News and Updates - February 13, 2015

ICICI Bank ties up with UAE Exchange for instant money transfer
ICICI Bank has tied up with UAE Exchange to offer an instant bank transfer service to the Indians residing in the Gulf nation. 'FLASHremit' service started by the bank enables customers to conveniently send money instantly to their beneficiaries in India in Indian Rupees. "By using the services the customers of the bank, residing in the UAE, can send money instantly to any ICICI Bank account in India," a statement released here said. Customers of ICICI Bank will be able to avail this service by visiting any of the over 135 branches of UAE Exchange in UAE including over 15 branches across the Dubai Metro network.

ITC to acquire Savlon, Shower to Shower brands from Johnson and Johnson

ITC Ltd, India’s biggest cigarette maker said on Friday it has entered into agreements with Johnson and Johnson Ltd, India and Johnson and Johnson Pvt Ltd, Singapore for buying their brands ‘Savlon’ and ‘Shower to Shower’. These two trademarks and other intellectual property will be purchased by ITC for use primarily in India, the company said in a regulatory filing. The agreement signed will be subject to regulatory permissions, it added.

Retail inflation rises, factory output slows

Ahead of finance minister Arun Jaitley’s first full-year budget, data released by the statistics department on Thursday showed India’s factory output growth slowed in December while retail inflation accelerated in January even as a new method of calculating economic growth shows a more robust picture of industrial activity, sending confusing signals to policymakers and analysts. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP), a measure of factory output, grew at a measly 1.7% in December compared with 3.9% a month ago, while a new series of retail inflation based on 2012 as the base year showed the consumer-price inflation quickened to 5.11% from 4.28% in December due to rising food prices. Under the old series of 2010, retail food inflation in December stood at 5%. Core inflation came in at 3.94% in January, dipping below 4% for the first time. During December, while mining production contracted 3.2%, manufacturing and electricity sectors grew 2.1% and 4.8%, respectively. The advance estimate of national income released last week by the statistics department projected 2.3%, 6.8% and 9.6% growth in mining, manufacturing and electricity output, respectively, in 2014-15. According to the IIP data released on Thursday, in the first nine months of 2014-15 (April to December), the same figures stood at 1.7%, 1.2% and 10%, respectively.

Customer complaints jumped 8% in 2013-14: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) received 76,573 complaints from individual customers about various bank services in 2013-14, up 8.55% from 70,541 complaints received in 2012-13, the central bank said on its website. State Bank of India (SBI), the nation’s largest bank with more than 16,000 branches had the maximum number of complaints against it at 21,208, followed by private sector ICICI Bank Ltd which received 5,325 complaints, RBI said. HDFC Bank Ltd with 4,822 complaints came at No.3. Among foreign banks Standard Chartered Plc with 3,357 complaints against its name was the highest, followed by 775 complaints against Citibank NA. The complaints were linked to deposit accounts, levy of charges, credit and debt cards, loans, pension accounts and non-adherence to the rules for recovery agents, the central bank said. “Of the total complaints received, 32% were against SBI and associates and nationalized banks each, 22% against private sector banks and 6.5% against foreign banks. Metro and Urban areas accounted for about 71% of the total complaints received during the year 2013-14, followed by semi-urban (16%) and rural areas (13%). Banking ombudsman offices redressed 96% of the complaints received during the year,” RBI said. The Banking Ombudsman Scheme was started by the RBI in 1995 as a grievance redressal mechanism for consumers. There are 15 ombudsman offices across the country.

IndusInd Bank to scrap its insurance partner Aviva for a venture with Birla Sun Life Insurance

IndusInd Bank is in the process of scrapping its insurance partner Aviva for a venture with Birla Sun Life Insurance as the British unit is losing traction amid uncertain future, with the UK parent declaring that it plans to exit India. The Aditya Birla Group company has been facing pressure on its business after Citigroup, which contributed close to 15% of its business, exited their tie-up following an international deal to distribute products of AIA Group, one of the largest insurance firms in Asia. The company has lost market share since then. In the current fiscal, it has shown a growth of 17% to Rs 346 crore in new business premium income for the first nine months.

IBM secures app development deal from RBL Bank

Tech giant IBM has secured a deal with Ratnakar Bank (RBL) to provide the private sector lender with mobile apps to support financial planning, expense calculation, and financial portfolio management. This will enable RBL customers to interact with the bank — through the app, website, at kiosks and branch locations — to manage their accounts and finances, pay bills, transfer funds, open deposit accounts and so on. It will also enable better managed processes for loan origination, regulatory compliance, account opening and credit approvals. With over 900 million and counting mobile subscribers in India, RBL is using the IBM’s MobileFirst platform to build, deploy, manage its apps and integrate with RBL’s core banking system to ensure secure transactions and help the bank improve customer and employee engagement, IBM said in a statement.

Federal Bank launches video conference facility

Federal Bank has launched a video conference facility ‘VConnect’ that enables customers to interact with the bank’s relationship managers face-to-face from any part of the world. VConnect is accessible through the bank’s Web site. The private sector bank, in a statement said, this facility opens up one more touch point for Federal Bank’s customers, especially the NRI clientele, to directly reach out to the bank executives for availing themselves of specialised services on loans, savings, investments and insurance products, and also wealth management and advisory services.

India ranks 136 in World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) 2015

In recently released World Press Freedom Index (WPFI), India was placed at 136th rank out of 180 nations surveyed worldwide in terms of press freedom in 2015. In WPFI 2015, India has shown improvement from its rank of 140 in 2014. However, India’s absolute score has declined from 40.34 to 40.49.

Top 10 countries: Finland (1st), Norway (2nd), Denmark (3rd), Netherlands (4th), Sweden (5th), New Zealand (6th), Austria (7th), Canada (8th), Jamaica (9th), Estonia (10th).

India’s Neighbours: Sri Lanka (165th), Pakistan (159th), Afghanistan (122th), China (176th), Bangladesh (146th).

Exim Bank to provide $22.5 million line of credit to Gambia

Exim Bank will provide a line of credit of USD 22.5 million to Gambia for financing eligible goods, machinery, equipment and services including consultancy services for the greater Banjul area in Gambia. The line of credit (LoC) is for financing electrification expansion project for the greater Banjul area in Gambia.

Indian Navy conducted HADR Exercise

A large scale Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise conducted by Indian Navy in the Lakshadweep Islands (Karavati, Aggatti, Kalpeni and Androth). The Exercise simulated a major cyclone striking the Lakshdweep Islands and disrupting essential services, causing widespread destruction of property, loss of life and dislocation of personnel, and was designed to validate the Indian Navy's capability to provide immediate succor and relief to the affected populace.

Himachal Pradesh government launches Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System Project

Himachal Pradesh government has launched Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) Project in the state. This project will enable the State Police to raise the benchmark of professional efficiency besides catching interstate criminals more quickly. It was launched by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh from State Police Headquarters in Shimla.

CSK moves to new subsidiary of India Cements

Chennai Super Kings, the IPL team fronted by BCCI's president-in-exile N Srinivasan-led India Cements, was transferred to a wholly owned subsidiary named Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd. Earlier on September 26, 2014, the board of directors of the company had approved the proposal to demerge CSK into a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, by transferring its net assets at cost. It had also stated that the effective date of transfer will be January 1, 2015.