Financial Outreach Programme organized by RBI

Gangtok : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) organized a day long Financial Outreach Programme at Darap, West Sikkim on 31st October, which was graced by Executive Director RBI G. Gopalkrishna as the chief guest and Area MLA P.L.Subba as the guest of honor. Under RBI Financial Inclusion Plan, SBI distributed biometric cards to 260 account holders. SISCO, Gyalshing, Branch also distributed Kisan Credit Cards to 26 progressive farmers of the area. Addressing the gathering, the chief guest said that the banks are supportive agencies to keep the people economically safe. Therefore, he urged the people to develop banking habits so that they could establish themselves. Further, he also assured to reach bank facilities to all the villages of Sikkim by 2013. MLA, Yangthang P.L.Subba in his speech, expressed his gratitude and appreciation towards RBI for the support. He urged the public to make best use of the facilities provided at the doorstep by the banks. He also informed that the government is making all the payments through bank account payee cheque. Therefore; he urged the gathering to open an account individually. DC West Santa Pradhan citing examples of various fraud agencies which had come up in Sikkim and misused the money of the public reminded not to get carried away by the false promises made by such agencies. Further, he reminded that Byazee-Maasikatta, Dadani Bandaki, Thaili practices in the villages are banned by the state government and warned that such practices are offence. General Manager RBI E.E. Karthak, General Manager M.S.Soy, G.M NABARD, PC Choudhary, AGM SISCO Pema Chenzum also spoke on the occasion. The day also witnessed quiz competition among the local schools.

isikkim.com

Currency notes from 19th century to be displayed




One of the rare currency notes on display

 

Pune: Currency notes from the early 19th century from around 15 countries will be displayed at an exhibition organised by The Numismatic Society of Maharashtra, Pune, from November 5 to 7. The three-day exhibition will be held at the cultural hall in the Chatuhshrungi temple premises on Senapati Bapat Road, between 10 and 6 pm. In focus will be currency notes from countries such as India, Greece, Zimbabwe, Germany, Iran, Iraq and Indonesia, among others. The exhibition, for the first time in its 14th edition, will feature currency notes. It will be attended by 35 numismatists, seasoned and new, from across the country.  “The exhibition aims to provide information on the currency notes of countries that have suffered inflation, the process of printing such notes, the development of currency notes, and comparison of different currency notes, safety measures to avoid counterfeiting,” said Devdutta Angal, secretary of The Numismatic Society of Maharashtra, Pune, at a press conference on Wednesday.  A 100 trillion dollar note from Zimbabwe, a very rare Rs 100 note from 1868 and a Rs 10 note dating back to 1916 India, Russian notes from the Czarist era and a 50 million mark note from Germany, are some of the several exotic specials to look out for at the exhibition.  “Special emphasis will be on the currency notes printed in Germany during the two World Wars. It’s interesting to notice the characteristic features of these notes during periods when the country suffered very high inflation,” said Society member, Narendra Angal.

TOI 

CAB - Pensioners' Paradise - PPR's eyeview

Pensioners' Meet at CAB

I arrived in Pune on October 27th to spend fabulous time with my 25 months old granddaughter Veda and it was indeed pure joy and fun.Then I felt that I should meet some good RBI friends settled in Pune. So I rang up Shri.Prithiani and expressed a desire to meet him and Shri.R.S.Patil. "Can you arrange this?", I asked him. "Yes", chirped Prithiani and added, "Come on November 1 at 11 a.m to CAB Auditorium. You will meet many of your friends".

So I bent my steps, from Aundh to the College and Lo  and Behold ! There were over 200 retirees present in the capacious auditorium. I met friends I had not seen for decades. "Eminence Grises" included Sarvashri P.B.Kulkarni, A.V.Sardesai, B.A.Patil, Newlay, P.Aravind and so many. Pune is the Home and Heaven of over 250 retirees from RBI and I have a booklet that gives all particulars about all the retirees -- including blood group. The CAB had made excellent arrangements for a get-together. In fact they have done themselves proud. November, as all of you know is the month when retirees have to submit their Life Certificate. CAB made it very easy to submit these certificates by making their staff available for this. No Hassles for this Certificate.

What is more laudable is that they had arranged a Camp for Diabetology and Retinopathy. A panel of doctors from the Chellaram Hospital checked those wanted to get checked and offered guidance. This was followed by a Lec-Dem by a doctor. There was an interactive session between the doctor and retirees.

The Principal. Ms. Kamala Rajan welcomed the doctors and asked a number of questions on eye problems. The Vice Principal Shri R.L.Sharma proposed a vote of thanks. The doctors and the technicians were given appropriate gifts. The College had arranged for Tea in the beginning and Lunch at the end of the session.

I do wish other Centres emulate CAB and arrange for similar get-together of retirees and renewing of broken friendship and exchanging of notes.

P.P.Ramachandran (via e-mail)

CIC summons RBI information officer

Panipat: Following denial of information sought by a local RTI activist regarding top 100 bank loan defaulters from the Reserve Bank of India, the Central Information Commission has summoned the public information officer of the apex bank. Activist P P Kapoor had demanded information from RBI about top 100 persons and industrialists of the country who had not repaid huge loans taken from nationalised banks, in August last year. In their reply, RBI stated that though the information was available, it could not be divulged as RBI was holding it in judicial capacity''. Following this, Kapoor filed an appeal with the first appellate authority which was rejected. Kapoor then approached the Central Information Commission which has asked the public information officer of RBI to appear before it on November 8 with all relevant documents.

HT

VITALINFO – No praise is too high for individual efforts....

 

RBI asks banks to secure approval from cos issuing derivatives

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank Wednesday asked banks to seek approval from company boards before selling derivative products to them. "Before offering any derivative product to clients, banks should obtain board resolution from the corporate which explicitly mentions the limit assigned by the corporate to the bank," the Reserve Bank said in a notification modifying the 'Comprehensive Guidelines of Derivatives'. The direction assumes significance in the light of allegations from certain quarters of mis-selling of derivative products by banks resulting losses to investors during the 2008-09 global economic crisis. The board resolution has to mention the names and designation of officials of the company authorised to undertake particular derivative transactions on behalf of the company and specify the names of the people to whom transactions should be reported by the bank. Banks sell derivatives to help companies to hedge risks against fluctuations in foreign exchange value and interest rates, and earn a fee. Banks have also been directed to ensure that there is mention of the names and designation of persons authorised to sign the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and similar agreements and also of specific products that can be transacted by the designated officials. "It should be ensured that the Board resolution submitted by the company is signed by a person other than the persons authorised to undertake the transactions," the notification said. RBI had in April this year imposed a fine of Rs 1.95 crore on 19 banks, including leading lenders like SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Citibank, for violating regulations concerning derivatives. The lenders had been charged with failure to carry out due diligence with regard to suitability of products and sold derivative products to companies not having risk management policies. They also failed to verify the adequacy of eligible limits before selling derivatives.

Zee News

Reveal bank inspection reports: CIC to RBI

In what could open banks for public scrutiny, the Central Information Commission has asked the country’s banking regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to disclose information regarding inspections of banks under the transparency law --- Right To Information. Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi rejected the RBI’s claim that if the information regarding banks was disclosed it could lead to reduction of faith in banks and it could affect economic interest of the states. “The idea that citizens are not mature enough to understand and will panic is repugnant to democracy,” Gandhi said, in his order and added that in over 60 years the citizens have handled their democratic rights in a mature fashion and have punished leaders who have shown tendencies of trampling their rights. Gandhi also took his own commission to task, which had earlier given a blanket exemption to RBI to decide the information it could disclose on the ground that it was an expert body to understand implications of the information for the banking sector. “If the position of the full bench (of the CIC) is to be accepted…then all public authorities could be best judge of what information could be disclosed. In such an event the information commission would have no role to play,” Gandhi said, while hearing an appeal of Jayantilal N Mistry of Gujarat against RBI. The commission cannot abdicate its responsibilities under the RTI Act to RBI on the ground that latter was an expert body, Gandhi said. He also ruled that CIC’s full bench had no powers to review the decision of former information commissioner M M Ansari, who had asked RBI to provide complete information relating to performance of banking sector. Holding RBI guilty of not reading the full bench decision completely, Gandhi said it had clearly stated that a larger public interest was likely to be served by disclosure of such information and RBI should be proactive in this. “It is unfortunate that the RBI has not taken any steps to proactively disclosure this information in the last five year,” he said, while asking RBI to disclose information to the applicant by end of November. Gandhi was also amused at the RBI’s contention that disclosing information regarding inspection report of a particular bank could jeopardize economic interests of India. “Declaring the audit, inspection and investigation reports of all cooperative banks which have gone into liquidation cannot do any further harm to such banks,” he said.

HT

Savings bank rates up, but fees may rise

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) move to deregulate interest on savings deposits, which will enable customers to earn more on savings, is also likely to increase banking transaction cost. The move will also make the free issuance of cheque books and debit and credit cards may be the thing of the past. The RBI in its second quarter monetary policy review last week de-regulated savings bank rates, which was fixed at 4%.  Banks are expected to hike transaction charges to recover the additional cost incurred due to freeing up of interest rates on saving deposits in order to protect their profit margins. “There is definitely an upward bias on (transaction) charges,” said Aditya Puri, MD and CEO, HDFC Bank. Banks are also likely to charge small withdrawals from saving accounts and hike the amount required to keep as a quarterly balance in the account. “Banks may increase transaction charges or cut down the free service offered by banks to customers,” said Rajiv Mehta, banking analyst, India Infoline.Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd bank recently announced up to 2 percentage points hike in saving deposit rates. As savings accounts constitute around 22% of the total bank deposits, it provides a source of low-cost fund to banks. “Competition will force other banks to hike interest on saving deposits which will adversely impact their profit margins,” he said.  Most big banks have said that they will watch the market and then take call on deposit rates.

HT

Tackling inflation: What should the government do?

As you rightly asked this question whether RBI’s efforts are having an impact or not, my answer is no. And I quote another economist, Ila Patnaik, who has always been demanding that RBI, in all fairness, should first conduct a study to atleast know what it has been doing has an impact on controlling inflation and then it should take steps........

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Finmin wants bank branches in small villages by Sept ’12

A month-and-a-half after banking secretary D.K. Mittal issued a directive saying that by 31 March there should be at least one bank branch in each village with a population of 5,000 or more people in West Bengal’s three districts, the finance ministry issued a note (on 21 October), expanding the mandate for the whole country.

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HSBC buy of RBS India retail ops in RBI trouble

....Sources in RBI said the central bank has asked both HSBC and RBS about the need for the deal, and is looking at aspects such as transferability of branch licences.......

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RBI rejects nomination of Bhasin as Arcil CEO

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rejected the nomination of former State Bank of India (SBI) chief general manager B.S. Bhasin as the next managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd (Arcil), according to two persons familiar with the development.....

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