Economics - Jan 2015 Jan 02, 2015 Centre hikesbasic excise dutyonPetrolandDiesel(Both Branded and Unbranded) byRs 2 per litre begining January 2, 2015. The generated fund will go into the infrastructure development programme of the government,particularly the building of 15000 kms of roads, during current and next financial year.Jan 02, 2015 Centre replaces 64-year old 'Planning Commission' with 'NITI Aayog'.Planning Commissionhas finally beendecommissioned!The 65 year old socialist era leftover is now replaced with a new look think-tank to craftnational development policies namely 'NITI' (National Institution for Transforming India)Aayog.The body will give states more say on how to plan development programs making them an equalpartner in the exercise.The institution, created with a cabinet resolution like the predecessor, will be housed in thesame building known as 'Yojana Bhavan'.Key Points It will provide necessary directional and strategic advice to all the stakeholders. Supposedely better centre-state coordination together with more inclusive development agendafor ironing out the differences. Will also provide a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues inorder to accelerate the implementation. This is expected to facilitate quick implementation of programs with better outcomes; unlike thenotoriously inefficient Planning Commission. It will also monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes, and focus on technologyupgradation and capacity building. It is based on the vision of cooperative federalism recognizing that strong states make a strongnation.What changes? Planning Commission had a top-to-bottom one way flow of policies towards the developmentagenda with no active participation of states. To compensate this, a National Development Council - a body of CMs to approve the five-yearplan - was later created to compensate this deficiency - which now lies defunct.Governing Council Prime Minister of India will act as the ex-officio Chairperson of the NITI Ayog. He will have the power to appoint Vice-Chairperson and CEO. Governing Council will comprise all the Chief Ministers and Lt Governors of Union Territories. Experts, specialists and practitioners with relevant domain knowledge will also be roped in bythe PM for expert advice. Arvind Panagariya, former Chief Economist of Asian Development Bank, is tipped to becomethe inaugural Vice Chairperson.Regional Councils To address the issues concerning not a state or two but a Zone. These will be formed for a specified tenure by the PM and have CMs of concerned states (LtGovernors in case of UTs). To be chaired by the Chairperson of the NITI Aayog or his nominee.

Jan 03, 2015 Centre launches aweb portalfor online approval of movement of Over Dimensional (OD) andOver Weight Cargo (OWC). i. It will provide a platform to save time and avoid transit delays in movement of equipment ofnational importance by Modular Hydraulic Axle Trailers.ii. The initiative is in line with the government's "Make in India and Digital India" vision.

Jan 03, 2015 Post offices permitted to issue ATM cardsPost officescan now function as half abank.The recent amendment to thePost Office Savings Bank General Rules,1981has empoweredPost Offices to function as Banks, except forcredit operations business.Key Points Post offices can now issue ATM cards to account holders and traditional passbook system willbe replaced by the account statements - similars to proper banks. However, these facilities will be limited to select branches that are connected to Core BankingSolution (CBS) network. CBS network connect all branches of a bank and this enables real time transaction on an account. The move, already in effect, however will hardly benefit the rural population as only 676 postoffices out of the total 1.55 lakh are connected to CBS network for the time being.Moreover Post offices currently provide savings account, recurring deposits, fixed deposits, publicprovident funds apart from several other small savings schemes run by the government. Over Rs 6 lakh crore are held by the India Post under various deposit schemes.

Jan 03, 2015 Government holds two-day retreat "Gyan Sangam" with banks and financial institutions to come up with ideas to rejuvinate the sector. i. The retreat has been held to take forward the governments commitment to reforms in thefinancial sector.

Jan 05, 2015 RBIrelaxKnow-Your-Customers(KYC) rules for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). i. The relaxation is offered to ease up the renewal process which otherwise is fraught withpractical constraints.ii. The renewal frequency has been decreased for these three categories of customersiii. High-risk individuals and entities: at least once in every 2 years.iv. Medium risk individuals and entities: at least once in every 8 years.v. Low risk individuals and entities: at least once in every 10 years.

Jan 13, 2015 Bombay Stock Exchangeis going to set-up anInternational Exchangein Gujarat'sGIFT city(Gujarat International Finance Tec-City). I. GIFT - a multi-services Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is being developed by Gujaratgovernment as the country's first international financial services centre (IFSC).II. The new exchange will provide electronic platform for facilitating trading, clearing andsettlement of securities, commodities, currencies, other classes of assets and derivatives byinternational investors.III. BSE, Asia's oldest stock exchange, will be investing Rs 150 crore on the project.

Jan 14, 2015 RBI Deputy GovernorUrgit PatelsaidJan Dhan yojanais a game changerI. It provides an unprecended scaffolding and a spring board for meaningful financial inclusion and, concomitantly, substantial financial deepening for our economyII. Bankable labor-intensive enterprise should benefit as we go forward in this directionIII. It will benefit much larger number of small business lones

Jan 14, 2015 Indiatrade deficit with Chinaraises to $ 37.8 bI. India- China trade hit all time high of $73.9 billion in 2011,but declined to $ 37.8 billion last year.

Jan 16, 2015 Indiais ranked as the No.1 destination forfuture investmentsby'JapanBank for InternationalCooperation' (JBIC) followed by Indonesia (2) and China (3). I. The Survey featured 1000 companies for Japanese manufacturing sector.

Jan 21, 2015 Economic inequality rising: Oxfam study showsrichest 1%of population to beowning almost half (48%) of wealthin the world.I. This means that the rest 99% population has to contend with just half of resources.II. If the current trend continues; the top 1% may have more wealth than the rest 99% combined.Jan 21, 2015 Indiaranks lowly78thout of 93 countries in terms of talent competitiveness of its human capital. I. Switzerland tops the chart followed by Singapore and Luxembourg in having skilled and talented manpower.II. The study measures a country's competitiveness based on the quality of talent it can produce, attract and retain.III. The report - Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2014 - was compiled by INSEAD business school in partnership with Adecco and Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore (HCLI).

Jan 22, 2015 Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) makes its way intoGuinnessbook ofWorld Recordsfor most bank accounts opened in single week. I. 1,80,96,130 bank accounts were opened as part of this financial inclusion scheme from August 23-29, 2014.

Jan 23, 2015 CII(Confederation of Indian Industry) inks agreement with China's e-commerce giantAlibabato provideglobal platformtoIndian Small andMediumEnterprises (SMEs).

Jan 24, 2015 9 crore LPG consumers- 60% of total 15 crore - joins the Direct Benefit Transfer schemePAHAL.I. The Scheme aims to transfer the subsidy on LPG directly into the bank accounts of over 15 crore LPG consumers.