ECONOMY

1. Corporation Bank launched group credit life insurance scheme of LIC in Mangaluru.

2. First Solar Power India started operations of 80 MW and 50 MW solar power plants in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, as part of its 260 MW project portfolio in India.

3. A travel insurance cover of up to Rs10 lakh can be availed while booking a train ticket online by paying Just 92 Paise, from 31 August.

4. Adani Power will supply 1600¬Mw power to Bangladesh from its plant coming up in Godda district. As per Jharkhand state’s policy, any company setting up power project has to supply 25 % power to the state.

5. As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s annual report 2015¬-16, India’s GDP growth forecast for FY 17 is 7.6 %.

6. Bank of Baroda tied up with fintech start¬up Fisdom for personal wealth management services.

7. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) signed MoU with Microsoft India to offer telecom and IT solutions for big businesses.

8. Bihar State Legislature has unanimously ratified the The Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 for introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in the country. Assam was first to ratify GST.

9. Central Government will provide Special Assistance of Rs.1,976.50 crore to Andhra Pradesh during 2016¬17.

10. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) appointed Olympic silver medallist P. V. Sindhu as its honorary commandant and brand ambassador.

11. Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) selected four investment banks (Nomura, SBI Caps, ICICI Securities and IDBI Capital) for proposed share sale in HUDCO (Housing & Urban Development Corporation Limited).

12. Federal Bank became first private bank to start distributing gold coins made by Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTCI). Gold coins are of 24 karat purity, 999 fineness and has National Emblem of Ashok Chakra engraved on one side and face of M K Gandhi.

13. Federal Bank partnered with Chillr mobile banking application that connects directly to a person’s bank account and enables instant money transfers, bill payments and e¬commerce payments in a very secure manner.

14. GAIL India signed MoU with California (USA) based Bloom Energy for developing natural gas¬based fuel cell power generation.

15. Germany to provide EUR 3,000,000 (22.6 Crores INR) funds for enhancing collaboration with India in area of skill development, as per an agreement between Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India and German International Cooperation (GIZ). This new project aims to foster conditions which will help create and improve cooperativeworkplace¬based vocational training in India’s industrial clusters.

16. Government announced that Non¬Performing Assets (NPA) of commercial banks have increased by around 4% between March 2015 to March 2016 (5.43 % in March 2015 to 9.32 % in March 2016). NPA amounts are related to 417 stalled infrastructure projects where public sector banks have invested is over 66478 crore rupees.

17. Government approved dissolve Central Inland Water Transport Corporation Limited (CIWTC) as it has been incurring losses due to inherent limitation and infrastructure bottle necks and never could become viable company, since its founding in Feb 1967.

18. Government approved investments of over 27,000 crores in new highways and railway lines across the country to boost economic growth.

19. Government approved liberalization of foreign investment norms for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to improve ease of doing business. Foreign investment in NBFCs can now come under automatic route provided they are regulated by any of financial sector regulators (RBI, SEBI, PFRDA etc.). Agencies not under these regulators will need approval from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

20. Government approved scheme for grant of Permanent Residency Status (PRS) to foreign investors to encourage foreign investment in India.PRS will be granted for a period of 10 years with multiple entry and foreign investor will have to invest at least 10 crore over 18 months or 25 crore in 36 months and generate employment for minimum 20 Indians every year.

21. Government has set an inflation target of 4 % for upto March 31, 2021. Government will soon set¬up Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to adhere to the target till March 31, 2021. This target was fixed after Government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reached an agreement on a monetary policy framework.

22. Government has set target to roll out Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 1st April 2017. Note that Rajya Sabha had recently passed Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill 2014, paving way for GST implementation. There will be two components of GST ¬ Central GST (CGST) and State GST (SGST). Centre and States have authority to simultaneously levy GST across the value chain. States will levy and collect State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) on alltransactions within a State and Centre will levy and collect Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST).

Benefits ¬

• For business and industry

• Uniformity of tax rates and structures ¬ GST will ensure that indirect tax rates and structures are uniform across country. Thereby it will increase certainty and ease of doing business.

• Removal of cascading ¬ GST will ensure minimal cascading of taxes (i.e. tax on tax).

• Easy compliance ¬ GST regime will have a robust and comprehensive IT system. Therefore, all tax payer services such as registrations, payments, returns, etc. will be available to the taxpayers online.

• Improved competitiveness ¬ Reduced transaction costs of doing business wil limprove competitiveness for trade.

• Gain to manufacturers and exporters ¬ GST will reduce cost of locally manufactured goods and services, thus increasing competitiveness of Indian goods and services in international market and giving boost to Indian exports.

For Central and State Governments

• Simple and easy to administer ¬ GST will replace multiple indirect taxes into single regime, backed with a robust end¬to¬end IT system.

• Better controls on leakage ¬ Better IT infrastructure of GST regime will result in better tax compliance that will curb leakages and incentivize tax compliance by traders.

• Higher revenue efficiency ¬ GST will lead to higher revenue efficiency as it is expected to decrease cost of collection of tax revenues.

For consumers

• Single and transparent tax proportionate to value of goods and services ¬ Under GST regime, there will be only one tax from manufacturer to consumer. Thus, it will lead to transparency of taxes paid by final consumer.

• Relief in overall tax burden ¬ overall tax burden on most commodities will come down.

23. Government will ban cash transactions over Rs 3 lakh to help stop flow of black money in economy, following recommendations from Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team.

24. Govt imposed penalty of USD 380 million (approx 3500 crores) on Reliance Industries for producing less than targeted natural gas from KG¬D6 fields. Total penalty for missing target in 5 fiscal years beginning April 1, 2010, now is USD 2.76 billion.

25. Hindustan Copper Limited inaugurated India's first facility to produce nickel. The new facility ¬ Nickel, Copper, and Acid Recovery Plant is located at Indian Copper Complex (ICC) at Ghatshila in Jharkhand.

Capacity of this plant is initially 50 tonnes per annum and Annual demand for pure nickel in India is around 45,000 tonnes.

26. ICICI Bank announced 0.05% reduction in its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR). Overnight MCLR will be 8.90% under revised rate structure.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced MCLR from April 1 this year for faster transmission of its policy actions into actual lending rates by banks. MCLR replaced base rate system.

27. ICICI Bank launched Asia’s first payment service iMobile SmartKeys using a smartphone keyboard to make mobile payments easier.

28. IRDAI imposed Rs 35 lakh fine on Bharti AXA General Insurance Company for violation of various norms including outsourcing activities and corporate governance guidelines.

29. India Based Online Advertising Firm Media.net has been accquired by China based Beijing Miteno Communication Technology for $900 Million (Approx 5800 Crores Rupees). Media.net was founded by serial entrepreneur Divyank Turakhia (Age 34).

30. India Post Payments Bank Limited received Certificate of Incorporation from Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Corporate Affairs under Companies Act 2013. This would be first PSU under Department of Posts. Department of Posts is expected to complete roll out of its branches all over country by September 2017.

31. India successfully test fired its futuristic Scramjet Rocket Engine using oxygen from atmosphere that could cut cost of the launches several fold and help in Indian Space Research  Organisation’s bid to design advanced air breathing engines. India is fourth country to demonstrate flight testing of Scramjet Engine after the US, Russia and European Space Agency.

32. India's first Nuclear Suppliers' insurance policy for Right to Recourse has been unveiled by India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP).

• INIP is 27th global nuclear insurance pool which was launched by General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) in association with New India Assurance Co (NIAC). Indian Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP) of 1,500 crore rupees was launched as per mandatory

• provision under Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLND), 2010. The pool provides capacity for insurance coverage to operators and suppliers for any nuclear liability towards third party.

33. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) tied up with mobile wallet company MobiKwik, to enable railway passengers to make e¬cash payments on IRCTC’s e¬catering app “Food on Track”.

34. India’s economic growth decelerated to 7.1 % in First quarter of FY 2016 ¬ 17. It is less as compared to 7.5 % in same quarter last year and much lesser than 7.9 % achieved in preceding Quarter (Jan ¬ Mar 2016).

• However, boost from agriculture sector on account of a normal monsoon after two consecutive drought years and a push to

• urban consumption from the pay hike to government employees are will push growth in the remaining quarters of 2016¬17.

35. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (Mumbai) signed an ECB (External Commercial Borrowings) agreement of USD 400 Million with State Bank of India and Development Bank of Singapore, to be uutilised for expanding network of roads that connect to its port projects and other aspects.

36. Jharkhand became first state to have implemented Public Fund Management System (PFMS).

• Public Financial Management System (PFMS) also known as Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System (CPSMS) is aimed at tracking fund disbursement from Government to various levels down below under all Plan Schemes till last level of utilization and ultimately report utilization on a real time basis.

• PFMS is a Central Sector Plan Scheme of the Planning Commission (NITI Aayog) and is implemented by Controller General of Accounts.

37. Kerala government approved new debt relief scheme for low income and poor people who face threat of revenue recovery proceedings after they fail to repay loans from various institutions under he government. The scheme will cause burden of Rs 40 crore and will benefit over 10,000 persons.

38. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) approved wage hike for Artisans as 5.50 rupees instead of 4 rupees per hank with an additional 10 % Market Development Assistance.

39. Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) made Flipkart’s mobile site available in its mobile banking app to gives customer a secure in¬app shopping environment.

40. Kotak Mahindra Bank started an ‘Innovation Lab’ in Bengaluru to tap into best technology that impacts its operations, and is open to investing in startups.

41. Madhya Pradesh and Union Territory (UT) of Puducherry joined Ujwal Discom Assurance scheme that will save the state Rs 17,515 crore and for the UT it is expected to be around Rs.72crore. Total number of states / UTs under UDAY has now risen to 16.

42. Mahindra Intertrade signed partnership agreement with MSTC (a Government enterprise), to set¬up country's first integrated auto recycling facility.

43. Media Firm Zee Entertainment Enterprise (ZEEL) sold its sports channel Ten Sports to Sony Pictures Networks for a $385¬ million (about Rs 2,579 crore) all cash deal.

44. Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley launched 2 initiatives of Ministry of MSME ¬ MSME Databank Portal (http://www.msmedatabank.in ) and Online Finance Facilitation Web Portal, during 14th Meet of National Board of MSME.

• Databank will save efforts and money required for physical Census.

• Databank will be used for public procurement purposes and PSUs will make use of data for procuring from MSMEs.

• Objective of databank is to be source of information of MSMEs of India, including their credit and technology, requirement in terms of raw material and marketing, etc.

45. Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises launched a performance and credit rating scheme to assess creditworthiness of industries os MSMEs. Performance and Credit Rating Scheme will provide trusted third party opinion to create awareness about strengths and weaknesses of enterprises.

46. Ministry of Urban Development approved investment of 4404 crores for augmenting water supply, drainage and transport in urban areas in 8 States / UTs under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). States are ¬ Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana,Haryana, Nagaland, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

47. MobiKwik announced partial payment system for ticket reservation and cash pick up for bus tickets booking, further simplifying user's journey. Mobikwik also announced raising $40 mn from South African payment firm Net1.

48. NLC limited (Neyveli Lignite Corporation) will add over 6,821 megawatt (Mw) of power with investment of Rs 27,740 crores.

49. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) sanctioned loan of Rs 204.67 crore under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for rural infrastructure in Haryana for projects including a 10 MW solar plant at Panipat thermal power station.

50. National Payments Corporation of India launched pilot project for Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) with 26 Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units. In first phase, BBPS will cover repetitive payments for everyday utility services such as electricity, water, gas, telephone and direct¬to¬home (DTH). Later, BBPS would link all major billers with all their consumers which will simplify bill payments electronically.

51. Odisha Cabinet approved Odisha Startup Policy 2016 to promote entrepreneurship for start¬up ventures with provision of government incentives.

52. Oracle collaborated with State Bank of India (SBI) and launched 'D¬Change' programme which will support education and learning, women's empowerment and rural skills development in India.

53. Parliament passed Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws Amendment Bill 2016, seeking to strengthen debt recovery laws, improve financial health of the banks and lead to ease of doing business. The Bill seeks to amend four laws ¬

• Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002

• Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act (RDDBFI), 1993

• Depositories Act, 1996

• Indian Stamp Act, 1899.

Amendments to SARFAESI Act ¬

• It allows District Magistrate (DM) to take possession over collateral within 30 days for securing the creditors and empowers DM to assist banks to take over the management of a company, in case the company is unable to repay loans.

• It creates a central database to integrate records of property registered under various registration systems with a central registry. Unless collateral is registered with the central registry, secured creditors will not be able to take possession over it.

• Empowers RBI to carry out audit and inspection of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) and penalize them if they fail to comply with any directions issued by it.

• No Stamp duty on transactions for transfer of financial assets (loans and collaterals) in favour of asset reconstruction companies.

Amendments to RDDBFI Act

• Increases retirement age of Presiding Officers (PO) of Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) to 65 years from 62 years.

• Increases the retirement age of Chairpersons of Appellate Tribunals to 67 years from 65 years.

• Allows PO and Chairpersons eligible for reappointment to their positions.

• Allows banks to file cases in tribunals having jurisdiction over area of bank branch where the debt is pending.

54. Power Ministry launched ‘e¬Trans’ & ‘DEEP’ e¬bidding web portals for electronic bidding and e¬reverse auction of tariff¬based electricity transmission projects, developed by Rural Electrification Corporation Transmission Projects Company Limited (RECTPCL). These portals seek to enhance transparency in power transmission sector.

• e¬Trans ¬ A Web platform for e¬bidding and e¬reverse auction for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) in transmission projects.

• DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) e¬Bidding portal ¬ will provide a common e¬bidding platform with e¬reverse auction facility to facilitate nation¬wide power procurement through a wider network in order to bring transparency in power procurement.

• TARANG Mobile Application and portal ¬ ‘TARANG’ (Transmission App for Real Time Monitoring and Growth) Mobile Application and portal will be used to monitor execution of under construction power transmission projects.

55. Ptc India Financial Services (PFS) tied up with banks that will provide loans to companies engaged in renewable energy (RE) production.

56. Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal launched mobile app 'Kisan Suvidha' to provide basic information on weather updates, crop prices and expert advices to farmers.

57. RBI introduced a policy of 'zero liability' for customers in third¬party frauds if they are reported within 3 days. RBI announced it after being Concerned over rise in complaints about unauthorized electronic transactions. In cases where victim notifies fraud between 4 to 7 days, liability will be capped at Rs 5,000.

58. RBI will transfer to central government its surplus profit of Rs 65,876 crore which is little lower than amount given last year.

59. Reliance Cement Company Private Limited accquired by Birla Corporation Limitedfor 4800 crore rupees or 140 US dollars per tonne.

60. Reliance General Insurance Company signed a bancassurance tie¬up with Shamrao Vithal Co¬operative Bank (SVCB).

61. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked banks to provide loans to women self¬help groups (SHGs) in rural areas at 7 % per annum.

62. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked banks to provide loans up to Rs 3 lakh at 7 % interest rate to Women Self¬Help Group (SHG). This loan scheme must be provided under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM)¬Aajeevika scheme during 2015¬16.

63. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched Portal at sachet.rbi.org.in to curb illegal and unauthorised pooling of funds by unscrupulous firms. It will help people obtain information about entities allowed to collect deposits.

64. Reserve Bank of India imposed penalties of Rs 5 lakh each on 2 cooperative banks in Chhattisgarh ¬ Zila Sahakari Kendriya Bank Maryadit Raipur and Raipur Urban Mercantile Cooperative Bank Limited.

65. Second 1000 MW capacity reactor of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) synchronised to southern power grid. It  marks generation of electricity and its supply to the grid by second reactor of KKNPP. Plant had attained criticality in July 2016.

• With this, atomic power generation capacity of Nuclear Power Corp of India (NPCIL) crossed 5000 MW.

66. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) told Supreme Court that Ponzi schemes are not under its purview and the respective State Governments are law enforcement agencies in regard of Ponzi Schemes.

• Earlier, Supreme court had asked government and SEBI about what they were doing to curb the menace of ponzi schemes as such schemes are robbing small investors of their money. PIL was filed by NGO ‘Humanity Salt Lake’.

• As per SEBI, Ponzi schemes do not fall under regulatory purview of SEBI and state government concerned is enforcement agency. They are banned under Prize Chit and Money Circulation (Banning) Act, 1978. Though it is a Central Act but respective State governments are enforcement agency of this law. SEBI mentioned that only Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) are under its jurisdiction.

67. South Indian Bank and SBI Card announced launch of co¬branded credit cards on VISA platform ¬ South Indian Bank Platinum SBI Card and South Indian Bank SimplySAVE SBI Card.

68. State Bank of India (SBI) board approved merger of five SBI associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) with itself.

• Banks to be marged are ¬ State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of

• Patiala, State Bank of Travancore and Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

• Merger will create a huge entity with an asset base of 37 lakh crore rupees or over 555 billion US dollars.

• Merged entity will have 22500 branches and 58000 ATMs serving a customer base of over 50 crore.

• Merger will make SBI as one of the top 50 banks in the world as currently no Indian bank features in top 50 banks in world.

69. State Bank of India (SBI) launched cheaper home loan schemes for defence and other government employees with installment tenure extending up to 75 years of age. SBI Privilege Home Loan will be for government employees and SBI Shaurya Home Loan will be for defence personnel.

70. State bank of India and Korea Development Bank signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance business synergies.

71. Supreme Court directed all dealers of Delhi¬NCR to charge 1% Environment Protection Charge on diesel vehicles of engine capacity over 2000 cc. Union Bank of India has been entrusted with duty of collecting this surcharge.

72. Syndicate Bank launched digital transformation program “Project Ananya” to focus on improved customer service and to offer latest in digital banking services.

73. Syndicate Bank launched fund transfer based on ‘Aadhaar Number through NUUP’, using an ordinary mobile phone without internet connection.

74. US multinational banking firm Goldman Sachs predicted Indian economy growth rate at 7.9% in 2016¬17.

75. Vodafone renewed its agreement for IT infrastructure with tech giant IBM for 5 years.

76. Yes Bank launched unified payments interface (UPI) based payments app in partnership with Mobile payments start¬up PhonePe (owned by Flipkart).