25 paise and below coins not acceptable from June 30

Come June 30, 50 paise will be the minimum coin accepted in the markets as all denominations below it will cease to be legal currency.  "From this date, these coins (denomination of 25 paise and below) shall cease to be a legal tender for payment as well as on account," the Finance Ministry said in a statement today.  It further said that the minimum denomination coin acceptable for transaction will be 50 paise from that date.  Also, the entries in books of accounts, pricing of products, services and taxes should be rounded off to 50 paise or whole rupee from that date.  "The procedure for call in shall be notified separately by the Reserve Bank of India," it added.

Allahabad Bank launches mobile banks in Jharkhand

Allahabad Bank Thursday launched mobile bank van services in Jharkhand to target villagers. J.P. Dua, CMD of Allahabad Bank, flagged off a mobile bank van from the bank's Ranchi zonal office. It is the first bank to start such a service in the state. 'It will function like a full bank where people could deposit and withdraw cash. It will function in 12 villages of Dumka district,' a bank official told IANS. Reserve Bank of India Governor D. Subba Rao was in Jharkhand early this month and during his visit he assured the state government about expanding bank facilities.

We have no solution for MFIs who have been hit: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday made it clear that it has no solution for Micro finance Institutions that have been hit, but said the Malegam Committee may look at "grey areas" in their regulation.  RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty said MFIs are in the business of taking money and giving loans and if people do not pay back, RBI has no solution for it. "People have to pay back money to the lender who has given the money.If they don't pay back, we have no solution," he told reporters in response to questions after inaugurating "Grameena Vikas Kendra" (branchless banking unit) of Corporation Bank at Mallohalli in the Bangalore district.

No RBI approval needed for bank branches in North-East: Tripura minister

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed norms for setting up bank branches in North-East India and no prior approval of the apex regulatory body is required in this regard, a senior Tripura minister said on Thursday. The clarification came during a meeting between RBI Governor D Subbarao and Tripura's Finance Minister Badal Choudhury in Mumbai on Wednesday. Worry was expressed over the gradual fall in the credit-to-deposit ratio in the region. 

SEED bags Indian Bank FI mandate

SEED, India’s largest Banking Correspondent has bagged one of Tamil Nadu’s biggest Financial Inclusion projects from Indian Bank. The smart card based project will reach around 5500 villages earmarked under the Indian Bank’s Financial Inclusion project to offer banking services to the rural population.  The project will help bring an estimated 11.92 lakh households, equaling to around 23 lakh people under the fold of banking services, thus leading to inclusive growth. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the technology partner in the project. he project was inaugurated at Venthoni village near Paramakudi in Ramanathpuram district of Tamil Nadu by Dr. K C Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor Reserve Bank of India. Other dignitaries present at the function were Shri T.M. Bhasin, Chairman & Managing Director of Indian Bank, Shri V Rama Gopal, Executive Director of Indian Bank, and Shri Rajeev Rishi, Executive Director of Indian Bank. 

Inflation always a concern: Deputy Governor K.C.Chakrabarty

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor K.C.Chakrabarty said on Thursday that inflation was always a concern, and a pause in rate hikes does not mean a halt.  India's food inflation accelerated to a ten-week high in mid-December on rising prices of vegetables, while the fuel index also rose, adding to inflationary worries in Asia's third-largest economy.

New managers for economy

You could call it a big change of guard in the government’s “econocracy” – or the economic administration. A new set of experts is set to take charge of the macro-economic management next year, touching the central bank, regulatory agencies and a clutch of state-controlled banks that lord over the economy. Finance secretary Ashok Chawla is set to retire on January 31 and Securities Exchange Board of India chairman CB Bhave, will retire a month later. UTI’s asset management company’s chairman and managing director UK Sinha, is set to succeed Bhave. Later, RBI governor D Subbarao’s three-year tenure ends in September but it is not yet known whether he will get an extension. His predecessor YV Reddy had got a five-year term at one go. Bimal Jalan, on other hand, got a two-year extension as RBI governor after his initial three-year tenure had ended before Reddy took over. Government sources, who did not wish to be identified, indicated that commerce secretary Rahul Khullar is tipped to take over as the next finance secretary ahead of the presentation of budget in February. “This would mark a departure from the normal practice of having a same person as the finance secretary through the budget cycle of drafting to presentation,” said an official. Two new RBI deputy governors are set to take charge next year to fill in for Usha Thorat, who retired recently, and Shymala Gopinath who is due to retire in May. OP Bhatt, chairman of State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank, will retire in March. Deputy managing director Pratip Chaudhuri is tipped to take over in his place. This apart, chairmen and managing directors of at least seven more public sector banks  will retire during 2011. HSU Kamath will join Vijaya Bank as chairman on April 1, 2011, replacing Albert Tauro, while Nagesh Pyadh will replace TY Prabhu as the new CMD of Oriental Bank of Commerce. Besides, Dena Bank CMD D L Rawal is due to retire in October and Ramnath Pradeep’s term as  CMD of Corporation Bank, ends on September 30.

Bankers' Committee asked to prepare annual meeting calendar

With an aim to better supervise the development efforts of Government agencies and banks, the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday asked State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) to prepare a yearly calendar of their meetings by January 15 every year. SLBC and Union Territory Level Bankers' Committee (UTLBC) are required to meet at quarterly intervals. In a notification issued on Wednesday, the apex bank said in recent times these meetings have become irregular and many a times the agenda was not circulated in advance.

NHB wants housing finance cos to take stock of their portfolio

The National Housing Bank has asked housing financing companies (HFCs) to take stock of their portfolio and examine the involvement of intermediaries.  National Housing Bank chairman and head RV Verma said: “We met the CEOs of housing finance companies some time ago. These meetings are part of the internal process, wherein we take in details of the quality of loan book disbursed by the company and also to make sure that there are no intermediaries.”

U.S. praises Reserve Bank of India in Iran dispute

The United States Wednesday praised the Reserve Bank of India for reducing its dealings with Iran's central bank, saying the Islamic Republic misuses its financial relationships to support its nuclear program.

Advertise with care

Now a days commercials seem better than TV programmes but ad makers should not take too much liberty with their subjects.  A bank that wants to show that its ATMs offer a choice of currency denominations uses a wedding procession as a backdrop, with the bridegroom wearing a garland of currency notes. It is irresponsible of a bank commercial to feature a situation that clearly violates the Reserve Bank of India’s Clean Note Policy. - K R Vaikuntam, Thrissur

RBI definition of Financial Inclusion

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in December 2009 changed the definition of financial inclusion by stating that financial inclusion is not restricted merely to opening of bank accounts but must also include the provision of all financial services like credit, remittance and overdraft facilities for the rural poor.

Overhaul for foreign banks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to open the doors for foreign banks to expand in the country, but is likely to link it to the policies of the country from which the bank desiring to expand in India hails. Government sources told Hindustan Times that the central bank is likely to take into consideration the principle of “reciprocity” while allowing foreign banks to set up branches or subsidiaries in India.

Regulators test their autonomy

The standout regulator controversy was the turf war between the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) over the unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips), the popular hybrid mutual-fund-cum-insurance products. It was a battle that was avidly followed as much for its significance as the personalities of J Harinarayan of Irda and C B Bhave of Sebi, both former bureaucrats. In some ways, it also demonstrated the point that in India, the question of regulator “autonomy” is ephemeral at best. The Union finance ministry set a cat among the pigeons by using the Sebi-Irda tussle to pass an ordinance increasing its own regulatory powers over the Reserve Bank of India. A non-plussed and beleaguered RBI regained ground when former RBI governors cried foul and came to the central bank’s support. The soft spoken RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao voiced widely-shared fears about central bank autonomy and North Block backed off a bit, but not fully. The RBI-FinMin saga is yet to fully play out.

Pratip Chaudhuri set to head SBI

State Bank of India Deputy Managing Director Pratip Chaudhuri is likely to replace incumbent Chairman O P Bhatt when he retires in March 2011 after completing his five-year term. The finance ministry has cleared Chaudhuri for the top job at the country’s largest bank. The selection is subject to approval by the appointments committee of the Cabinet and the Prime Minister. Chaudhuri, who is also group executive of international banking at the staterun lender, was actually interviewed for the managing director’s post earlier this month, along with three other deputy managing directors: Hemant Contractor (head of corporate & wholesale banking), K Krishna Kumar (head of IT), and Diwakar Gupta (head of rural & national banking). The four were also candidates to the top job at SBI. A search committee headed by Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao shortlisted the names of Chaudhuri and Contractor for the post. With the selection of Chaudhuri as SBI chairman, Contractor, Gupta and Kumar will be made managing directors. SBI will have four managing directors, following a recent amendment to the SBI Act, which increased the number of posts. At present, SBI has only one Managing Director, R Sridharan, after S K Bhattacharya retired in October. Sridharan is due to retire in June. Sources said the government wanted to select a person with at least two years of residual service for the chairman’s post. Chaudhuri, 56, with his rich experience in banking, fit the eligibility criteria. Just like Bhatt, he also joined SBI as a probationary officer in 1974. He took charge as deputy managing director & group executive (international banking) of SBI in April 2009.

Mobile user verification will be based on UID Number

The Unique Identification (UID) Number project, which is poised to use the vast 700 million plus mobile subscriber database and distribution network to help complete the project, will in turn become the basis of issuing mobile connections in the future. UID Number will be the definitive proof for subscriber verification.

Noted cardiac surgeon R K Panda hurt in road mishap

The internationally renowned cardio-vascular and thoracic surgeon and director of the Mumbai based Asian Heart Institute, Dr Ramakant Panda, was injured in a road mishap in Nagaon district in Assam when his car collided head-on with a speeding truck.  Dr Panda sustained injuries on his head. His son Saswat (20) also sustained some injuries, Nagaon deputy commissioner M Angamuthu said.  The incident took place at around 1:45 pm at Samaguri, about 200 km east of Guwahati.  The renowned surgeon, who had successfully conducted multiple heart surgeries on Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, is a state guest and was travelling along with his wife, son and daughter to the Kaziranga National Park from Guwahati. He was first admitted to the Nagaon Civil Hospital and was later airlifted to Guwahati.

Sebi, RBI to discuss global indices futures

Sebi will be meeting RBI officials shortly to discuss the proposal on introduction of futures trading on overseas indices at the local exchanges.The National Stock Exchange (NSE) had approached Sebi seeking approval for launching futures trading on popular global indices like S&P 500 and Dow Jones Index of US, denominated in rupees.

Vidyadhar Anaskar’s 4th term on RBI task force

Vidya Sahakari Bank Ltd chairman, Vidyadhar Anaskar, has been appointed member of the task force for urban co-operative banks set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This is the fourth consecutive year that Anaskar will serve on it. Anaskar is director of the Pune District Urban Co-operative Banks Association and the Maharashtra State Urban Co-operative Banks Federation. The task force has been formed on the basis of a memorandum of understanding between the Centre and the state government. The panel will take decisions relating to urban co-operative banks in the state. According to a press release, Anaskar has been representing the urban co-operative banks since January 2008 on the task force. He has represented over 170 urban co-operative banks in the state and has also conducted special sessions for over 265 banks for free to guide their employees on technical and legal issues. He works as a visiting lecturer in various reputed institutes, including the College of Banking run by the RBI, the Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration. He is a also tax consultant.

RBI buildings found eligible for issue of Star Label for energy conservation