RBI to facilitate better banking service in rural areas

IMPHAL, Feb 25: Executive director of RBI, R Gandhi inaugurated an ATM booth and also a Financial Literacy and Counseling Centre at Imphal East DC complex today morning. Later, a financial outreach program was conducted at Achanbigei village, Imphal East. Speaking at the occasion, the executive director mentioned that the RBI intends to create awareness about banking services among the rural mass through such outreach program He advised the residents to avail the services offered by banks for taking up economic activities and be a part of the banking system by opening bank accounts. He also warned the public not to be lured by the high rate of interest on deposits offered by unauthorized bodies through fictitious e-mail messages, etc. Suggesting that banks need not perceive the financial inclusion drive as a compulsion, rather they should realize that a tremendous business opportunity is beckoning in the rural sector. He stressed upon the need for adopting suitable banking models supported by ICT based solutions involving business correspondents in the remote areas. As part of the outreach program of RBI, the executive director and regional director Surekha Marandi interacted with school students and also with members of SHGs and farmers clubs. United Bank of India joining RBI’s initiative also organized a free health check up camp at the village and SBI extended a note/coin exchange facility. As a collective effort of the banks, many individuals opened no frills accounts and farmers availed KCC loans for taking up agricultural activities. Further, the banks while observing the difficulties of persons living with HIV/AIDS as a major challenge decided to extend loans to the affected persons as an endeavor towards their corporate social responsibility.

http://kanglaonline.com/2012/02/rbi-to-facilitate-better-banking-service-in-rural-areas/

Pilot loan scheme for HIV-patients in Manipur

In a first of its kind initiative, the United Bank of India and the State Bank of India have decided to provide customised loans for HIV patients in the country. The scheme to “support entrepreneurship” will be launched under the aegis of the Reserve Bank of India on a pilot basis in Imphal East district. It will then be extended to the rest of Manipur and other parts of the country.The scheme was announced at an outreach programme of the RBI in Imphal East on Saturday, attended by a high-level team from Guwahati and RBI executive director R Gandhi.RBI Deputy General Manager Thotngam Jamang said the scheme had been conceptualised to help HIV-positive people gain meaningful economic activity. “Many of them have skilled knowledge and are well versed in traditional economic activities such as crafts etc. But there are few employment opportunities. These loans will support entrepreneurship. We are also looking at facilities like health check-ups etc,” he said...............

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SBI ATM inaugurated at DC Office, Porompat

Imphal, February 25 2012: Executive Director, RBI, Mumbai, R Gandhi and Regional Director, RBI, Guwahati, Surekha Marandi today inaugurated a State Bank of India ATM at DC Office of Imphal East, Porompat. Assistant General Manager, SBI, Administrative Office, Shillong Region -V, S R Saha, Deputy Commissioner, Imphal East, Dinesh Singh and Deputy General Manager, Outreach, SBI, Lead Head Office, Guwahati, S K Kandar were also present at the function. It may be mentioned that the newly installed ATM is the 28th ATM of SBI in Imphal.


http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=Snipp9..260212.feb12

Same-day cheque clearance near reality

The time taken for clearance of a cheque between two banks could come down to a day before long. Banks are largely in line with the Reserve Bank of India’s targets for cheque truncation.................

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Three Day Workshop on “Inflation and Monetary Management by RBI”

The aim of this Workshop is to understand the causes and implication of different measures of Inflation in India......

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RBI dances centrestage; Economy gulps for air as global typhoon grips world

..... The RBI smartly changed track and intervened in the forward foreign exchange market in November 2011 after a gap of 12 months. Even though, there is an enormous amount of economic literature on the spot market intervention by central banks, there is little on forward markets........

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Is the Indian banking industry in consolidation mode?

The past decade has been a sellers’ market as far as the Indian banking sector is concerned,” K.C. Chakrabarty recently said in a speech. The outspoken Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India bluntly said this would change and banks would have to differentiate their offerings if they wanted to stay in business. “The mantra would be to innovate or perish.” Intense competition could drive “a spate of mergers and lead to consequent consolidation within the sector. The entry of new players will also spur efficiency and productivity in the system,” he added. A few mergers in local banking have been bailouts of private banks — ICICI Bank for Bank of Rajasthan, IDBI Bank for United Western Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce for Global Trust Bank. Mergers among state-run banks (27 of them) had been mooted earlier, but we are far from it. Indian banks will be under pressure to raise capital as it is going at a premium. A year from now, they will have to migrate to Basel-3 guidelines; the cap-ad ratio will rise by 2.5 per cent to 11.5 per cent by March 2017. A Crisil estimate puts the amount needed at Rs 2,70,000 crore. While banks are adequately capitalised — barring one or two — pressure is on account of dud loans in infrastructure sectors especially power, aviation and telecom.  The recent hikes in interest rate and slowing economic growth may also adversely impinge on the repayment capacity of some categories of borrowers especially those from the small sector. “We are at the cusp of a defining decade in the banking system,” said Chakrabarty.

http://www.businessworld.in/businessworld/businessworld/content/Merging-Traffic.html?storyInSinglePage=true

EDB introduces account portability

Srinagar, Feb 25: Here is some good News for customers of Ellaquai Dehati Bank. Bank has introduced account portability feature for transfer of customer from one bank branch to another branch. “The account portability is done in the system within minutes and is hassle free. Staff at our branches is trained to execute the facility,” said A K Razdan, Chairman EDB, at a meeting held here. A statement said under this facility the customer can shift his/her account to any of the desired branch any number of times, without any change in the account number, with just a change in the home branch code. The facility would enable the customer to have the freedom of operating his/her account from any of the branches of the bank. “Recently bank introduced Electronic Fund Transfer scheme under (NEFT) arrangement with RBI for bank to bank fund transfer which will be highly beneficial to our customers especially to fruit growers in the rural areas. With a broader network of our branches operating in the 13 Districts of the State, these facilities will be a great comfort to our customers for easy access to fund transfer and banking facility in nearby branch of their work place/residence,” statement said.

Greater Kashmir

G20 finance ministers, central bankers meet in Mexico

…..Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is not participating in this meet as he is pre-occupied with the Budget preparations back home. The country is being represented by RBI Governor D Subbarao and Economic Affairs Secretary R Gopalan……..

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IDBI Intech to offer data mining, business analytics solutions

….."This too is a product which has a market due to RBI regulations. We see a market of Rs 200 crore for this product. Public sector banks have to be partially compliant with automated data flow regulations of the RBI by June and fully compliant by December. So, we see a huge potential here."........

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NMCC asks RBI to lower interest rates | NMCC

If you think the Reserve Bank of India will start reducing repo rates in its March 15 policy review without giving credence to the fiscal deficit situation, think again. For the way long-term interest rates would move will depend largely on the fiscal deficit and the flow of funds from abroad........

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Small loans add up to lethal debts

The microfinance industry pursued a path of rapid business growth in recent years; two investigations now link it to debtor suicides............

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Fiscal deficit holds the key to changes in interest rate: Montek

If you think the Reserve Bank of India will start reducing repo rates in its March 15 policy review without giving credence to the fiscal deficit situation, think again. For the way long-term interest rates would move will depend largely on the fiscal deficit and the flow of funds from abroad..........

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Are jewellery saving schemes a good investment option?

...................Though one may argue that jewellery saving schemes give higher returns compared to banks whose recurring deposits give a return of 9-9.5 per cent, that comparison is quite incorrect due to the unequal risks involved. Unlike banks and NBFCs which are regulated by RBI, jewellers do not fall under the purview of any regulatory body. You may thus be left with limited recourse if you entrust large sums, especially to small time jewellers. The Reserve Bank of India is however said to be mulling over bringing such schemes under its purview, on the mushrooming of these schemes in the market.

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