Industrial
output rises, but so does retail inflation
Two major data points
released — factory output for January
and retail inflation for February — present a mixed picture of the economy,
complicating things for Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan ahead of the
April 7 monetary policy review. Retail inflation, as measured by a new consumer
price index, rose to a four-month high of 5.37 per cent in February, largely
due to a spike in the prices of vegetables and pulses, official data showed.
CPI-based inflation was at 5.19 per cent in January 2014 and 7.88 per cent the
following month. However, there was positive news on the industrial output
front with the print for January 2015 at 2.6 per cent, higher than the 1.1 per
cent growth in the same month last year.
Nine
dwarf galaxies found orbiting Milky Way
Scientists have found nine new dwarf satellites orbiting the
Milky Way, the largest number ever discovered at once. According to the
University of Cambridge astronomers, three of the discovered objects are
definite dwarf galaxies — small celestial objects that orbit larger galaxies.
The others could be either dwarf galaxies or globular clusters — objects with
similar visible properties to dwarf galaxies, but not held together with dark
matter. The finding could hold the key to understanding dark matter, the
mysterious substance which holds our galaxy together, researchers said. The new
results mark the first discovery of dwarf galaxies in a decade, after dozens
were found in 2005 and 2006 in the skies above the northern hemisphere. The new
satellites were found in the southern hemisphere near the Large and Small
Magellanic Cloud, the largest and most well-known dwarf galaxies in the Milky
Way’s orbit. The newly discovered objects are a billion times dimmer than the
Milky Way, and a million times less massive. The closest is about 95,000 light
years away, while the most distant is more than a million light years away.
Labour ministry agrees
in principle to set up a Workers’ Bank
The labour ministry has, in principle, agreed
with a proposal by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to set up
a Workers’ Bank, which the retirement fund manager says will help it deploy its
corpus profitably. Minister of state for labour and employment ( independent
charge) Bandaru Dattatreya has directed his ministry to form a committee to
explore the proposal in all its dimensions and then take it up with the
department of financial services in the finance ministry. He has also informed
the central board of the EPFO. Dattatreya discussed the issue on Wednesday with
his ministry and EPFO, which functions under the labour ministry. “We have
decided to set up a committee on Workers’ Bank,” Dattatreya said. Both the
labour ministry and EPFO believe that the proposed Workers’ Bank will help it
expand investments, increase earnings and improve subscribers’ engagement with
the organization, which manages a corpus of over Rs.6 trillion and has an
active subscriber base of more than 42 million. Proponents of the Workers’ Bank
say that if the institution materializes, it would handle all EPFO investments
and may help the fund manager invest in the stock market.
RBI
issues new norms on NPA sales
In a boost to banks which are facing rising asset quality
issues, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed such lenders to reverse the
excess provision on sale of bad loans to their profit and loss account provided
the transaction took place before 26 February 2014. The central bank had on the
3 February monetary policy day had said that it would issue the final
guidelines on this front after banks requested it to include the provision to
those sales took place before 26 February 2014 as
well. The move is aimed at incentivizing banks to recover appropriate value in
respect of NPAs (non-performing assets). Almost all the banks, including
private sector players, have been reporting higher NPAs and lower profits as
they have to make more provisions for bad loans, which crossed 5.5% as of
December-end. “We reiterate that banks can reverse excess provision arising out
of sale of NPAs only when the cash received by way of initial consideration
and/or redemption of security receipts/pass through certificates is higher than
the Net Book Value (NBV) of the NPAs sold to a securitisation company or an asset reconstruction
company (RRC),” RBI said in a notification. The notification also said, “The
quantum of excess provision reversed to profit and loss account will be limited
to the extent to which cash received exceeds the NBV of the NPAs sold.” It also
made it mandatory for banks to report the quantum of such excess provision
reversed to the profit and loss account in the financial statements of the bank
under ‘notes to accounts’. Bad loans in public sector banks more than tripled
to about Rs.2.17 trillion in three years to March 2014.
Union
Government launches Pharma Jan Samadhan scheme for redressal of grievances on
drugs pricing
Union Government has
launched Pharma Jan Samadhan scheme, for redressal of grievances of consumers
related to drug pricing and availability of medicines. It was launched by Union
Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Ananth Kumar in New Delhi. The scheme is a
web-enabled system created by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).
It seeks to serve as a robust E-governance tool for protection of interests of
consumers through effective implementation of the price of drugs. The scheme
will provide consumers with an online facility to redress their complaints related
to over-pricing of medicines, non-availability of medicines and refusal of
supply for sale of any medicine without good and sufficient reason. After
receiving the complaint, NPPA will initiate action on any complaint within 48
hrs. The scheme also seeks to create awareness among the people and act as a
deterrent against black-marketing, spurious medicines and inflated cost of
drugs by creating phama-literacy initiative.
Karnataka
lifted eighth Ranji title
Karnataka lifted Ranji
Trophy by defeating Tamil Nadu by an innings and 217 runs on the last day of
the final match at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. Karnataka batsman Karun Nair
won the man-of the-match award for his maiden triple century (338) in
first-class cricket. With this win Karnataka won 8th Ranji title and became the
second most successful team after 40-time champions Mumbai. Karnatka also
became the second team in the Ranji Trophy to defend the title on more than one
occasion. They had retained the title in 1997-98 and 1998-99 in the past.
N
Sakthan elected Kerala Assembly Speaker
Congress legislator and
deputy speaker N Shakthan was elected as the new speaker of the Kerala
Assembly. It was announced by Pro-term Speaker Dominic Presentation. Shakthan
defeated CPI (M) candidate P. Aysha Potty by 74 to 66 votes. N Shakthan will
replace G. Karthikeyan who had died on March 8, 2015. Prior to speaker
election, he had resigned as Deputy Speaker of the Assembly on 10 March 2015.
Indian
Railways inks MoU with LIC for Rs 1.5 lakh crore investments in rail
infrastructure
Indian Railways inked an MoU
with Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to raise Rs 1.5 lakh crore for financing
the development of its various commercially viable infrastructure projects. The
MoU was signed by Financial Commissioner (Railways) Rajalakshmi Ravikumar and
LIC Chairman SK Roy in presence of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the
Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu. State-run insurance giant LIC will provide
a Financial Assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh crore to Indian Railways for developing
infrastructure. From the Financial Year 2015-16 the financial assistance will
be made available by LIC for over a period of 5 years as part of its commercial
decision. The investment will be done in the form of bonds issued by various
railway entities such as Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC). There will
be a 5 year moratorium in interest and loan repayment. The rate will be linked
to 10-year benchmark plus 10 basis points. With the Financial Assistance from
LIC, the cash-strapped Railways will be able to augment its resources for
speedier execution of projects.
Union
Government appoints 9 Executive Directors in Public Sector Banks
Union Government has
appointed 9 Executive Directors (EDs) in Public Sector Banks (PSBs). Their
appointment was approved by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on
recommendation of selection panel headed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
Governor Raghuram Rajan.
Following 9 Executive
Directors (ED) of PSBs were appointed
1. K. Sahoo- ED of Allahabad
Bank.
2. Pawan Kumar Bajaj- ED of
Indian Overseas Bank.
3. Ravi Shankar Pandey- ED
of Syndicate Bank.
4. Kishore Piraji Kharat- ED
of Union Bank of India.
5. C.Lodha- ED of Central
Bank of India.
6. Charan Singh- ED of UCO
Bank
7. Venkata Rama Moorthy- ED
of Bank of Baroda.
8. P. Marathe- ED of Bank of
India.
9. Harideesh Kumar B- ED of
Canara Bank.
Parliament
passes Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015
Parliament has passed
Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015. It was first passed in Lok Sabha on 4
March 2015 and later in Rajya Sabha on 12 March 2015. In both the houses the
bill was passed by voice vote. The amendment bill replaces ordinance
promulgated in this regard and aims to bring improvements and revisions in the
existing laws relating to insurance business in India. The bill also seeks to
remove archaic provisions in previous laws and incorporate modern day practices
of insurance business that are emerging in a changing dynamic environment,
which also includes private participation. The amendment bill hikes Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) cap in the insurance sector to 49 percent from present
26 percent. It also adds provision for the establishment of Life Insurance
Council and the General Insurance Council. These councils will act as
self-regulating bodies for the insurance sector. The bill also grants
permission to PSU general insurers to raise funds from the capital market and
increases the penalty to deter multilevel marketing of insurance products.
IMF
increased India growth forecast to 7.2% for current fiscal
International Monetary Fund
(IMF) has increased India's growth forecast to 7.2% for the current fiscal.
Last year, IMF had projected that India would grow at 5.6 per cent in the
current fiscal, and 6.4 per cent in the next. The new forecasts have taken into
account a revised methodology adopted by India earlier this year for
calculating the GDP figures, about which IMF said that the country has
"improved the way it measures economic output".
Kumar
Sangakkara creates record by scoring four consecutive ODI centuries
Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar
Sangakkara became first batsman to score four consecutive one-day international
(ODI) centuries in a Cricket World Cup. He achieved this feat by hitting 4th
century by scoring 124 runs in a match against Scotland in the Pool A of ICC
Cricket World Cup 2015 in Hobart, New Zealand. Previously, many batsmen had
registered 3 consecutive ODI centuries along with Kumar Sangakkara. They are
Ross Taylor (New Zealand), Quinton de Kock (South Africa), Zaheer Abbas
(Pakistan), Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa), Saeed Anwar (Pakistan), AB de
Villiers (South Africa).
UAE
to host AFC Asian Cup in 2019
United Arab Emirates has won
the bid to host the 17th edition of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian
Cup in 2019. AFC Asian Cup is an
international football tournament which is organised by the Asian Football
Confederation (AFC). The tournament will be held in three cities of UAE; Abu
Dhabi, Dubai and Al-Ain. Earlier, UAE hosted the AFC Asian Cup in 1996, and this will be the
second time when UAE will host the tournament in 2019.
Mr.
Veerappa Moily selected for Saraswati Samman 2014
Senior Congress leader and
Former Union Minister Mr. M. Veerappa Moily will receive the Saraswati Samman
2014 for his Kannada poem ‘Ramayana Mahanveshanam’. The award would make Mr. M.
Veerappa Moily the second Kannada author to receive the honour after S. L.
Bhyrappa (2010). ‘Ramayana Mahanveshanam’ was first published in 2007 in
Kannada and later was translated into English, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. The
poem explores the ‘Ramarajya’ or the true principle of the ‘ideal State’ from a
secular and modern point of view.
Solar
Impulse 2- world’s first solar-powered aircraft on global journey lands in
Ahmedabad
World’s first solar powered
aircraft on global journey- Solar Impulse 2 successfully landed in Ahmedabad,
Gujarat. The aircraft was piloted by Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre
Borschberg from its first halt Muscat, Oman.
Three
French sports personalities died in a helicopter crash in Argentina
Three French sports
personalities are among 10 people killed in a helicopter crash in Argentina.
The incident took place when the two helicopters collided during filming near
Villa Castelli, about 1,170km (720 miles) from Buenos Aires, according to local
officials. In the accident three sports personalities of France died which
included the famed sailor Florence Arthaud, who in 1990 broke the record for
crossing the North Atlantic alone; the swimmer Camille Muffat, who won three
medals at the 2012 Olympics in London; and the boxer Alexis Vastine, who won a
bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
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