1. RBI imposed a fine of 1.5 crore rupees each on three Public Sector Banks for violating KYC norms
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a fine of 1.5 crore rupees each on three Public Sector Banks (PSBs) for violating Know Your Customer (KYC)/Anti Money Laundering (AML) norms. These three PSBs are Bank of Maharashtra, Dena Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce.
The penalties have been imposed in exercise of powers vested in it under the provisions of Section 47(A) (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, taking into account the violations of the instructions issued by the RBI from time to time.
RBI findings revealed violation of certain regulatory guidelines issued by the RBI as also other disquieting actions on the part of the banks, as under:
• Non-adherence to certain aspects of KYC norms of the Reserve Bank like customer identification and acceptance procedure,
• Non-adherence to the Reserve Bank’s instructions on monitoring of transactions in customer accounts,
• Non-adherence to the Reserve Bank’s instructions regarding funds received through Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS).
Besides, it cautioned eight other banks, namely Central Bank of India, Bank of India, Punjab and Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, UCO Bank, Union Bank of India and Vijaya Bank.
2. Ananda Kumar, Pramod Patil won Whitley Awards for wildlife conservation
Two Indians namely Dr Ananda Kumar and Dr Pramod Patilwon the prestigious Whitley Awards (also known as Green Oscar) for their contribution to wildlife conservation.
The awards were presented at a ceremony in Royal Geographical Society, London. The winners of the award received a Whitley prize worth 35000 pound.
Kumar was honoured for his work of using innovative communication systems to enable human-elephant co-existence in Southern India. Patil, on the other hand, was honoured for his work to protect the iconic great Indian bustard in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan.
3. Logo of the International Day of Yoga launched
The logo of International Day of Yoga was launched in New Delhi by
Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Union Minister of State (MoS) for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik.
The logo was selected by a committee of yoga experts constituted by Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) and was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
4. Union Government approved continuation of 1000 rupees Monthly Pension Scheme under EPS
Union Government approved continuation of 1000 rupees Monthly Pension Scheme under Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 (EPS) beyond 2014-15 on perpetual basis.
The move would benefit over 20 lakh pensioners under social security scheme run by Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). It will cost additionally 850 crore rupees to the exchequer of the government.
The scheme was launched with effect from 1 September 2014. It hiked the pension amount to a flat 1000 rupees per month for those who were getting lower amount earlier and it was initially effective till 31 March 2015.
As a result, the EPFO had to suspend the scheme from 1 April 2015 in the absence of any direction from the government to continue with this benefit beyond 31 March 2015.
5. Mamata declares Nadia first 'open defecation-free' district in India
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday declared Nadia as the first Open Defecation Free (ODF) district in the country.
“I feel proud to declare Nadia to be the first ODF district in the country. I congratulate Nadia district for achieving this feat and convey my thanks to World Bank and the UNICEF,” Ms. Banerjee said while speaking at the programme here.
“We had started this on November 19, 2013 and within two years... yes we can... we have reached our goal. We are totally successful,” she said. “I feel proud that the first three districts to be ODF are from West Bengal. We have Nadia, Hooghly and Burdwan and the fourth one is Rajasthan’s Bikaner. So it’s 3:1 ratio... We have bowled out everybody,” the Chief Minister said.
Thanking UNICEF and the World Bank for helping the district achieve this feat, Ms. Banerjee declared April 30 as the “Nirmal Bangla Diwas” to be observed in the years to come
6. Vijaya Bank ties up with SBI Life
Vijaya Bank has tied up with SBI Life Insurance to launch the social security scheme — Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by Kishore Sansi, Managing Director and CEO of Vijaya Bank and Arijit Basu, Managing Director & CEO of SBI Life Insurance, in the presence of Executive Directors of Vijaya Bank KR Shenoy and BS Rama Rao, a press release said.
7. Lok Sabha passes Finance Bill 2015
The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Finance Bill 2015 through voice vote.
The Bill was passed after the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moved as many as 41 official amendments. The amendments include slew of tax concessions to foreign companies on the minimum alternate tax (MAT) front, exempting the sponsors/promoters of real estate investment trusts from MAT on the notional gains arising from shares of a special purpose vehicle to a business trust in exchange of units allotted by that trust.
The biggest relief to foreign companies is that they will not henceforth be subjected to MAT on any interest, royalty or fees for technical services.
This would mean that incomes earned by foreign companies (including foreign institutional investors) on investments in Government and other fixed income securities will not be covered under MAT provisions.
Jaitley also softened the blow of the conditions stipulated in the Finance Bill for foreign fund managers to relocate to India without having to face adverse tax consequences.
The Finance Minister said that certain conditions will not apply in the case of sovereign wealth funds and offshore funds floated by foreign Government.
He also raised the customs duty on natural rubber (on the advalorem side to 25 per cent from 20 per cent) to give better protection to domestic growers
The basic customs duty on raw silk has been reduced to 15 per cent.
8. SBI joins hands with National Insurance
Country’s largest lender State Bank of India today entered into a tie-up with the National Insurance Company (NICL) to offer non-life cover to its savings account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY).
The bank will offer personal accidental death and disability cover of Rs. 2 lakh under the scheme, it said in a release.
The customer will have to pay an annual premium of only Rs. 12. All the savings account holders in the age group 18 to 70 years will be eligible for the cover.
9. Union Government extends e-Tourist Visa scheme to 31 more countries
Union Government has extended e-Tourist Visa scheme to 31 more countries with an effect from 31 May 2015.
In this regard, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a notification. With this the total number of countries under the scheme has gone up to 76.
The 31 countries are: Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Bahamas, Bolivia, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Chile, Cayman Island, Dominic an Republic, Dominica, Estonia, El Salvador, Ecuador, France, Grenada, Georgia, Haiti, Honduras,Vatican, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Latvia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Nicaragua, Montserrat, St.Kitts & Nevis Paraguay, and Seychelles
10. PropTiger.com acquires its rival Makaan.com
Real estate portal PropTiger.com has acquired its rival Makaan.com to ramp up its presence in India’s secondary property market. After the acquisition both portals will run separately.
In this regard, Elara Technologies parent firm of PropTiger.com has entered into a transaction for an undisclosed amount with Makaan.com.
This acquisition will help PropTiger.com to create a comprehensive online real-estate platform in India which will offer end-to-end services to real estate developers, home buyers, property brokers, private equity investors and banks.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a fine of 1.5 crore rupees each on three Public Sector Banks (PSBs) for violating Know Your Customer (KYC)/Anti Money Laundering (AML) norms. These three PSBs are Bank of Maharashtra, Dena Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce.
The penalties have been imposed in exercise of powers vested in it under the provisions of Section 47(A) (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, taking into account the violations of the instructions issued by the RBI from time to time.
RBI findings revealed violation of certain regulatory guidelines issued by the RBI as also other disquieting actions on the part of the banks, as under:
• Non-adherence to certain aspects of KYC norms of the Reserve Bank like customer identification and acceptance procedure,
• Non-adherence to the Reserve Bank’s instructions on monitoring of transactions in customer accounts,
• Non-adherence to the Reserve Bank’s instructions regarding funds received through Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS).
Besides, it cautioned eight other banks, namely Central Bank of India, Bank of India, Punjab and Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, UCO Bank, Union Bank of India and Vijaya Bank.
2. Ananda Kumar, Pramod Patil won Whitley Awards for wildlife conservation
Two Indians namely Dr Ananda Kumar and Dr Pramod Patilwon the prestigious Whitley Awards (also known as Green Oscar) for their contribution to wildlife conservation.
The awards were presented at a ceremony in Royal Geographical Society, London. The winners of the award received a Whitley prize worth 35000 pound.
Kumar was honoured for his work of using innovative communication systems to enable human-elephant co-existence in Southern India. Patil, on the other hand, was honoured for his work to protect the iconic great Indian bustard in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan.
3. Logo of the International Day of Yoga launched
The logo of International Day of Yoga was launched in New Delhi by
Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Union Minister of State (MoS) for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik.The logo was selected by a committee of yoga experts constituted by Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) and was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
4. Union Government approved continuation of 1000 rupees Monthly Pension Scheme under EPS
Union Government approved continuation of 1000 rupees Monthly Pension Scheme under Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 (EPS) beyond 2014-15 on perpetual basis.
The move would benefit over 20 lakh pensioners under social security scheme run by Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). It will cost additionally 850 crore rupees to the exchequer of the government.
The scheme was launched with effect from 1 September 2014. It hiked the pension amount to a flat 1000 rupees per month for those who were getting lower amount earlier and it was initially effective till 31 March 2015.
As a result, the EPFO had to suspend the scheme from 1 April 2015 in the absence of any direction from the government to continue with this benefit beyond 31 March 2015.
5. Mamata declares Nadia first 'open defecation-free' district in India
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday declared Nadia as the first Open Defecation Free (ODF) district in the country.
“I feel proud to declare Nadia to be the first ODF district in the country. I congratulate Nadia district for achieving this feat and convey my thanks to World Bank and the UNICEF,” Ms. Banerjee said while speaking at the programme here.
“We had started this on November 19, 2013 and within two years... yes we can... we have reached our goal. We are totally successful,” she said. “I feel proud that the first three districts to be ODF are from West Bengal. We have Nadia, Hooghly and Burdwan and the fourth one is Rajasthan’s Bikaner. So it’s 3:1 ratio... We have bowled out everybody,” the Chief Minister said.
Thanking UNICEF and the World Bank for helping the district achieve this feat, Ms. Banerjee declared April 30 as the “Nirmal Bangla Diwas” to be observed in the years to come
6. Vijaya Bank ties up with SBI Life
Vijaya Bank has tied up with SBI Life Insurance to launch the social security scheme — Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by Kishore Sansi, Managing Director and CEO of Vijaya Bank and Arijit Basu, Managing Director & CEO of SBI Life Insurance, in the presence of Executive Directors of Vijaya Bank KR Shenoy and BS Rama Rao, a press release said.
7. Lok Sabha passes Finance Bill 2015
The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Finance Bill 2015 through voice vote.
The Bill was passed after the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moved as many as 41 official amendments. The amendments include slew of tax concessions to foreign companies on the minimum alternate tax (MAT) front, exempting the sponsors/promoters of real estate investment trusts from MAT on the notional gains arising from shares of a special purpose vehicle to a business trust in exchange of units allotted by that trust.
The biggest relief to foreign companies is that they will not henceforth be subjected to MAT on any interest, royalty or fees for technical services.
This would mean that incomes earned by foreign companies (including foreign institutional investors) on investments in Government and other fixed income securities will not be covered under MAT provisions.
Jaitley also softened the blow of the conditions stipulated in the Finance Bill for foreign fund managers to relocate to India without having to face adverse tax consequences.
The Finance Minister said that certain conditions will not apply in the case of sovereign wealth funds and offshore funds floated by foreign Government.
He also raised the customs duty on natural rubber (on the advalorem side to 25 per cent from 20 per cent) to give better protection to domestic growers
The basic customs duty on raw silk has been reduced to 15 per cent.
8. SBI joins hands with National Insurance
Country’s largest lender State Bank of India today entered into a tie-up with the National Insurance Company (NICL) to offer non-life cover to its savings account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY).
The bank will offer personal accidental death and disability cover of Rs. 2 lakh under the scheme, it said in a release.
The customer will have to pay an annual premium of only Rs. 12. All the savings account holders in the age group 18 to 70 years will be eligible for the cover.
9. Union Government extends e-Tourist Visa scheme to 31 more countries
Union Government has extended e-Tourist Visa scheme to 31 more countries with an effect from 31 May 2015.
In this regard, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a notification. With this the total number of countries under the scheme has gone up to 76.
The 31 countries are: Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Bahamas, Bolivia, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Chile, Cayman Island, Dominic an Republic, Dominica, Estonia, El Salvador, Ecuador, France, Grenada, Georgia, Haiti, Honduras,Vatican, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Latvia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Nicaragua, Montserrat, St.Kitts & Nevis Paraguay, and Seychelles
10. PropTiger.com acquires its rival Makaan.com
Real estate portal PropTiger.com has acquired its rival Makaan.com to ramp up its presence in India’s secondary property market. After the acquisition both portals will run separately.
In this regard, Elara Technologies parent firm of PropTiger.com has entered into a transaction for an undisclosed amount with Makaan.com.
This acquisition will help PropTiger.com to create a comprehensive online real-estate platform in India which will offer end-to-end services to real estate developers, home buyers, property brokers, private equity investors and banks.
1. RBI imposed a fine of 1.5 crore rupees each on three Public Sector Banks for violating KYC norms
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a fine of 1.5 crore rupees each on three Public Sector Banks (PSBs) for violating Know Your Customer (KYC)/Anti Money Laundering (AML) norms. These three PSBs are Bank of Maharashtra, Dena Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce.
The penalties have been imposed in exercise of powers vested in it under the provisions of Section 47(A) (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, taking into account the violations of the instructions issued by the RBI from time to time.
RBI findings revealed violation of certain regulatory guidelines issued by the RBI as also other disquieting actions on the part of the banks, as under:
• Non-adherence to certain aspects of KYC norms of the Reserve Bank like customer identification and acceptance procedure,
• Non-adherence to the Reserve Bank’s instructions on monitoring of transactions in customer accounts,
• Non-adherence to the Reserve Bank’s instructions regarding funds received through Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS).
Besides, it cautioned eight other banks, namely Central Bank of India, Bank of India, Punjab and Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, UCO Bank, Union Bank of India and Vijaya Bank.
2. Ananda Kumar, Pramod Patil won Whitley Awards for wildlife conservation
Two Indians namely Dr Ananda Kumar and Dr Pramod Patilwon the prestigious Whitley Awards (also known as Green Oscar) for their contribution to wildlife conservation.
The awards were presented at a ceremony in Royal Geographical Society, London. The winners of the award received a Whitley prize worth 35000 pound.
Kumar was honoured for his work of using innovative communication systems to enable human-elephant co-existence in Southern India. Patil, on the other hand, was honoured for his work to protect the iconic great Indian bustard in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan.
3. Logo of the International Day of Yoga launched
The logo of International Day of Yoga was launched in New Delhi by
Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Union Minister of State (MoS) for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik.
The logo was selected by a committee of yoga experts constituted by Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) and was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
4. Union Government approved continuation of 1000 rupees Monthly Pension Scheme under EPS
Union Government approved continuation of 1000 rupees Monthly Pension Scheme under Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 (EPS) beyond 2014-15 on perpetual basis.
The move would benefit over 20 lakh pensioners under social security scheme run by Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). It will cost additionally 850 crore rupees to the exchequer of the government.
The scheme was launched with effect from 1 September 2014. It hiked the pension amount to a flat 1000 rupees per month for those who were getting lower amount earlier and it was initially effective till 31 March 2015.
As a result, the EPFO had to suspend the scheme from 1 April 2015 in the absence of any direction from the government to continue with this benefit beyond 31 March 2015.
5. Mamata declares Nadia first 'open defecation-free' district in India
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday declared Nadia as the first Open Defecation Free (ODF) district in the country.
“I feel proud to declare Nadia to be the first ODF district in the country. I congratulate Nadia district for achieving this feat and convey my thanks to World Bank and the UNICEF,” Ms. Banerjee said while speaking at the programme here.
“We had started this on November 19, 2013 and within two years... yes we can... we have reached our goal. We are totally successful,” she said. “I feel proud that the first three districts to be ODF are from West Bengal. We have Nadia, Hooghly and Burdwan and the fourth one is Rajasthan’s Bikaner. So it’s 3:1 ratio... We have bowled out everybody,” the Chief Minister said.
Thanking UNICEF and the World Bank for helping the district achieve this feat, Ms. Banerjee declared April 30 as the “Nirmal Bangla Diwas” to be observed in the years to come
6. Vijaya Bank ties up with SBI Life
Vijaya Bank has tied up with SBI Life Insurance to launch the social security scheme — Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by Kishore Sansi, Managing Director and CEO of Vijaya Bank and Arijit Basu, Managing Director & CEO of SBI Life Insurance, in the presence of Executive Directors of Vijaya Bank KR Shenoy and BS Rama Rao, a press release said.
7. Lok Sabha passes Finance Bill 2015
The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Finance Bill 2015 through voice vote.
The Bill was passed after the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moved as many as 41 official amendments. The amendments include slew of tax concessions to foreign companies on the minimum alternate tax (MAT) front, exempting the sponsors/promoters of real estate investment trusts from MAT on the notional gains arising from shares of a special purpose vehicle to a business trust in exchange of units allotted by that trust.
The biggest relief to foreign companies is that they will not henceforth be subjected to MAT on any interest, royalty or fees for technical services.
This would mean that incomes earned by foreign companies (including foreign institutional investors) on investments in Government and other fixed income securities will not be covered under MAT provisions.
Jaitley also softened the blow of the conditions stipulated in the Finance Bill for foreign fund managers to relocate to India without having to face adverse tax consequences.
The Finance Minister said that certain conditions will not apply in the case of sovereign wealth funds and offshore funds floated by foreign Government.
He also raised the customs duty on natural rubber (on the advalorem side to 25 per cent from 20 per cent) to give better protection to domestic growers
The basic customs duty on raw silk has been reduced to 15 per cent.
8. SBI joins hands with National Insurance
Country’s largest lender State Bank of India today entered into a tie-up with the National Insurance Company (NICL) to offer non-life cover to its savings account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY).
The bank will offer personal accidental death and disability cover of Rs. 2 lakh under the scheme, it said in a release.
The customer will have to pay an annual premium of only Rs. 12. All the savings account holders in the age group 18 to 70 years will be eligible for the cover.
9. Union Government extends e-Tourist Visa scheme to 31 more countries
Union Government has extended e-Tourist Visa scheme to 31 more countries with an effect from 31 May 2015.
In this regard, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a notification. With this the total number of countries under the scheme has gone up to 76.
The 31 countries are: Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Bahamas, Bolivia, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Chile, Cayman Island, Dominic an Republic, Dominica, Estonia, El Salvador, Ecuador, France, Grenada, Georgia, Haiti, Honduras,Vatican, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Latvia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Nicaragua, Montserrat, St.Kitts & Nevis Paraguay, and Seychelles
10. PropTiger.com acquires its rival Makaan.com
Real estate portal PropTiger.com has acquired its rival Makaan.com to ramp up its presence in India’s secondary property market. After the acquisition both portals will run separately.
In this regard, Elara Technologies parent firm of PropTiger.com has entered into a transaction for an undisclosed amount with Makaan.com.
This acquisition will help PropTiger.com to create a comprehensive online real-estate platform in India which will offer end-to-end services to real estate developers, home buyers, property brokers, private equity investors and banks.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a fine of 1.5 crore rupees each on three Public Sector Banks (PSBs) for violating Know Your Customer (KYC)/Anti Money Laundering (AML) norms. These three PSBs are Bank of Maharashtra, Dena Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce.
The penalties have been imposed in exercise of powers vested in it under the provisions of Section 47(A) (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, taking into account the violations of the instructions issued by the RBI from time to time.
RBI findings revealed violation of certain regulatory guidelines issued by the RBI as also other disquieting actions on the part of the banks, as under:
• Non-adherence to certain aspects of KYC norms of the Reserve Bank like customer identification and acceptance procedure,
• Non-adherence to the Reserve Bank’s instructions on monitoring of transactions in customer accounts,
• Non-adherence to the Reserve Bank’s instructions regarding funds received through Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS).
Besides, it cautioned eight other banks, namely Central Bank of India, Bank of India, Punjab and Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, UCO Bank, Union Bank of India and Vijaya Bank.
2. Ananda Kumar, Pramod Patil won Whitley Awards for wildlife conservation
Two Indians namely Dr Ananda Kumar and Dr Pramod Patilwon the prestigious Whitley Awards (also known as Green Oscar) for their contribution to wildlife conservation.
The awards were presented at a ceremony in Royal Geographical Society, London. The winners of the award received a Whitley prize worth 35000 pound.
Kumar was honoured for his work of using innovative communication systems to enable human-elephant co-existence in Southern India. Patil, on the other hand, was honoured for his work to protect the iconic great Indian bustard in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan.
3. Logo of the International Day of Yoga launched
The logo of International Day of Yoga was launched in New Delhi by
Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Union Minister of State (MoS) for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik.The logo was selected by a committee of yoga experts constituted by Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) and was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
4. Union Government approved continuation of 1000 rupees Monthly Pension Scheme under EPS
Union Government approved continuation of 1000 rupees Monthly Pension Scheme under Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 (EPS) beyond 2014-15 on perpetual basis.
The move would benefit over 20 lakh pensioners under social security scheme run by Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). It will cost additionally 850 crore rupees to the exchequer of the government.
The scheme was launched with effect from 1 September 2014. It hiked the pension amount to a flat 1000 rupees per month for those who were getting lower amount earlier and it was initially effective till 31 March 2015.
As a result, the EPFO had to suspend the scheme from 1 April 2015 in the absence of any direction from the government to continue with this benefit beyond 31 March 2015.
5. Mamata declares Nadia first 'open defecation-free' district in India
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday declared Nadia as the first Open Defecation Free (ODF) district in the country.
“I feel proud to declare Nadia to be the first ODF district in the country. I congratulate Nadia district for achieving this feat and convey my thanks to World Bank and the UNICEF,” Ms. Banerjee said while speaking at the programme here.
“We had started this on November 19, 2013 and within two years... yes we can... we have reached our goal. We are totally successful,” she said. “I feel proud that the first three districts to be ODF are from West Bengal. We have Nadia, Hooghly and Burdwan and the fourth one is Rajasthan’s Bikaner. So it’s 3:1 ratio... We have bowled out everybody,” the Chief Minister said.
Thanking UNICEF and the World Bank for helping the district achieve this feat, Ms. Banerjee declared April 30 as the “Nirmal Bangla Diwas” to be observed in the years to come
6. Vijaya Bank ties up with SBI Life
Vijaya Bank has tied up with SBI Life Insurance to launch the social security scheme — Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by Kishore Sansi, Managing Director and CEO of Vijaya Bank and Arijit Basu, Managing Director & CEO of SBI Life Insurance, in the presence of Executive Directors of Vijaya Bank KR Shenoy and BS Rama Rao, a press release said.
7. Lok Sabha passes Finance Bill 2015
The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Finance Bill 2015 through voice vote.
The Bill was passed after the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moved as many as 41 official amendments. The amendments include slew of tax concessions to foreign companies on the minimum alternate tax (MAT) front, exempting the sponsors/promoters of real estate investment trusts from MAT on the notional gains arising from shares of a special purpose vehicle to a business trust in exchange of units allotted by that trust.
The biggest relief to foreign companies is that they will not henceforth be subjected to MAT on any interest, royalty or fees for technical services.
This would mean that incomes earned by foreign companies (including foreign institutional investors) on investments in Government and other fixed income securities will not be covered under MAT provisions.
Jaitley also softened the blow of the conditions stipulated in the Finance Bill for foreign fund managers to relocate to India without having to face adverse tax consequences.
The Finance Minister said that certain conditions will not apply in the case of sovereign wealth funds and offshore funds floated by foreign Government.
He also raised the customs duty on natural rubber (on the advalorem side to 25 per cent from 20 per cent) to give better protection to domestic growers
The basic customs duty on raw silk has been reduced to 15 per cent.
8. SBI joins hands with National Insurance
Country’s largest lender State Bank of India today entered into a tie-up with the National Insurance Company (NICL) to offer non-life cover to its savings account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY).
The bank will offer personal accidental death and disability cover of Rs. 2 lakh under the scheme, it said in a release.
The customer will have to pay an annual premium of only Rs. 12. All the savings account holders in the age group 18 to 70 years will be eligible for the cover.
9. Union Government extends e-Tourist Visa scheme to 31 more countries
Union Government has extended e-Tourist Visa scheme to 31 more countries with an effect from 31 May 2015.
In this regard, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a notification. With this the total number of countries under the scheme has gone up to 76.
The 31 countries are: Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Bahamas, Bolivia, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Chile, Cayman Island, Dominic an Republic, Dominica, Estonia, El Salvador, Ecuador, France, Grenada, Georgia, Haiti, Honduras,Vatican, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Latvia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Nicaragua, Montserrat, St.Kitts & Nevis Paraguay, and Seychelles
10. PropTiger.com acquires its rival Makaan.com
Real estate portal PropTiger.com has acquired its rival Makaan.com to ramp up its presence in India’s secondary property market. After the acquisition both portals will run separately.
In this regard, Elara Technologies parent firm of PropTiger.com has entered into a transaction for an undisclosed amount with Makaan.com.
This acquisition will help PropTiger.com to create a comprehensive online real-estate platform in India which will offer end-to-end services to real estate developers, home buyers, property brokers, private equity investors and banks.
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