PM Modi's New Year's Eve speech: Relief for farmers, SME sector in focus

Further measures against black money and benami property could be announced

Breaking News : Direct benefit transfer-based relief measures for farmers and the SME sector in the wake of the hardships caused by demonetisation could be the big announcement to look out for in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's New Year's Eve speech.
According to a report in the Economic Times, the government is keen to boost purchasing power and consumption, especially in the wake of the economic disruption and currency shortages caused by the sudden demonetisation drive, and also announce further measures to continue the prime minister's "crusade" against black money and corruption. Citing government officials, the financial daily reported that direct benefit transfer could be used to shore up sectors hit by demonetisation. Among the proposals that the government has been deliberating upon is an income transfer scheme, the report added.
As reported by Business Standard earlier, according to government sources, the prime minister's address is likely on the evening of December 31. However, the sources said that the possibility of advancing it to the evening of December 30 remained open.
Why farmers and SMEs?
The demonetisation drive has exposed the dependency of poor farmers and small businesses on informal credit systems in a country where half the population has no access to formal banking. Small-time financiers, despite their high interest rates, have long been a vital source of credit for the rural economy, and the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has made it increasingly impossible for them to lend as well as to get paid (Read more).
Various relief measures, such as allowing farmers to use the old Rs 500 notes to buy seeds from central and state-owned companies, have already been announced for farmers. On December 20, the government announced that farmers, whose crop loan due dates fall between November 1 and December 31, would get 60 days more for availing the prompt repayment incentive of 3 per cent. Further, to help farmers meet their cash needs for the current Rabi season, the government has directed the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to disburse Rs 21,000 crore to District Central Cooperative Banks for onward lending to farmers through Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies. Over 40 per cent small farmers get crop loans from cooperative institutions. (more)

Latest News about Demonetisation :

• In 2 weeks make cashless payments through biometric fingerprint: Modi
• Economists are confused, but people power behind note ban: PM
• PM Modi's New Year's Eve speech: Relief for farmers, SME sector in focus
• PM Modi to address nation after 50-days of pain on New Year's Eve
• Modi is still the Sangh's best bet: Why RSS has backed demonetisation

Shock and awe: Note ban, Jio launch, GST & other headline grabbers of 2016

Business Standard recaps the most prominent economic and corporate developments of the year

By almost any yardstick the year has been unique: Public policy, business rivalries and implosions, court verdicts and corporate malfeasance set new standards of shock and awe that will reverberate well into 2017.

Business Standard recaps the most prominent of economic corporate developments


Demonetisation

In terms of disruptive impact, this was a decision with few parallels in Indian policy-making. On November 8 evening, just as Donald Trump recorded an unlikely victory in the US presidential polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi came on national television to announce the withdrawal of legal tender status to Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, taking roughly 86 per cent of currency out of circulation. Citizens were given time till

December 30 to deposit old notes, but draconian withdrawal controls were put in place.

It was not just ordinary Indians who were caught unawares by this decision, which was initially explained as a route to staunching black money and terror finance. The government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI), too, seemed unprepared.  For one, the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes required over 100,000 ATMs to be recalibrated, an exercise that could not begin till after the announcement was made in the interests of confidentiality. For another, the assumptions on which the decision was made played out so differently in reality, that 60 notifications have been issued over one and a half months imposing new conditions or reversing other ones.  

The Reliance-Jio launch

The Tata-DoCoMo controversy

Goods and Services Tax

The RIL-ONGC spat

Nikesh Arora’s exit from SoftBank

The Singur verdict

Breaking News & Latest News | Business Standard

Sops in the offing? Modi prepares note ban narrative for New Year's eve

The next 50 days could define the rest of Prime Minister Modi's tenure

Breaking News : After 50 days of “pain” will come the “gain”, so said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13 November in his public speeches in Goa and Belgaum.

The people have kept the faith in Modi’s promise beyond the expectations of even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Bank officials, lawyers and businessmen getting caught with tranches of currency notes, and visuals of old currency notes being burnt or thrown in ponds has satisfied the public need to see those with black money suffer.

Visuals in the media of queues outside ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai have also served the same purpose – “the rich” have suffered.

But now comes the test for the Modi government, primarily for the PM himself since he has taken ownership of the note ban decision.

From now to elections in five states, particularly Uttar Pradesh from mid-February onwards, the Modi government needs to keep the political narrative in its favour, particularly as the expected gains are unlikely to match the initial estimates.

The PM’s fist post demonetisation interview will be shown today at 8pm on the TV Today network. The PM is also expected to deliver an address to the nation either on Friday or on the New Year’s Eve. This will be followed by a huge public rally in Lucknow on 2 January. Read more.

HUL pads up to take on Ramdev's Patanjali

After Garnier, Colgate-Palmolive & Dabur, HUL ups the ante with a fleet of new herbal products

Breaking News : As Patanjali Ayurved, Baba Ramdev’s pet project to counter growing influence of the multinational corporates in the domestic consumer goods space, continues to bombard the market with new products, rivals are gearing up to throw a tough challenge to the challenger.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL), the largest Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) firm in the country is latest to join the battle. The FMCG major which already has a vast portfolio of personal care brands — from shampoos and anti-aging creams to toothpastes and deodorants — is set to enter Baba’s den with mass market herbal-natural portfolio. And to counter the surging tide of herbal-natural products in the country, led by Patanjali, HUL is banking on an old horse from its stable–Lever Ayush. It plans to launch a range of personal care products, priced between Rs 30 and Rs 130, under the brand.

Once launched, the range will directly compete with Patanjali’s personal care products that are priced below its competitors’. It has a wide range of such products – from face pack, face wash and winter creams to shaving gel, body lotion and lip balm. According to Ramdev, its current supply fails to feed the market demand and the firm is thus coming up with new manufacturing facilities across the country to meet growing demand.

HUL had been working on a plan for quite some time. Months after Baba Ramdev announced in April this year that Patanjali has clocked Rs 5,000 crore in sales during 2015-16, HUL decided to revive Lever Ayush–an ayurvedic brand which was left in the corner some years ago by the company. Launched in 2001, by the local subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch FMCG giant Unilever, it failed to gain traction during the last decade. Samir Singh, executive director of HUL, earlier told The Economic Times that the very concept of ayurvedic products inside modern packaging by a multinational company was “way ahead of time”. (more)

PokemonGo to Rio2016: The top five social media trends in 2016

A selection of events that played out big on social media in the year 2016

The year 2016 is nearly over and, like previous years, this one also saw some good, some bad and some strange stuff on social media.

It is not unusual for people to comment on the speed with which an entire year went by, that does not, however, mean that the year was not full of action. Here is a recap of some of the major topics that trended on social media this year to help refresh your memory:

#Demonetisation

If you thought #Brexit was a prank that went too far, wait till you hear about this one! It was November 8, 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on national television that the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 would cease to be legal tender from midnight and the people of India would have 50 days in which to exchange or deposit these notes in banks. A stunned India has since been standing in queues at banks and ATMs, as the two demonetised currency denominations accounted for 86 per cent of the total cash in circulation in the county of 1.3 billion people. There is hardly any Indian who has not been affected by this decision and the topic has caught the fancy of social media users in one way or the other. As far as shelf lives of an event goes, #demonetisation or #noteban is right up there with #GeneralElections

Cartoonists also had a great time during these fifty days. Here are two samples 

#Brexit

To stay or leave? In June this year, British citizens voted to answer this question about Britain’s membership of the European Union. In an event that sent shockwaves around the world, 52 per cent of the voters who participated in the referendum, voted to leave the EU. British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was in favour of a “stay”, resigned after the result was known. He was succeeded by Theresa May at the Prime Minister’s office. The aftershocks of this event are still being felt by the global economy. The entire process, it is believed, will take two years to finish.

While the world was in shock when the result was declared, social media reacted like, well, social media!

#PokemonGo

In July this year, Niantic released an augmented reality game for mobile phones and people all over the world left their homes in search of imaginary creatures called Pokémon. Gamers tried to locate and capture these creatures using their phone’s GPS. The game, a wild success the world over, saw more than 500 million downloads. It now holds five Guinness World Records, including one for grossing the highest revenue ($ 206.5 million) in the first month. 

So, did you catch some Pikachu or not?

#Rio2016

The year 2016 happened to be one of the 31st Olympic games in the city of Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Just like Pokemon Go, #Rio2016 was a global phenomenon that became one of the biggest trends this year. Some 11,000 athletes representing 205 countries participated in the games and for those 17 days in August when the games were on, social media forgot the world’s worries and watched these super athletes compete for glory. USA topped the tables with 46 gold medals. India had to wait for many days before it could win a medal. Sakshi Malik won a bronze in Women’s Freestyle Wrestling and two days later P V Sindhu bagged a silver medal in Women’s singles Badminton.

Breaking News & Latest News :

Cabinet passes ordinance; fine, jail for holding old notes

(Ordinance is to extinguish liability of govt and RBI on the demonetised high-denomination notes)

Soon, dental implants that kill bacteria, anchor to bone

(Mouth infections are currently regarded as the main reason why dental implants fail)

I-T notices to 50 car dealers; seeks details of customers post Nov 8

(Dept wants details of customers along with their addresses, car bought, invoiced cost, booking dates)

Budget: PM Modi calls for innovation; special focus on skills & tourism

(The government has said February 1 will be the date for presentation of future Union Budgets)

Didn't become PM to cut ribbons and light lamps: Narendra Modi

Raises OROP at Uttarakhand rally, says issue was pending for 40 years, previous govts misled forces

Addressing a public rally in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi came down heavily on his critics, saying that he hadn't come to power merely to cut ribbons and light lamps.

The remarks came even as Modi inaugurated the the Chardham highway, which is expected to improve connectivity between the four pilgrimage centres of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. The assembly polls in the state are scheduled to be held shortly.

In a fiery speech, the Prime Minister said that the people of Uttarakhand were no longer willing to wait for development, and that the inauguration of the Chardham is a tribute to those who lost their lives in the flash floods that hit the state in 2013.

Asserting that Uttarakhand's economy was centred around tourism, Modi said that if proper infrastructure was provided, the sector would bustle, and people from all over would flock to the state. He claimed that the Chardham project offered employment opportunities for state's citizens.

Reminding the people that the country had given the absolute majority to a single party for the first time in years, Modi nudged to them to decide whether they got him to power just to inaugurate small projects, or to deliver the goods. He reiterated his claim that he had been appointed a chowkidaar (sentry) of the people and that 'some people' -- indicating the Opposition -- had a huge problem with this.(more)

Breaking News :

No security in TN after Jayalalithaa's demise: Former Chief Secretary Rao

 

Nose wheel snag, pilot error may have led to Jet flight veering off runway

This Mexican teen's birthday invite got 1.3 mn people to say they'll attend

Withdrawal limits from banks, ATMs won't be lifted anytime soon

नोटों के नंबर कराएंगे अब अंदर

जब्त नोटों के नंबरों से जांच एजेंसियां पकड़ेंगी भ्रष्ट बैंक अधिकारी

प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने साल की अपनी आखिरी मन की बात में यूं ही नहीं कहा था कि भ्रष्टाचारियों को बख्शा नहीं जाएगा। यह कवायद पहले ही शुरू की जा चुकी है और इसमें काम आ रहे हैं उन नए नोटों के नंबर, जो देश भर में जब्त किए गए हैं। जब्त हुए इन नोटों में एक जैसा क्या है? अपनी ड्यूटी ठीक से नहीं निभाने वाले बैंक प्रबंधक, जिन्होंने रसूखदार और अमीर लोगों को खुश करने के लिए तय सीमा से बहुत ज्यादा रकम उन्हें दी और पुराने नोटों में उनकी बेनामी संपत्ति को भी नए नोटों में बदल दिया। बैंकों के भीतर यह सब तब किया गया, जब बाहर लाखों लोग दो-दो हजार रुपये के लिए दिन भर कतार में लगे रहे और बैंक नकदी नहीं होने की बात कहकर उन्हें वापस करते रहे। 

इसके बाद उन शाखाओं के प्रबंधकों और दूसरे वरिष्ठ अधिकारियों से पूछताछ की जाएगी। इन सीरियल नंबर के रिकॉर्ड को दो साल तक सुरक्षित रखना होगा। हालांकि बैंकों ने ये रिका सीसीटीवी फुटेज इस मामले में बहुत कम आएंगी। बैंकों के सूत्रों का कहना है कि जिस बैंक से नोट निकाले गए हैं, वहां उन्हें पहचानने का तरीका होता है। वास्तव में भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक करेंसी चेस्ट वाले बैंकों के संपर्क कार्यालयों से जानकारी मिलने के बाद उन्हें नए नोट जारी करता है। नोटों की गड्डियों वाले बक्से रिजर्व बैंक के प्रतिनिधि के जरिये करेंसी चेस्ट में भेजे जाते हैं। ये प्रतिनिधि पोतदार कहलाते हैं। गड्डियों को पोतदार और सुरक्षा दल की मौजूदगी में पन्नी फाड़े बगैर ही गिना जाता है। सुरक्षा दल में एक पुलिसकर्मी और अन्य कर्मचारी होता है। गड्डियों को गिनने और कटे-फटे नोटों की जांच करने के बाद पुलिसकर्मी के दस्तखत कराए जाते हैं और वह चला जाता है। उसके बाद पोतदार की मौजूदगी में एक दिन में 3 लाख नोट गिने जाते हैं।

जांचकर्ताओं का कहना है कि वे पोतदार और सुरक्षाकर्मी की भूमिका जांच रहे हैं ताकि पता चल सके कि करेंसी चेस्ट तक रकम पहुंचने से पहले तो नोट गायब नहीं हुए। यह भी देखा जा रहा है कि करेंसी चेस्ट के अधिकारियों और पोतदारों ने तो चेस्ट में कामकाज के दौरान नए नोट इधर-उधर नहीं कर दिए। ये तमाम बातें तब पता चलीं, जब केंद्रीय जांच ब्यूरो ने इसी महीने रिजर्व बैंक के वरिष्ठ विशेष सहायक के माइकल को धर दबोचा। उससे पूछताछ के बाद केंद्रीय बैंक के दो और अधिकारी पकड़े गए, जिन्होंने नियमों की धज्जियां उड़ाते हुए करीब 2 करोड़ रुपये के नोट बदलने में लोगों की मदद की थी। 

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जनता की सहूलियत को ही नियमों की जुगत

जनता से संवाद स्थापित करने के अपने मासिक रेडियो प्रसारण 'मन की बात' में प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने एक बार फिर नोटबंदी का बचाव करते हुए इस दौरान बदले गए तमाम नियमों को भी जायज ठहराया। साथ ही उन्होंने संकेत दिए कि भ्रष्टïाचार के खिलाफ अपनी मुहिम को तेज करने के लिए सरकार जल्द ही बेनामी संपत्तियों पर भी शिंकजा कसने की तैयारी कर रही है। नोटबंदी के बाद कई बार बदले नियमों पर प्रधानमंत्री ने कहा कि जनता की ओर से मिली प्रतिक्रियाओं के बाद सहूलियत के लिए ही इतनी बार नियमों में बदलाव किया गया। बेईमानी और भ्रष्टाचार के काले कारोबार में लिप्त लोगों के खिलाफ सख्ती जारी रखने का संकल्प व्यक्त करते हुए मोदी ने पूर्ववर्ती कांग्रेस नीत सरकार पर बेनामी संपत्ति से जुड़े कानून को कई दशकों तक ठंडे बस्ते में डालने का आरोप लगाते हुए कहा कि वर्तमान सरकार ने बेनामी संपत्ति कानून को धारदार बनाया है और आने वाले दिनों में यह कानून अपना काम करेगा। आकाशवाणी पर प्रसारित संबोधन में मोदी ने कहा, 'मैंने 8 तारीख को (नोटबंदी की घोषणा के दिन) पहले ही दिन कहा था कि यह लड़ाई सामान्य नहीं है। 70 साल से बेईमानी और भ्रष्टाचार के काले कारोबार में कैसी शक्तियां जुड़ी हुई हैं? उनकी ताकत कितनी है? ऐसे लोगों से मैंने जब मुकाबला करना ठान लिया है तो वे भी सरकार को पराजित करने के लिए रोज नए तरीके अपनाते हैं।'

उन्होंने कहा कि जब वे नए तरीके अपनाते हैं तो हमें भी तो उनकी काट के लिए नया तरीका ही अपनाना पड़ता है। तू डाल-डाल, तो मैं पात-पात, क्योंकि हमने तय किया है कि भ्रष्टाचारियों को, काले कारोबारों को, काले धन को, मिटाना है। भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ कठोर कदम जारी रखने का संकल्प व्यक्त करते हुए मोदी ने कहा, 'मैं आपको विश्वास दिलाता हूं कि यह पूर्ण विराम नहीं है, यह तो अभी शुरुआत है। ये जंग जीतनी है और थकने का तो सवाल ही कहां उठता है, रुकने का तो सवाल ही नहीं उठता है।' उन्होंने कहा कि जिस बात पर सवा-सौ करोड़ देशवासियों का आशीर्वाद हो, उसमें तो पीछे हटने का कोई प्रश्न ही नहीं उठता है।' Read more

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Demonetisation trouble not over, to spill over into new year: Bankers

AIBEA GS expressed his anger at state of bank employees who are being targets of customers' wrath

Breaking News : A mere four days before the demonetisation deadline of December 30, by when the pains of customers are supposed to allay -- as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said -- bankers seemed to nurse no hopes of any comfort and expected long queues to slither into the new year and into the months that follow.

"The rush is still there and there's no hope of any respite. How can there be any when the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) is providing only 20-30 per cent of total cash required at the banks?" All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C.H. Venkatachalam told IANS.

"The situation has not improved much. We had written to even RBI Governor Urjit Patel, apprising him of the situation. But then this is India, you cannot expect a swift reply from anyone. There's no transperancy," he said.

Venkatachalam expressed his anger also at the sorry state of bank employees who are being targets of disillusioned customers' wrath for no fault of theirs.

He blamed RBI for eroding customers' confidence in the institution of banks by not coming up with any satisfactory answers for the instances of new currency being seized all over the country, while none of this is reaching the legitimate candidates.(more)

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• National Herald case: Swamy's plea seeking docs, ledger books dismissed
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Now pay for fuel, LPG at Bharat Petroleum pumps using Ola Money

Driver partners and consumers will be able to pay for their fuel and LPG requirements with Ola Money

Breaking News : Ola Money, the digital payment solution from Ola, will be accepted at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) fuel pumps and LPG distributors across the country, the company announced on Monday.

Acceptance of Ola Money in a prominent public utility such as BPCL is another step by Ola towards supporting the government's vision of a cashless 'Digital India', Ola Money Senior Vice-President Pallav Singh said in a statement here.

With the increased recharge limit on wallets from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 until December 30, Ola Money is better positioned to facilitate convenient cashless transactions for citizens and merchants alike, the statement said.

With over 13,000 fuel stations and close to 4,500 LPG outlets, BPCL serves lakhs of people on a daily basis, it added. Read more.

Read our full coverage on Demonetisation

Strong law against benami property: Modi defends changes in note ban rules

Vows to take forward the fight against unaccounted money and corruption

Breaking News : Dismissing the criticism of frequent changes in rules after demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday alleged that those who cannot endorse corruption and black money openly are relentlessly finding fault with his government. He vowed to take forward the fight against unaccounted money and corruption by implementing a strong law against benami properties.

“I assure you this is just the beginning in our fight against corruption. We have to win this war. There is no question of stopping... there is no question of retreat,” said Modi, under sharp attack from the Opposition over demonetisation, with Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi levelling allegations of “personal corruption” against him.

In his last monthly address this year in the Mann ki Baat programme, Modi defended the changes in the rules related to deposits and withdrawals, saying these have been done to reduce people’s problems and defeat the forces which are out to thwart his government’s fight against black money and corruption.

“Being a sensitive government, it amends rules as required, keeping the convenience of the people as its foremost consideration, so that citizens are not subjected to hardships,” said Modi. At the same time, it has to come out with “antidotes” against new tactics of the “murky enterprise of perfidy and corruption”.

“People, who cannot endorse corruption and black money openly, resort to searching for faults of the government relentlessly,” he said, lashing out at critics.

He said that some people who are spreading rumours that political parties enjoy all concessions and exemptions “are wrong” and asserted that “all are equal before law” and they have to abide by it.

The PM criticised the Opposition for not allowing Parliament to function and said he wanted a good discussion on this campaign as well as on political funding, had both Houses run properly.

Modi also talked about the benami property law that came into being in 1988, but neither its rules were framed, nor was it notified and laid dormant for years.(more)

IT hiring at 10-year low, Infosys takes campus hires as interns

They'll be paid a stipend and assessed before taken on payrolls as it faces worst growth in a decade

Breaking News : India’s second largest software exporter Infosys Ltd is offering paid internship to campus hires before taking them on rolls, a move that that would impact new jobs across the IT sector when hiring by technology services companies is already at a ten-year low.

The Indian technology services sector is facing its worst growth period in close to a decade as they see clients reducing budgets on traditional outsourcing work, which is not being offset by growth in newer areas such as digital and cloud. In addition, routine maintenance work of customer applications or IT infrastructure, where freshers are normally deployed have been taken over by automation or robots.

With use of automation, these companies are shifting their employees from projects, where their jobs have become redundant and training them on skills to match new requirements. Infosys and its cross town rival Wipro shifted more than 8000 employees from projects to other roles due to automation during the first half of this fiscal.

“It was a surprise for us that they came with the internship roles before taking our students as trainees,” says a placement head of a college, who did not want to be named. “The job market this year has been bad. We agreed to it as we have no option.”

Infosys, among the pioneers to reach out to campuses through its Campus Connect programme says it provides a limited number of internships to students as they serve as an attractive proposition for potential employees. Read more about hiring by Top 5 IT Firms.

No vacation for ministers and bureaucrats this holiday season

Ministers and bureaucrats in the Narendra Modi government have no time to let their hair down this holiday season. There’s nothing official about it, but the unwritten directive from the top is “no leave”, says a central government official. “Holiday is the biggest luxury in this government... there’s no platform for such thoughts at all,” is how the official describes the mood in the corridors of power. According to another official, “there’s an air of doubt and caution after demonetiSation. Nobody wants to risk going on an overseas trip at least, in the fear of attracting scrutiny.’’

Holidays have hardly been part of the narrative ever since Modi took charge as Prime Minister in May 2014. In fact, in reply to a Right to Information query a few months ago about Modi’s leave, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said he had not taken a single day off so far. However, this year-end might mean a greater work load on both ministers and bureaucrats as a lot of deadlines are bunching up.

For instance, the PM had set year-end as a goalpost for the demonetisation pain to ease. Ministers are also learnt to have been told to create awareness about the benefits of digital transactions; some are going to their respective constituencies to drive home the message of cashless payments. Also, the committee headed by former chief economic adviser Shankar Acharya is slated to submit a report on the feasibility of changing the financial year — from April-March to January-December — at year-end. In addition, the Union Budget has been advanced by a month to February 1 this time, making it impossible for the government to take it easy. Add to that the many state elections, especially Uttar Pradesh, early 2017, which will keep the top leadership on the road, but the destination will be rallies and not sunny beaches. (more)

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