India Incentivize Digital Payments

Government of India has initiated numerous steps to combat the scourge of Corruption and Black Money in the last two and a half years. Demonetization of 500 and 1000 Rs. notes is an important milestone in this endeavour. These large denomination currencies have resulted in a number of ill effects upon the economy. To increase overall transparency in the economy, it is important that we set into motion long term schemes to encourage digital payments so that tax evasion can be minimized.

It is possible to leverage technology to carry out business transactions digitally through online payments, mobile banking, e-wallets, debit cards etc. There are a large number of instruments to move from digital to digi-dhan. In Africa a developing country like Kenya has made this possible. In a country like India where 65% of the population is below 35 years of age, whose IT prowess is well recognized and where even poor and illiterate people exercise their franchise through EVMs, this transformation toward digital economy is definitely possible provided the citizens resolve to do so. This would enable the economy to grow at a faster pace.

In order to realize this vision, we need to encourage electronic payments and nudge the society to move from digital to digi-dhan. There has been a remarkable increase in both volume and amount of digital payment transactions since November 8^th. However, it is necessary to ensure that electronic payments are adopted by all sections of the society. In view of the above, NITI Aayog has requested National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) to conceptualize and  launch a new scheme to incentivize digital payments. It would be useful to reiterate that NPCI is a not for profit company which is charged with a responsibility of guiding India towards being a cashless society.

The highlights of the proposed incentives scheme are as follows-

·        All consumers and merchants using digital payments shall be eligible

·        There are two levels of incentive amounts available under the scheme:

§  Weekly lucky draw of the transaction IDs generated in that week, the contours of which are being finalized.

§  Quarterly draw for grand prizes.

·        While designing the scheme the focus will be on poor, lower middle class and small businesses.

·        All modes of digital payments- viz. USSD, AEPS, UPI and RuPay Cards- will be eligible.

·        For merchants, transactions made on the POS machines installed at their locations would be considered.

·        The detailed guideline of the scheme shall be unveiled soon. However, it would be ensured that all those who have used digital payment systems after November 8^th shall be eligible to participate in the scheme.

·         The scheme would also provide for recognition of State Governments, their Undertakings, Districts and Urban & Rural Local Bodies who innovate for promoting electronic payment in their respective jurisdictions.

CIA says Russia intervened to help Trump win White House

The CIA has concluded that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help President-elect Donald Trump win the White House, and not just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.

U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that as the 2016 presidential campaign drew on, Russian government officials devoted increasing attention to assisting Donald Trump's effort to win the election, the U.S. official familiar with the finding told Reuters on Friday night on condition of anonymity.

Citing U.S. officials briefed on the matter, the Washington Post reported on Friday that intelligence agencies had identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including the chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, to WikiLeaks.

As summer turned to fall, Russian hackers turned almost all their attention to the Democrats. Virtually all the emails they released publicly were potentially damaging to Clinton and the Democrats, the official told Reuters.

"That was a major clue to their intent," the official said. "If all they wanted to do was discredit our political system, why publicize the failings of just one party, especially when you have a target like Trump?"

A second official familiar with the report said the intelligence analysts' conclusion about Russia's motives does not mean the intelligence community believes that Moscow's efforts altered or significantly affected the outcome of the election.

Russian officials have denied all accusations of interference in the U.S. election.

A CIA spokeswoman said the agency had no comment on the matter.

The hacked emails passed to WikiLeaks were a regular source of embarrassment to the Clinton campaign during the race for the presidency.

U.S. intelligence analysts have assessed "with high confidence" that at some point in the extended presidential campaign Russian President Vladimir Putin's government had decided to try to bolster Trump's chances of winning.

The Russians appear to have concluded that Trump had a shot at winning and that he would be much friendlier to Russia than Clinton would be, especially on issues such as maintaining economic sanctions and imposing additional ones, the official said.

Moscow is launching a similar effort to influence the next German election, following an escalating campaign to promote far-right and nationalist political parties and individuals in Europe that began more than a decade ago, the official said.



In both cases, said the official, Putin's campaigns in both Europe and the United States are intended to disrupt and discredit the Western concept of democracy by promoting extremist candidates, parties, and political figures.

In October, the U.S. government formally accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election.

President Barack Obama has said he warned Putin about consequences for the attacks.



Trump has said he is not convinced Russia was behind the cyber attacks. His transition team issued a statement on "claims of foreign interference in U.S. elections" on Friday but did not directly address the issue.

FSSAI prohibits use of calcium carbide for ripening of fruits

As per information available with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), some reports have appeared in the media regarding use of calcium carbide for ripening fruits. As per regulation 2.3.5 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations, 2011, use of calcium carbide for ripening of fruits is prohibited. FSSAI has sent letters to all State/UT Governments/State Food Safety Commissioners emphasizing the need to keep a strict vigil for checking use of calcium carbide for ripening of fruits and apprising them of the methodology for detection of Acetylene in godowns and storage chambers. They have also been apprised of the approved concentration of ethylene for ripening of fruits. State /UT Govt authorities/State Food Safety Commissioners have also been impressed upon to conduct periodic inspections and monitoring, inter alia, of fruits and vegetables markets. A document has also been uploaded on the FSSAI’s Official website i.e. fssai.gov.in to make the public aware about ill effects of consuming fruits ripened artificially by calcium carbide. FSSAI and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs regularly issue advertisements in print media to acquaint consumers about the harmful effects of use of carbide gas for ripening of fruits.

FSSAI IS responsible for making regulations and setting standards, import of food, notifying labs and coordination to ensure cooperation between FSSAI and States. The implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 falls within the remit of the State/UT Governments and it is discharged through the Commissioner of Food Safety, Designated Officers and Food Safety Officers. The drawing of samples, getting them tested and launching prosecution, etc. is the mandate of the State/UT Governments. Regular surveillance, monitoring and inspection is undertaken by State/UT Governments to check compliance with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and regulations therunder. However, separate information in respect of inspection of food packaging industries carried out by State/UT authorities is not maintained centrally by FSSAI.

The Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare), Smt Anupriya Patel stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha here today.

Deepika Padukone beats Priyanka to become sexiest Asian woman

Mumbai, Dec 8 (PTI) Bollywood Actress Deepika Padukone has dethroned Priyanka Chopra to become the Sexiest Asian Woman of 2016.

Deepika won the title for the first time in the popular list that is annually published by Britain-based Eastern Eye newspaper.

"It does bring a smile to my face, but sexy means different things to different people. For me, it's not just physical. Being comfortable with who you are, is sexy.

Confidence is sexy. Innocence and vulnerability is sexy," the actress, who is set to make her Hollywood debut with "xXx: Return of Xander Cage" opposite Vin Diesel, said in a statement.

Priyanka, who has won the title four times in the popular list, was pushed down to second place. Alia Bhatt cracked the top 10 for the first time and was ranked fifth.

Actor Nia Sharma took the third spot, and reclaimed the title as the sexiest television star. TV actress Drashti Dhami came fourth.

The 2016 edition of the popular annual poll was based on millions of votes pouring in from across the globe.

Others in the top 10 are Sanaya Irani (sixth), Katrina Kaif (seventh), Sonam Kapoor (eight), Pakistani actress Mahira Khan (ninth) and Gauhar Khan (10th).

Sensex zooms 457 pts, Nifty tops 8,200 on global rally

Mumbai, Dec 8 (PTI) Market made a comeback of sorts as the Sensex rallied 457 points today -- its biggest single-day gain in over six weeks -- to close at 26,694, fuelled by a global upmove on hopes that ECB would extend its stimulus.

RBI's reassuring measures following the currency withdrawal, including the decision to remove the incremental Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of 100 per cent from December 10, provided more traction.

Nifty too topped the psychological 8,200 mark.

Investors took comfort from a higher opening in Europe on expectations that the European Central Bank (ECB) at a policy meeting scheduled later in the day would extend its asset buying programme.

The 30-share barometer stayed in the green throughout to hit the day's high of 26,733.87 following all-round buying. It ended at 26,694.28, up 457.41 points, or 1.74 per cent -- its biggest single-day gain since October 18 when it had rallied 520.91 points. This is the highest closing since November 11.

The index had lost 156 points in the previous session following the Reserve Bank's decision to hold interest rates that caught the market by surprise.

The broader NSE Nifty soared 144.80 points, or 1.79 per cent, to close the day at 8,246.85 after shuttling between 8,256.25 and 8,151.75.

"A positive stance on CRR and outcome of ECB meet today with an extension in stimulus measures is providing a support to the market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

A good show from the rupee, which firmed up 27 paise to 67.36, kept sentiment upbeat.

Continued buying by foreign funds helped. The Wall Street scaling record highs in overnight trade too cheered investors.

Financial stocks were among prominent gainers after RBI's CRR decision. SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank advanced by up to 1.72 per cent.

The gains helped shares offset yesterday's decline after RBI's surprising rate action despite investors' concerns about how the demonetisation move will play out.

The day belonged to Tata Steel, which climbed 4.62 per cent to Rs 431.55 after the company committed to a 1-year investment plan for the UK. Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and ITC too gained.

Barring NTPC, all Sensex shares were in the green.

Major Asian indices ended higher tracking the overnight gains on the Wall Street, which nudged European shares to rule strong in their early deals today.

Japan's Nikkei climbed 1.45 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 0.27 per cent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.21 per cent.

On the sectoral front, metal zoomed 2.93 per cent, followed by auto 2.63 per cent, infrastructure 1.87 per cent, technology 1.56 per cent and banking 1.54 per cent.

Broader markets such as the BSE mid-cap and small-cap rose 1.49 per cent and 1.28 per cent, respectively, as investors created more bets.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net bought shares worth Rs 193.66 crore yesterday, according to provisional data.

India promotes digital transactions to encourage cashless economy

People stand in queues at cash counters to deposit and withdraw money inside a bank in Chandigarh, India, November 10, 2016

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday announced incentives ranging from 0.75 percent to 10 percent on retail purchase of products like petrol, diesel and insurance products from state-run companies to encourage digital, cashless transactions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee banknotes on Nov. 8 in a bid to flush out cash earned through illegal activities, or earned legally but never disclosed. Citizens could redeem their money only by depositing it with banks, to be paid out over a period of time.

Since coming to power in 2014, Modi has pledged to crack down on so-called black money with new measures including 10-year jail terms for evaders.

"The incentive scheme has the potential of shifting at least 30 percent more customers to digital means which will further reduce the cash requirement of nearly 2 trillion rupees ($29.69 billion) a year at the petrol pumps," Jaitley told reporters.

He said state-run insurance companies would offer discount of up to 10 percent on payment of insurance premium through digital means.

Government officials are worried 90 percent of the discontinued notes could yet come back into the financial system, deposited in banks to be converted into valid lower or new higher-denomination notes. This would put a question mark on meeting Modi's aim of flushing out untaxed money.

Indian banks have so far received nearly 12 trillion rupees in discounted currency since the government decided to abolish high value bank notes.

Opposition parties stalled the parliament for the 14th day on Thursday seeking a probe into the mismanagement of supply of new currency to the public.

Modi has called for patience until Dec.30 by when he has promised the cash situation would stabilize, and urged the people to shift to electronic transactions.Modi has called for patience until Dec.30 by when he has promised the cash situation would stabilize, and urged the people to shift to electronic transactions.

Government waives service tax charged while making payments through credit card, debit card, charge card or any other payment card; waiver limited to payments up to Rs. 2,000 in a single transaction 
When a customer uses a credit card, debit card, charge card or any other payment card for payment of his purchase of goods or services, the merchant/service establishment is charged certain merchant discount rate (MDR) by credit card or debit card issuing banks. With a view to promote digital transactions and encourage merchant establishments to accept such card payments, Government has waived service tax on such amount charged while making payments though credit card, debit card, charge card or any other payment card. However, this waiver is limited to payments upto two thousand rupees only (Rs.2000) in a single transaction.

Triple talaq "cruel" and "most demeaning", says Allahabad HC

Allahabad, Dec 8 (PTI) Coming down heavily on the practice of "triple talaq", the Allahabad High Court has held that this form of "instant divorce" is "cruel" and "most demeaning" which "impedes and drags India from becoming a nation".

"Muslim law, as applied in India, has taken a course contrary to the spirit of what the Prophet or the Holy Quran laid down and the same misconception vitiates the law dealing with the wife's right to divorce", a single judge bench of Justice Suneet Kumar said in its judgement passed last month.

The court observed that "divorce is permissible in Islam only in case of extreme emergency. When all efforts for effecting a reconciliation have failed, the parties may proceed to a dissolution of marriage by Talaq or by Khola".

RBI keeps policy rate unchanged;lowers growth forecast to 7.1%

Mumbai, Dec 7 (PTI) RBI today unexpectedly kept interest rate unchanged despite calls for lowering it while it slashed the economic growth projection by half a per cent to 7.1 in the first policy review post demonetisation.

Announcing the fifth bi-monthly monetary policy review of the current fiscal, RBI Governor Urjit Patel also said demonetisation was not done in haste and efforts were being made to increase the supply of currency notes and appealed to the public not to hoard them.

Acknowledging that supply disruptions against the backdrop of currency replacement may drag down growth this year in India, he said short-term developments that influence the outlook disproportionately warrant caution with respect to setting the monetary policy stance.

"On balance, therefore, it is prudent to wait and watch how these factors play out and impinge upon the outlook.

Accordingly, the policy repo rate has been kept on hold in this review, while retaining an accommodative policy stance," RBI said.

Satisfied with the RBI decision to keep the repo (short term lending) rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent, decided unanimously by Patel-led 6-member Monetary Policy Committee, the Finance Ministry described it as a "bold and brilliant" move which will prevent flight of overseas capital in uncertain global environment.

In its last review, which was first under Patel, the MPC had lowered the rate by 0.25 per cent.

India Inc, which was hoping for a 0.5 per cent cut in interest rate on account of surge in bank deposit following demonetisation, expressed disappointment saying RBI should cut the rate to support growth of trade and industry hit by demonetisation.

Bankers felt that there could be easing of interest rate in the days to come with RBI deciding to remove the incremental Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of 100 per cent from December 10.

"The combination of removal of incremental CRR limit and MSS (market stabilisation scheme) will help banks to manage their liquidity conditions better and bring financial stability to the system," SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said.

The Reserve Bank projected the headline inflation at 5 per cent by the fourth quarter of 2016-17 with risks tilted to the upside, but lower than in the October policy review.

The fuller effects of the house rent allowance under the Seventh Pay Commission award are yet to be assessed, pending implementation, and have not been reckoned in this baseline inflation path, RBI said.

On demonetisation, it said the withdrawal of old high value currency notes could transiently interrupt some part of industrial activity in November-December due to delays in payments of wages and purchases of inputs, although a fuller assessment is awaited.

The central bank also said that almost Rs 12 lakh crore out of total Rs 14.5 lakh crore in scrapped notes have already been deposited in banks.

PSLV-C36 Successfully Launches RESOURCESAT-2A Remote Sensing Satellite

   
In its thirty eighth flight (PSLV-C36), ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle successfully launched the 1,235 kg RESOURCESAT-2A Satellite today morning (December 07, 2016) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the thirty seventh consecutively successful mission of PSLV. 

After PSLV-C36 lift-off at 10:25 am IST from the First Launch Pad with the ignition of the first stage, the subsequent important flight events, namely, strap-on ignitions and separations, first stage separation, second stage ignition, payload fairing separation, second stage separation, third stage ignition and separation, fourth stage ignition and cut-off, took place as planned. After a flight of 17 minutes 05 seconds, the vehicle achieved a polar Sun Synchronous Orbit of 824 km height inclined at an angle of 98.725 degree to the equator (very close to the intended orbit) and 47 seconds later, RESOURCESAT-2A was separated from the PSLV fourth stage. 

After separation, the two solar arrays of RESOURCESAT-2A deployed automatically and ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore took over the control of the satellite. In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration following which it will begin to provide imagery from its three cameras. The data sent by RESOURCESAT-2A will be useful for agricultural applications like crop area and crop production estimation, drought monitoring, soil mapping, cropping system analysis and farm advisories generation. 

Like its predecessors RESOURCESAT-1 and 2, RESOURCESAT-2A has a unique 3-Tier imaging system with Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS), Linear Imaging Self Scanner-3 (LISS-3) and Linear Imaging Self Scanner-4 (LISS-4) cameras. The AWiFS provides images with a sampling of 56 metres, a swath of 740 km and a revisit of 5 days whereas the LISS-3 provides 23.5 metre sampled images with 141 km swath and a repitivity of 24 days. LISS-4 provides 5.8 metre sampled images with 70 km swath and a revisit of 5 days. 

With today’s launch, the PSLV has yet again demonstrated its reliability. The total number of satellites launched by India’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV including today’s RESOURCESAT-2A has now reached 122, of which 43 are Indian and the remaining 79 are from abroad. 

Sensex falls 156 pts, post RBI policy review, banks hit hard

Mumbai, Dec 7 (PTI) The benchmark Sensex reversed its two-day rally as it fell 156 points on Wednesday to end at 26,237 as RBI left interest rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent, contrary to market expectations, in its first policy review since the currency switch.

Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel today left the repo rate intact in his second monetary policy even as the central bank lowered GDP growth forecast to 7.1 per cent from 7.6 per cent for the current fiscal, saying short-term disruption in economic activity and demand compression arising out of demonetisation has led to downside risks to growth.

The 30-share index declined by 155.89 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 26,236.87 after shuttling between 26,540.83 and 26,164.82. The gauge had gained over 162.10 points in the previous two sessions.

The wider Nifty hit a low of 8,077.50 before recovering partially to settle at 8,102.05, down 41.10 points or 0.50 per cent. It had touched a high of 8,190.45 in early trade.

The Patel-led 6-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which in its first policy review had cut interest rate by 0.25 per cent in October, belied expectations to keep benchmark repo rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent unanimously.

In sync with overall trend, the rupee too gave up its initial gains to trade almost flat (intra-day) against the dollar during the day, which weighed on sentiment.

Interest-linked banking stocks such as SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank fell by up to 2 per cent in reaction to the RBI decision.

RBI left the short-term lending rate, or repo rate, unchanged at 6.25 per cent, and the cash reserve ratio at 4 per cent. The central bank also lowered the GDP projection at 7.1 per cent for this fiscal from earlier estimate of 7.6.

Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 25 ended lower, while 5 led by Adani Ports, HDFC Ltd, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors and M&M finished higher and cushioned the fall.

Sun Pharma fell the most among Sensex constituents by falling 5.96 per, followed by TCS 1.47 per cent, Tata Steel 1.40, Lupin 1.33 per cent, ITC Ltd 1.17 per cent and Wipro 0.06 per cent.

Sector-wise, the BSE healthcare index fell the most by 1.70 per cent, followed by realty 1.49 per cent, bank 1.07 per cent, IT 0.63 per cent, FMCG 0.61 per cent and capital goods 0.56 per cent.

In line with the trend, the small-cap index shed 0.51 per cent and mid-cap 0.16 per cent.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), which had been net sellers on the domestic bourses since November 8, bought shares worth a net Rs 161.80 crore Tuesday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Other Asian markets closed higher with Japan's Nikkei advancing 0.74 per cent, China's Shanghai Index rose 0.71 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.55 per cent up.

European markets too were trading in positive terrain in their early deals.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 1.10 per cent while France Paris CAC 40 climbed 1 per cent.