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Whatsapp allowed beta test with limited user base, low transaction limit: NPCI
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has allowed WhatsApp to beta test its payments service with limited user base of one million and low transaction limit.
WhatsApp payment service will rival the likes of Paytm, whose founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has been critical of the Facebook-owned company and has even alleged that the US firm was getting unfair advantage.
Currently, NPCI has given its consent to roll out WhatsApp BHIM UPI beta launch with limited user base of one million and low per transaction limit.
Four banks will join the multi-bank BHIM UPI model in phases (in the coming weeks) and full feature product shall be released after the beta test is successful,
NPCI said its broad principles for inter-operability include ability to send and receive money through any BHIM UPI ID, intent and collect call and, read and generate BHIM/Bharat QR code that are required in final BHIM UPI app. “BHIM UPI enabled app which fulfils such principles only will be permissible for full scale-public launch
NPCI is the umbrella organisation for all retail payments system in India. It is being promoted the Reserve Bank of India.
It was founded in 2008 as a not-for-profit organisation registered under section 25 of the Companies Act, 2013
It has successfully played pioneering role in development of a domestic card payment network called RuPay, reducing the dependency on international card schemes.
What new on WhatsApp?
WhatsApp has developed a Payments feature that allows users to send money to their contacts on the app directly from their bank accounts.
This feature is based on the United Payments Interface (UPI), which allows instant direct bank-to-bank transfers via a virtual payee address.
Currently – beta-testing is going on with a limited user domain of 1 million, and it may become live for all shortly.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which is regulator for UPI and umbrella body for all retail payments in India, has also been updated of it.
The Banking Support – WhatsApp is not a bank, and it can’t process money transactions on its own due to legal constraints.
It has been stated that ICICI will be partnering the initiative to provide the required banking support for the monetary transactions.
Accessory Conditions – It is mandatory for both the sender and receiver of the payment to have the ‘payments feature’ enabled in their Whatsapp.
All transactions are said to final and there is no option for backtracking once the transfer has already been processed.
WhatsApp’s terms and conditions for using the feature say the user must be 18 years or older, but it is not clear how this will be verified.
CRISIL, SIDBI launch India’s first MSE sentiment index
Honourable Finance minister Shri Arun Jaitley launched CriSidEx, India’s first sentiment index for micro and small enterprises (MSEs) developed jointly by CRISIL and SIDBI.
CriSidEx is a composite index based on a diffusion index of 8 parameters, and measures MSE business sentiment on a scale of 0 (extremely negative) to 200 (extremely positive).
The parametric feedback was captured through a survey of 1,100 MSEs in November-December.
The first reading of CriSidEx stood at 107, indicating mildly positive sentiment during October-December (or the ‘survey quarter’).
For January-March 2018 (or the ‘next quarter’), the sentiment is expected to be more positive.
CriSidEx will have 2 indices – one for the ‘survey quarter’ and another for the ‘next quarter’ once a trend emerges after few rounds of the survey, providing independent time series data.
The crucial benefit of CriSidEx is that its readings will flag potential headwinds and changes in production cycles, and thus help improve market efficiencies.
And by capturing the sentiment of exporters and importers, it will also offer actionable indicators on foreign trade
IMF sees India as fastest-growing economy in 2018, 2019
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains bullish on India’s growth potential and has retained its GDP forecast for the country at 6.7 per cent in 2017 and 7.4 per cent in 2018.
In its World Economic Outlook Update, it also estimated that the Indian economy would grow by 7.8 per cent in 2019, which make the country the world’s fastest-growing economy in 2018 and 2019, the top ranking it briefly lost in 2017 to China.
The projection is in line with official estimates from the Central Statistics Office, which pegged GDP growth at 6.5 per cent this fiscal
In contrast, China’s growth is expected to slow down from 6.8 per cent in 2017 to 6.6 per cent in 2018 and further to 6.4 per cent in 2019.
Global economy
The IMF is, however, more bullish about the global economy and has scaled up its forecast for world output to 3.9 per cent each in 2018 and 2019, which is 0.2 percentage points higher than its estimate in October.
For 2017, it has raised its estimate for global growth by 0.1 percentage points to 3.7 per cent
It has significantly raised the growth forecast for the US to 2.3 per cent in 2017, 2.7 per cent in 2018 and 2.5 per cent next year.
India INX lists IRFC’s green bonds – first debt security at IFSC
BSE’s India International Exchange (India INX) listed the IRFC’s green bonds on its debt listing platform — the global securities market.
With this, the Indian Railway Finance Corporation’s (IRFC) green bonds have become the first debt security to be listed on an exchange at International Financial Services Centre in Gujarat’s GIFT city.
IRFC had last year raised USD 500 million from the 10- year green bond from investors in Asia, Europe and offshore US through listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
To have a platform to tap global investors by issuing bonds in any currency is the first of its kind in India and India INX as India’s first international exchange at IFSC Gift city, Gandhinagar has yet again been a pioneer in this.
The bonds have an annual yield of 3.835 per cent
India INX’s Global Securities Market (GSM) segment, India’s first debt listing platform, allows raising funds in any currency of choice by both foreign and Indian issuers from investors across the globe.
What are green bonds?
A green bond is like any other regular bond but with one key difference: the money raised by the issuer are earmarked towards financing `green’ projects, i.e. assets or business activities that are environment-friendly. Such projects could be in the areas of renewable energy , clean transportation and sustainable water management.
When did the concept start?
In 2007, green bonds were launched by few development banks such as the European Investment Bank and the World Bank.
Subsequently, in 2013, corporates too started participating, which led to its overall growth.
Back home, Yes Bank was the first bank to come out with a issue worth Rs 1,000 crore in 2015. Following this, few other banks too had green bond issuances.
Economic survey
GDP growth to reach 6.75 per cent during this fiscal year (2017-18) and will rise to 7.0 to 7.5 percent in 2018/19
GST data shows 50% rise in number of indirect taxpayers
Retail inflation averaged 3.3% in 2017-18, lowest in last 6 fiscals
Agriculture, industry and services sectors are expected to grow at the rate of 2.1%, 4.4%, and 8.3% respectively in 2017-18
Top 1% of Indian firms account only for 38% of exports
Budget
For 2018-19, the disinvestment target is set at Rs 80,000 crore
Corporate tax for 2018-19 has been cut to 25 percent for companies with revenue up to Rs 250 crore
The government decided to allow a standard deduction of Rs 40,000 for salaried taxpayers
Government proposes to increase the target of providing free LPG connections to 8 crore to poor women
Education cess increased to 4 pc from 3 pc to collect additional Rs 11,000 cr.
Now, India is a $2.5 tn economy, 7th largest in world
By 2022, every block with more than 50 per cent ST population will have Eklavya schools
99 cities selected for smart cities project with an outlay of Rs 2.04 lakh crore.
Fiscal deficit for 2017-18 raised to 3.5 pc of GDP as against 3.2 pc previously estimated; for FY 19 deficit pegged at 3.3 pc as against 3 pc targeted previously.
But experts say privatization of banks is not a good idea. Private Banks have seen more failures around the world and every time money from the tax payers were used to rescue these privately owned financial institutes.
Private sector banks have more amount of bail out records than the public sector banks as per historic data. United States of America, in 2008, have almost spent $800 billion to bail out private banks while the Indian government has spent every little amount on saving the public sector banks.
Privatization of banks
“Take the alarmingly increasing bad loans in banks. Who are the delinquents and who are the defaulters? Are all of them not private companies, industrialists and corporate houses ? 12 cases of NPAs have been referred to NCLT for insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings involving Rs. 253,000 crore. Who are they? Are all of them not top private corporate borrowers. Why they did not repay the loans? Is it their efficiency? Should banks be privatized and handed over to these people?
bulk of the loans given by public sector banks are to private corporate houses. If public sector banks are not efficient, why do they avail these loans from PSBs and why have not taken such loans from private banks
- PSU Banks are Social scheme delivery agents of Government, operating at far flung and distant rural areas, where you may hardly see any branch of HDFC/ICICI.
- Jan Dhan led to 30 Crores account with Deposits exceeding 42K Crores (Its not economically feasible scheme for banks)
- Earlier banks were only serving the Corporate sectors and profit making was their only purpose and only after the Nationalization of banks they started to serve the common people and Priority sector.The first step toward financial inclusion was Nationalization of banks .
- If all the nationalize banks are privatized GOI will not be able to implement their scheme properly and effectively so GOI need nationalized bank
Google fined Rs 135.86-crore for “search bias” and abusing its “dominant position”.
CCI’s Fine on Google
The order came on complaints filed back in 2012 by BharatMatrimony.com and Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS).
Bharat Matrimony.com claimed that its rival, Shaadi.com, was more prominently displayed, even when “Bharat Matrimony” was searched.
Google has been found “search biased” by displaying search results which were harmful to competitors and, indirectly, to users, thereby abusing its dominant market position.
The fine imposed amounts to 5 per cent of the average revenue generated in India by Google and its subsidiaries between 2012 and 2015.
What is Competition Commission of India?
CCI was formed under The Competition Act (Amendment) 2007 by the union government, consisting of a Chairperson and 6 Members.
The Act follows the philosophy of modern competition laws.
The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and M&A), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.
IndusInd Bank unveils a new musical logo called ‘MOGO
IndusInd Bank launched its new Sonic Identity which is essentially a musical logo, as part of its branding initiatives.
The objective for associating to a sonic identity is building the Bank’s brand imagery with the strategic use of music and sound for brand experiences and audience connection.
The music piece has been created by Rajeev Raja, Founder of brandmusiq, which is a sonic branding company in India. The musical logo is also referred to as the MOGO™ (short for musical LOGO).
The MOGO™ is a short, 4 note piece of of 2-3 seconds surrounding which there is a longer (90 second piece) called the MOGOSCAPE™ which serves as the sonic palette of the brand, defining the brand’s zone of sound
The Bank will use multiple ‘earpoints‘ to address its wide and varied stakeholders. The sonic identity will be used to engage with customers and stakeholders across all engagement platforms such as ATMs, net banking, mobile apps, TV, radio, social media and on ground activation.
To heighten brand experiences, the Bank has created an engaging microsite which emphasizes the power of sonic identity. The Brand has incorporated interesting games and contests to engage the user.
Sonic Identity is an extension of the Brand’s personality with an intent to strike the right emotional chord with its stakeholders and to create an experiential moment with the brand.
IndusInd Bank merger – Bharat Financial merger
The merger of three state-owned insurance companies — United India Insurance (UII), National Insurance Company (NIC) and Oriental Insurance Company (OIC)
The acquisition of ING Vysya bank by Kotak Mahindra
merger between IDFC and Capital First
Vodafone, Idea merger
Dish TV, Videocon – DTH merger
Bharti Airtel + Telenor India + Tata Teleservices’ consumer mobility business
Walt Disney – Fox Merger
Dalmia Bharat, OCL India merger
Bharti Airtel + Telenor India + Tata Teleservices’ consumer mobility business
KPIT merger with Birlasoft
MRPL Merger with HPCL
Introduction of Monetary Policy Committee-
- RBI set up an Expert Committee under Urijit Patel to revise the monetary policy framework
- January 2014: suggested that RBI abandon the ‘multiple indicator’ approach and make inflation targeting the primary objective of its monetary policy.
- It also mooted having Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
ØFor a balanced decision
ØDecisions could be made through majority vote
- 6-member panel
- Three members from the RBI — the Governor, a Deputy Governor and another official
- Three independent members to be selected by the Government
- Note: If there’s a tie between the ‘Ayes’ and the ‘Nays’, the RBI governor gets the deciding vote.
Dr. Chetan Ghate, Dr. Pami Dua, Dr. Ravindra H. Dholakia, Dr. Viral V. Acharya and Dr. Urjit R. Patel voted in favour of the monetary policy decision. Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra voted for an increase in the policy rate of 25 basis points.
- MPC kept the short-term lending rate/repo rate, unchanged @ 6%
- The reverse repo, at which RBI borrows from banks: @5.75%
- Stance: Neutral gives it the flexibility to change gears in either direction
- Objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 percent within a band of +/- 2 percent, while supporting growth.
- Cash Reserve Rate (CRR) at 4.00% has been unchanged since 9thFebruary 2013
- Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) has been 19.50% with effect from 14thOctober, 2017
- The next meeting of RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is scheduled on 4thand 5thApril, 2018.
The RBI’s policy announcement was the first after the unveiling of Budget 2018 and came amid a turmoil in global financial markets.
- Despite the RBI keeping interest rate steady, many analysts see the possibility of monetary policy tightening down the road after surging oil and food prices pushed consumer inflation to a 17-month high of 5.21 per cent in December – well above the RBI’s 4 per cent target in the medium term.
- It raised its March-end Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation forecast to 5.1% and projected an inflation range of 5.1-5.6% in the first half of the next fiscal year.
- The inflation outlook is “clouded by several uncertainties”, noted the panel.
- It listed the staggered impact of housing rent allowance increases by the state government, rising prices of crude oil and other commodities owing to a pick-up in global growth, increase in minimum support prices (MSPs) for kharif crops, the budget’s hike in custom duties and the fiscal slippage as several factors.
- A pick-up in global growth may exert further pressure on crude oil and commodity prices with implications for domestic inflation.
- There is “need for vigilance around the evolving inflation scenario in the coming months”, the panel noted.
- GVA growth for 2017-18 is projected at 6.6 per cent down from its earlier forecast of 6.7 per cent.
- Gross value added, is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy.
- GVA is a key input of GDP that strips out taxes and subsidies
- For 2018-19, the central bank projects higher GVA growth for 2018-19 at 7.2 per cent.
The telecom department of India has asked BSNL and other network providers to start issuing 13-digit numbers to SIM-based Machine to Machine (M2M) devices. This new rule will not impact the mobile numbers of current or even future users.
Earlier, just like individual connections, M2M devices used 10-digit number to identify each other. Now, this new system will co-exist with with the 10-digit interface of normal users.
The move is aimed towards making M2M communication more secure. Major infrastructure and services will bank on this technology in future and this new step will enhance that.
The Department of Telecom announced in a note that this new switch to 13-digit numbers will begin from 1 July 2018.”From this date onwards, all new M2M mobile connections will be allocated l3-digit numbers only,” the department stated in their note.
WhatsApp