RBI Governor Meets J&K Governor

........During their meeting, the Governor discussed with Dr Subbarao various important issues relating to the rapid socio-economic development of the State, functioning of the banking sector in J&K and ways to enhance financial inclusion, particularly in the rural areas..........

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RBI Governor In Kashmir

The Governor of Reserve Bank of India, Dr D Subbarao is going to chair a meeting of central board of directors of RBI in Srinagar on May 9, 2013. The meeting is going to be held in Kashmir after a gap of eight years, last time RBI held a meeting in Srinagar in May 2005...............

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RBI listens to 'silent voices' hurt by inflation, says Subbarao

Srinagar: Dismissing the criticism that RBI's steps to check inflation have hurt growth, Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao on Wednesday said the monetary authority has the responsibility to listen to "silent voices" of millions of people impacted by rising prices..........

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Former Delhi state football player Swaraj Kumar Jolly passes away

........He got associated with various clubs here and promoted players also. He was the sports coordinator of Reserve Bank of India for many years and was the man behind the recruitment of numerous football players for the first time in Delhi branch of Reserve Bank of India.............

Read - TOI

Versatile person no more................

Shri K.V. Vaidyalingam, retired Assistant General Manager from RPCD-CO expired suddenly on May 7, 2013 at around 2.30 am in Bangalore, where he had settled after his retirement. Shri Vaidyalingam joined the Bank in 1973 and had worked in Calcutta and Chennai Office.  In Mumbai, he was attached to DEIO and RPCD-CO. He retired in September 2010 from RPCD-CO. He was 62. Shri Vaidyalingam is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter who are married and settled in USA. Shri Vaidyalingam was a versatile person and was extremely popular amongst his friends.We have lost a great and noble soul in him. May God give his wife and other family members the strength to withstand the unbearable loss. May his soul rest in peace. 
- Kumaresan Rajasekharan, EXRBITES Group (via e-mail)

I am deeply shocked to know of the sad demise of Mr.Vaidyalingam. He worked with me in RPCD., C.O. when I was CGM-in-C of the Department. He was a conscientious and friendly officer. He was active even on Face Book. May his soul rest in eternal peace. 
- C.S.Murthy, EXRBITES Group (via e-mail)

Shri K.V.Vaidyalingam was promoted on the same day with me and we were together in Dover lane Quarters, Kolkata  for about 7 years and subsequently we were together at Chennai Office for a few years before he was transferred to Mumbai. He was a bold and jovial person. It was indeed very shocking to hear the news about his death. I pray god to give courage to his family members to bear his loss.
- G.Mohan, EXRBITES Group (via e-mail)

We, all the members of Exrbites, pray to God to grant peace to the soul of Sh K V Vaidyalingam  and give courage to the family to bear this loss. He joined our Group on 1st June, 2011 (M-129) and today we have lost one of our versatile member. He was only 62. I remember in between for some time after his retirement he had shifted to a place "Molur Meadows", a colony specially constructed for senior citizens, near coimbatore. He had sent even photos of his apartment to the Group. We will miss him for ever. 
- Madan Gauria, EXRBITES Group (via e-mail)

Perfect toy bunker........................

A poignant poem written by Gopi Krishnan Kottoor along with a famous photograph (see attached) which had shaken the entire world a few days ago. The poem was published in The Hindu on May 5, 2013 (Sunday).

Who is this Kottoor ?? Gopi Krishnan Kottoor is none other than Shri R G Nair, DGM (OBO), Reserve Bank of India, Thiruvananthapuram. Many people in RBI do not know that Shri R G Nair, who writes under the pen name of Gopi Kottoor, is an award-winning internationally acclaimed poet and one of the foremost contemporary Indian poets writing in English. His immortal poem “Father, Wake Us in Passing” is a path-breaking effort in Indian English literature.

Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan

Assistant General Manager (ABC Cell)

Reserve Bank of India

Thiruvananthpuram

90% habitation in India without banking: RBI Governor

.........“There are 6 lakh habitations in country and out of which only 10 per cent have been included with banking system.  90 per cent of the habitations have no bank branches,” he said.”RBI is trying to go for financial inclusion. We not only want people to have bank accounts but also want them to know how to use it for their benefit.”...........

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Islamic banking impossible in Indian regulatory set-up: D Subbarao

RBI Governor D Subbarao on Wednesday said implementing Islamic banking model in  India would be impossible because it is inconsistent with the banking regulatory set-up where interest is charged and given. However, he said he has suggested the government that the decision being political, it must debate and............

Read - ET

Omar asks banks to increase CDR

......The Chief Minister stressed the need for the banks in fulfilling the target of Kissan Credit Cards and increasing advances in agriculture and allied sectors falling under priority zone. Omar said the State Government would shortly come up with SARFAESI Act.  Governor, RBI, Dr. Subbarao who conducted the meeting fixed a target of 40 per cent for CD ratio across the State for the Banks during the current financial. ...........

Read - Greater Kashmir

Monetary policy transmission to markets assymetrical: RBI

........"The transmission of monetary policy works well in the call money rate, as it is impacted immediately with robustness. As regards other financial market variables, except for the stock market, the study could find evidence of transmission from the monetary policy shocks,"........

Read - ET

RBI to launch plastic currency notes with longer shelf-life

........ "We are trying to introduce plastic currency...We hope to introduce it on trial basis and if that succeeds it will be replicated in the entire country,"..........

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Increase loan payback period to 20 yrs: JKHC urges RBI

.....“J&K Banks and other banks have at many occasions used force to recover loans from defaulters which RBI Governor should take serious note of. The businessman is never willful defaulters but occasional turbulence in valley makes him a defaulter. The banks have raided houses of the businessmen in the past which is regretful. It has damaged the reputation of the businessman,” .......

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IMG on curbing fraudulent investment schemes to meet on May 16

.....The high level panel, headed by Department of Financial Services' Additional Secretary, will have representatives from Corporate Affairs Ministry, RBI and SEBI. "The first meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Group is scheduled for May 16, 2013," the Finance Ministry said. The IMG has been set up to ensure "proper enforcement of regulatory framework for multi-level marketing companies, non-banking finance companies and companies running collective investment schemes"........

Read | Business Standard

Is extra tax to compensate Saradha victims fair? asks RBI

.........“If you go back to the West Bengal Saradha scheme, the Chief Minister said ‘I will levy additional taxes on cigarettes and some other things to compensate the people who have lost money’ ... Is it fair?,” Subbarao said while delivering a lecture to economics students here to mark the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of Jammu & Kashmir Bank................

Read - HBL

BRICS Development Bank - Prospects and challenges : M.G.Warrier

.......BRICS can also count on the experience of India’s central bank (Reserve Bank of India) which has acquired professional expertise and experience in handling issues like financial inclusion, priority sector lending, institution-building for meeting diverse needs of financial sector, forex reserves management and public debt management, besides the core central banking functions which the Reserve Bank of India has managed well during the last 78 years of its existence...........

Read - Global Analyist

Responsibility to check money laundering rests with govt:RBI

Amid allegations of money laundering against banks and insurance companies by an online portal, Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao today said it was the responsibility of the government and tax authorities to check such activities. "RBI is not directly involved... Even banks are not directly responsible. They are not expected to inquire about the source of income. It is for government and tax authorities to check money laundering," he said while addressing students and academicians as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of Jammu & Kashmir Bank..............

Read | Business Standard

RBI stays away from Saradha row

......Calling the Saradha Group an "investment company", the RBI's affidavit states: "This (Saradha) is not a chit fund. RBI has no authority to regulate investment firms. RBI has served notices to 57 chit fund firms in Bengal. All of them have closed down." The court will take up the matter for hearing on May 14...........

Read - TOI

RBI’s report on services for exporters evokes mixed response

Suggestions in the Reserve Bank of India -appointed G. Padmanabhan Committee’s report for improving financial flow to the exporters, extension of financial support from alternative sources, rationalisation of transaction costs and risk mitigation, among others, are seen with optimism by the knitwear exporters in Tirupur cluster for improvement of business............

Read - The Hindu

Gold coins to flood market

......RBI move will have people offloading gold coins with jewellers and by this they will not have to buy gold from the banks. Most gold coins are expected to come into the open market. By this the import bill of gold is expected to come down. Yet another advantage is that the gold coins coming to the market will be converted into jewellery and provide jobs to 35 lakh goldsmiths.........

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Watching the financial watchdogs

.........Next come the three Financial Regulators - RBI for the banking sector, SEBI for the capital markets both are Mumbai-based and the Hyderabad-based IRDA for the insurance sector. Each of them have their own file pushing babus duplicating investigations by stepping on each other’s toes, resulting in harming genuine consumer interests. Each of them jealously guards their turfs. Typically, it happened during investigations into the Satyam investigation where the local police station despite not knowing the ABC of the fraud wanted a piece of the action!...........

Read - Moneylife

Levy cheque return fee only if customers at fault: RBI to banks

"...Recently, instances have been brought to our notice where banks are levying cheque return charges even in cases where customers have not been at fault in the return and delaying the re-presentation of the cheques which had been returned by the paying banks under technical reasons," RBI said in a notification. It said that both of the issues were resulting into "unsatisfactory customer service" and it was considered necessary to streamline the procedure followed by all banks in this regard....................

Read | Business Standard

Inflation-fighting RBI has no target on CPI

Given the importance it attaches to retail inflation, one would expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to give some guidance on the consumer price index (CPI). But the central bank has neither set a target for the index nor indicated a level it would be comfortable with. “We have no CPI target,” RBI governor D Subbarao said in the post-policy interaction with analysts and researchers earlier this week. The central bank looks at all three CPI indices – for industrial workers, agricultural labourers and rural labourers – as well as the composite CPI, he said...............

Read - DNA

Can Punters Outwit RBI This Time?

Hundred years ago punters in Bombay made and lost fortunes by betting on cotton futures traded on exchanges in Liverpool, New York and Alexandria. Information flowed with a lag, orders were posted through telegrams and those with access to ticker tapes tracked the price movements that swung, as they do even today, with the hint of a war or crop failure. A decade ago, when the Reserve Bank of India opened the doors to overseas bourses, allowing individuals to freely invest money across the border, it was like the return of a lost era........

 Read - ET

Securitisation to turn costlier for banks with new distribution tax

.......A senior official with a leading NBFC said the securitisation route may turn more costly for them as banks would try to pass on the burden. "The issuers and investors can avoid the additional burden through bilateral deals. But in case of direct buyout of loan portfolios, banks will have to bear the credit risk fully as RBI does not allow credit enhancement under bilateral arrangements," he said. RBI said it will issue the final guidelines on reset of credit enhancement in securitisation by end-June 2013......

Read - ET

Bank broking arm to be independent accounting unit: Irda panel

.........The report said that banks acting as brokers will not only enable the banks to utilize their entire network of branches but also increase the insurance penetration and pose an effective competition in rendering services to the policyholders. "Since the banks are regulated separately by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it shall be a measure to enhance the efficiency in the conduct of procurement of insurance business and also accountability to the policyholder as compared to the agency channel," it said...........

Read | Business Standard

Maharashtra Govt move to enthuse fresh life into NDCCB struggling for existence

The Maharashtra Government, in an effort to enthuse fresh life into Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB), has formed a Committee under the Chairmanship of Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil to sell-off the Bank’s newly built building in Mahal area of Nagpur and the minister has been the responsibility to deal with issue...........

Read - Nagpur Today

Early exit from economic stress?

.........Will economic growth recover fairly soon as the finance ministry and PMEAC project? Or more slowly as forecast by the RBI? What will bring about the growth revival? Can the record high external imbalance (CAD) be halved within three years? What is the outlook for inflation? The search for answers must begin with a better understanding of what brought about the extraordinary deceleration of India's growth in the last two years.......

Read | Business Standard

Disguising NPAs

Amid growing concerns about the deteriorating quality of bank loans, the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (Sarfaesi), was enacted to aid in debt recovery, especially from wilful defaulters. Since the 2006 Supreme Court judgment allowing banks to simultaneously initiate multiple proceedings against the defaulters, the use of Sarfaesi by banks has significantly increased........

Read - FE

PSU banks make defaulters' names public to recover dues

...............Until now, banks were only going after the small promoters. The newfound aggression is probably triggered by a recent statement of the finance minister that banks must act against rich promoters of poor companies. Whatever the trigger, it is clear that corporate bigwigs better watch out. If you default, be prepared for some tough times including public name calling.......

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