Indian soldiers tells Chinese troops to stop incursion, put up barbed wires

Indian soldiers have set up barbed wire obstacles at points where Chinese troops have come a few metres away from their positions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh

Indian soldiers have set up barbed wire obstacles at points where Chinese troops have come a few metres away from their positions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. India has warned against attempts to enter its territory as Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops, armed with medieval-type weapons, have been making multiple attempts to take over Indian-held positions.

Apart from setting obstacles to avoid further escalation at the LAC and dissuade the Chinese side from provocative and aggressive movements, India has also warned it will retaliate if Chinese troops continue to make incursion attempts.

India’s clear message was given when Indian and Chinese military representatives met on Wednesday to amicably de-escalate tension at the LAC in eastern Ladakh, sources said. The meeting, however, remained “inconclusive” and the talks will continue.PLA troops had made an attempt to dislodge Indian soldiers from their positions at the LAC on Monday and warning shots were also fired.

Sources also said that India clearly stated during Wednesday’s meeting that if Chinese troops would carry out provocative military movements, Indian soldiers will retaliate. India had found that China started fresh build up at the finger area north of Pangong Tso (lake). The deployments of PLA troops have increased since Tuesday evening. They are also bringing in more material and logistics items…Read More

PM Modi to hold review meeting with banks, his first since Covid outbreak

Agenda not known yet, but meeting via video conferencing likely to be on credit flow especially to MSMEs

Current Affairs: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold a meeting with the chief executives of state-owned and private banks on Wednesday. This is the first meeting that the Prime Minister (PM) is going to hold with the brass of financial institutions after the Covid-19 pandemic. The meeting will be held through video conferencing, a bank executive said.

“The agenda of the meeting hasn’t been circulated yet. But it is expected that the PM will discuss credit flow to the economy, especially the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and map the progress of the government’s Covid-19 package,” another bank executive said, requesting anonymity.

A finance ministry official said that the announcements of the government so far relied heavily on restarting economic activities with the help of financial institutions and the PM wants to take stock of the progress. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is also expected to attend the meeting. Apart from major public sector banks, top executives of some private lenders such as Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and the Indian Banks’ Association are also expected to be present in the meeting on Wednesday.

RBI rejects merger of lndiabulls Housing Finance with Lakshmi Vilas Bank

The bank had sought approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on May 7, 2019

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday rejected the proposed amalgamation of lndiabulls Housing Finance and Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB), two weeks after the banking regulator initiated prompt corrective action (PCA) against the Chennai-based bank.

The RBI said the application for the voluntary amalgamation of lndiabulls Housing Finance (IBHFL)  and its subsidiary lndiabulls Commercial Credit with LVB could not be approved. LVB officials declined to comment on the matter.

IBHFL in its statement to the stock exchanges said, “Now that the merger will not happen with Lakshmi Vilas Bank, the uncertainty of the last five months on the business is lifted and the company will focus on its growth of the core business of housing finance.”

IBHFL also said it was considering a buyback of equity shares of the company, for which it has called a board meeting on October 14. “The company upon buyback of securities will have a ratio of aggregate of secured and unsecured debts to the paid-up capital and free reserves of not more than 6:1 on standalone and consolidated basis,” the statement said…

Rising food cost may push August retail inflation to 5-month high: Reuters poll

 But rising price to complicate RBI's policy path as economic growth cooled to a three-year low in Q2

 

India's retail inflation is expected to have picked up to a five-month high in August, largely driven by higher food costs, a Reuters poll showed, easing pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut interest rates again after poor growth data.

Consumer prices were forecast up at 3.20 per cent in August from a year ago, jumping from July's 2.36 per cent, according to the poll taken September 5-8 of nearly 40 economists.

Forecasts for the data, scheduled to be released on September 12 at 1200 GMT, ranged from 2.50 per cent to 3.55 per cent.(economy news)

If the consensus is met, it would be the highest since April, but below the RBI's medium-term target of 4.0 per cent for the tenth consecutive month.

Tushar Arora, economist at HDFC Bank, said food prices continue to rise in August, mainly driven up by "unfavorable weather conditions and supply chain constraints."

Food and beverage inflation, which accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the consumer price index basket was expected to have rebounded in August after prices fell in the three previous months .

Monsoon rains this year have caused damages to crops of some perishable food items and hindered movement of goods.

The resulting hit from a shortage of production and supply of vegetables such as tomatoes and onions - which are basic ingredients in Indian kitchens - suggests inflation will be elevated in coming months....READ MORE

Demonetisation: RBI will give junked notes' figure after counting, says FM

Arun Jaitley says final figures will come out once the fake notes were weeded out

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Tuesday said the RBI is in the process of counting scrapped currency notes and will come out with the final figures once the fake notes were weeded out.
Answering oft-repeated questions over the issue, he said in the Lok Sabha that the Reserve Bank had received the last tranche of scrapped currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 only in July and the central bank would take time in counting the billions of notes.

Economy News policy

On November 8 last year, the government had scrapped high denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 which amounted to around 86 per cent of the currency in circulation.
Replying to a discussion on supplementary demands for grants in the Lok Sabha, Jaitley said one of the major benefits of demonetisation was squeezing of funds for terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and naxalites in Chhattisgarh.

On questions regarding the amount of scrapped currency deposited back in the banks, the finance minister said, "Today they (RBI) have to count every currency note. They have to take the fake currency out...That exercise the RBI is taken to a very advanced level."

The minister said since March demands were being raised for disclosure of the amount of scrapped currency deposited in the banks but it can not be done over night.

"...I am hearing that argument 'tell us the currency'. Please study the subject closely. And therefore as soon as they (RBI) complete this exercise, the figure will be placed by them before the country along with the figure of fake currency," he added.....(READ MORE)

Jan Dhan deposits touch Rs 64,564 cr; Rs 300 cr added during demonetisation

PSBs account for Rs 50,800 cr, rural banks for Rs 11,683 cr, private banks for Rs 2,080 cr

 

Deposits in Jan Dhan accounts have touched a new high of Rs 64,564 crore, of which over Rs 300 crore came in the first seven months of demonetisation, according to government data.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet scheme, aims at bringing hitherto unbanked areas and people under a formal banking system. Bank accounts can be opened with a zero balance under the PMJDY.

Finance ministry data, accessed through a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by a PTI correspondent, show that there were about 28.9 crore PMJDY accounts on June 14 this year.(economy policy)

Of these, 23.27 crore accounts were with public sector banks, 4.7 crore with regional rural banks and 92.7 lakh with private ones.

These accounts together have deposits of Rs 64,564 crore, the Finance Ministry data show. Public sector banks account for Rs 50,800 crore, regional rural banks for Rs 11,683.42 crore and private banks, Rs 2,080.62 crore.

On November 16, 2016, there were 25.58 crore PMJDY accounts with an aggregate deposit of Rs 64,252.15 crore, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar had told the Lok Sabha.

Thus, between November 16 last year and June 14 this year, Rs 311.93 crore had been added to Jan Dhan accounts.

The PM had on November 8 last year announced the demonetisation of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee notes.

Following reports of alleged misuse of Jan Dhan accounts to convert black money into white after the note ban, the government had warned people that they would be penalised if they indulged in such activities.

In a press release issued on November 18, the government had said, "There are some reports received that some people are using other persons' bank accounts to convert their black money into new denomination notes."

This, it had said, had also been reported in Jan Dhan accounts.

The government had said such activities could attract penalty if it was established that the amount deposited in the account did not belong to the account holder.

"Also the person who allows his or her account to be misused for this purpose can be prosecuted for abetment under the Income Tax Act," it had said.

Alongside other facilities, PMJDY accounts also allow an overdraft facility of up to Rs 5,000 in one account per household, preferably held by a woman member.