NOVEMBER 27th NEWS: PERSONS IN NEWS: NEERAJ SAHAI: Indian-American executive at Citigroup Neeraj Sahai has been appointed president of Standard & Poors Ratings Services, the worlds largest ratings firm. He will assume his new role at S&P from January 6, 2014, financial intelligence company McGraw Hill Financial said in a statement here. He succeeds Douglas Peterson, who became president and chief executive officer of McGraw Hill Financial on November 1. Mr Peterson has taken over as chief executive of the parent company earlier this month. Standard & Poors Ratings Services, part of McGraw Hill Financial, is the worlds leading provider of independent credit risk research. It publishes more than a million credit ratings on debt issued by sovereign, municipal, corporate and financial sector entities. McGraw Hill Financials brands include the Standard & Poors Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ and S&P Dow Jones Indices. JUDICIAL: TALWAR COUPLE GET LIFE TERM Dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were on 26th November sentenced to life term by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)court after they were convicted of killing their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj five-and-a-half years ago. The Talwars were spared the death penalty by additional sessions Judge Shyam Lal, who rejected the CBI plea for maximum punishment after it said that the case fell in the rarest of rare category. ECONOMY: RESERVE BANK TO RECOGNISE SRO The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to recognise industry associations of non-banking financial companies engaged in microfinance (NBFC-MFIs) as self-regulatory organisations. The central bank has said this will ensure effective monitoring of NBFC-MFIs, their compliance with regulations and the code of conduct and aid the customers of NBFC-MFIs. Earlier, RBI had appointed a sub-committee of its central board of directors under the chairmanship of Y H Malegam to study issues and concerns in the microfinance sector, as far as entities regulated by RBI were concerned. One of the suggestions of the committee pertained to industry associations assuming greater responsibility in ensuring compliance with regulations by NBFC-MFIs. The broad framework of regulations recommended by the committee, including putting in place a self regulatory structure for the sector, was accepted by RBI and a detailed regulatory framework for NBFC-MFIs was put in place in December 2, 2011. The directions stated separate guidelines would be issued on the role of industry associations in the overall monitoring of the microfinance sector. A self-regulatory organisation recognised by will have to adhere to a set of functions and responsibilities such as formulating and administering a code of conduct recognised by the bank, a grievance and dispute redressal mechanism for clients, ensuring borrower protection and education, monitoring compliance by NBFC-MFIs with the regulatory framework put in place by RBI, surveillance of the microfinance sector, training and awareness programmes for members, self-help groups, etc, and submission of financial data, including annual report, to RBI. ABOUT NBFC AND MFI A Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 of India, engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares, stock, bondsire-purchase, insurance business, or chit business: but does not include any institution whose principal business is that includes agriculture or industrial activity; or the sale, purchase or construction of immovable property NBFCs perform functions similar to that of banks; however there are a few differences in that an NBFC cannot accept demand deposits; an NBFC is not a part of the payment and settlement system and as such, an NBFC cannot issue cheques drawn on itself; and deposit insurance facility of the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available for NBFC depositors, unlike banks. Microfinance institutions, also known as MFIs, offer financial services to underprivileged and impoverished communities. An Increasing number of microfinance institutions (MFIs) are seeking non-banking finance company (NBFC) status from RBI to get wide access to funding, including bank finance FOREIGN BANK QUERIES ON TAX SOPS Foreign banks would not have to pay capital gains tax and stamp duty for converting their India branches into wholly-owned subsidiaries (WOS), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) clarified on 26th November. But the clarification, in response to persistent queries from foreign banks three weeks after the WOS guidelines were issued, failed to impress most. Bankers said while RBI had reiterated an existing position, their specific queries on tax sops still remained unanswered. RBI said the Centre had inserted a new chapter in the Income-Tax Act, 1961, exempting foreign banks from paying capital gains tax on converting branches into subsidiaries, effective April 1, 2013. But bankers said clarity was awaited on certain other areas of taxation. For instance, a few foreign lenders had requested RBI to consider deducting expenses incurred on creating subsidiaries from taxable income. The government has yet to clarify if that will be allowed. Uncertainty also remains on the stamp duty front. RBI said a new section,had been inserted in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, vide Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012, and notified in Gazette of India, exempting foreign lenders from paying stamp duty on converting branches into subsidiaries. RBI has said foreign banks that commenced operations in India before August, 2010, will have the option of conducting their business here either through branch mode or via subsidiary. But the foreign lenders that entered India after August 2010, will have to mandatorily set up subsidiaries. PANEL TO RESOLVE SUGAR CRISIS With the crisis in the Indian sugar sector showing no signs of abating, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 26th November directed a high-level committee headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to address the sector’s concerns at the earliest. Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh account for more than 80 per cent of the country’s annual sugar production. Sugar sector in both the states are mired in financial problems due to escalation in production costs, accentuated by a sharp fall in domestic sugar prices on account of surplus supplies, pushing up the cane arrears to over Rs 3,400 crore. Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh are the other members of the high-level committee. According to Indian Sugar Mills Association, the countrys total sugar production is estimated at 25 million tonnes for the 2013-14 marketing year, slightly higher than last year’s 24.5 million tonnes. REFINERS TURN 3.2% LESS CRUDE OIL INTO FUEL IN OCTOBER India’s public and private sector refiners turned 3.2 per cent less crude oil into fuel in October year-on-year. The drop in refinery output was because of shutdowns for maintenance, according to the provisional data released by the Ministry for Petroleum & Natural Gas. The country’s refining capacity has increased by 68.87 per cent from 2004-05 to 215 million tonne per annum as on April 1, 2013. It is further projected to go up to 264.966 million tonne by 2015-16. The data included revised crude processing figures for August and September of Reliance Industries second refinery at Jamnagar, which is an export-focused plant. It also includes prorated figures for October. Reliances two refineries at Jamnagar account for about 30 per cent of the countrys refining capacity. The first refinery at Jamnagar processed 5.2 per cent more crude oil in October year-on-year, and the production from the export focused refinery was up 1.3 per cent in October annually. Domestic refiners (17 public sector, 2 joint venture, 3 private sector) together imported 5.3 per cent less crude oil in October at 15.625 million tonne against the same month last fiscal. India is world’s fourth largest energy consumer. The country’s domestic oil production was down 0.8 per cent in October year-on-year, while the natural gas output continued its declining trend falling 13.6 per cent annually. Diesel, the most sold petroleum production saw a 1.47 per cent drop in consumption in October year-on-year at 5.616 million tonne. A combination of factors such as improved power situation, shift of industrial consumers to other fuels due to dual price, falling demand for diesel vehicles, and increasing fuel prices, are responsible for lower diesel consumption. Petrol, however, saw a 10.5 per cent increase in consumption in October to 1.462 million tonnes. AFFORDABLE HOUSING RBI NOD FOR NHB’S $200-MILLION OVEERSEAS LOAN National Housing Bank (NHB) has received Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approval for raising $ 200 million external commercial borrowing (ECB) under the affordable housing window. Raising ECB will diversify NHB’s resource base and generate confidence among international investors in the Indian housing finance market. Low-income housing is a new thrust area for NHB, which last year slashed refinance rates on loans up to Rs 5 lakh. The Government has already decided to allow ECBs for low-cost housing projects. Both NHB and housing finance companies are included as eligible borrowers for financing low-cost projects. INTERNATIONAL: UNEARTHED ‘SHRINE’ HINTS AT NEW BIRTH DATE OF BUDDHA The discovery of a 2,600-year-old simple wooden shrine surrounding the ancient tree in Nepal to which the Buddhas mother clung as she gave birth looks set to revolutionise the understanding of the origins of one of the worlds major religions. Archaeologists digging beneath the sacred Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini have uncovered the first physical evidence to enable them to accurately date the nativity of Prince Siddhartha The extraordinary find suggests that the very earliest devotees - some 600 years before Christ - were vegetarian and eschewed material wealth in favour of spirituality as laid down by the prince who abandoned his high rank to seek out the path to Enlightenment A vast brick temple, which also predates the earliest known Buddhist structures, found at the same place suggests that the emerging religion enjoyed a wealthy and powerful benefactor before its adoption by the Emperor Asoka whose empire spread across most of the Indian sub-continent and who is traditionally considered the most important figure in its transformation from a local cult. TIME SHORTLISTS MODI AS ITS ‘PERSON OF THE YEAR’ BJPs Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is among Time magazines shortlisted candidates for its Person of the Year title and has emerged as an early favourite among the readers in an online poll. Time has shortlisted 42 global leaders, entrepreneurs and celebrities for its Person of the Year 2013 and will announce the winner next month. Other candidates in fray are Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, US President Barack Obama, Pakistani teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and even the new heir to the British throne Prince George. Modi is the only Indian in the shortlist. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: INS VIKRAMADITYA SETS SAIL FOR INDIA. Ten days after it was commissioned into the Indian Navy at the North Russian shipyard of Sevmash at Severodvinsk, INS Vikramaditya left the yard’s pier, setting course for its homeport at Karwar in Karnataka on 26th November. The aircraft carrier underwent an issue-ridden reconstruction that lasted eight years at the Russian shipyard. 15 BIRD SPECIES IN INDIA ON IUCN’s CRITICALLY ENDANGERED LIST The number of bird species listed as Critically Endangered (CE) has reached an all-time high as per the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Birds for 2013. The latest species to join the growing list of birds facing the harshest danger is white-winged Flufftail Sarothrura ayresi - a secretive and unobtrusive sub-Saharan bird. Critically Endangered is the highest risk category of the IUCN Red List of threatened species, comprising those that are facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. The report says that fifteen bird species in India remain to be Critically Endangered (CE). The species falling under the Critically Endangered category in India include: Migratory wetland species: 1. Baer’s Pochard 2. Siberian Crane 3. Spoon-billed Sandpiper Non-migratory wetland species: 4. White-bellied Heron Grassland species: 5. Bengal Florican 6. Great Indian Bustard 7. Jerdon’s Courser 8. Sociable Lapwing Forest species: 9. Forest Owlet and scavengers: 10. Indian Vulture 11. Red-headed Vulture 12. White-backed Vulture 13. Slender-billed Vulture 14. Himalayan Quail and 15. Pink-headed Duck are now considered Extinct for all practical purposes. The IUCN report also finds that three other bird species now face greater danger than before and hence they have been uplisted in the latest list - River Lapwing and River Tern, both uplisted from Least Concern to Near Threatened and long-tailed Duck uplisted from Least Concern to Vulnerable. IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, is an international organization dedicated to finding pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. The organization publishes the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which assesses the conservation status of species. IUCN supports scientific research, manages field projects globally and brings governments, non-government organizations, United Nations agencies, companies and local communities together to develop and implement policy. IUCN is the worlds oldest and largest global environmental network—a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries. IUCNs work is supported by more than 1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. The Unions headquarters are located in Gland, Switzerland, near Geneva. IUCNs stated vision is a just world that values and conserves nature. Its mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable PAKISTAN’S CIVIL NUCLEAR POWER PROJECT UNDERWAY Prime Minister Muhammed Nawaz Sharif on 26th November set the wheels in motion for the country’s largest civil nuclear power project with Chinese help. The 2200 MW nuclear power project in Karachi is a first step towards a load-shedding-free Pakistan, Mr. Sharif said at a ground breaking ceremony, according to an official statement.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 04:35:12 +0000
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