GK Monthly Special - July 2014

GK Monthly Special - August 2014 Power Pack

APPOINTMENTS

DD Misra to be ONGC's Director (Human Resource Department). Misra, 56, will be in charge of employee relations for over 33,000 employees of ONGC from August 1.

D Nageswara Rao assumed charge as new Director (Operations) of RINL-Visakhapatnam steel plant on Friday following the superannuation of Umesh Chandra.

Mondelez appoints Chandramouli Venkatesan as MD of India operations.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has a new Chairman in senior IRS officer K V Chowdary.

Citi India announced the appointment of Kartik Kaushik as Consumer Business Manager effective from August 1, 2014.

Bharti Realty has appointed S.K. Sayal as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

The government has appointed Indian Foreign Service officer Dr. Arvind Gupta as Deputy National Security Advisor and Secretary, National Security Council Secretariat for a period of three years.

SAP has appointed Dilipkumar Khandelwal as Managing Director for SAP Labs India.

Lt Gen Philip Campose- a veteran mechanised infantry officer, has taken over as the new Vice Chief of Army Staff succeeding Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, who is now heading the 1.3 million strong force.

Justice Dr. Manjula Chellur was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court .

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik has been given additional charge of Rajasthan in place of Margaret Alva, who completes her tenure .

Aditya Vardhan Agarwal, Director, Emami Group, has been nominated and appointed as the Vice-President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

Arijit Basu has taken over as Managing Director and CEO of SBI Life Insurance, from Atanu Sen, who retired on July 31, 2014.

Ravi Shankar joined infrastructure finance company IDFC as the head of Bharat Banking with effect from August 8, 2014.

Former India cricket captain Kapil Dev will head the Arjuna Awards selection committee for choosing this year's outstanding sportspersons of the country while former hockey skipper Ajitpal Singh is likely to be in charge of selecting the Dronacharya awardees.

Three-time Olympian and former Hockey Captain Ajitpal Singh was selected as the Chairman of the Dronacharya Award Selection Committee on 7 August 2014.

J Ranganayakulu joined capital market regulator SEBI on Tuesday as Executive Director (Legal) for a period of three years.

Ajay Bakshi has been appointed as managing director and CEO of Manipal Health Enterprises (MHE).

Iraqi President Mohammed Fuad Masum named Haider al-Abadi as the new Iraqi Prime Minister.

Senior IRS officer K V Chowdary appointed as new Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

Supreme Court gets four new Judges.Four new judges was sworn-in by the Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha . The new judges are-Senior advocate Uday Umesh Lalit, Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, Justice R. Banumathi, Justice Prafull Chandra Pant.

The Government has appointed R. Amalorpavanathan and H.R.Dave as Deputy Managing Directors of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).

RP Sanjiv Goenka Group has announced the appointment of Vikram Mehra as Managing Director of its company Saregama India Ltd.

H Kumar, who was appointed as the Managing Director of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), by the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on August 7, took charge in Mangalore on August 14.

Online furniture store Urban Ladder has Avinash Shekhar as its Chief Financial Officer with effect from August 1, 2014.

Harish Badami assumed office as CEO and Managing Director of ACC.

The Union Government decided to appoint former RBI governor Bimal Jalan as the head of the Expenditure Management Commission.

FMCG major Colgate Palmolive India today appointed Issam Bachaalani as the Managing Director (MD) of the company for a period of five years with effect from October 1.

Rajni Razdan on 16 August 2014 became the new Chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). She was appointed as Chairperson of UPSC by the President Pranab Mukherjee on 14 August 2014.

Athletics Federation of India President Adille Sumariwala has been appointed the Chef-de-Mission of the Indian contingent for next month’s Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

AIADMK General Secretary and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa named P Venugopal as Parliamentary Party leader following the election of M Thambidurai as Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker.

The Board of Cricket Control India (BCCI) appointed Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri as the Director of Indian Cricket Team on 19 August 2014. The decision came after seeing defeat of Indian Cricket Team in Test series against England.

Senior Congress leader K V Thomas today took over as the new Chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

Thailand coup leader, Army Chief Prayuth Chan-ocha, has been elected Prime Minister of Thailand.

T M Bhasin was elected as Chairman of Indian Banks Association (IBA) . He will be the Chairman of IBA for 2014-15.T M Bhasin is the chairman and managing director of Indian Bank. He replace KR Kamath.

Turkey's ruling party named Finance Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as New Prime Minister of Turkey on 10 August 2014. He will replace Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He will resume office from 28 August 2014.

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd has elevated TVS Krishna Kumar, General Manager (Finance), to the position of Director (Finance).

RN Ravi appointed new chief of Joint Intelligence Committee.

Kalyan Singh has been appointed Governor of Rajasthan

Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala appointed Governor of Karnataka

Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao has been appointed Governor of Maharashtra.

Mridula Sinha appointed Governor of Goa.

Indian – Origin Seema Malhotra was appointed as Shadow Minister in U.K. on 25 August 2014. Seema Malhotra became the first MP from any party to be shadow Minister.

Luggage firm Samsonite International on Wednesday announced elevation of Ramesh Tainwala as its new Chief Executive Officer effective from October 1, 2014.

C.S.Verma was elected as First President of Indian Steel Association (ISA). Other members of the ISA were Sajjan Jindal, Chairman & Managing Director, JSW, Mr. TV Narendran, MD, Tata Steel, , P Madhusudan, CMD, RINL.

Ch Srinivasa Rao has been appointed as Director of Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) in Hyderabad.

Noted writer and senior BJP leader Mridula Sinha was today sworn-in as Governor of Goa, following the resignation of B V Wanchoo.

RESIGNATIONS/RETIREMENTS

Deputy National Security Adviser Nehchal Sandhu resigned. His resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 31 July 2014.

Sayeeda Warsi, the Foreign Office minister of Britain resigned from the government on 5 August 2014 in protest of Britain’s policy on Gaza.

Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India removed Kamla Beniwal the Governor of Mizoram on 6 August 2014. She was removed two months before her tenure was supposed to end.

Miroslav Klose of Germany announced retirement from International Football. He was the part of Germany team that won the FIFA World Cup 2014 held in Brazil. He also is the all-time top scorer for Germany with 71 goals in 137 appearances.

Bhushan Steel in a communication to the stock exchange said that VK Mehrotra, non-executive director, has resigned from its board due to health reasons.

Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayanan resigned from his office on 24 August 2014. He tendered his resignation in the backdrop of being transferred to Mizoram. He refused to take charge of his new assignment. His tenure would have ended in 2017.

Kerala Governor Sheila Dikshit tendered her resignation , a day after she met President Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

IOC removes four independent directors appointed by UPA. After Governors, the Narendra Modi government is removing independent directors appointed by the previous UPA regime on PSU boards, beginning with sacking of four directors on the board of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). IOC, the nation’s largest oil company, in a filing to the stock exchanges said, “K Jairaj, Nesar Ahmad, Sunil Krishna and Sayan Chatterjee have ceased to be Independent Directors on the Board of the company on August 27, 2014.

Vinod Kumar Duggal resigned as Manipur Governor. He was appointed as governor of Manipur by President Pranab Mukherjee on 23 December 2013.

OBITUARIES

Dick Wagner, the famous rock guitarist of Alice Cooper died due to respiratory failure at Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Centre in Arizona. He was 71.

Eminent cartoonist Pran Kumar Sharma, popularly known as Pran, who gave life to lovable comic characters Chacha Chaudhury and his friend Sabu, is no more.

Angela Nemeth, the 1968 Olympic Javelin champion of Hungary died in 5 August 2014 after a long illness. She was 68.

Oscar-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams was found dead at his home in Tiburon, California on 11 August 2014. He was 63.

US actress Lauren Bacall, 89, died of a stroke at her home in New York, according to multiple reports.

Legendary actress Lauren Bacall, an icon of Hollywood's golden age who lit up the silver screen in a series of classic movies opposite her husband Humphrey Bogart, has died at the age of 89, her family said.

Dilbagh Singh, the noted club cricketer and founder of Delhi Gymkhana Club, died on 18 August 2104. He was 81. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

World-renowned yoga guru and founder of the Iyengar School of Yoga BKS Iyengar passed away here early this morning following illness.

Poet Simin Behbahani, the Lioness of Iran, died on 19 August 2014 in Tehran, Iran. She died of heart and respiratory complications and had been in coma for two weeks. She was 87.

Squash Legend of Pakistan Hashim Khan died. He died due to congestive heart failure. He was believed to be 100. He died at his home in Aurora, Colorado.

Eminent Kannada writer and Jnanpith Award winner UR Anantha Murthy, 82, passed away.

Veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Amitava Nandy died in Kolkata. He was 71 and was suffering from cancer in pancreas.

Oscar-winning British filmmaker Richard Attenborough, renowned for his critically-acclaimed biopic on Mahatma Gandhi, has died at the age of 90.

Noted historian Bipin Chandra died today at his residence after prolonged illness. He was 86.

AWARDS/HONOUR/PRIZES

Kirloskar Brothers Limited’s all-women plant in Coimbatore has bagged the Assocham Innovation Excellence Award. The Gold award, for advancement in Science and Technology, was received by Divisional Head of the plant R V Rajkuumar.

Indian wrestler Babita Kumari put on a stunning show to win the gold medal beating Canada's Brittanee Laverdure in the final of the women's 55kg freestyle category in the 2014 Commonwealth Games

Vikas Gowda gave India its first athletics gold medal of the 20th Commonwealth Games by winning the men's discuss throw event.

Pinki Rani bags first medal in Boxing.

Muzaffar Ali, a noted filmmaker of India was selected for Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award. Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award (Rajiv Gandhi National Communal Harmony Award) is an award of India that is given for outstanding contribution towards promotion of communal harmony, national integration, peace and fight against violence. It was constituted in 1992. The award carries a citation and cash award of 5 lakh rupees.

Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman mountaineer to scale Mount Everest was conferred with Bharat Gaurav, the highest honour of merit of East Bengal Club.

Dipa Karmakar became the first Indian woman gymnast and second person of the country to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games. She bagged a bronze in the vault event and scripted history for and in India.

India's S. Khatun won a Bronze medal in the light weight category of women power lifting. The Gold went to Nigeria in this event .

Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa created history by winning the first-ever gold medal in squash but disappointment was in store for the four Indian boxers, including Olympic bronze winner Vijender Singh, who had to be content with a silver each in the 20th Commonwealth Games.

Arpinder Singh gave India its third medal in athletics as he won a bronze in the men’s triple jump event of the 20th Commonwealth Games.

The prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Awards for year 2014 was announced. The list of awardees included six winners among five individuals and one organization from Pakistan.(1) Saur Marlina Manurung (2) Hu Shuli: She is a Chinese investigative journalist.(3) Omara Khan Masoudi from Afghanistan. (4) The Citizens Foundation from Pakistan: It is a non-profit organisation (NGO) in Pakistan founded by six business leaders.(5) Wang Canfa from China: Wang Canfa founded the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims.(6) Randy Halasan for Emergent Leadership from the Philippines. The award was established in 1957. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honor and is widely regarded as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

Parupalli Kashyap etched his name firmly in the history books by becoming the first Indian male shuttler in 32 years to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, CMD of Bandhan, has received the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award from the All India Management Association (AIMA).

Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons Ltd, will be conferred the 18th MMA Amalgamations Business Leadership Award at a function in Chennai.

Major mathematics awards to two Indian origin scientists. Two mathematicians of Indian origin, Manjul Bhargava and Subhash Khot, are among the eight winners of the prestigious awards of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) that were announced at the inaugural of the 9-day International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) which began today at Seoul, Republic of Korea. The President of Korea, Park Geun-hye, gave away the awards.

Offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been nominated for the 2014 Arjuna Award for his performances as India's leading spinner.

Delhi University professor Dr. Sunil Kumar received Global South Award given by International Political Science Association (IPSA). The award was given at the 23rd world congress of political science held in Montreal, Canada.

Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian born mathematician, became the first woman to win coveted Fields Medal on 13 August 2014 in Seoul, South Korea.

Partha Mitra, an Indian neuroscientist in the United States, was awarded Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) to map the human brain on 19 August 2014 under President Barack Obama’s multi-year BRAIN Initiative.

Weightlifter Ragala Venkat Rahul bagged India's first medal of the second Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.

Guru Hanuman Akhara, a Delhi-based wrestling academy was chosen for the 2014 Rashtritya Khel Protsahan Puraskar (RKPP) . The Akhara was chosen in the category of establishment and management of sports academies of excellence.

Carnatic vocalist T. M. Krishna has been chosen for the fifth Indira Sivasailam Endowment Medal and Concert.

Gandhinagar-based Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) Director, Prof T Harinarayana has been conferred with “Energy and Environment Foundation Global Excellence Award-2014 in Renewable Energy Sector” on August 21.

Katie Ledecky, an American distance swimmer on 23 August 2014 created a World Record in Women’s 1500 Meter Freestyle at the 2014 Pan Pac Championships on the Gold Coast, Australia. To create the new record Ledecky swam the distance in 15 minutes 28.36 seconds.

Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has bestowed the ICSI Life Time Achievement Award 2013 for Excellence in Corporate Governance to HCL Founder and Chairman Shiv Nadar.

GVK Mumbai International Airport Limited awards first realty development contract to Oasis Realty. This is the first commercial property development deal awarded for development of about 1.1 million sq ft out of 22 msft commercially developable built up area.

An Iranian-born mathematician has become the first woman to win a prestigious global prize known as the Field Medal, the International Congress of Mathematicians has announced.

Cristiano Ronaldo was named the UEFA Best Player in Europe, defeating Bayern Munich duo Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben for the prestigious award.

President Pranab Mukherjee presented the National Sports Awards to eminent sportspersons on the occasion of National Sports Day at Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday. Boxer Jai Bhagwan, shuttler V. Diju and shooter Heena Sidhu are among 14 sports persons who received the Arjuna Award - 2014 for their outstanding performance in the field of sports. Dronacharya award: Mahabir Prasad (wrestling); Lifetime achievement: N. Lingappa (athletics), G. Manoharan (boxing), Gurcharan Singh Gogi (judo), Jose Jacob (rowing).Dhyan Chand award: Gurmail Singh (hockey), K.P. Thakkar (swimming-diving), Zeeshan Ali (tennis). Tenzing Norgay Awards: Land adventure: Subedar Jagat Singh, Passang Tenzing Sherpa; Air adventure: MWO Surender Singh; Lifetime achievement: Wg. Cdr. (retd) Amit Chowdhury. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy: Punjabi University, Patiala. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (employment of sports persons and sports welfare measures); Jindal Steel Works (community sports–identification and nurturing of budding/young talent); Guru Hanuman akhara (establishment and management of sports academies of excellence); Child Link Foundation of India–Magic Bus (other forms of sports activities not covered in the categories mentioned in the schemes).

US actor and singer Harry Belafonte was named for honorary Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Oscar Award on 29 August 2014. Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Oscar Award is one of the three Governor's Award given by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for lifetime achievement.

SPORTS

In a huge jolt to Indian men hockey team’s chances in the Commonwealth Games, Sardar Singh has been suspended for the semi-final match against New Zealand following his second dangerous offence of the tournament.

Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa, who won the squash doubles gold at the Commonwealth Games, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced a cash award of Rs. 50 lakh each to the winners.

2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games concluded; India finished 5th with 64 medals(15 Gold, 30 silver and 19 Bronze). 20th Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2014 concluded at Hampden Park stadium in Glasgow, Scotland on 3 August 2014 at. The game that saw 17 sports in a competition of 11 days was held from 23 July to 3 August 2014. The Glasgow 2014 CWG was declared closed in presence of British Prime Minister David Cameron, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex and vice patron of Commonwealth Games Federation. The 21st Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast in Australia. Note: England topped the medals tally while Australia got the second position. Canada was third followed by Scotland.For More Detail – Read our 4 August GK updates (logon to www.bankingquiz.in).

England on the concluding day 3 August 2014 topped the medal table at 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. It won a total of 174 medals comprising of 58 Gold, 59 Silver and 57 Bronze medals. While, Australia was ranked second with total 137 medals and Canada ranked third with 82 medals.

Miihier Singh, who won the Mr India title this year, will represent the country in the 48th Asian Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championship.

R Ashwin ranked no. 1 Test all-rounder; India slipped to 4th position: ICC Test Ranking.

Roger Federer became the first man to win 300 matches at the ATP Masters 1000 level, beating Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (7/4), 5-7, 6-2 on Wednesday in Cincinnati.

Real Madrid won UEFA Super Cup in Cardiff.

Kush Kumar on became the first Indian player to reach the semi-final of World Junior Squash Championship. The championship is being held in Windhoek, Namibia.

World number three tennis player, Roger Federer of Switzerland won Cincinnati Tennis Open, also called Western & Southern Open.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on 18 August 2014 that Jammu and Kashmir will host Football Federation Cup in August 2015.

Max Verstappen of Netherlands will become the youngest Formula One (F1) driver in the F1 history when he will compete for the 2015 season. For the 2015 season he will make the F1 debut with Scuderia Toro Rosso. Verstappen currently racing in Formula Three is the son of former Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen, who had contested for 106 Grands Prix for teams such as Benetton and Tyrrell between 1994 and 2003.

Hockey India added its 23rd associate member by welcoming on board Hockey Madhya Pradesh under its wings.

India captain Mithali Raj has retained the top spot in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) women's rankings for batters.

RELEASED BOOKS

One Life is Not Enough: An Autobiography written by Kunwar Natwar Singh was published on 1 August 2014. The book is an autobiography of the former External Affairs Minister and senior Congress Party leader Natwar Singh.

A book entitled Munger through the Ages authored by late Devendra Prasad Yadav was released on 7 August 2014 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. The first copy of the book was received by President of India Pranab Mukherjee.

A book titled Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi: An Inside Job? authored by Faraz Ahmad was released on 19 August 2014. The book was released by a senior journalist Vinod Mehta.

Delhi-based 13 year old school boy Yashwardhan Shukla authored a novel, Gods of Antarctica. The book is fictional tale of gods and monsters. It was put into print by the Readers Paradise publishers.

RBI/BANKING

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cancelled the licence of The Vasai Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Hyderabad (Telangana). The order came into effect with the notification.

Corporate leaders expect a small relief in interest rates in the upcoming RBI credit policy as inflationary expectations and continuing geopolitical tension are likely to prevent the central bank from effecting a bigger cut, according to an Assocham survey. As many as 73 per cent of the corporate leaders comprising CEOs, CFOs and senior functionaries said the RBI would not be ambitious enough to go in for a big cut in the benchmark interest rates.

British lender Royal Bank of Scotland has posted a 58 per cent jump in pre-tax profit from its India franchise at Rs 662.11 crore in FY14, helped by wholesale banking business.

RBI keeps key interest rates unchanged, Cur SLR by 0.5%.RBI has, however, reduced the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) of scheduled commercial banks by 50 basis points from 22.5 per cent to 22.0 per cent with effect from the fortnight beginning 9th August, 2014. Current Rates are as follows”
1. Repo Rate – 8% (unchanged)
2. Reverse Repo Rate – 7% (unchanged)
3. CRR – 4% (unchanged)
4. SLR – 22% (changed from 22.5 per cent to 22.0)
5. Bank Rate – 9% (unchanged)
6. MSF – 9% (unchanged)

GDP growth expected to go up to 5.5% this fiscal: RBI. With improvement in economic activity and revival of sentiments, the Reserve Bank of India today said that the GDP growth in the current fiscal is expected to go up to 5.5 per cent from 4.7 per cent in the last financial year.

HDFC Life, has launched Click2Protect Plus, a traditional, non-participating pure term insurance plan. The plan is an extension of HDFC Life’s flagship plan Click2Protect and comes with additional benefits and multiple options.

The World Bank has pledged USD 200 million in emergency funding to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to help the West African countries contain spread of deadly Ebola infections and improve public health systems.( World Bank President Dr Jim Yong Kim)

Syndicate Bank CMD suspended. The Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, has placed Sudhir Kumar Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, Syndicate Bank, under suspension with effect from August 2, 2014, the bank said in a notice to the BSE.

The Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd (CIBIL) said it will come up with a risk index which will help banks and financial institutions in the process of granting loans and advances to corporates. Note:I. CIBIL provides credit information about individual customer and business entities that helps banks in taking decision on sanctioning credit to any customer. It maintains account credit information of 350 million accounts of individual consumers and 19 million accounts of businesses. CIBIL has also recently launched new product for banks called ‘Alert’ wherein it will send an alert to the bank whenever there is a change in the profile of a customer.

HDFC Bank Ltd has opened its branch in Dubai at the International Financial Centre, and will provide wealth management services to non-resident Indians based in the UAE.

Banks’ Tier-I capital need for 5 years surges to Rs.20,000 cr: ICRA. With the capital requirement of Indian banks likely to go up gradually till 2018-19 (FY2019), Tier I issuances are likely to increase significantly till that year, according to an ICRA report. Tier I issuances include common Equity and additional Tier I or AT1. While the AT1 requirement for this fiscal year 2015 would be around Rs. 20,000 crore, in subsequent years, the annual requirement could be as high as Rs. 40,000 crore – 50,000 crore, the rating agency said in a statement.

ICICI Bank, the country’s largest private sector bank, has announced the launch of the ‘ICICI Bank Student Travel Card’, which enables students going abroad for higher studies to take care of their expenses.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened norms for asset reconstruction companies to improve discipline and bring about transparency in the sale and purchase of bad loans. Now, asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) will have to pay upfront 15 per cent of the bid value of non-performing loans, against five per cent earlier. Also, those planning to buy bad loans will get more time (at least two weeks) to carry out due diligence before bidding for stressed assets. So far, banks have enjoyed complete discretion in deciding the timeframe for due diligence. RBI said ARCs would get up to six months to plan recoveries from the non-performing assets acquired. Currently, ARCs get about a year for this.

SEBI gets powers to clamp down on fraudulent deposit schemes. The Securities Laws (amendment) Bill, 2014, which was approved unanimously by the Lok Sabha , allows SEBI to issue disgorgement orders. SEBI, in its little over two decades of existence, has issued disgorgement orders only on two occasions; once, in 2006, during the IPO irregularities issue, and for the second time in the Satyam Computer scandal. The money collected will now be parked in SEBI’s Investor Protection and Education Fund. This fund should not be confused with the Investor Education and Protection Fund that has been set up under the company law, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley clarified during a parliamentary discussion on the Bill. They are two separate funds. The IEPF under SEBI will have disgorged monies from the regulator’s directions. The other investor protection fund maintained under the company law is mainly unclaimed dividends.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 7 August 2014 issued draft guidelines for implementation of Bharat Bill Payment System (BPPS), an anytime anywhere bill payment system. The proposed guidelines describe the basic requirements of operating the BBPS. Bharat Bill Payment System is intended for the implementation of a unified bill payment system across the country. It would enable the customers to pay the bills with the help of agents and getting instant confirmation of the payment made. School fees, municipal taxes and utility bills payments would become easier now.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI has imposed a penalty of 13 crore rupees on Reliance Industries Limited for alleged irregularities in issuance of warrants by the company to its promoters. The case related to 2007 earnings and the company's repeatedly failed to disclose the key earnings ratio.

The Reserve Bank on Saturday revised guidelines for mortgage guarantee companies and said that guarantees provided by them may be treated as contingent liabilities, for which credit conversion factor would be 50 percent. While calculating capital adequacy of MGCs, mortgage guarantees provided may be treated as contingent liabilities and the credit conversion factor applicable to these contingent liabilities will be 50 percent as against the present 100 percent," RBI said in a notification.

The Reserve Bank will transfer to the Centre its surplus profit of Rs 52,679 crore, about 60 per cent more than the amount given last year.

Government approves compassionate appointments in public sector banks. The Department of Financial Services in the Union Ministry of Finance has conveyed this in a communication to the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) dated August 7.

State Bank of Travancore (SBT) opened an exclusive branch for processing direct benefit transfers at Thycaud. This will facilitate faster transfer of social benefits to the accounts of the beneficiaries of direct benefits, according to a bank spokesman.

SEBI approves single registration for stock brokers. Stock brokers have cause for cheer as they can now go in for a simple one-time process of registration for operating as a broker or a clearing member in any stock exchange or clearing corporation.

Nabard cuts refinance rates to banks by 20-50 basis points. To give a boost to investments in the agriculture sector, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has reduced the rate of interest on their refinance facilities to banks by 20-50 basis points. The new rates of interest on refinance will now be 9.30 per cent (9.50 per cent earlier) for 5 years and 9.50 per cent (9.70 per cent) for 3-5 years period and 9.50 per cent (10 per cent) for 18 months to 3 years period.

RBI cuts number of free cross-bank ATM transactions to 3 per month. Frequent withdrawal of money from ATMs will become expensive from November, with the RBI imposing a limit of 3 transactions per month from ATMs of other banks and 5 from the same bank in six metropolitan cities. A customer will be required to pay a fee of up to Rs 20 for using Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) beyond the permitted numbers of transactions in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad. The new guidelines, which were issued in pursuance of a representation made to the central bank by Indian Banks' Association, will come into effect from November 1, 2014.

HDFC Bank has opened a branch in Dubai to provide wealth management services to large Indian diaspora in the Gulf city.

A strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck the province of Ilam in western Iran , causing injuries and damage, Iranian state television said, but there were no immediate reports of fatalities.

ICICI Bank, the country’s largest private sector bank, has launched EMI (equated monthly instalments) facility on debit cards to enable its customers to convert their high value transactions into easy instalments.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, launched a $2.5-billion onshore Indian rupee bond programme to strengthen the capital market and support infrastructure development in India. Under the programme, IFC will use a combination of rupee-denominated bonds and swaps to raise local currency financing of up to $2.5 billion or Rs. 15,000 crore over the next five years.

HDFC Bank with a brand value of $ 9.4bn is India’s most valuable brand according to the first edition of the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands ranking that was announced in Mumbai.

The IDBI Bank has donated Rs 9 crore towards the building of 300 gender-segragated toilets in schools close to the bank’s branches in rural and semi-urban areas. IDBI CMD M.S. Raghavan said this was the Bank’s contribution to the Swachh Bharat Mission announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day.

Bangladesh has decided to join the newly formed BRICS Bank, an initiative of the world's five emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This was informed to news reporters by Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith last evening. Talking to our correspondent, the Finance Minister said the Ministry had sent letters to Bangladesh Missions in the five countries to know about the details of joining the bank.

RBI issues guidelines for NBFCs on lending against shares. To reduce volatility in the capital market arising from non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) offloading shares pledged by borrowers who have defaulted on loans, the Reserve Bank of India introduced a minimum set of guidelines on lending against shares. According to the guidelines applicable to NBFCs with asset size of Rs. 100 crore and above, the NBFCs have to maintain a loan-to-value (of shares pledged) of 50 per cent and accept only Group 1 securities as collateral for loans of a value more than Rs. 5 lakh. All NBFCs with asset size of Rs. 100 crore and above should report online to stock exchanges information on the shares pledged in their favour by borrowers to avail themselves of loans.

RBI projects 5.5 % GDP growth during current fiscal. The Reserve Bank has said the economy is likely to grow at 5.5 per cent in the current fiscal as it sees pick-up in manufacturing and investment. The RBI also said that its surplus for the Financial Year 2014 fiscal declined 14.75 per cent to 52,679 crore rupees as its interest income from investments in foreign sovereign bonds declined during the year even as its investments increased.

RBI has notified the increase in deposit money under Public Provident Fund, PPF to 1.5 lakh rupees from 1 lakh rupees. This is in pursuance to an announcement made by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier this month. After the new ruling, people can now deposit up to 1.5 lakh rupees annually in their PPF account.

Deutsche Bank launched two new transaction banking apps in India on the Autobahn App Market. Leveraging a global payment processing engine, the Cash Manager app facilitates straight-through processing of payments and collections for corporates in India, including e-Tax payments. The app also has an innovative dashboard feature that consolidates information, enabling clients to gain quick visibility into their account balance positions, payment statuses and key reports,” the bank said in a statement.

ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector lender, announced the launch of two new mobile banking applications; ‘iLoans’ and ‘iTrack’, for accessing loan account details and tracking status of dispatches, respectively.

Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has decided to retain interest rate on provident fund at 8.75 percent for the current fiscal.

Dairy products major Mother Dairy and the State Bank of India announced the launch of the 'SmartChange Card' for Mother Dairy booths in the National Capital Region. The card, introduced to facilitate convenience of payment has been rolled out 76 booths already and the company plans to expand coverage to 150 booths over the next three months. The card, priced at Rs. 25 at the time of issuance, will have a top up limit of Rs. 1,000 while the limit per transaction has been set at Rs. 500.

Indian Bank to revise FCNR (B) term deposits. For FCNR (B) deposits, in USD, the revised interest rate has been revised to 2.34 per cent (from 2.36 per cent) for deposits of one year and above but less than two years,” the Chennai-based bank said in a statement. For deposits of two years and above but less than three years, it has been revised to 2.71 per cent from the existing 2.76 per cent. Interest rates have been revised to 3.64 per cent for deposits of three years and above but less than four years from the existing 3.71 per cent, it said.