for testing samples after the WADA suspended the National Dope Testing Laboratory's (NDTL) accreditation for six months.
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday decided to keep policy rate unchanged for third time in a row as it maintains heightened vigil on inflation. The rate increase cycle was paused in April after six consecutive rate hikes aggregating to 250 basis points since May 2022.
Bond markets, global as well as domestic, are likely headed towards hard times over the next three to six months, as higher vegetable prices, rising fuel costs, and improved wages may keep inflation hot, believe analysts, who expect the yields to hit 7.5 per cent in the near-term from the current 7.234 per cent. In this backdrop, they suggest investors can put in money in funds/instruments with residual maturity of 4 to 6 years, while longer-term investors can allocate cautiously to the longer end in the range beyond 7 years.
UCO Bank mulls AT1 offering to raise Rs 1,000 cr.
The Parliament on Wednesday passed a bill which seeks to provide a statutory framework for the functioning of the National Anti-Doping Agency and the National Dope Testing Laboratory.
The WADA investigation found that the sample analysis methods of the NDTL were not upto the mark. The NDTL can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne in the next 21 days.
State Bank of India (SBI) may carry out a planned Rs 10,000 crore sale of infrastructure bonds in the market this week, with the securities likely to be of 15-year maturity, sources told Business Standard. SBI, the country's largest bank, had last week said its board had approved the issuance of infrastructure bonds in the current fiscal year. It, however, had not mentioned the maturity of the bonds or when the sale would take place.
Her four-year ban, announced by WADA on Friday night, will begin from June 26, 2018 -- the date of her sample collection.
India sprinter Dutee Chand has tested positive for prohibited anabolic steroids during an out-of-competition testing and has been provisionally suspended.
There was a gap of more than two months between Prithvi Shaw's sample collection and the final report from National Dope Testing Laboratory.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, on Monday, said bringing the BCCI under the ambit of National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) is one of his biggest achievements since assuming his new office three months ago.
Responding to debate on the bill, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anurag Thakur said it will promote sports and protect the interest of sportspersons.
Weightlifter Sanjita Chanu once again finds herself embroiled in a dope controversy.
Legendary athlete P T Usha on Wednesday batted for bringing all competitions under National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and sought more focus on the field of sports medicine and science to help players recover from injuries.
The gains will be gradual as the measure will be executed over 12 months or so.
BCCI has said that government body has no jurisdiction to conduct dopes tests on Indian cricketers.
'A few of our players first entered WADA's Registered Testing Pool (RTP) during 2015 ICC World Cup. Our issue is NADA's handling of samples and how their Dope Control Officers (DCO) work. That is something we are not convinced about and we have told that to ICC also'
Indian shot putter Inderjeet Singh, who returned positive for banned substances last month, alleged that his dope samples might have been tampered with as the National Anti-Doping Agency gave him two different results on the same sample collected on June 29, a claim denied by the NADA. Inderjeet, one of the 36 Indian track and field athletes who qualified for the ongoing Rio Olympics, circulated documents at a press conference which showed that the National Dope Testing Laboratory had given two different results of the A sample taken on June 29 during the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Hyderabad.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
The Reserve Bank of India has raised the cash reserve ratio of banks by 0.5 per cent to 5 per cent of their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL), in two stages beginning fortnight September 18.
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