News Highlights : 17 September 2016

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Bandaru Dattatreya

CURRENT AFFAIRS SEP 17, 2016

01. 4 banks looking into Jandhan account deposits: Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said 4 PSU banks are “investigating from their branches” whether money in some Jandhan accounts was deposited by account holders themselves or by business correspondents to keep the number of zero-balance accounts low. He was responding to a question on media report alleging that bankers in some branches of Punjab and Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India have themselves deposited Re 1 in the Jandhan accounts to reduce the number of zero-balance accounts. Jaitley said there are 24 crore Jandhan accounts but Rs 42,000 crore have been deposited in them.“Those 24 crore accounts mostly have people from weaker sections. Now those people have deposited Rs 42,000 crore in these accounts. The figure of Rs 42,000 crore cannot be arrived at by adding Re 1,” he said.

02. Loan up to Rs 70,000 for homeless, mud houses dwellers :

The homeless and those staying in mud houses can get a loan up to Rs 70,000 from banks and financial institutions at lower rate of interest for building pucca houses, government sources said. This would be over and above the grant of Rs 1.30 lakh per person to be provided by the Centre under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojan (PMAY) which may be launched in a month's time, to provide homes to one crore beneficiaries, who either live in mud houses or are homeless. The Rural Development Ministry, which is the nodal ministry for this scheme, recently held deliberations with number of banks, financial institutions and others to provide loans if required by the beneficiaries for construction of their homes, sources said. As per the PMAY scheme, the Centre will directly transfer the grant in bank accounts of the beneficiaries. Rs 1.30 lakh per person will be transfered for those staying in plain areas and Rs 1.50 lakh for those who are in hlly terrain. The plan is to build one crore houses over a period of three years. Selection and validation of beneficiaries of the scheme has been completed. It will be on DBT (direct benefit transfer) mode, that means the funds will be transferred directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries in installments over three years period, a source said.

03. India expected to post first current account surplus in nine years :

India is likely to post its first current account surplus in nine years in the latest quarter, which should bolster the rupee though it is not a good sign for the economy as it reflects weak investment demand at home and subdued exports, analysts said. Forecasts given by investment houses' research notes and from analysts that Reuters spoke to showed expectations centering on a surplus of $4 billion, or 0.8 per cent of GDP, in April-June quarter. That compared with a deficit of $6.2 billion, equivalent to 1.2 per cent of GDP, in the same quarter a year ago. And, if the forecasts prove correct it will be the first surplus since January-March 2007, though India is unlikely to keep the surpluses coming. For the full year ending in March 2017, India is likely to post a deficit even lower than last year's 1.1 per cent of GDP, as foreign investment inflows remain steady - and that should be broadly supportive for the rupee. Analysts have revised down their forecasts for the 2016/17 deficit to below 1.0 per cent from earlier projections of between 1.2-1.5 per cent. The Reserve Bank of India is expected to release the June quarter data this month.

04. Paytm payments bank to cross-sell banking products :

Digital payment platform Paytm is looking to cross-sell banking products through its payments bank. The payments bank is expected to be rolled out around Diwali or “October-end”. According to Ruchita Taneja Aggarwal, Vice-President - Business, Paytm Payments Bank, it is already in advanced talks with banks, NBFCs and other financial institutions to extend such products. She, however, did not elaborate on the names or type of products that were being explored. Because payments banks cannot lend, it is expected that cross-selling banking products will be a revenue stream. According to the RBI guidelines, these niche banks can issue ATM/debit cards, but not credit cards; payments and remittance services through various channels; BC of another bank and distribution of non-risk sharing simple financial products (like mutual fund and insurance products). “We are open for partnerships and are in very advanced stages for integration of financial services. But, I can assure you that we are going beyond traditional business models (for the payments bank),” she said on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) event.

05. Postal Dept to recruit 55,000 gramin dak sevaks :

The Departments of Posts plans to recruit around 55,000 Grameen Dak Sevaks through online mode in November, B.V Sudhakar, Secretary, Department of Posts, said. Addressing a Press Conference, Sudhakar informed that the software required for online recruitment is at the testing stage and the online method will ensure transparency in this recruitment. In order to address the grievances of the postal customers, the National Service Call Centre - 1924 - was launched on September 12, 2016. Customers can call from any network to this number and they will be given a unique 11-digit ticket ID to check the status of their complaint. Nearly 98 per cent grievances and complaints were resolved, he said in a statement. Explaining about the Post Payment Bank, he said the focus will be on Government to customer services by providing services like Direct Benefits Transfer, which could also be helpful in the financial inclusion. There will be no lending to the customers and deposits can be made up to Rs. 1 lakh. Total 650 branches of post payment bank will be set up by May 2017 and nearly one lakh employees will work on this set up, he added.

06. Government cuts prices of 10 drugs, brings 8 more under control :

Government has slashed prices of 10 more drugs while bringing eight new medicines, including paracetamol, under price control for the first time in its bid to cap cost of over 800 plus formulations to make them affordable. Drug price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has reduced the prices of ten drugs, including of anti-coagulant enoxaparin and anti- epilepsy drug carbamazepine, in the range of 4.8 per cent to a tad over 23.3 per cent. On the other hand, medicines like paracetamol and antibiotics like cefadroxil and cefazolin have been brought under the price control ambit for the first time. Confirming the development, NPPA Chairman Bhupendra Singh told PTI: “We will bring more medicines under the price control as a total of 800 plus formulations are to be brought under the price control as soon as possible.” With these 18 drugs, the government now has brought in 467 medicines under the price control. There are a total of around 900 drugs in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) 2015.

07. Minimum wage revision will benefit 70 lakh workers: Bandaru Dattatreya :

The recent revision of minimum wages for the agri and non-agri sector workers would benefit 70 lakh people, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said. “For the first time, minimum wages have been simultaneously revised for agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. This will benefit 70 lakh workers,” he said at the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar and National Safety Awards function. The Labour Ministry, quoting Dattaterya, added that the government has also revised the minimum wages for unskilled non-farm workers upwards by 42 per cent to Rs 350 per day. “We have also increased bonus from Rs 3,500 to Rs 7,000 or minimum wages whichever is higher. Eligibility ceiling for bonus has been raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 21,000. This will benefit 65 lakh workers,” the Minister said.

08. Seven telcos submit Rs 15,000 crore earnest money for auction :

In a seemingly tepid build-up to the upcoming spectrum sale, due on October 1, seven mobile operators are said to have deposited earnest money of about Rs 15,000 crore, lower than the previous year's Rs 20,435 crore. "The cumulative EMD (earnest money deposit) submitted by seven telecom operators is about Rs 15,000 crore," industry sources told PTI. However, the same could not be officially confirmed. When contacted, companies too refused to comment on the numbers. A DoT official, however, said the EMD cannot be linked to the scale of bidding. "In 2010, when Infotel Broadband, now Reliance Jio, applied for auction, no one was able to link their EMD with the pan-India bids that they placed. There were established players that were participating in that auction, but Infotel emerged as the pan-India winner of BWA spectrum," the official said. The official, however, refused to share EMD figures.

09. Kerosene price to rise 25 paise every fortnight :

The oil marketing companies increased PDS kerosene price by 25 paise per litre on15th Sept 2016, a fortnight after a similar price revision, reports Siddhartha P Saikia in New Delhi. Official sources told FE that the strategy of monthly price revisions of the fuel, which started on July 1, will now be done every fortnight, at least till the end of the current financial year. This would mean the prices would go up 50 paise per month rather than 25 paise as planned earlier. The move would help accelerate the reduction in under-recoveries and hence, the subsidy outgo on the fuel. At present, PDS (public distribution system) kerosene is sold at a discount of Rs 10.03 a litre. Its price in Kolkata was Rs 16.78 a litre in July, which was revised upwards by 28 paise to R17.04 a litre in August. The fuel saw two price hikes in the current month, a 26 paise hike to Rs 17.30 a litre on September 1 and another 25 paise upward revision to Rs 17.55 on September 15. The routine hikes in PDS kerosene prices would bring the price of the fuel closer to market price. However, with the increase in global crude oil prices, the gap between subisdised and market prices has been widening in recent months. Brent crude is up 15.6% to $45.8 per barrel since April 01, 2016. In sync with this, the under-recovery on kerosene has also increased from Rs 8.73 a litre in April 1 to Rs 10.03 a litre now.

10. Open defecation practiced in 80 per cent ‘Adarsh’ villages :

Over 80 per cent 'Adarsh' villages selected by 702 members of Parliament two years ago still remain mired in the dishonourable practice of open defecation, government statistics reveals. Atop government functionary confided that only 131 villages (18.66 per cent) from among 702 villages selected by MPs (Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha) were open defecation-free (ODF). Put alternatively, 571 MPs have not been able to turn their selected villages as 'Adarsh' ODF villages even two years after the launch of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. This statistics flies into the face of Indian legislator's commitment towards open defecation-free country. This fact, however, will appear sitting in consonance with another figure that reveals that 100 per cent of houses were pucca in only 91 (about 13 per cent) villages from among 702 villages adopted by MPs. As for the modern necessity of electricity, the proportion of 100 per cent electrified villages stood at 171(little under 25 per cent ) while the broadband connectivity has reached in 177 (over 25 per cent ) villages from among 702 villages adopted by MPs.