EPFO paid ₹8,200 crore as monthly pension in 2015-16

The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) disbursed ₹8,200 crore as monthly pension and ₹47,630 crore as member benefits in 2015-16.

• The retirement fund body, however, said while seeding data, a mismatch between EPF and Aadhaar data in respect of date of birth and name of pensioner was noticed in certain cases.
• It has, therefore, advised members to either correct their details provided to EPFO offices or those given in Aadhaar, whichever is correct.

Axis Bank appoints Sanjiv Misra as chairman

Private sector lender Axis Bank has appointed Sanjiv Misra as independent director and non-executive chairman for five years with effect from May 12, 2016.

• It is for the first time, the chairman is being appointment by the bank and not nominated by SUUTI (Specified Undertaking of the UTI) which has more than 11 per cent stake in Axis Bank.
• This follows a change made in the Articles of Association (AoA) of the bank.
• The bank also elevated Rajesh Dahiya and Rajiv Anand as executive directors. 
• They will be on the board of the bank.

Axis Bank :

Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra

(MD & CEO)- Shikha Sharma 

RBI issues norms for branch offices by foreign entities

The Reserve Bank on 13 May said that entities from Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and four other regions will require its prior approval to establish branch office or project office in India. 

• Other countries and regions are Sri Lanka, Afghanistan,Iran and Hong Kong or Macau, RBI said while releasing guidelines for foreign entities to open a branch office (BO) or a liaison office (LO) or a project office (PO) in India. 
• Permission of RBI will also be required for opening a BO/LO/PO in Jammu and Kashmir, North East region and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
•  The approval is also required if the applicant is a Non-Government Organisation (NGO), a Non-Profit Organisation, or a Body/ Agency/ Department of a foreign government. 
• It will also be needed if the principal business of the applicant falls in the four sectors — defence, telecom, private security and information and broadcasting.

Mauritius investors to be taxed from Apr 2017

 The government has gained the right to tax capital gains arising in Mauritius from sale of shares acquired on or after April 1, 2017, in Indian companies.

•  India and Mauritius signed a protocol for amendment of a three-decade-old double taxation avoidance agreement. 
• The agreement was signed in Port Louis.

RBI to issue Rs 1000 banknotes with inset letter ‘R

 The Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue Rs 1000 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 with the inset letter ‘R’ in both the number panels. 

• The banknotes will also have on the obverse, all the other security features, including ascending size of numerals, bleed lines and enlarged identification mark as well as the signature of Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan, Governor, Reserve Bank of India. 
• These banknotes will also have the year of printing ‘2016’ printed on the reverse.

Nagaland’s SMS-based Vehicle Monitoring Service bags award

The SMS-based Vehicle Monitoring System of Nagaland police has bagged the National Award for Smart Policing instituted by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). 

• The award for the Best Practice in the category of Road Safety and Traffic Management was presented to Nagaland Police by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary at a function in New Delhi. 

UN launches Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Zika virus response

 

The United Nations has launched UN Zika Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) to finance critical unfunded priorities in the response to the Zika outbreak. 

• The fund was launched by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN Headquarters in New York, United States.
•  It aims to provide a rapid, flexible and accountable platform to support a coordinated response from the UN system and partners.
•  It will directly support the Zika Strategic Response Framework developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in consultation with UN agencies, partners and international epidemiological experts.

IDBI Bank opens IFSC Banking Unit at GIFT City

Public sector lender, IDBI Bank announced opening of its IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) at India’s first and only International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec – City (GIFT) near Gandhinagar.

• The bank informed that it became the first Public Sector bank to start functions in GIFT-IFSC. 
• The IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) allows IDBI Bank to deliver a complete range of products to its clients with foreign currency funding requirements.

Projects worth Rs. 2446 Crore approved under Namami Gange Programme

Giving a major fillip to Namami Gange programme the Empowered Steering Committee (ESC) of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) has approved projects for Development of Ghats and crematoria in the stretch from Haridwar to Uttarakhand Border in Uttarakhand, Garhmukteshwar in UP, Buxar, Hajipur and Sonepur of Bihar, Sahibganj, Rajmahal and Kanhaiya Ghat of Jharkhand and Delhi and afforestation along the banks of river Ganga. 

• The total estimated cost of the projects is Rs. 2446 crore. 

SBI launches card-less payment solution for offline transactions

 

State Bank of India, the country’s largest public sector bank, has launched a mobile payment solution that will enable customers to make digital payments at offline stores by scanning a QR (quick response) code on their smartphones.

•  The service has been launched in Bengaluru with a sizable number of merchants and will soon expand into other cities. 
• Dubbed mVisa, the solution is a card-less way for customers to pay for goods at offline stores, and will be available to all SBI credit card, debit card and net banking users. 
• The solution which is bank agnostic will be accessible to customers through the company’s SBI Anywhere app.

Kotak Mahindra Bank opens IFSC banking unit at GIFT City

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd became the fourth bank to open its IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) at India’s first and only International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) City.

• The private sector banking and financial major offers a range of financial services, including transaction banking.
•  At IBU, the bank expects a balance sheet of $one billion in the next three years.

Union Cabinet approves India-UAE currency swap agreement

The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on co-operation concerning currency swap agreement.

•  Decision in this regard was taken at the Union Cabinet Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. 
• The Agreement was signed in February, 2016 during the official state visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India.

About the Agreement :

• The MoU commits that RBI and Central Bank of UAE will consider signing a bilateral Currency Swap Agreement on mutually agreed terms and conditions.
•  The agreement will be signed after undertaking technical deliberations, subject to the concurrence of respective Governments. 
• The MoU will help to further strengthen the close economic cooperation and relationship between India and UAE. 
• The swap agreement is also expected to facilitate invoicing of bilateral trade in local currencies. 

EPFO launches One Employee-One EPF Account drive

Employees' Provident Fund organisation , EPFO has launched a special drive to encourage EPF members to consolidate their multiple accounts. 

• The members whose accounts are scattered face many inconveniences such as approaching multiple employers located at multiple locations for settlement of claims.
• The initiative of launching the Mission consolidation One Member One EPF Account is a step towards encouraging EPF members to access enhanced IT enabled services through Universal Account Number that are linked with Aadhaar.
• This drive will result in EPF members having just one EPF account and multiple conveniences. The success of this drive will not only reduce the burden of members but would also result in ease of work for EPF employees.

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation :

• The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), is a statutory body of the Government of India under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
•  It administers a compulsory contributory Provident Fund Scheme, Pension Scheme and an Insurance Scheme. 
• It is also the nodal agency for implementing Bilateral Social Security Agreements with other countries on a reciprocal basis.

CBEC launches mobile application for baggage rules information

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has launched mobile app “Indian Customs- Guide to Travellers” for dissemination of information about Customs Baggage Rules, 2016. 

• The application has been launched to inform traders, exporters and importers about Customs Baggage Rules, 2016. 

About the Rule :

•  It has been developed by Bengaluru Customs and is available on Android Play store, Apple Store and Windows Store. 
• The app serves as a useful tool for quick and effective dissemination of information about baggage rules and entitlements. 
• It is user friendly and serves to clarify doubts and concern of International passengers and also ensure better compliance. 
• The CBEC is the nodal national agency under the aegis of Union Finance Ministry responsible for administering customs, central excise, service tax and narcotics in India.

 Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) :

• The Central Board of Excise and Custom is the nodal national agency responsible for administering Customs, Central Excise, Service Tax & Narcotics in India.

J&K Govt approves 5% interest subsidy for flood-hit traders

 Jammu and Kashmir government on 27 April 2016 approved five percent interest subvention to flood-hit traders with effect from 1 April 2016.

•  The decision will bring a major relief to September 2014 flood hit traders and business units. 
• The interest subsidy will have a cap of five lakh rupees per unit for a period of four years, that is, up to 31 December 2020. 
• The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in Jammu.

Jammu and Kashmir :

Capital -Jammu (October–March) ,Srinagar (March–October)

Districts-  22

Government-

 • Governor- Narinder Nath Vohra

 • Chief Minister-  Mehbooba Mufti (PDP)

 • Deputy Chief Minister -  Nirmal Kumar Singh (BJP)

 • Legislature -  Bicameral (87 + 36 seats)

 • Parliamentary constituency- Rajya Sabha 4,  Lok Sabha 6

Area rank-  5th

Population  Rank -  19th

Experian India launches new fraud solution for banking and insurance

 Experian, the global information services company, launched the ‘Hunter Fraud Score’, a new scoring mechanism that measures the probability of fraud in a credit application across banking and insurance industries.

•  The new score will help retail finance providers and insurance companies in India significantly increase their efficiency in fraud detection.
•  Businesses will be able to identify applications that should be screened for potential fraud, and prioritise those that have a high probability of being fraudulent. 
• This will enable them to potentially lower their fraud losses and focus on approving applications from genuine customers.
• Hunter prevents application fraud by matching credit application data against multiple data sources, including the shared fraud data. It comprises several rules that work towards identifying inconsistencies in credit applications.
• The suspicious applications are moved into the investigation tool for further analysis and action.

DBS Bank rolls out mobile-only bank in India

DBS Bank launched a ‘mobile-only bank’ in India. 

• The ‘digibank’ uses technologies, such as biometrics and artificial intelligence, to enable paperless, signature-less and branchless bank.
• The bank will leverage biometrics-enabled ID and Aadhaar card to ensure that that there is no paperwork.
•  It will provide customer service via a 24x7 artificial intelligence-driven virtual assistant, which understands natural language and has learning ability, so that it is able to respond in real-time.
• The digital bank will also have an intuitive budget optimiser that will help customers do their budgeting, track expenses and analyse purchasing trends.
•  The function is smart enough to understand customer behaviour and preferences, synthesise data, and provide recommendations. 
• It also has embedded soft token security, avoiding the need to wait for SMS to arrive.
• Account-holders will have no minimum balance requirements, earn 7 per cent interest for accounts opened on digibank and can avail themselves of free cash withdrawals at over 200,000 ATMs nationwide.
•  The account will also provide a physical debit card which can be used across all Visa-enabled online and point-of-sale transactions, as well as overseas.
• DBS India accounts for around 5 per cent of the bank’s global book.

New Zealand's 'stunning' $5 bill named best banknote of the year

New Zealand’s five-dollar ($5) polymer note has been named the banknote of the year for 2015, a “clear winner” among nearly 40 eligible designs from a record 20 countries.

•  The honour is awarded every year by the International Bank Note Society. 
• To be eligible, a banknote must have been issued for the first time during the year of the award, and be in general circulation.
•  It is assessed for its “artistic merit and/or innovative security features”, including use of colour, contrast and balance. 
• Scotland’s Clydesdale Bank five-pound note, Sweden’s 20 kronor note, Russia’s 100 rouble note, and Kazakhstan’s 20,000 tenge note were named as runners-up. 
• The Reserve Bank of New Zealand released the new $5 and $10 notes in October as part of its Brighter Money range. 
• The $5 shows mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary facing the South Island’s Aoraki/Mount Cook, and, on the other side, a rare yellow-eyed penguin and local flora.

Union Railway Ministry to set up Rs 1 lakh crore Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh

The Union Railway Ministry has decided to create a 1 lakh crore rupees safety fund named Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh to strengthen safety measures on the rail network to prevent accidents

• It was announced by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in the Lok Sabha while replying to a debate on Demands for Grants for Railways for 2016-17.
• In this regard Union Railway Ministry has forwarded a proposal to the Union Finance Ministry for approval.

Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh :

• The Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh will be a non-lapsable fund which will be utilised for safety measures.
• The fund will help Indian Railways to accomplish its zero-accident mission by strengthening the safety measures on the rail network in a comprehensive way.

Govt to sell 11.36% stake in NHPC

The government will kick-start its Rs 56,500-crore disinvestment programme on 27 April when it will sell 11.36 per cent stake in power producer NHPC through an offer-for-sale issue, which is likely to fetch the exchequer Rs 2,700 crore. 

• The government holds 85.96 per cent in NHPC and selling 11.36 per cent would help it comply with minimum public shareholding norms of 75 per cent sovereign holding in state-owned companies. 
• The NHPC stake sale will be one of the first tasks for the newly renamed Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). The government has already lined up over a dozen PSUs for stake sale in the current financial year.
• Out of the total disinvestment target of Rs 56,500 crore, Rs 36,000 is expected to come from 5-15 per cent stake sales in PSUs while the rest is expected from strategic sales of companies or their assets.

NHPC :

• NHPC Limited (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation) is an Indian Hydropower generation company that was incorporated in the year 1975