Reserve Bank of India

07.06.2017

Banking

Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2017-2018

MANU/RPRL/0092/2017

On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation at its meeting today, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to:

keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.25 per cent.

Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains at 6.0 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.50 per cent.

The decision of the MPC is consistent with a neutral stance of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 per cent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth. The main considerations underlying the decision are set out in the statement below.



Assessment

2. Since the April 2017 meeting of the MPC, global economic activity has expanded at a modest pace, supported by firming growth in major advanced economies (AEs) and in some emerging market economies (EMEs) as well. In the US, a tightening labour market is generating wage gains. Alongside, industrial production has steadily improved in recent months and retail sales remain robust, although home sales ebbed in April. Political risks remain high, however. In the Euro area, the recovery has been underpinned by consistently falling unemployment, rising retail sales and a brighter outlook for manufacturing reflected in purchasing managers' and business surveys. In Japan, exports supported by a depreciated yen and industrial activity are driving an acceleration in growth. Wages and inflation, however, are depressed and holding back domestic demand. Among EMEs, the Chinese economy is stabilising, especially in manufacturing, but financial risks in the form of the credit-fuelled debt overhang could impinge on the outlook. Brazil appears to be emerging out of recession, although growth dynamics remain fragile due to worsening labour market conditions and political turmoil. In Russia, the strengthening global environment is supporting the recovery with improving macro fundamentals. South Africa is grappling with structural constraints which are depressing economic activity.

3. The pick-up in global merchandise trade volume since the start of the year has been sustained in Q2 of 2017, buoyed by strengthening global demand as reflected in rising international air freight and container throughput. Crude prices fell to a five-month low in early May on higher output from Canada and the US, and remain soft, undermining the OPEC's recent efforts to tighten the market by trimming supply. Among non-fuel commodity prices, metal prices have been retreating on expectations of weak demand from China. Bullion prices remain range-bound, while food prices eased in April but rose in May. These developments suggest that the inflation outlook is still relatively benign for AEs and EMEs alike.

4. International financial markets have been lifted by improving global growth prospects, broadly accommodative monetary policy stances of systemic central banks and generally positive incoming data. Increasingly, financial markets have shown resilience to geo-political events and have swiftly priced them in. This has been reflected in the reinvigoration of the reach for returns. Country-specific factors have modulated investor sentiment. Equity markets in most AEs have gained in Q2, surpassing past peaks in the US; boosted by corporate profits in Japan; and supported by easing political tensions and upbeat data in the case of the Euro area. In EMEs, equities have turned in a mixed performance, with high valuations across Asia, but weaker in Latin America on softer commodity prices. Bond yields in major AEs have been largely range-bound. In EMEs, yields have hardened in the few countries facing inflation pressures and political uncertainties, but for commodity exporters, there has been some recent decline. In the currency markets, the US dollar has weakened in May after dovish guidance by the Fed and unexpected political events. Since mid-May, the yen has shed its depreciating bias and appears to have gained safe haven appeal. EME currencies, which had depreciated on the strength of the US dollar, have steadied more recently on renewal of capital flows and risk-on investor appetite.

5. On May 31, 2017 India's Central Statistics Office (CSO) released quarterly estimates of national income accounts for Q4 of 2016-17, provisional estimates for 2016-17 and revisions for the preceding five years. The growth of real gross value added (GVA) for 2016-17 has been pegged at 6.6 per cent, 0.1 percentage point lower than the second advance estimates released in February 2017. Underlying the revision is a downward adjustment in services sector growth in Q4 for the constituents of construction, financial and professional services, and real estate. Estimates of agriculture and allied activities have been upgraded to incorporate the all-time high production of foodgrains and horticulture in the year. GVA in industry has also been placed higher in the provisional estimates relative to the earlier reading to reflect the impact of new indices of industrial production (IIP) and wholesale prices (WPI) rebased to 2011-12. The new data reveal that a slowdown in activity in both industry and services set in as early as Q1 of 2016-17 and became pronounced in Q4. Moreover, the deceleration of activity coursing through the year has had underlying drivers that have been in operation since Q2. Components of aggregate demand reflect a contraction in gross fixed investment in Q4, reversing the turnaround evident in the second half of the year in the advance estimates. This is also reflected in the contraction in the production of capital goods in the new IIP. However, private final consumption expenditure recorded robust year-on-year growth.

6. On May 9, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) released its third advance estimates of foodgrains production, which confirmed the record level of output achieved in 2016-17 and, in fact, revised it upwards to 273 million tonnes. The MoA also set out its second advance estimates of fruits and vegetables on May 30, which was also a historical record. Benefiting from the bumper harvest, rabi procurement during Q1 of 2017-18 so far has been significantly higher than a year ago, replenishing food stocks and taking them to 61.9 million tonnes in May 2017, three times the buffer norm. On June 6, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) re-affirmed its forecast of a normal and well-distributed south-west (June-September) monsoon, which augurs well for the agricultural outlook.

7. The new series on the IIP released by the CSO on May 12 improves the coverage of industrial activity, realigns weights and reclassifies sub-sectors to better capture the underlying structural dynamics of the sector, and smoothens the impact of lumpy items on the index. As a result, industrial production expanded by 5.0 per cent during 2016-17 based on the new series (as against 0.7 per cent in the old series). Turning to the current financial year, the output of eight core industries decelerated sharply in April on account of contraction in coal, crude oil and cement due to structural constraints and low demand. Furthermore, electricity generation decelerated due to depressed demand pricing out relatively expensive thermal output. By contrast, the production of steel and fertiliser picked up, the former driven up by exports and the latter by expectations of a normal monsoon.

8. The business expectations index generated by the Reserve Bank's April round of the Industrial Outlook Survey reflects optimism in the manufacturing sector in Q2 of 2017-18, driven by expectations of rising rural demand, exports and profit margins. On the other hand, the manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) moderated sequentially in May as employment contracted and new orders, both domestic and exports, slowed down. The index, however, remained in the expansion zone and the future output index accelerated for the third month in succession.

9. High frequency real indicators of activity in the services sector point to a mixed performance in April. In the transportation sub-sector, freight carriage by air and rail gathered momentum, and passenger car sales accelerated on the back of sustained strength of urban demand. Sales of commercial vehicles and three-wheelers contracted, however, reflecting in part the effects of new emission norms and technology changes. Two-wheeler sales remained depressed, indicative of still subdued rural demand. In the communication sub-sector, there was a strong growth in the subscriber base of voice and data services. The sustained growth of foreign tourist arrivals and air passenger traffic, both domestic and international, supported activity in the hotels, restaurants and the hospitality sub-sector. Both steel consumption and cement production were, however, sluggish, pointing to continuing weakness in construction activity. The services PMI for May rose to its highest reading since November 2016, with an expansion in new business reflecting improving underlying demand conditions, alongside optimism on employment.

10. Retail inflation measured by year-on-year changes in the consumer price index (CPI) plunged to a historic low in April, pulled down by a large favourable base effect which overwhelmed a momentum that was feeble relative to the historical record for the month. Underlying this surprising softness was a sharp fall in food inflation brought about by a deflation in the prices of pulses and vegetables. In addition, moderation in the prices of cereals, eggs, oils and fats and spices contributed to the loss of momentum. In the case of pulses, the large-scale augmentation of supply on account of expansion in acreage, procurement, buffer stocking and imports caused a sharp decline in prices starting in August 2016. Propelled by significantly higher arrivals in mandis relative to the seasonal pattern, prices of vegetables also fell markedly from July and bottomed out in January 2017, with fire sales during the demonetisation period accentuating the fall. The seasonal uptick that typically occurs in the pre-monsoon months has been muted so far. In the fuel group by contrast, inflation surged across the board. Prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene rose in sympathy with international prices even as the subsidy was set on a path of calibrated reduction. Fuel used by rural households rose for the third month in succession, narrowing the wedge between fuel inflation facing rural and urban households. In response to these developments, inflation expectations three months ahead and a year ahead surveyed in the Reserve Bank's inflation expectations survey of households have ticked down marginally.

11. Excluding food and fuel, inflation dipped 60 basis points from a month ago to 4.4 per cent. The delayed and cumulative downward adjustment of domestic petrol and diesel prices in April to the softening of international crude prices in preceding months was among the factors at work. Inflation in respect of services embedded in transport and communication, education, recreation and health also moderated. The industrial outlook survey and the PMIs for manufacturing and services indicate that pricing power remains weak.

12. Even as surplus liquidity in the banking system post-demonetisation was drained by the ramping up of new currency in circulation by Rs. 1.5 trillion in April and May, massive spending by the Government re-injected liquidity into the system, raising the daily average overall surplus liquidity in the banking system to Rs. 4.2 trillion in April and Rs. 3.5 trillion in May. Unwinding of the excess reserves that banks used to dress up balance sheets for end-March also resulted in an accretion of Rs. 0.8 trillion to the surplus liquidity. Absorption operations undertaken by the Reserve Bank in the context of these developments and the consequent downward pressure on money market rates consisted of Rs. 1 trillion impounded through issuance of treasury bills (TBs) of tenors ranging from 312 days to 329 days under the market stabilisation scheme (MSS), auctions of cash management bills (CMBs) of Rs. 0.7 trillion triggered by the decline in cash balances of the Government, and variable rate reverse repo auctions of different tenors which took in the remaining surplus liquidity averaging Rs. 3.8 trillion in April and Rs. 3.4 trillion in May. With the narrowing of the LAF corridor from +/- 50 bps to +/- 25 bps in April 2017, these operations ensured that the weighted average call money rate (WACR) - the operating target of monetary policy- broadly traded within the corridor. The spread between the WACR and the policy repo rate narrowed from 29-32 basis points (bps) in March-April to 21 bps in May.

13. Merchandise exports posted double digit growth in March and April 2017 in an environment of slowly improving global trade, with 80 per cent of this expansion contributed by engineering goods, petroleum products, gems and jewellery, readymade garments and chemicals. Merchandise imports also increased sharply, propelled by domestic demand, with the jump of 47.2 per cent in US dollar terms not recorded since 2011. Imports of petroleum and products rose strongly on price effects as international crude prices firmed up in the wake of OPEC's productions cut. Gold imports also surged in volume terms, initially driven by seasonal and festival demand but subsequently by stockpiling in anticipation of the roll out of the goods and services tax (GST). Non-oil non-gold imports contributed about half of the total import growth in March and April, reflecting higher recourse to electronic goods, pearls and precious stones, coal, machinery and machine tools from overseas markets. With import growth significantly outpacing export growth, the trade deficit increased sizably. The current account deficit (CAD) for the year 2016-17 is likely to remain within 1 per cent of GDP. Unlike in the immediately preceding quarter, capital flows in April-May 2017 were dominated by foreign portfolio investment (FPI), pushed out by risk-on investor sentiment as global growth prospects improved. Also, clarity emerged on taxation issues in the Union Budget and the expectations of faster structural reforms were fuelled by the decisive outcome of State elections. The level of foreign exchange reserves as on June 2, 2017 was US$ 381.2 billion.



Outlook

14. The abrupt and significant retreat of inflation in April from the firming trajectory that was developing in February and March has raised several issues that have to be factored into the inflation projections. First, it needs to be assessed as to whether or not the unusually low momentum in the reading for April will endure. Second, the prices of pulses are clearly reeling under the impact of a supply glut caused by record output and imports. Policy interventions, including access to open trade, may be envisaged to arrest the slump in prices. Third, the accumulated downward adjustment in the prices of petrol and diesel effected in April has been largely reversed on June 1. Fourth, the easing of inflation excluding food and fuel may be transient in view of its underlying stickiness in a situation of rising rural wage growth and strong consumption demand. Thus, the April reading has imparted considerable uncertainty to the evolving inflation trajectory, especially for the near months. If the configurations evident in April are sustained, then absent policy interventions, headline inflation is projected in the range of 2.0-3.5 per cent in the first half of the year and 3.5-4.5 per cent in the second half. Risks are evenly balanced, although the spatial and temporal distribution of the monsoon and the government staying the course in effective food management will play a critical role in the evolution of risks. The risk of fiscal slippages, which, by and large, can entail inflationary spillovers, has risen with the announcements of large farm loan waivers. At the current juncture, global political and financial risks materialising into imported inflation and the disbursement of allowances under the 7th central pay commission's award are upside risks. The date of implementation of the latter is still not announced and as such, it is not factored into the baseline projections. The implementation of the GST is not expected to have a material impact on overall inflation.

15. With the CSO's provisional estimates for 2016-17, the projection of real GVA growth for 2017-18 has accordingly been revised 10 bps downwards from the April 2017 projection to 7.3 per cent, with risks evenly balanced. The continuing remonetisation should enable a pick-up in discretionary consumer spending, especially in cash-intensive segments of the economy. Furthermore, the reductions in banks' lending rates post-demonetisation should support both consumption and investment demand of households and stress-free corporates. Moreover, Government spending continues to be robust, cushioning the impact of a slowdown in other constituents. The implementation of proposals in the Union Budget should crowd in private investment as the business environment improves with structural reforms, including the GST, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and the abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. Strengthening external demand will likely play a more decisive role in supporting the domestic economy. In addition, the new IIP broadens the recognition of industrial activity. On the downside, global political risks remain elevated and could materialise. Second, rising input costs and wage pressures may prove a drag on the profitability of firms, pulling down overall GVA growth. Third, the twin balance sheet problem - over-leveraged corporate sector and stressed banking sector - may delay the revival in private investment demand.

16. The MPC noted that incoming data suggest that the transitory effects of demonetisation have lingered on in price formations relating to salient food items, entangled with excess supply conditions with respect to fruits and vegetables, pulses and cereals. At the same time, however, the CSO's latest releases on national income accounts and industrial production attest to the effects of demonetisation on the broader economy being sector specific and transient, as well as to the noteworthy resilience of private consumption. At this stage, it is difficult to isolate these factors or to judge the strength of their persistence. As the year progresses, underlying inflation pressures, especially input costs, wages and imported inflation, will have to be closely and continuously monitored.

17. Noting that inflation has fallen below 4 per cent only since November 2016, the MPC remains focused on its commitment to keeping headline inflation close to 4 per cent on a durable basis keeping in mind the output gap. The current state of the economy underscores the need to revive private investment, restore banking sector health and remove infrastructural bottlenecks. Monetary policy can play a more effective role only when these factors are in place. Premature action at this stage risks disruptive policy reversals later and the loss of credibility. Accordingly, the MPC decided to keep the policy rate unchanged with a neutral stance and remain watchful of incoming data.

18. The Reserve Bank will continue to work in partnership with the government to address the stress in banks' balance sheets. Better alignment of administered interest rates on small savings with market rates and stepped-up recapitalisation of banks to facilitate adequate flow of credit to productive sectors are important steps to follow through.

19. Five members were in favour of the monetary policy decision, while Dr. Ravindra H. Dholakia was not in favour. The minutes of the MPC's meeting will be published by June 21, 2017.

20. The next meeting of the MPC is scheduled on August 1 and 2, 2017.

Tags : Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement

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Press Information Bureau

07.06.2017

Civil

Cabinet approves MoU between India and Mali for standardization and conformity assessment

MANU/PIBU/0589/2017

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), India and Direction Nationale De Industries (MLINDI), Republic of Mali on Standardization and Conformity Assessment.

The MoU aims to facilitate closer cooperation and provide a mechanism by which India and Mali can work together towards the common aim of strengthening standardization and conformity assessment activities in order to facilitate sharing of expertise and mutual trade.

Tags : MOU Approval

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Press Information Bureau

07.06.2017

Capital Market

Cabinet approves Signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Securities and Exchange Board of India and European Securities and Markets Authority

MANU/PIBU/0590/2017

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in relation to Mutual Co-operation. The MoU is likely to establish cooperation arrangements as a precondition for ESMA to recognize Central Counter Parties (CCPs) established in India and supervised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India to provide clearing services to clearing members or trading venues established in the European Union and to provide ESMA with adequate tools to monitor the on-going compliance by the Covered CCPs with the Recognition Conditions.

Tags : MOU Approval SEBI

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Press Information Bureau

07.06.2017

Service Tax

Central Government abolishes various Cesses in the last three years for smooth roll-out of GST

MANU/PIBU/0595/2017

The Central Government in the last three General Budgets viz 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 has gradually abolished various cesses on goods and services in order to prepare the ground for smooth roll- out of Goods and Service Tax (GST) from 1st July, 2017. The Central Government has taken this step in stages by abolishing various cesses so that it is easier to fit in various goods and services in different tax slabs for GST.

The Central Government in its General Budget 2015-16 had abolished Education Cess, including Secondary and Higher Education Cess on taxable services, and exempted Education Cess on excisable goods as well as Secondary and Higher Education Cess on excisable goods.

In its General Budget 2016-17, the Central Government abolished cess on cement, strawboard, three cesses including cess on Iron Ore Mines, Manganese Ore Mines and Chrome Ore Mines by amending Labour Welfare Cess Act, 1976, Tobacco cess by amending the Tobacco Cess Act 1975, and Cine Workers Welfare Cess by amending the Cine Workers' Welfare Cess Act 1981 among others.

In its General Budget 2017-18, the Central Government abolished Research and Development cess by amending the Research and Development Cess Act.

Through Taxation Laws Amendment Act 2017, the following cesses are abolished. However, the date of the implementation will coincide with the date of the GST roll-out:

i) The Rubber Act 1947 - Cess on Rubber

ii) The Industries (Development and Regulation) Act 1951 - Cess on Automobile

iii) The Tea Act 1953 - Cess on Tea

iv) The Coal Mines (Conservation and Development) Act, 1974 - Cess on Coal

v) The Beedi Workers' Welfare Cess Act 1971 - Cess on Beedis

vi) The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act 1977 - Cess levied on Water consumed by certain industries and by local authorities.

vii) The Sugar Cess Act 1982, the Sugar Development Fund Act 1982 - Cess on Sugar

viii) The Jute Manufacturers Cess Act 1983 - Cess on Jute Goods manufactured or produced or in part of Jute.

ix) The Finance (2) Act 2004 - Education Cess on Excisable Goods

x) The Finance Act, 2007 - Secondary and Higher Education Cess on Excisable Goods

xi) The Finance Act 2010 - Clean Energy Cess

xii) The Finance Act 2015 - Swachh Bharat Cess

xiii) The Finance Act 2016 - Infrastructure Cess and Krishi Kalyan Cess

However, the following cesses will continue to be levied under the GST regime since they pertain to customs or goods which are not covered under the GST regime:

i) The Finance (2) Act 2004 - Education Cess on Imported Goods

ii) The Finance Act, 2007 - Secondary and Higher Education Cess on Imported Goods

iii) Cess on Crude Petroleum Oil under the Oil Industry Development Act, 1974

iv) Additional Duty of Excise on Motor Spirit (Road Cess)

v) Additional Duty of Excise on High Speed Diesel Oil (Road Cess)

vi) Special Additional Duty of Excise on Motor Spirit

vii) NCCD on Tobacco and Tobacco Products and Crude Petroleum Oil.

Tags : Cesses Abolition GST roll-out

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Press Information Bureau

06.06.2017

Direct Taxation

CBDT notifies transactions for which the condition of chargeability to STT for claiming exemption under Section 10(38) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 shall not apply

MANU/PIBU/0588/2017

Section 10(38) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ('the Act'), prior to its amendment by Finance Act, 2017 provided that the income arising by way of a transfer of long term capital asset, being equity share in a company shall be exempt from tax if such transfer is undertaken after 1st October, 2004 and chargeable to Securities Transaction Tax (STT) under Chapter VII of the Finance (No.2) Act, 2004.

In order to curb the practice of declaring unaccounted income as exempt long term capital gain by entering into sham transactions, the Finance Act, 2017 amended the provisions of section 10 (38) of the Act to provide that exemption under this section for income arising on transfer of equity share acquired or on after 1st day of October, 2004 shall be available only if the acquisition of share is chargeable to STT. However, to protect the exemption for genuine cases where the STT could not have been paid, it was also provided that the Central Government shall notify the acquisition for which the condition of chargeability to STT shall not apply.

In view of the above, it has been notified that the condition of chargeability to STT shall not apply to all transactions of acquisitions of equity shares entered into on or after the first day of October, 2004 other than the specified transactions such as acquisition of listed shares in preferential issues of a company whose shares are not frequently traded in a recognised stock exchange; acquisition of existing listed equity share in a company not through a recognised stock exchange of India and acquisition of shares of company during the period of its delisting. However, to protect the interest of genuine investors, exceptions are also provided in the specified transactions. The notification is available on www.incometaxindia.gov.in.

Tags : Transaction Exemption Claim

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Press Information Bureau

05.06.2017

Civil

India Signs Loan Agreement with the World Bank for USD 39.2 Million for the project "Assam Citizen Centric Service Delivery"

MANU/PIBU/0585/2017

An agreement for IBRD Credit of USD 39.2 Million from World Bank for the project "Assam Citizen Centric Service Delivery" was signed here today. Loan agreement was signed by Shri Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary (MI), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Hisham Abdo, Manager, Operations (India) on behalf of the World Bank. The Implementing Entity Agreement was signed by the Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Assam, on behalf of Government of Assam, and the Country Director (India) on behalf of the World Bank.

The programme size is USD 49 million, of which USD 39.2 million will be financed by the Bank, and the remaining amount will be funded-out of State Budget. The programme duration is 5 years.

The objective of the project is to improve access in the delivery of selected public services in Assam. The Project seeks to enable citizens to access services under the RTPS Act in a timely, efficient, and accountable manner. The Project adopts an integrated approach to improve access and accountability.

Tags : Agreement Loan Project

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Press Information Bureau

05.06.2017

Civil

Handbook, Module & Guidelines on Safe Childhood Programme for Gram Panchayats Released

MANU/PIBU/0586/2017

A Handbook along with Module & Guidelines on protection of Child Rights at Gram Panchayat level was released jointly by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Ministry of Panchayati Raj and UNICEF at New Delhi today. The Handbook, Module & Guidelines will be useful for the functionaries of the Panchayati Raj Institutions in protecting the rights of children at the village level.

Releasing the Handbook, Secretary of Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Shri Jitendra Shankar Mathur called it as a landmark occasion. He said, "Unless and until communities are involved, making a difference in the lives of children at the village level is an uphill task." Shri. Mathur also said that the beneficial legislations which are available in the country should be implemented in reality to empower the children of the country. He suggested that the initiative by NCPCR and UNICEF should be "pursued vigorously" for quick outcomes.

NCPCR Chairperson, Smt. Stuti Kacker, who spoke about the importance of community support which was available in earlier times said that today, with changing socio-economic conditions, children are not always safe. Therefore, she said, involvement of Gram Panchayats will go a long way for a safe and secure childhood. Smt. Kacker said keeping that in view, the Handbook, Module & Guidelines have been prepared in collaboration with UNICEF.

Highlighting that children migrate towards cities because they feel cities have luxuries and better opportunities, NCPCR Member Smt. Rupa Kapoor said the idea of community participation is to retain children in villages. Child-friendly Panchayats or Bal Panchayats, recreational activities for children at the Panchayat level and vocational training for children to make a livelihood for themselves are some of the additions proposed to be made to the already-existing Panchayat systems in the country. Stating that no new resources will be required for the initiative and mentioned that the Programme will be launched in 14 States initially (Andhra Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Uttharakhand, Uttar Pradesh) where State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs) have a proven track-record of initiatives pertaining to children and are strong and active in the field of Child Rights. The Programme will cover the entire country later.

Stating the importance of Panchayats in preventing incidences of child abuse and in protecting rights of children at the village level, Chief, Child Protection, UNICEF, Shri. Javier Aguilar, emphasized the need of mobilizing communities for trickling down of information on their rights and services to the children.

Safe Childhood Programme will contribute in improving the current scenario related to health, development, education and protection of children. Children are vulnerable and subject to abuse and exploitation in day to day life. To counter it, this Handbook will help Panchayat Members and other stakeholders to understand their role and actions in protection of children at the village level resulting in better convergence of programmes and increased allocation of resources to address Child Right issues. NCPCR will receive reports on its implementation each month from the 14 States. After one year, the Commission will evaluate the impact and felicitate those States which achieve good results.

NCPCR Member Shri. Yashwant Jain and Member Secretary, Smt. Geeta Narayan, Chairpersons/Members of the 14 State Commissions were also present on the occasion.

Tags : Guidelines Safe Childhood Gram Panchayats

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Reserve Bank of India

05.06.2017

Banking

Financial Literacy Week (June 5- 9, 2017)

MANU/RPRL/0090/2017

Financial Literacy is the first step towards financial prosperity. Financial literacy empowers the common man with knowledge which enables better financial decision making and ultimately financial well-being.

In order to create awareness at a large scale on key topics every year, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to observe one week in a year as 'Financial Literacy Week'. RBI this year, across the States, will observe June 5 to 9 as the Financial Literacy Week. The messages identified for the week are (a) Know Your Customer (KYC), (b) Exercising credit discipline, (c) Going digital - UPI, (d) Going digital *99#(USSD) and (e) Awareness of grievance redressal mechanism.

The activities during the week will involve display of financial literacy material in bank branches, conduct of literacy camps for public at large in various districts, enhancing the literacy efforts at the Financial Literacy Centres etc. RBI officials will work with bankers and district level authorities to ensure the success of this initiative.

The week long activities for Maharashtra State were launched in a brief function held today in Mumbai Regional Office of RBI. Senior Executives from various banks with major presence in Maharashtra as also from other banks participated in the meeting. The financial literacy materials prepared by RBI for display in banks branches were released by Chief Guest, Shri G. Padmanabhan, Chairman, Bank of India, who also addressed the invitees and highlighted the significance of Financial Literacy initiatives. Dr.S. Rajagopal, Regional Director of RBI for Maharashtra and Goa chaired the meeting. Other Senior Executives who addressed the gathering included Shri R.P. Marathe, MD and CEO of Bank of Maharashtra, Shri Neeraj Vyas, Dy. Managing Director, SBI and Shri K.K. Taneja, General Manager, Central Bank of India.

Tags : Financial literacy Awareness Week

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Reserve Bank of India

05.06.2017

Banking

RBI Clarification on Banks under Prompt Corrective Action

MANU/RPRL/0091/2017

The Reserve Bank of India has come across some misinformed communication circulating in some section of media including social media, about the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework. The Reserve Bank has clarified that the PCA framework is not intended to constrain normal operations of the banks for the general public.

It is further clarified that the Reserve Bank, under its supervisory framework, uses various measures/tools to maintain sound financial health of banks. PCA framework is one of such supervisory tools, which involves monitoring of certain performance indicators of the banks as an early warning exercise and is initiated once such thresholds as relating to capital, asset quality etc. are breached. Its objective is to facilitate the banks to take corrective measures including those prescribed by the Reserve Bank, in a timely manner, in order to restore their financial health. The framework also provides an opportunity to the Reserve Bank to pay focussed attention on such banks by engaging with the management more closely in those areas. The PCA framework is, thus, intended to encourage banks to eschew certain riskier activities and focus on conserving capital so that their balance sheets can become stronger. The Reserve Bank has emphasized that the PCA framework has been in operation since December, 2002 and the guidelines issued on April 13, 2017 is only a revised version of the earlier framework.

Tags : Corrective action Framework Clarification

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