Reserve Bank of India has given the final nod for the setting up of Kerala Bank
- It will be the largest banking network in Kerala.
- Kerala Bank will be formed by amalgamating 13 District Co-operative Banks (DCBs) with Kerala State Co-operative Bank.
- As per the directions of RBI, State should submit the final compliance report by 31st March 2020.
State Bank of India has decided to charge processing fee on Home-loans, top-up plans and real-estate company loans
- The processing fee will be around 0.4% ranging from Rs.10000 to Rs.30000 for individual borrowers.
- The processing charge for builders and real-estate companies will be Rs.5000.
Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has signed a MoU with Union Bank of India for providing services related to transfer of funds
- It will facilitate cashless and paperless payment on the portal.
- It will also promote transparency in the procurement of goods and services.
State Bank of India has reduced the savings interest rates by 25 basis points
- It has now been reduced from 3.5% to 3.25% for deposits up to Rs.1lakh.
- SBI has taken this step to boost adequate liquidity in banking.
- The new rates will be effective from 10th October 2019.
Conference on One Nation One Tag-FASTag was held in New Delhi
- Purpose-To rolls out the process for having a unified electronic system across the country.
- An MoU has been signed between Indian Highways Management Company Ltd. And Goods and Services tag Network (GSTN) for the integration of FASTag with GST e-way bill system.
- It was inaugurated by Union Minister of Roads and Transport-Nitin Gadkari.
India’s Ratings and research group has lowered India’s GDP forecast for Financial Year-2019-20 to 6.1%
- GDP forecast was 6.9% in August 2019.
- The slowdown in rural and urban consumption demand growth has been cited as the key reason for this downward revision of GDP forecast.
Union Government has approved 5% additional dearness allowance for the Central Government Employees
- Currently, the dearness allowance is 12% of the basic pay which will be now increased to 17% of the basic pay.
- Similarly, it has also been increased by 5% for the Central Government pensioners.
Government of India has launched National e-Assessment scheme
- The purpose of this scheme is to make income tax assessment faster, smoother and hassle-free.
- It focuses on the elimination of any middle-men between the tax-payer and the Income-tax officer.
- The regional e-Assessment centres will be established in six cities-Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has brought a new rule to impact foreign funds
- The new rule implies that only Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) located at Financial Action Task Force (FATF) countries can deal in participatory notes to invest in Indian stock markets.
- Participatory notes are financial instruments which allow the investors to invest in Indian stock markets even if they are not registered with SEBI.
- This new rule is based on the H R Khan committee recommendation.
- Increased inflation, Trade war between India and China and rising prices of crude oil are some of the reasons behind the imposition of this rule.
