Chennai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intends to consult the government about any possible conflict of interest in Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd seeking a banking licence and Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla being on the board of the central bank, RBI governor D. Subbarao said on Thursday...........
The very purpose of VITALINFO is to provide a platform for wider dissemination of updated information related to and happening of events in and around RBI.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Will look into possible conflict of interest in Birla's bank licence plea: RBI
Chennai: RBI Thursday said it will look at whether there is any conflict of interest arising out of a bank licence application filed by Aditya Birla Nuvo, whose group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla happens to be on the board of the central bank. "We have to take a view on that. This is a very recent development," Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao told reporters after a meeting here of the central board.........
'Industry approves RBI conditions on new banks'
.........A big majority (88 per cent) gave a thumbs-up to RBI's condition that applicants be prepared to set up at least 25 per cent of branches in hitherto unbanked rural centres. Currently, only 35 per cent of the population has a formal bank account, as compared to an average of 41 per cent in other developing economies............
India Central Bank to Take 3-4 Months to Examine Bank Applications
CHENNAI—India's central bank will take three to four months to examine the 26 applications it received for an unspecified number of bank licenses it plans to issue, Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said Thursday. The applications will then be vetted by an independent panel of experts before the Reserve Bank of India makes its final choice........
New bank licences: Tough obstacle ahead, says Fitch
.......According to the agency, the new banks won't increase competition in the medium term because of additional profitability pressure from their expansion plans and the financial inclusion conditions. " New entrants may bring some much-needed innovation to a sector where only around 50 per cent of households have access to banking services" Fitch said..............
New banks is not equal to old business
...... The
late RK Hazari was an illustrious Deputy Governor of your institution.
Hazari produced a brilliant report in the 1960s which showed how
cleverly our business houses used the permit-license raj to enrich
themselves and hold back economic growth of the country as a whole. The
control of banks and insurance companies by the honourable business
houses was in fact cited frequently those days as having baneful
economic consequences............
One regulator, two voices
One department of the RBI says there is no forex exposure to be hedged, another penalises companies for not doing so
...One department of the RBI has proposed that non-bank finance companies (NBFCs) progressively reduce the period for classifying loans into the non-performing category (NPA). From the present 180/360 days, the period is to be brought down to 120 days and then 90 days. That will bring in regulatory parity with the banking sector, the RBI says.But is a narrow focus on reducing perceived “regulatory arbitrage” blurring other policy objectives? One wonders if this is an appropriate time for making the borrowing environment even tougher for those “financially excluded” segments catered to by the NBFC sector. As it is, the economy is quite weak and lenders (NBFCs included) will be circumspect in expanding their loan book..............
RBI clamps on rupee speculation overseas
........However, even before the slide began, RBI had issued a circular on April 25 specifying that foreign entities/structures with equity participation of Indian firms offering financial products linked to the rupee (such as non-deliverable trades involving foreign currency, rupee exchange rates, stock indices linked to the Indian market, etc) will have to take its approval. Their activities, if without the central bank’s approval, would be treated as violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema), the circular clarified...............
Life after 60
.........In the absence of substantive reforms before the general elections of 2014, economists said the currency will remain under pressure. Part of the reason is that going by the real-effective exchange rate, which measures a currency’s export competitiveness against a basket of other major currencies, the rupee, despite its depreciation, is in the “neutral” territory, while .........
RBI conscious of need to be supportive of economic growth: Subbarao
....."We don't have an exchange rate target. We don't have exchange rate plan. We try to manage volatility in the currency movement, volatility very broadly defined, and we use also the instruments at our command. I have nothing more to say on that,"............
FM Lifts Bulk Deposit Cap on State Banks
Finance
minister P Chidambaram has instructed his ministry to lift the cap of
15% on bulk deposits for PSU banks, a move that would help them raise
more deposits, but may at the same time, increase their cost of funds.
When Chidambaram raised the issue of slow deposit growth at a meeting
with bank chiefs on Wednesday, some bankers said that the 15% cap has
been a stumbling block......
Read - ET Mumbai Edition page 12
Read - ET Mumbai Edition page 12
Rising NPAs in education loans worry bankers
CHENNAI: Bankers can expect to breathe easy on account of delinquencies in education loans. The government has proposed to set up a credit guarantee fund to address educational loan defaults. "The insurance scheme for educational loan is pending with the government. If it comes into force, banks would be more proactive about lending to meritorious students at the branch level," Dr K C Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, RBI, said..........
Govt banks writing off more loans than they recover
Public sector banks are writing off more loans than they recover, despite repeated advisories from the finance ministry. In the fourth quarter of the last financial year, of the 26 state-run lenders, as many as 17 banks had written off more loans than they recovered. The write-off by these 17 banks in the January-March quarter of 2012-13 was higher than the write-off by all the 26 public sector banks in 2011-12................
HFCs set to tap ECB market after RBI reviews guidelines
Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) are all set to raise money through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) for affordable housing projects. RBI last week had revised the norms for raising ECBs for HFCs. “We have received application from HDFC” said R V Verma, chairman, National Housing Bank (NHB)...........
Liquidation of Charminar Bank in final stages
.......With a strong dose of help from the DICGC, by 2004 the bank paid off 80,000 of the total 1,02,000 depositors whose deposits did not exceed Rs 1 lakh. By 2007, it returned deposits to another 22,053 depositors. Later it scheduled eight installments for those depositors who had put Rs 10 lakh or more and cleared six of them until March last year. In fact, the bank had to give away the last of the installment in September 2012 to the last set of 136 depositors......
A Fixed Deposit For Polls: Mahila Bank
.........The
Bhartiya Mahila Bank will not offer any concessional rates to women,
though. “It is a commercial bank, which will follow the guidelines
stipulated by the Reserve Bank of India,” the
official said. The bank will primarily draw its human resource from
existing employees in public sector banks. “The idea is to empower women
in the country and bring banking services at their doorstep. The bank
will take initiatives to open accounts of women not only through branches but by organising camps all across the country,”..............
Don’t Arm-Twist State-Owned Banks
..........Instead
of pretending that a reduction in lending rates would revive
investment, the government should make its contribution to macroeconomic
stability and speedy project clearance. Tough curbs on the fiscal
deficit will help rein in the current account and excess demand feeding inflation. Proactive supply-side measures are needed to combat food inflation..........
RBI directive on banking charges
Dear Editor,
It refers to welcome directive by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rightly requiring all the banks to have uniform and transparent system of levying service-charges irrespective of the service being availed from the branch where account exists, or through some other branch of the bank. Department of Financial Services (Banking Division) should take a step further by ensuring common and uniform rates of service-charges and interest-rates at least for all public-sector banks. Banks can compete by better service rather than rates of service charge and interest............
It refers to welcome directive by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rightly requiring all the banks to have uniform and transparent system of levying service-charges irrespective of the service being availed from the branch where account exists, or through some other branch of the bank. Department of Financial Services (Banking Division) should take a step further by ensuring common and uniform rates of service-charges and interest-rates at least for all public-sector banks. Banks can compete by better service rather than rates of service charge and interest............
Why financial institutions should comply with anti-money laundering laws
......Banking industry that accepts business from high risk customers must have systems, controls and practices to manage that risk. Despite occasional aberrations, India has consistently maintained a robust Anti Money Laundering (AML) system. Historically, the country’s strict foreign exchange laws and transaction reporting requirements, together with the RBI’s Know Your Customer (KYC) policy guidelines make it difficult, though not entirely impossible for criminals to use banks or other financial institutions to launder money...........
Kochi banks top in credit-deposit ratio
KOCHI: Kerala's financial hub Kochi has ranked 20 among the country's top 200 urban centres, based on the total deposits accepted by scheduled commercial banks in these towns. In terms of the loans arranged by the banks in these centres,Kochi has come in at the 14 position.........
Rural banking push
This refers to the editorial “Licence to be cautious” (July 4). If the Reserve Bank of India’s real motive is financial inclusion, then the need for inviting new applicants is irrational. We have an almost saturated banking industry. New allotments would not solve the problem of “financial inclusion” in totality, as new organisations will take time to settle, including facing the greater challenge of rural customers...........
Extend services to rural areas, Joshi tells bankers
........Speaking at the meeting of the District Level Review Committee and the District Consultative Committee of the District Lead Bank, held at the Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) here on Tuesday, Mr. Joshi pointed out that there was little progress on the opening of rural branches in the district. “If rural residents do not get loans in a place near to them, they will approach moneylenders who may fleece them. If we have to free them from the high-interest loans taken from moneylenders, extending banking services to rural areas is essential,” he said.............
.........An RBI official from Bangalore, Vanita Purushottam, pointed out that the bank guarantee scheme for small industrialists had come into effect from May 2013 and asked bankers to extend the facility to rural areas.........
Calculating corporates' unhedged exposure a tall task: SBI
...............The biggest problem here is going to be: how the calculations will be made. The guidelines came out yesterday night and we have not gone through the fine print. There are two or three things, which stand out. Firstly, the entire un-hedged position of the corporate across banks has to be ascertained..............
Product crack: Western Union’s remittance services
..........Till now Western Union could only enable cash-to-cash transaction from the US and the UK. In February, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had extended rupee drawing arrangement (RDA)—one of the provisions in that approves receiving money in India through a bank—to all the countries compliant with the financial action task force (FATF). Earlier,................
I-T dept may make d-o-b proof mandatory for PAN card
New Delhi: As part of its drive against fake Permanent Account Number, the Income Tax department is considering making proof of date-of-birth mandatory for issuance of PAN card. "The department might ask for proof of date-of-birth for issuing a PAN card. Ration cards and rent receipts might no longer be accepted as proofs of identity and address for issuance of a PAN card," sources in the finance ministry said..........
Thursday, July 4, 2013
RBI must tender accountability to enjoy autonomy: Duvvuri Subbarao
 |
| .............."In order to claim, demand autonomy from the government, and to enjoy that autonomy, we must remember that we must tender accountability,".......... |
RBI cannot operate from ivory tower: Subbarao
..........What clearly emerges is that the central bank should go well beyond monetary policy. Subbarao further said the RBI cannot function from an ivory tower and should refrain from shutting itself up in its own world. It should be attentive to what is happening around the world by becoming a knowledge institution............
Subbarao's 10 commandments for the central bank
...........Elaborating on the theory of RBI becoming a knowledge institution, Subbarao gave 10 attributes for the central bank to be future-ready, to facilitate itself to transform knowledge into wisdom. The attributes he listed were..............
Must take market as given and respond: Subbarao
.......“We very generously guard our autonomy, but in order to demand it we must first render ourselves accountable. I have suggested that the RBI Governor should go in front of a parliamentary committee to encourage the accountability process. Even if nobody asks, we must volunteer to render accountability,...........
RBI working on creating public awareness about Ponzi schemes
........"Communication should be two way. We should talk to people and listen to them. We had this Saradha incident in West Bengal about two months ago. And there has been lot of thinking within RBI itself about what we should do to spread awareness on these kind of things," .................
My View on "FM takes on Subbarao again":.......
It is intriguing that FM who interacts with RBI frequently, gives an impression that he has to speak to media to convey his expectations from RBI. Dr Subbarao, Governor, RBI has indicated more than once that GOI and RBI are on the same page and perceptions sometimes vary on specific issues, which is natural.
- M.G.Warrier
National Seminar on Financial Consumer Protection
Distinguished Dignitaries:
DR. DEEPALI PANT JOSHI, Executive Director, RBI
YOGESH AGARWAL, Chairperson, PFRDA
ANANTA BARUA, Executive Director, SEBI
Date: 24th July' 13 Venue: Hotel Royal Plaza, New Delhi
Mining ban hits banks in Goa
.......Understandably, while at the SLBC meeting while the State Chief Secretary B. Vijayan tried to push for restructuring of advances to the various stakeholders of mining like transporters and barge industry, etc., the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) representatives continued to be non-committal. Regional Director, RBI, Mumbai J. B. Bhoria was present for the meeting along with Ms. Anshula Kant, SBI’s General Manager, Regional Head Office, Mumbai.................
VITALINFO - Philosophically speaking............
Hearty congrats, Mangesh. Tributes are pouring in for your efforts in bringing out VITALINFO and you richly deserve them. I also agree that it should continue to be your baby and let not any official agency have any sort of control over it. The present coverage is good and comprehensive enough. In fact, to be frank, I am not able to see all the items in full on all days as it is not advisable for too much energy and time (even if there is time) of seniors to be spent on Internet. The point made by Shri Seshan is borne out of anxiety that this sort of an useful Newsletter should continue. But then, philosophically speaking, there is an end to everything in this world when its time is over !
A.Chandramouliswaran, former Executive Director
The FM and RBI - Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan
......RBI is the saviour of the economy to a great extent with its’ tight and also flexible monetary policy is what is to be accepted and appreciated. Even then the present stability of the financial system and monetary system cannot be said to be as comfortable as they were a couple of years ago. This should be the worrying factor both for the Govt and RBI at this juncture.
Read...........
Who will decide the new RBI Governor
Who will decide the new RBI Governor ? PM Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, C Rangrajan Chairman of PM's Economic Advisory Committee or Montek Singh Ahluwalia Vice Chairman Planning Commission?
Source..........
Source..........
The dilemma of coin shortage
............ The coin shortage is also posing problems for the businesses. In some cases, as in Kolkata, shopkeepers have been purchasing coins from beggars at a premium! On the flip side, large number of coins are lying unused in the donation boxes of temples. The RBI needs to formulate a policy to bring these back into circulation. Due to rising costs of minting the RBI has been reducing the size of the coins. Thus the new one rupee coin resembles like the 25 paise. On the other hand, it has become extremely difficult for people to distinguish between the new two rupee coin and the old one rupee as both of them look identical.....................
RBI detects fake currency, complains to police
PANJIM: The Reserve Bank of India, Navi Mumbai has lodged two separate complaints with the Economic Offences Cell of Goa Police after finding fake currency amounting to Rs 4,300. In the first complaint, Assistant Manager RBI V I Saunchu complained that prior to April 2013 unknown persons deposited 12 forged Indian currency notes at State Bank of India Treasury Branch, Panjim and SBI Mapusa Branch. “RBI Belapur Navi Mumbai found that these notes were counterfeit,” the complainant said. The police said that the complaint states that eight notes of Rs 100 denominations, three of Rs 500 denominations and one of Rs 1000 deposited in the two banks were fake. Another complaint filed by Manager RBI, Belapur in Navi Mumbai L Bagwan alleged that one note of Rs 1000 denomination deposited at Bank of India, Patto Branch in Panjim was detected as fake.
Police have registered the two cases under sections 489-A and 489-E of the India Penal Code.
Source - Herald, Goa
Police have registered the two cases under sections 489-A and 489-E of the India Penal Code.
Source - Herald, Goa
Obituary
Shri.D.G.Borkar died on July 2, 2013 in Mumbai. He was 90 years old. Borkar
was one of the veteran officers of the Economic Department in the
halcyon days of Chandavarkar, Narasimham, Khatkhate and Bhatt. He was a
tough disciplinarian. He gravitated to I F D and from there moved on to
become Joint Chief Officer in D B O D, Hyderabad. He used to contribute letters to Times of India on economic and banking matters. He was a close friend of mine and read scores of books given by me -- especially those relating to R B I.
Smt. Vaidehi Sreeram Deshpande (nee. Vijaya Chandwadkar) expired on
June 30, 2013 in Pune. She was ailing for the last 3 months.She
leaves behind her daughter and husband Shri. Sreeram Deshpande, also
from the DEAP. Smt.Deshpande was one vivacious personality and extremely popular and had a wide circle of friends.
- P.P.Ramachandran (via e-mail)
Banks choose CBLO market over RBI's liquidity window
Taking benefit of low interest rates, some banks on Wednesday preferred to tap the collateralised borrowing and lending obligation (CBLO) market over the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s liquidity window..........
First Women Cooperative Bank in Jammu soon
......... the J&K Women Credit Cooperative Ltd has already applied to the RBI for permission to setup first women cooperative bank in Jammu. The J&K Women Credit Cooperative Ltd has been already advancing loans to its women members for setting up business ventures, to become economically self dependent. The J&K Women Credit Cooperative Ltd has so far advanced rupees three crore seventy six lakh to its members for the purposes...........
Read...........
RBI puts on hold debt private placement rules for NBFCs
The Reserve Bank of India said on Wednesday it would hold off implementing a notification issued last week that mandated a minimum wait of six months between two private placements from a non-bank financial firm. Instead, the RBI said a decision on "the appropriate minimum time gap" would be taken by the central bank "in due course," after the industry raised some concerns about the measures.........
Indian rupee's descent isn't over yet
.......Some bankers and analysts feel the RBI has remained a mute spectator to the rupee's steep fall. "The RBI's hands are tied," says a banker on condition of anonymity. They say the RBI should have strongly intervened in the foreign-exchange market to support the local currency. The central bank's stated position is that it intervenes in the foreign-exchange market only to reduce extreme volatility and not to defend the rupee at any particular level. Deputy Governor H.R. Khan said in late June the RBI will take all necessary steps to protect the rupee. Still, the RBI has sold dollars on several occasions to prop up the local currency. This is evident from a fall in India's foreign exchange reserves...............
'Illegal' penalty by banks challenged
......Petitioner Sunil Khare claimed that due to neglect by RBI, various banks have forcibly recovered a staggering Rs3,000 to Rs5,000 crore in the name of penalty for non-maintenance of minimum balance. The petitioner added that only SBI discontinued this practice in April last year, but only after collecting about Rs1,500 crore. Citing a research conducted by him, Khare said most of the banks, including public sector, are charging penalty ranging from 80% to a whopping 365% per annum.........
Inoperative Accounts / Dormant Accounts and Unclaimed Deposits
....However, it may be mentioned that some banks had certain internal guidelines / periods before an account can be termed as dormant and / or inoperative. Bankers needs to check their internal circulars for this purpose, but the above period of two years is applicable as per RBI guidelines. Therefore, as per RBI guidelines, there is no difference between dormant accounts and inoperative accounts..............
Card Frauds --- RBI to be blamed......
The recent spurt in frauds involving credit / debit cards is a sad
reflection of the regulator. RBI has failed to ensure adequate security
to card holders. Card issuing banks do not care much to the directives
from RBI. This is a fact I have observed many times. The latest
directive to issue or replace existing cards with chip embedded features
is yet to kick off. In USA even for a transaction of one dollar, one
can swipe his card. But here in India, most of the merchant
establishments ( point of sale) charge 2% over and above the transaction
value . The RBI totally failed to stop this. On one hand our country
prints very high volume of currency notes and to ensure its distribution
to all regions of the country, we have a huge administration. To
constantly withdraw the soiled notes, we have high tech mechanism. This
is really ridiculous to say the least. We need to change the existing
policies, both RBI and Finance Ministry. We know in real estate
transactions, the buyer and seller never indicate the actual transaction
value in the title deeds at the time of registration. Money changes
hands in the form of cash (black money). This way more black money is
generated. Cant we have some system of transferring funds through banks
by the Sub-Registrar's Office ? Govt., / RBI should pass orders to stop
using cash beyond a limit in any transaction, say Rs 10,000/-. Only
using cards one should transfer funds. Necessary legislation may be made
in this regard. But I wonder whether any one cares ?
- P R Raghukumar, EXRBITES Group
Service before service charge
This refers to the welcome directive by the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) rightly requiring all the banks to have a uniform and transparent system of levying service charges, regardless of where the service is being availed. The department of financial services should take a further step by ensuring common and uniform rates of service charges and interest rates at least, for all public sector banks. Banks can compete by offering better service, rather than on rates of service charge. The merger of smaller public sector banks into some larger public sector banks will largely reduce overheads.
- Madhu Agrawal (FPJ)
PSU banks to hire 50k employees this fiscal: Chidambaram
........"This year public sector banks are expected to add 10,000 branches of which 2,000 are to be by Regional Rural Banks. Correspondingly there will be recruitment. In fact all the banks put together are expected to recruit some 50,000 persons in the current year,"...........
Bankers sing FM tune, agree to cut interest rates
............Chidambaram said banks did say that the room to pass on RBI’s repo rate cut was restricted. “Nevertheless all assured me they would review their base rates in July and take appropriate decisions. Reduction in rates will be a powerful booster to the economy and credit growth,”.....
Banks to focus on top defaulters: Chidambaram
........“You focus on the top defaulters, as well as keep on eye on the top performing accounts... They are keeping a close watch on the top 30 non-performing accounts in each bank and action will be taken on the defaulters,” ...................
Are Banks the New NPAs?
Apropos
the report ‘Marquee Names Lining up to Enter Bank Street’ (ET, Jul 2),
it’s surprising that corporate entities such as Reliance Industries and
Mahindra & Mahindra have not shown interest in a bank licence. In
fact, Mahindras pulled out citing inflexible RBI guidelines. With so
many riders, banking business in India is no longer attractive. The
companies that would soon be blessed with banking licences would regret
their decision to enter the field. Barring a few private sector banks
such as HDFC Bank, most players are itching to get out. The regulatory
condition on financial inclusion for the new entities has no meaning and
will not be helpful to the rural folk. A few public sector banks that
celebrated massive financial inclusion within a few days of opening new
branches have seen massive dormant accounts in their books. Reason:
banks do not know the art of making money from rural lending.
- K V RAO, Bangalore (ET)
- K V RAO, Bangalore (ET)
Issues over Kumar Mangalam Birla's role now at RBI
With a company in the Aditya Birla Group a strong contender for a new banking licence, the presence of its chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla on the board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the deciding authority, has raised concerns over the fair and transparent selection process.................
Shadow warriors
......The RBI is using the new licenses to further its agenda of financial inclusion. It is indeed strange that while two out of three Indians have mobile phones, only one in three has a bank account. Inclusion, though, could become costly for the taxpayers if it is achieved with weak banks.............
Stop, Look, Proceed
.......Going by the high standards it has set, the RBI may ultimately grant licences to only half a dozen or so of the 26 applicants. Such a stance is probably justified, keeping in view the public deposit-taking of banks, whose failures have systemic implications that are wider than for most other industries. These concerns have assumed far greater significance in the post-2008 global financial crisis era............
“Deep Pockets” need not be the sole criteria for Bank licenses
.............I therefore urge RBI to ring fence itself from political influences and ensure that licenses are granted only to the deserving candidates who while meeting the capital needs prescribed have a “Social Objective” to serve the community and have the ability to mobilize savings and deploy funds at the grassroots level. If not, the new licensees will become one more problem in the Indian society.
Read...........
No preferences, no govt say in issue of bank licences: FM
....."There is no preference. All the guidelines have to be satisfied ... Government will have no say in the selection of the applicant who will get a bank licence. We are not entertaining any sifarishes (recommendations) of the applicants,".......
Licence to be cautious
........... It would be difficult to deny them entry into banking, while allowing someone who has no comparable experience to set up a bank. But have the concerns about related party transactions gone away? Certainly not. If corporate entry is inevitable, the only way to allay such concerns is for the RBI to ensure that its supervisory capabilities are up to the task of preventing such practices. The recent revelations about widespread violations of know your customer (KYC) norms by some banks certainly raise some questions about supervisory effectiveness. The RBI must make explicit how it plans to restructure its internal systems and resources to be able to deal with these new challenges...................
Bank hopefuls stare down road fraught with cost, risks
.........“You have to be profitable at the same time. If you have a bank which has losses for seven years continuously, nobody will put their deposits there.”...........
RBI, Pick Widely-Held Cos for New Banks
........regulation
is supposed to prevent and detect such behaviour. Second, when a bank
becomes fragile, a “resolution corporation” (e.g., the US FDIC) is
supposed to seize control, and sell off or shut down the bank. In India,
we have problems on both fronts. Banking regulation and supervision is
weak as the RBI is beset with an array of problems. The resolution
corporation does not exist. The problems of ownership, governance and
compensation should be seen as one unified question............
Aspirants to banking licences hardly inspire confidence
.........Looking at the list of aspirants it appears, as though, everybody wants to try their luck in this once in 10-year jackpot. However, given the time constraints and the quality of applicants, it would be interesting to see if any new licence is given before the general election.
In rural Orissa, it’s the bank that will come visiting
..........."As these people can't come to the bank due to the absence of communication facilities, we thought of taking banking services to the tribals through mobile ATMs. Under the project, the farmers can deposit their surplus funds and avail of finances through mobile vans where a small counter and an ATM will be installed. The mobile ATMs would also enable the government to pay MNREGS beneficiaries, give scholarships to the children of Kisan credit card holders, disburse old-age pensions, and compensate farmers for losses due to natural calamities. The new banking system would also facilitate direct cash transfer for subsidised gas users," ..........
TAKING BANKING ACTIVITY TO STUPID LENGTHS
........Many bureaucrats in Ministry of Finance, top officials of RBI and CMDs and EDs of banks are under the mistaken notion that any monetary transaction may be included in banking service and banks may engage themselves in such activities, provided they are legal and profitable. Everyone including the banks failed to see the distinction between finance and banking. In course of time, the banks who must be the guardians and catalysts of an economy have started playing the role of a servant of all others in the society. Is a banker reduced to a mere accounts-keeper for all sections of the society?...............
Businessman murdered in Devarajeevanahalli
...........According to police, Mr. Huda was giving gold loans and running chit funds. He had deposited huge sum of money in Amanath Co-operative bank, withdrawal from which has been restricted due to orders from Reserve Bank of India. Police suspect that Mr. Huda may not have been able to return the money to his depositors and this could be the motive behind the murder...........
Carat and stick approach yet to dent gold rush
The government’s efforts to reduce consumption of gold have not yet made an impact on the gold buyers in Kerala. Though it is too early to draw a conclusion on the consumption pattern, market men see little scope for turning people away from the lure of gold......
After 28 months, UTI finally gets MD in Leo Puri
Mumbai: Leo Puri on Wednesday became the first non-IAS officer to lead UTI Mutual Fund, which has been headless since February 2011 after then chief U K Sinha moved out to head SEBI...........
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
India needs more housing products for youngsters, elderly
Read...........
Debit card skimming: Do deals on Mt Everest, but you're good as weakest link, says RBI
 |
| ..........."Technology has enabled an interlinked world and payment infrastructure. While this is welcome, being able to initiate payment transaction even from top of Mt Everest, please also remember that you are as good as the weakest link,"................ |
Lax security authentication led to card-skimming frauds: RBI
 |
| (left) Uday Kotak, Executive Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, G. Padmanabhan, Executive Director, RBI, Kiran Shetty, Regional Vice President & Managing Director, Western Union Budiness-India and Hikmet Ersek, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Western Union Company at a press conference the launch "Domestic Money Transfer (DMT)" Services in Mumbai on Tuesday. |
‘Aadhaar, chip & pin need to coexist’ - A.P.Hota
......Our
main achievement is that we are “cardifying” customers of those banks
who have never seen a card. Until Rupay came hardly 50-60 banks were
issuing cards. Now the number of banks issuing cards is 106. We plan to
reach out to 500 to 600 banks in a year for issuance of cards. Out of 58
rural banks, 50 have started issuing Rupay cards which can be used in any ATM or for retail payments and ecommerce................
Indian banks not yet ready to issue EMV standard cards
................The success of the migration exercise is exemplified by the case of Malaysia, which fully converted to EMV chip ATM cards by end-2005. Card fraud was reduced by 85 per cent from $5.9 million in 2003 to $0.3m in that year alone. Lee adds that the RBI has been working toward putting in place a system to make both credit card and debit card transactions safer. With its latest directive for banks and financial institutions to migrate to the EMV technology by June 30, 2013, RBI is pushing banks to implement safety measures and eliminate cases of fraud, thereby ensuring secure transactions.
Transparent, honest, friendly, committed "Priestly" Joseph.........
I have had occasion to know F.R.Joseph
inside the office when we worked in Chennai office around the same period and
outside the office when both of us were deputed to attend an OECD conference in
Washington. The person in the office and outside is the same, very transparent,
honest, friendly, committed and very humane. Interacting with him is so easy as
there are no artificial barriers or ego hassles. Once Mr. S.A.Hussain told me
jokingly that his initials stand for ‘Father’ as in the case of a priest. I
found it very easy to believe that, as the ideal qualities that one associates
with the priestly class is very much present in Mr. Joseph! Mr. Joseph has not
grown old with his years when one sees his interaction with the youngsters in
the RBI staff blog. He is as youthful as anybody else in the way he thinks and
speaks and relates to the young people in the Bank. There is a sense of joy
which emanates from him when one interacts with him despite his very sober
appearance. RBI will miss him but it is good to know that we can reach out to
him any time we need his help and he will be there to help. I wish him a very
fulfilling innings ahead in whatever he chooses to do as I know it will
definitely be something good.
- Kamala Rajan, Chief General Manager, UBD
Devotion and Involvement.......... thy name is VITALINFO Dailyzine................
Dear Mangesh,
I was not in town for quite some time. Hence when a topic came up of institutionalisation of VITALINFO, I could not offer my comments immediately. VITALINFO is just like a child for you. You brought this up somewhere about three years back with the same devotion a parent brings up his child and it is well established now. Serving and the retired RBItes eagerly await everyday the appearance of VITALINFO on their comps just like waiting and getting the printed copy of the newspaper. VITALINFO has become a habit like having a cup of tea in the morning You must have it. For this only one person who is responsible is Shri Mangesh. Hats off to him for the devotion and involvement in bringing out the issues of VITALINFO day in and day out. As Shri Mangesh has brought out this VITALINFO from nowhere and made it a big success, I feel it should continue to be under his leadership as long as Shri Mangesh likes it. No need of tinkering with it. As long as Shri Mangesh likes to have it under his care, let it be with him. A personal word from me; I know Shri Mangesh from the day he reported for duty in Finance and Accounts Department of ARDC in the year 1980. Shri Mangesh continues to be humble devoted and highly involved. I wish Shri Mangesh all the best and so also to VITALINFO.
- N.D.Laxmikantha, General Manager (Retd)
Obituary
I am
sorry to inform you about the sad demise of Shri Deen Dayal Garg last
night at Jaipur. He was my colleague as Faculty Member in CAB, Pune. Before that we
were together in Hyderabad for about 6 years. He
was in-Charge of DEAP in Hyderabad. He was also President of RBI Officers Ameerpet Quarters residents Welfare
Association. As
the Quarters were new he took lot of initiatives in organizing various
activities and facilities for the families and children of
residents. I was closely associated with him in all these activities for
almost 13 years. He was also my neighbor in Parijat Officers
Quarters in Pune. He was a very popular faculty and his lectures were always
enjoyed by the trainees and other faculty members. He
had expressed his desire to donate his body to Mahatma Gandhi Medical College
and Hospital at Jaipur. His
son Sumeet informed me that this has been done as per his wishes. I
pray for the departed SOUL. MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE.
-R.M.Deole, Ex-CGM
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