Volume XXXI Number 20 February 15, 2016

Weeklies

BI – Business India

BusW – Business World

BusT – Business Today

CMar – Capital Market

EPW – Economic and Political Weekly

SE – Southern Economist

Eco – Economist

For(Asia) – Fortune AsiaCI – Corporate India

Newspapers

BS – Business Standard

ET – Economic Times

FE – Financial Express

FT – Financial Times

H – Hindu

HBL – Hindu Business Line

HT – Hindustan Times

IE – Indian Express

TI – Times of India

Mint – Mint

Classifications

Economy Banking Agriculture & Rural Development Industry Small Scale Industry

International Economics Labour & Personnel Management Management Miscellaneous Books

CONTENTS

A. ECONOMY 1

B. BANKING 2

C. AGRICULTURE & RURAL DEVELOPMENT 14

D. INDUSTRY 14

E. SMALL SCALE INDUSTRY 15

F. INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS 15

G. LABOUR & PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT 16

H. MANAGEMENT 16

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BANKERS' BRIEF Vol. XXXI No. 20February 15, 2016

ECONOMY"CSO pegs 2015-16 growth at 7.6%: Low oil prices, manufacturing lead to buoyant outlook" – Powered

by a sharp rise in manufacturing and gains from benign crude oil prices, the Indian economy is expected togrow 7.6 per cent in 2015-16, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). This estimate is well abovethe 7.2 per cent GDP growth clocked in 2014-15. It is also higher than the 7-7.5 per cent growth rangeprojected by the Finance Ministry for the current fiscal. A report. – (HBL Feb 9, 2016 p 1)

"Hike in public investment likely: CEA: Subramanian says that public investment is a priority for thegovt; renews expectations of boost in coming budget" – Three weeks ahead of the Union budget,chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian signalled that public investment continues to be a priority for thegovernment and the key means to a accelerating growth. The government has ambitious plan for publicinvestment. Railways, roads, micro irrigation and other sectors will receive high priority from the government.A report. – (Mint Feb 6, 2016 pp 3, 4)

"Sustained negative WPI not healthy: Chief Statistician" – Edited excerpts from an interview with TCAAnant, Chief Statistician. – (ET Feb 10, 2016 p 13)

Bhandari, Pranjul – "Fiscal reforms: two birds, one stone: Fiscal reforms generate funds to financeextra spending and raise economic growth while lowering public debt" – An article. – (Mint Feb 9,2016 p 31)

Sabnavis, Madan – "Troubling signs in a stable economy: Macros may be sound, but chinks - corporatebottomlines, NPAs and falling exports - cannot be ignored" – An article. – (HBL Feb 9, 2016 p 8)

EXPENDITURE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION"No conflict between fiscal consolidation and public spending, says Bimal Jalan: Former RBI Governor

says the more important issue is where the spending takes place" – Excerpts from an interview withBimal Jalan, Former RBI Governor and head of the Expenditure Management Commission. – (HBL Feb 9,2016 p 10)

EXPORTSMehta, Pradeep S – "Exports need more than a lower rupee: Incentives for small industry and

harmonising standards with global norms can make a difference" – An article. – (HBL Feb 5, 2016 p 9)

FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES"Forex reserves improve by $1.6 bn" – India's foreign exchange reserves improved $1.59 billion in the

week ended January 29 to $349.125 billion, data released by the Reserve Bank of India showed. This is thesharpest gain in a week so far this year. In the first fortnight of the calendar, foreign exchange reserves hadfallen more than $3 billion before improving by only $355 billion in the week ended January 22. – (BS Feb 6,2016 p 3)

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES"Implementation of flagship schemes big test for India: Kochhar" – India needs to remain focused on

executing various ambitious programmes like Make in India and strengthen institutional framework, a topIndian corporate leader has said while underlining that the implementation of these campaigns is going to bea 'big test' for the country. We need to remain focused on executing all the intent that we have laid byourselves. That is going to be the big test for India, according to Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bankat the Harvard Business School. A report. – (FE Feb 9, 2016 p 10)

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POVERTYAlagh, Yoginder K – "The right way to count India poor: A calorie approach does not capture the

complexity of poverty and deprivation. The Centre should take this into consideration" – Anarticle. – (HBL Feb 5, 2016 p 8)

BANKING

GENERAL"Banks fear rise of robo-advisors" – Banks are watching wealthy clients flirt with robo-advisers -computer

programs to provide investment advice online-and that's one reason the lenders are racing to release theirown versions of the automated investing technology this year, according to a consultant. A report. – (TI Feb7, 2016 p 17)

"Big banks confident of meeting new challenges" – B. Sriram, managing director (corporate bankinggroup), State Bank of India; Chanda Kochhar, managing director and chief executive, ICICI Bank; P.S.Jayakumar, managing director and chief executive, Bank of Baroda; Aditya Puri, managing director andchief executive, HDFC Bank, and Uday Kotak, executive vice-chairman and managing director, KotakMahindra Bank, discussed challenges, competition, disruption and innovation faced by the sector. Editedexcerpts. – (Mint Feb 9, 2016 p 22)

"We've a very clear picture on dealing with NPAs" – Edited excerpts from an interview with Jayant Sinha,Minister of State for Finance. – (Mint Feb 5, 2016 p 28)

Ram Kumar, K – "Run-up to the budget: Banking: Locked capital needs to be freed" – Banks wantchanges to the I-T Act to bounce back. An article. – (HBL Feb 11, 2016 p 6)

ALLAHABAD BANK"Allahabad Bank reports Rs.486-cr loss in Q3" – A reduction in total income and a near doubling of

provisioning saw Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank report a loss of Rs.486 crore for the third quarter endingDecember 31, 2015. In the corresponding period last year, the bank had reported a net profit of Rs.164 crore.A report. – (HBL Feb 10, 2016 p 10)

"Allahabad Bank: Reviewed financial results for the quarter & nine months ended 31st December,2015" – An advertisement feature. – (FE Feb 10, 2016 p 3)

AXIS BANKMerwin, Radhika – "Axis Bank: Banking on core performance" – Strong retail loan portfolio, sound

profitability and healthy deposit base are key positives. Axis Bank has been de-risking its loan portfolio byfocussing on the retail segment over the last two to three years. An article. – (HBL Feb 8, 2016 p 2)

BANDHAN BANK"Bandhan Bank launches NRI banking" – Bandhan Bank, which started full-fledged banking operations

five months ago, launched international debit card and NRI banking. The bank has tied up with Visa Internationalfor debit cards. – (FE Feb 10, 2016 p 10)

"Bandhan Bank on Hiring Spree, to Focus on MSME, Retail Ops" – Six months into its existence,Bandhan Bank is hiring again to fill gaps in credit operation and branch banking. The new bank has set upover 610 branches in a very short time after beginning operation in August last year with 501-strong network.We are hiring to fill in some gaps here and there as we are preparing to start focusing on retail and MSMElending from next fiscal, according to Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Managing Director of the bank. A report.– (ET Feb 9, 2016 p 5)

– 3 –

"Bandhan Bank set to add 10 lakh customers by March, says MD: Bank rolls out NRI bankingfacility, VISA-linked debit cards" – Bandhan Bank is looking to add at least two lakh new customers to itsexisting tally of 82 lakh by the end of this fiscal. When it started full-fledged banking operations in August lastyear, the company set a target of adding 10 lakh new customers by March 2016; around eight lakh customershave already been added. A report. – (HBL Feb 10, 2016 p 10)

BANK OF BARODA– FOREX SCAM

"Bank of Baroda forex case: Court refuses to take cognizance of 'offences' by bank officials: Thebank officials are entitled to protection under Section 197 of CrPC, says special court" – In a majorsetback to the CBI probe in the alleged Rs.6,000-crore forex scam by Bank of Baroda (BoB) officials, thespecial court has refused to take cognizance of the alleged offences of criminal breach of trust and criminalconspiracy, including cheating under the IPC. The court has said that perusal of charge sheet reveals that'none of the 16 remittances were created by the either of the accused persons'. A report. – (IE Feb 5, 2016p 14)

BANK OF MAHARASHTRA"Bank of Maharashtra net up 55.59 per cent on higher NII" – Bank of Maharashtra reported reported a

55.59% y-o-y rise in net profit for Q3FY16 to Rs.89.06 crore. Total income went up by 3.24% to Rs.3,475crore. The bank operating profit was down 12.49% to Rs.541.90 crore from Rs.619.27 crore during sametime in the previous year. The lender set aside less for provisioning and contingencies during the quarterunder review at Rs.345.01 crore compared to Rs.580.14 crore is made provisions for in Q3FY15, the bankhad made provisions of Rs.580.14 crore. A report. – (FE Feb 11, 2016 p 10)

CANARA BANK"Canara Bank bags 'Agricultural and Best Social Bank Award 2015'" – Canara Bank bags 'Agricultural

and Best Social Bank Award 2015' (under Large Bank category) awarded by ASSOCHAM. – (HBL Feb 5,2016 p 4)

"Canara Bank bags MSME Banking Excellence Award" – Chamber of Indian Micro Small and MediumEnterprises (CIMSME) has chosen Canara Bank as Best MSME Bank for large Bank - Winner. The bankhas also won Best Bank for Financial Inclusion for Large Bank - Winner and Best Eco Tech Savvy Bank forLarge Bank - Runner Up awards. – (HBL Feb 5, 2016 p 4)

CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA"Central Bank posts Rs.836-cr loss in Q3: Bottomline dented by jump in bad loan provisioning" –

Central Bank booked a net loss of Rs.836.62 crore for the third quarter of this fiscal as against a net profit ofRs.137.65 crore in corresponding year-ago quarter. The loss was booked on account of higher provisioningof Rs.1,499 crore in Q3 FY16 (Rs.699 crore in Q3 FY15). A report. – (HBL Feb 10, 2016 p 10)

CORPORATION BANK"Corp Bank's new deposit schemes" – Corporation Bank has launched two new term deposit schemes -

'Super Gain Plus' and 'Power Plus' - effective from February 5. Bank said that depositors will earn 7.66 percent per annum for a period of 444 days under 'Super Gain Plus' deposit, and 7.77 per cent per annum for aperiod of 555 days under 'Power Plus' deposit. The deposit amount must be in the Rs.10,000 to less than Rs.1crore range. – (HBL Feb 9, 2016 p 10)

DENA BANK"Dena Bank Q3 net loss at Rs.663 cr as provisions soar" – Dena Bank reported a net loss of Rs.662.85

crore in Q3 of the current fiscal as its provisions rose three fold to Rs.966.97 crore compared to the year-agoperiod. The public sector bank reported a decline of 5.06% in total income y-o-y as all major segments -treasury operations. A report. – (FE Feb 10, 2016 p 10)

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"Dena Bank: Reviewed financial results for the quarter/nine months ended 31st December 2015" –An advertisement feature. – (BS Feb 10, 2016 p 16)

"PFC invests Rs.1,000 cr in Dena Bank's AT-I bonds: AT-I bonds or perpetual bonds do not have afixed maturity date and are considered to be equivalent to equity" – In a somewhat surprising move,Power Finance Corporation (PFC) is believed to have invested Rs.1,000 crore in Dena Bank's additional tier-I bonds (AT-I). According to sources in the bond market, the paper had been priced at 10.95%. AT-I bondsor perpetual bonds do not have a fixed maturity date and are considered to be equivalent to equity. As a result,investors often demand a higher yield on this category of bonds. While Dena Bank is majority-owned by thegovernment, it is somewhat surprising that PFC would want to invest in a bank that has a high exposure tostate electricity boards' distribution companies. A report. – (FE Feb 6, 2016 pp 1, 2)

FEDERAL BANK"MIP will improve debt servicing of steel firms: Federal Bank ED Khajuria talks about the impact of

the policy and need to revive the industry" – Excerpts from an interview with Ashutosh Khajuria,Executive Director and CFO, Federal Bank. – (HBL Feb 9, 2016 p 6)

HDFC BANK"HDFC Bank pips many European banking stars" – The carnage in European financial stocks has rejigged

the pecking order of banks in terms of market capitalisation. HDFC Bank, India's second-largest privatelender by assets and the second most expensive bank globally, has overtaken European majors such asDeutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, SocGen in market cap. Kotak Mahindra Bank, with assets at just 1% of theDeutsche Bank, has emerged as one of most expensive banking stocks globally. A report. – (ET Feb 11, 2016p 11)

"HDFC Bank steps up hiring to keep pace with business" – HDFC Bank has put the pedal to the metalon hiring after a gap of over a year. In the first three quarters of this financial year, the lender had hired 8,333,about 11 per cent of its total workforce. – (BS Feb 9, 2016 p 2)

IDBI BANK"IDBI Bank receives ASSOCHAM Award" – IDBI Bank Ltd. Received the ASSOCHAM Award 2015

for Financial Inclusion under Large Bank class and Government schemes category. – (ET Feb 8, 2016 p 4)

INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK"IOB loss widens to Rs.1,425 crore" – Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) reported a net loss of Rs.1,425 crore

for the fiscal third quarter, owing to rising provisions and a drop in net interest income (NII). The net losswidened from Rs.516 crore a year ago. The state-owned bank provisions for the quarter ended 31 Decemberstood at Rs.1,896 crore as compared with Rs.1,183 crore a year ago. Provisions increased from Rs.1,558crore in the July-September quarter. A report. – (Mint Feb 11, 2016 p 3)

"IOB plans to issue AT-1 bonds to raise Rs.1,000 cr" – Indian Overseas Bank plans to come out with apublic issue of its additional tier-1 (AT-1) bonds or perpetual bonds - the first public issue of AT-1 bonds if itmaterialises - to raise close to Rs.1,000 crore, according to sources aware of the development. A report.– (FE Feb 10, 2016 p 10)

– CUSTOMER SERVICE

"Customer service to become more efficient, says IOB chief: Bank rolling out online and mobileservices with upgraded software" – Transfers and remittances delayed, customers waiting more thanusual for demand drafts or making a deposit at neighbourhood branch of the Indian Overseas Bank... well allthese will soon be a thing of the past. IOB has transitioned to a new Core Banking Solution (CBS) that willpower services faster and more efficiently. A report. – (HBL Feb 10, 2016 p 10)

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KARNATAKA BANK"Karnataka Bank bags four awards" – Karnataka Bank has bagged four ASSOCHAM Social Banking

Excellence Awards 2015. – (ET Feb 8, 2016 p 4)

LAKSHMI VILAS BANK– INTEREST RATES

"Lakshmi Vilas Bank reduces base rate by 0.15%" – Lakshmi Vilas Bank has cut the minimum lendingrate by 0.15 per cent to 10.55 per cent with effect from February 8, 2016. Lakshmi Vilas Bank announcedreduction in the base rate from the earlier 10.70 percent per annum to 10.55 percent per annum. The revisedrate is effective from February 8, 2016. – (FE Feb 11, 2016 p 10)

ORIENTAL BANK OF COMMERCE"Oriental Bank plans to raise Rs.1,500 crore via pref issue" – Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) said

it plans to raise up to Rs.1,500 crore by issue of preference shares to the government and LIC. The board willconsider proposal for raising capital in its meeting to be held on February 11. – (FE Feb 9, 2016 p 10)

PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK"Punjab National Bank net drops 93 per cent on rising provisions" – Punjab National Bank (PNB) said

its profit for the three months to December plunged 93% year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs.51 crore owing to higherprovisions. The lender reported a pre-tax loss of Rs.858 crore in Q3FY16 but a tax write back of Rs.909crore helped it remain profitable. Meanwhile, total provisions more than doubled y-o-y to Rs.3,775 crore asasset quality deteriorated sharply. A report. – (FE Feb 10, 2016 pp 1, 2)

"We took a conscious call to increase provisioning for NPAs: PNB Executive Director Rao, on thebank's Q3 numbers and what the future holds" – An interview with K V Brahmaji Rao, ExecutiveDirector, Punjab National Bank. – (HBL Feb 10, 2016 p 6)

Merchant, Krishna – "PNB: explosion of bad loans bares ugly underbelly of public sector banking" –An article. – (Mint Feb 10, 2016 p 18)

Merwin, Radhika – "The worst is not yet over for the third largest PSB: With stressed assets at 17%of total loans, the coming quarters too could be taxing" – An article. – (HBL Feb 10, 2016 p 10)

– BANK CAPITAL

"PNB mops up Rs.1,500 cr from Basel-III bonds" – Punjab National Bank (PNB) raised Rs.1,500 crorefrom Basel III-compliant bonds through private placement. The bank has raised Rs.1,500 crore tier II (BaselIII compliant) capital bonds, PNB said in an exchange filling, adding the debt instrument carries an annualcoupon of 8.65 per cent. – (FE Feb 6, 2016 p 10)

RESERVE BANK OF INDIA"RBI gets award for innovation in XBRL reporting" – The Reserve Bank said it has got recognition for its

efforts to improve regulatory reporting and has been given the XBRL International Award for Excellence.– (FE Feb 6, 2016 p 10)

STATE BANK OF INDIA"SBI default swaps jump to highest since 2014" – The cost of insuring the bonds of State Bank of India is

surging before the nation largest lender reports quarterly earnings amid concern over worsening asset quality.Credit-default swaps protecting the bank debt against non-payment for five years jumped to 202 basis points,the highest since August 2014, according to prices data provider CMA. A report. – (FE Feb 11, 2016 p 10)

– 6 –

"SBI rolls out holiday RD account with Thomas Cook" – State Bank of India has entered into a partnershipwith Thomas Cook India to offer the Thomas Cook Holiday savings account to its customers. Through thisoffering, SBI's online banking customers will be able to pre-select a holiday from Thomas Cook and save forit through a recurring deposit with the bank. Those who stay invested will receive a final top-up from ThomasCook India. – (HBL Feb 5, 2016 p 10)

– WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

"SBI taking steps to develop women entrepreneurship" – State Bank of India is taking steps to developwomen entrepreneurship in the country, according to Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairperson of the bank. Shesaid we are trying to create special schemes for women so that they may become entrepreneurs and createjobs. – (FE Feb 7, 2016 p 3)

TAMILNAD MERCANTILE BANK"For TMB, IPO turns into an identity tussle" – Manickam Mahal, a banquet hall located in the port city of

Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, turned into a battlefield on January 29. It was the venue for the annual generalmeeting of the 96-year-old Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank, where shareholders were to vote on the hotlydebated issue of whether the bank should go for an initial public offering and let 'outsiders' into the bank ornot. For TMB, the IPO is a deeply divisive issue that has crystallised shareholders into two opposing camps,one calling for an IPO to infuse fresh capital into the bank and the other strongly opposing it. A report. – (BSFeb 11, 2016 Pt. II p 6)

UNITED BANK OF INDIA"United Bank to raise Rs.1,000 crore via securities" – United Bank of India (UBI) plans to raise up to

Rs.1,000 crore by issuing securities. A meeting of the board of directors will approve the same. – (FE Feb 9,2016 p 10)

VIJAYA BANK"Vijaya Bank Q3 net profit grows 43%" – Vijaya Bank reported a 43% year-on-year rise in its net profit at

Rs.53 crore for the third quarter ended December. The rise in the net profit was due to a handsome growthin net interest income, which went up 33% to Rs.738 crore from Rs.555 crore in the year-ago period. The netinterest margin improved to 2.44% from 1.88% year-on-year. A report. – (FE Feb 6, 2016 p 10)

"Vijaya Bank receives Social Banking Excellence Award" – Vijaya Bank - a prime nationalized bank isawarded runners up prizes under following two categories Agricultural Banking and Social Banking. – (HBLFeb 5, 2016 p 4)

"Vijaya Bank: Reviewed financial results for the quarter/nine months ended 31st December, 2015"– An advertisement feature. – (FE Feb 6, 2016 p 3)

YES BANKBalaji, Kavya – "YES Bank's 'InControl' feature" – Yes Bank has launched a feature, Yes InControl,

which can help control debit card spends. Launched in partnership with MasterCard, it will aid customers insetting usage parameters and limits for debit cards. One can use this feature through Net banking login, andthe set parameters become active on a real-time basis. Customers of the bank can also modify limits forlinked add-on cards. The bank plans to extend the facility to mobile banking as well. According to bankexecutives, the facility will be free of charge for select customers, while others would have to pay a fee,which is to be decided. An article. – (Mint Feb 9, 2016 p 21)

CHINA"China's central bank to fine tune policy, keep yuan stable: fourth-quarter monetary report" – China

will fine tune monetary policy and keep the yuan basically stable while guarding against systemic financialrisks, the country's central bank said in its fourth-quarter monetary policy report. China will also maintain anappropriate level of liquidity and achieve reasonable growth of money and credit, according to the People'sBank of China (PBOC). A report. – (H Feb 7, 2016 p 15)

– 7 –

USA– FEDERAL RESERVE

"US Fed official backs tougher bank stress tests" – A top Federal Reserve official said he backs tougherstress tests for 'too big to fail' banks including higher capital requirements that would make them 'even morebinding.' The United States adopted both stress tests and capital surcharges for banks in the wake of the2007-2009 financial crisis, when U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed and set off a deep globalrecession. A report. – (FE Feb 5, 2016 p 16)

BANK BALANCE SHEETS– PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS

"Speedy clean-up to hit banks' profits: Most banks trade at near two-year lows" – The high-speedclean-up of banks' books will hurt earnings growth at state-owned lenders and their ability to raise moneyfrom the capital market. – (FE Feb 8, 2016 pp 1, 2)

BANK CAPITAL– PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS

"Performance-linked capital infusion will add value to banks: Public sector banks may have to redefinetheir strategies, says RBI's R Gandhi" – As new performance-based norms for capital infusion intobanks are likely to come into play, public sector banks have to see if they need to redefine their businessstrategies, according to R Gandhi, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India. – (HBL Feb 6, 2016 p 10)

BANKING STOCKSMerwin, Radhika – "Stockwatch: Stressed assets, poor loan growth blot banks' books: There was

little to cheer for banking stocks last year" – It was a sombre year for banking stocks. Optimism of aneconomic recovery waned since the last Budget, and so did the buoyancy in stocks. The Nifty Bank Indexhas fallen about a quarter since the previous Budget. The fall in PSU bank stocks has been steeper, with theNifty PSU Bank Index plummeting more than 40 per cent. While poor financial performance dragged downthe stocks of PSU banks over the year, a few private bank stocks too lost steam, owing to the sudden spikein bad loans. An article. – (HBL Feb 11, 2016 p 6)

– GLOBAL BANKS

"Investors punish global banks as fears focus on financial system" – Deutsche Bank led a rout in globalbank stocks as mounting concerns over the global economy, turbulent markets and sliding energy pricesmorphed into worries over the health of parts of the financial system. The Stoxx 600 index of Europeanfinancial institutions fell 5.6 per cent - its second-worst one-day loss since the eurozone crisis - to take its lossthis year to over 24 per cent. A report. – (FT Feb 9, 2016 p 1)

BANKING TECHNOLOGYVenkatesan, Ravi – "Disruption in banking: Can banks survive tech?" – An article. – (ET Feb 9, 2016 p 14)

BANKRUPTCY CODE"Speedy bankruptcy code to level playing field for small firms: Rajan" – Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

governor Raghuram Rajan said that an operational and speedy bankruptcy code will level the playing field forsmall firms while also asserting that a basic safety net focussed on individuals rather than firms will beimportant to aid the flourishment of free enterprise. RBI said it has revised nine regulations issued under theForeign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (Fema) in consultation with the government. The central banksaid keeping in view the objective of promoting ease of doing business, a need was felt to consolidate theregulations and rationalise them in the light of evolving business environment and changing practices in cross-border transactions relating to external trade and payments. A report. – (FE Feb 5, 2016 p 10)

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Basu, Debashis – "The flaws in bankruptcy law" – Bad loans in PSBs are five per cent of their total lendingwhile in private sector banks the figure is just 1.5 per cent. The reason for such colossal bad loans iscorruption, meddling politicians, crony capitalism and regulatory failure. An article. – (BS Feb 8, 2016 p 9)

CENTRAL BANKERPant Joshi, Deepali – "Remembering Dr S S Tarapore: A former deputy governor of RBI, a passionate

advocate of depositors' rights and a mentor to many at the central bank; his passing leaves a voidhard to fill" – An article. – (FE Feb 5, 2016 p 9)

Vasudevan, Asuri – "Crusader for central bank autonomy: S S Tarapore, who died recently, advocatedlaying down rules of conduct of macro-policy management" – An article. – (Mint Feb 5, 2016 p 31)

CENTRAL BANKINGSheel, Alok – "The mechanics of central banking: Quantitative easing effectively financed borrowing,

conflating the divide between monetary and fiscal policy" – An article. – (Mint Feb 11, 2016 p 23)

CENTRAL BANKS"Rate cut prospects grow as big central banks adopt a dovish tone: Risks from emerging markets,

China's slump and low inflation from falling oil prices cited as the grounds for action" – The world'scentral banks have all but given up hopes they can return to conventional monetary policy soon, openlytouting more easing and venturing deeper into the untested waters of unconventional policies. With globaleconomic headwinds rising, this time from emerging markets, the world's biggest central banks have all hit astrongly dovish tone in the past day. They pointed to risks from emerging markets, China's economic slowdownand ultra-low inflation emanating from low oil prices. A report. – (Mint Feb 5, 2016 p 27)

CUSTOMER SERVICE"RBI's Mundra pushes for bank account number portability: Deputy governor also calls on banks to

consider disruption possible through Blockchain technology" – Drawing a comparison to the telecomsector, Mundra argued that customers should be able to move seamlessly between banks without having tochange their account numbers, should they be dissatisfied with the services offered by their bank. The RBIdeputy governor also called on banks to consider the disruption possible through Blockchain technology.Blockchain is essentially a distributed database used to make secure transactions that is currently being usedby cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and helps in authenticating transactions. A report. – (Mint Feb 5, 2016 p 3)

CYBER CRIMES"Banking system changes make India a target for cybercrimes" – From a mere 12,301 cases of cybercrimes

reported in 2011, the number shot up to 3 lakh in 2015, making India a hub for cybercriminals, according to thePayment Cards Industry (PCI). Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting India as our banking systems arechanging rapidly, according to the experts. A report. – (HT Feb 6, 2016 p 6)

DIGITAL BANKING"Tech-enabled banking with a human face" – Are digital banking enterprises ensuring that new-age products

are available, accessible, affordable and spreading awareness? Are regulators and digital bankers ensuringthe standardization of documents, digital security and connectivity issues? These issues were discussed atlength by executives at public sector and private sector banks as well as regulators. Edited excerpts. – (MintFeb 9, 2016 p 24)

FINANCIAL INCLUSIONRamani, V – "JAM for the Indian" – Every Indian should have access to banking channels where her money

can be parked; and there should be ease and efficiency of transactions, and secure, accurate identification ofthe account holder to check diversion of benefits. Sections of the intelligentsia have voiced apprehensions

– 9 –

about the misuse of private data of individuals in aadhaar, but forgotten is the harsh fact that for a persondeprived of economic and social rights, a hypothetical loss of 'privacy' is hardly a consideration. An article.– (FE Feb 6, 2016 p 9)

FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY"On Finance & Technology" – Citings from 'Cutting through the noise around financial technology'.

– (ET Feb 6, 2016 p 8)

FOREIGN BANKING– CREDIT SUISSE

"Investors punish Credit Suisse as losses highlight bank sector pain" – Credit Suisse shares tumbled toa 24-year low as the Swiss bank's first full-year loss since 2008 underscored the pain that market conditionsare inflicting on financial industry. Investors have sent US financial stocks down by more than 11 per cent thisyear and European bank equities by nearly 20 per cent. Globally, the financial sector is the worst performingin the MSCI World index in 2016. A report. – (FT Feb 5, 2016 p 1)

– DEUTSCHE BANK

"Deutsche eyes emergency debt buyback as bank rout deepens" – Deutsche Bank is considering buyingback several billion euros of its debt, as Germany's biggest bank steps up efforts to shore up the tumblingvalue of its securities against the backdrop of a broader rout of financial stocks. A report. – (FT Feb 10, 2016 p 1)

"No problem if fiscal consolidation slows: India can direct additional resources for jobs: DeutscheBank CEO Chadha" – Excerpts from an interview with Gunit Chadha, CEO, Asia-Pacific, DeutscheBank. – (TI Feb 9, 2016 p 16)

– HSBC

"HSBC's domicile dilemma: Asian dissuasion" – Despite Britain's bank-bashing mood, HSBC should stayin London. An article. – (Eco 418(8975) Feb 6, 2016 p 12)

"HSBC: London v Hong Kong: East is Eden" – Banking's longest, and most successful, identity crisis. Anarticle. – (Eco 418(8975) Feb 6, 2016 pp 63-65)

FORENSIC AUDIT– BANK FRAUDS

"Banks step up forensic audit of borrowers: Accounting firms see a surge in requests to probecompanies delaying repayments or suspected of fraud" – Top accounting firms have seen a surge inrequests by banks to conduct forensic audits on borrowing companies that are suspected to be involved infraud, or in cases where repayments to lenders have been consistently delayed, said three executives engagedin the process. A report. – (Mint Feb 8, 2016 pp 3, 4)

– NON-PERFORMING ASSETS

"Forensic audit must for all bad loans: Parliament panel to RBI: Says CDR has failed to achieveobjectives; calls for cases to be settled within six months" – Cautioning that the rising trend of non-performing assets (NPAs) with banks had 'the potential to damage the growth story', the Finance StandingCommittee of Parliament has called for an immediate forensic audit of all restructured loans that had turnedinto bad debts. A forensic audit is also required for wilful defaults, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hasbeen asked to prepare guidelines for the process. The analytical reports of the forensic audit should besubmitted to the panel in six months, the panel said in its report. Veerappa Molly, Chairman, ParliamentaryStanding Committee on Finance said WHAT THE PANEL WANTS: RBI actions: * Forensic audit of all badloans; * Wilful defaults to be audited too; * RBI to prepare guidelines for audit; * Reports to be submitted in6 months. Bats for big Infra: * Develop a 'vibrant' bond market to finance infra; * Asks Centre to: # reviveDFls for long-term finance; # allow IFCs to buy infra projects that have turned into NPAs. Cracking thewhip: * Name and shame wilful defaulters; * Asks RBI to form empowered committees to monitor large

– 10 –

loans. Rework debt restructuring: * CDR cases should be settled in 6 months; * Banks can take control ofdefaulting entity; * Management change mandatory in wilful default cases. Public sector bank NPAs: Rs.2,05,024Cr - September 2015; Rs.4,00,000 Cr - April 2016; Rs.64,335 Cr - 21% of total NPAs- is wilful default. Areport. – (HBL Feb 6, 2016 p 1)

INTEREST RATE OPTIONS"RBI may roll out interest rate options: Availability of such an option will help banks manage their

risk more effectively, says panel" – Reserve Bank of India said it is proposing to introduce interest rateoptions so that all domestic entities, including banks, having underlying interest rate risk can hedge their riskon this count. A report. – (HBL Feb 9, 2016 p 10)

INTEREST RATES"In the world of negative interest rates: Gains from negative rates are uncertain and the risks are

more profound" – An article. – (Mint Feb 10, 2016 p 30)

MICROFINANCE"India needs a specialised regulatory authority for microfinance" – Edited excerpts from an interview

with Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laureate & founder, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh. – (BS Feb 8, 2016 p 10)

MOBILE PAYMENTS APP"NPCI's new mobile payment platform to link banking apps" – The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) -

a new open source platform for mobile-to-mobile fund transfers without account details -will bring about adisruption, according to Nandan Nilekani, former chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India(UIDAI). The launch of the platform will facilitate transactions between mobile apps of different banks bybringing about interoperability. A report. – (TI Feb 8, 2016 p 13)

MONETARY POLICYBalakrishnan, Pulapre – "Monetary and fiscal policies go together: An 'independent', inflation-

targeting RBI, immune from accountability, is a bad idea. Yet we seem besotted by it" – An article.– (HBL Feb 5, 2016 p 8)

Pan, Indranil – "Little room for further rate cuts: The Centre will not want to jeopardise macro-economic stability" – Oversupply: Rising bond yields are reflective of market fears of a significant supplyof papers - Central, state and UDAY bonds. The strategy: * Against short-term gains; * Not too concernedabout liquidity; * Little room for further rate cuts. An article. – (HBL Feb 8, 2016 p 11)

MONETARY POLICY TRANSMISSIONRangan, M C Govardhana and Das, Saikat – "Liquidity conundrum: Rate cut cycle nearing its end?"

– TUG OF WAR the RBI blamed banks for not passing on its cuts to customers and said the market wouldforce them to do so. But even the market has turned. Who is at fault? Market or the RBI, which hasn'tchanged its liquidity stance? An article. – (ET Feb 10, 2016 p 16)

NON-PERFORMING ASSETS"Bad loans under the lens: India needs a time-bound resolution of loan defaults and also the means

to take black sheep to court" – An editorial. – (HT Feb 9, 2016 p 14)

"Bad loans: 1140000000000: The great govt bank write-off: That is the amount of bad loans waivedin last three financial years, more than the write-off in the previous nine" – Twenty-nine state-ownedbanks wrote off a total of Rs.1.14 lakh crore of bad debts between financial years 2013 and 2015, much morethan they had done in the preceding nine years. In response to an RTI application filed by The Indian Express,the RBI disclosed that while bad debts stood at Rs.15,551 crore for the financial year ending March 2012,they had shot up by over three times to Rs.52,542 crore by the end of March 2015. A report. – (IE Feb 8,2016 p 1)

– 11 –

"The finance sector's NPA woes" – A graphical report. – (BS Feb 8, 2016 p 4)

"FinMin lauds RBI efforts in monitoring bank bad debts" – The Finance Ministry has lauded the effortsof the Reserve Bank of India in monitoring bad debts, even as the Standing Committee of Finance wascritical about the RBI's role in not controlling the burgeoning non-performing assets of banks. The Secretaryof Financial Services told the panel that the RBI is a strict regulator. 'As far as the RBI is concerned, theimpression in the Ministry is that the RBI is a very strict regulator. It is doing its job properly. Even banks findit difficult,' the Secretary told the panel during the course of oral evidence. A report. – (HBL Feb 10, 2016 p 4)

Bhan, Indu – "Verdict corner: Banks' NPA pains just got worse" – The Supreme Court ruling that rentlaws outweigh loan recovery statutes increases banks' bad-loans burden. An article. – (FE Feb 8, 2016 p 7)

Iyer, P Vaidyanathan – "Bank insecurities: Government must use multiple instruments to resolvethe growing burden of non-performing assets" – An article. – (IE Feb 9, 2016 p 10)

Singh, Sandeep – "Meaning: Nonperforming assets" – One of the most used terms in the banking andfinancial sectors over the last few years, leading RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan to express concern overthe health of public sector banks. So what does it mean? An article. – (IE Feb 10, 2016 p 9)

Thomas, Susan – "Debt déjà vu" – Merely rescuing the banking system from the existing emergency willonly clear the way to the next one. Policy should go into causal factors. An article. – (IE Feb 10, 2016 p 11)

– ARCs / STRATEGIC DEBT RESTRUCTURING

"There is no point in throwing good money after bad" – Edited excerpts from a panel discussion. SanjayNayar, CEO of KKR India and Pradeep Kumar, former MD of SBI participated in the discussion. – (MintFeb 8, 2016 p 20)

– NATIONAL INVESTMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE FUND

"Infra fund may help PSU banks cut NPAs: WELCOME MOVE NIIF will improve the economicvalue of assets, help banks reduce bad loans, say experts" – State-run banks could be in for somegood news -the government's infrastructure fund, which will take shape soon, will allow the banks to sellsome of their stressed assets to the fund, which is expected to have some sovereign wealth funds as investors.The government plans to set up a Rs.40,000-crore National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), withinvestments from international pension funds and sovereign wealth funds from countries such as Russia,Singapore and the UAE. It could help prevent good assets being disposed of at very low valuation, accordingto Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman of State Bank of India. A report. – (ET Feb 5, 2016 p 13)

– PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS

"Poor loan quality will impair banks' credit risk profile: Crisil: Rating agency says provisioningrequirement of PSBs will increase" – Intensifying asset quality problems at public sector banks (PSBs)have the potential to impair their credit risk profiles and necessitate significantly higher capitalisation, eitherthrough government infusion or relaxation of regulatory capital norms, says credit rating agency Crisil. Areport. – (HBL Feb 11, 2016 p 10)

"Steady rise in PSB bad loans alarming: panel: Finance standing committee notes that these banksremain under stress due to past lending" – The Finance Standing Committee of Parliament, which hasrecommended a forensic audit of all bad loans, has painted an alarming picture of the gross non-performingassets of public sector banks. According to the panel's report, which was adopted, the gross NPAs ofscheduled commercial banks, especially public sector banks, have increased in recent years. A report.– (HBL Feb 9, 2016 p 4)

PAYMENTS BANKS– PAYTM

"Paytm hires top deck for its Payments Bank" – Paytm, India's largest mobile payments platform, hasshortlisted a candidate to lead its payments bank and is bringing on board new hires as it strengthens seniormanagement for the business, which has a star Rs.400 crore. – (ET Feb 8, 2016 p 6)

– 12 –

"Paytm to launch bank in June" – Paytm is gearing up to launch its payment bank in June and would woo itscurrent base of about 122 million users to migrate to full banking services, according to its founder VijayShekhar Sharma. When it launches payment banking services, Paytm plans to offer services such as transferingcash into the bank account and back, as well as cashouts using cheques at zero per cent fee. A report. – (FEFeb 11, 2016 p 5)

PRIORITY SECTOR LENDING– ROAD PROJECTS

"IBA pitches for priority sector tag for road projects" – Indian Banks' Association has asked the Centreand the Reserve Bank to accord 'priority sector' status to road projects as they play a key role in nation-building. The proposal has also found favour with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and it plansto write to RBI to consider it. Priority sector tag for road projects will give them greater access to bankfunding. Under the priority sector norms, banks have to necessarily provide 40 per cent of their total lendingto the sector at concessional rates. A report. – (HBL Feb 8, 2016 p 1)

PRIVATE SECTOR BANKS"A good start for the upstarts" – Bandhan Bank founder managing director and chief executive officer

Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, IDFC Bank managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) Rajiv Lall, andK.C. Chakrabarty, former deputy governor of RBI, share their thoughts on the early journey of these challengerbanks, Edited excerpts. – (Mint Feb 9, 2016 pp 23-24)

PROVISIONING– NON-PERFORMING ASSETS

Saha, Manojit – "Reserve Bank tells banks to set aside more for stressed loans: Lenders have toincrease provisioning by 2.5 per cent every quarter starting April 1" – The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has directed commercial banks to accelerate provisioning requirement, from April 1, for the existingstock of restructured loans that are showing signs of stress. RBI has identified bank specific accounts inwhich respective lenders have to make higher provisioning from April 1. These accounts were restructuredearlier. Banks have provided only 5 per cent for these restructured loans, but now the central bank hasdirected them to increase the provisioning by 2.5 per cent every quarter so that by March 31, 2017, provisioningreached the 15 per cent level - in line with sub-standard accounts. However, banks are not allowed to classifythese accounts as non-performing assets. An article. – (H Feb 11, 2016 p 15)

PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS"Banking stress" – A quick edit. – (Mint Feb 11, 2016 p 1)

"Parity please: Governance and pay structure reforms at PSBs need not be linked to the issue ofownership" – An editorial. – (HBL Feb 5, 2016 p 8)

RECOVERY OF LOANS"Start repaying bank loans, Govt tells corporate majors" – Taking a tough stance to address the bad loan

crisis, the government has asked about a dozen big corporate groups - some of the biggest borrowers frompublic sector banks - to start repaying loans at the earliest by selling off their non-core businesses. A report.– (IE Feb 9, 2016 p 1)

– NPAs

Bhan, Indu – "Verdict Corner: Sarfaesi trumps Sica: The SC ruling giving precedence to debt recoveryover attempts to revive sick industries will help lessen banks' NPA burden" – An article. – (FE Feb10, 2016 p 9)

– 13 –

RESERVE BANK OF INDIA"RBI to infuse Rs.10,000 cr via OMO" – The RBI evening announced that it would infuse up to Rs.10,000

crore liquidity into the fund starved system through purchase of five government securities on February 8.– (TI Feb 5, 2016 p 18)

SMALL FINANCE BANKS"Small banks may face HR, technology issues" – Samit Ghosh, MD & CEO, Ujjivan Financial Services

Ltd; Rajeev Yadav, group CEO of Fincare Business Services, which runs small finance bank licensee DishaMicrofin; Govind Singh, MD & CEO, Utkarsh Microfinance; K. Paul Thomas, CMD, ESAF Microfinance;Jiji Mammen, CEO, Mudra Bank; and V. Vaidyanathan, chairman & MD, Capital First discussed opportunities,challenges and competition facing small finance banks. Edited excerpts. – (Mint Feb 9, 2016 p 23)

– RECRUITMENT

"Small finance banks poach talent from pvt & foreign banks" – Small Finance Banks (SFBs) aiming tostart operations this calendar year have begun the process of hiring, having turned to private and foreignentities for sourcing of talent. Human resources consultants that have been given the mandate to hire believethat the number could go up to close to 20,000. A report. – (BS Feb 5, 2016 p 4)

– UJJIVAN FINANCIAL SERVICES

"Ujjivan Financial in talks to raise Rs.400-450 crore ahead of IPO" – Ujjivan Financial Services Ltd, themicrolender that has won a provisional licence to convert itself to a small finance bank, is in talks withpotential investors to raise Rs.400-450 crore, according to the three people aware of the development.– (Mint Feb 6, 2016 pp 3, 4)

STRATEGIC DEBT RESTRUCTURING"Lenders drop SDR proposal for Surana" – Lenders to Surana Industries have dropped a plan to initiate a

strategic debt restructuring (SDR) scheme for the company with the proposal failing to be approved by amajority. The consortium had been looking to revive the loss-making and heavily indebted firm by convertinga part of the outstanding loans into equity and thereafter trying to bring in a new promoter. However, bankersfailed to reach a consensus on an SDR at the last joint lenders' forum (JLF) meeting. – (FE Feb 8, 2016 pp1, 2)

"Lenders to Provogue to decide on invoking SDR" – Lenders to apparel retailer Provogue (India) Ltd areplanning to invoke powers under strategic debt restructuring (SDR) provisions, according to Nikhil Chaturvedi,managing director. The invocation is the prerogative of the bankers and they have communicated this to us.Now, based on this, we will make our plan, because we had requested the bankers to give us support in termsof restructuring the debt. A report. – (Mint Feb 10, 2016 p 2)

Bhattacharyya, Asish K – "Making strategic debt restructuring succeed: Banks need to ensure thatthe new promoter adopts good corporate governance practices" – Banks will have to sell the equitycheap and take a haircut to bring the debt-equity ratio to a sustainable level. An article. – (BS Feb 8, 2016Sec. II p 3)

STRESS TESTSPrakash, Akash – "Stress tests for Indian banks" – The calm investors, RBI must come out with a clear

and transparent stress test for the major Indian banks. An article. – (BS Feb 5, 20169 p 9)

WRITING-OFF BAD DEBTS"Write-offs a scam, small loans rarely in it, says former RBI Dy Governor" – Former Reserve Bank

Deputy Governor Dr K C Chakrabarty says technical write-offs by banks is a 'scam' and should be stopped.Technical write-offs by Indian banks are inequitable and should be stopped. It is a big scam. Small loans arerarely written off, most of them are big loans. A report. – (IE Feb 11, 2016 p 1)

– 14 –

RBI CIRCULARS"Basel III Framework on Liquidity Standards - Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR), Liquidity Risk

Monitoring Tools and LCR Disclosure Standards" – (RBI Circular RBI/2015-2016/320DBR.BP.BC.No.77/21.04.098/2015-16 dated 11.02.2016)

"Compilation of R-Returns: Reporting under FETERS" – (RBI Circular RBI/2015-2016/317 A.P. (DIRSeries) Circular No. 50 dated 11.02.2016)

"Definition of 'Currency', 2015" – (RBI Circular RBI/2015-2016/313 A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.48dated 04.02.2016)

"Foreign Exchange Management (Possession and Retention of Foreign Currency) Regulations, 2015"– (RBI Circular RBI/2015-2016/312 A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.47 dated 04.02.2016)

"Foreign Exchange Management (Realisation, repatriation and surrender of foreign exchange)Regulations, 2015" – (RBI Circular RBI/2015-2016/311 A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.46 dated 04.02.2016)

"Implementation of Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS)" – (RBI Circular RBI/2015-2016/315DBR.BP.BC.No.76/21.07.001/2015-16 dated 11.02.2016)

"Legal Guardianship Certificates issued under the Mental Health Act, 1987" – (RBI Circular RBI/2015-2016/321 DBR.No.Leg.BC.78/09.07.005/2015-16 dated 11.02.2016)

"Post Office (Postal Orders/Money Orders), 2015" – (RBI Circular RBI/2015-2016/314 A.P.(DIR Series)Circular No. 49 dated 04.02.2016)

"Regulatory relaxations for start-ups- Clarifications relating to acceptance of payments" – (RBI CircularRBI/2015-2016/318 A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 51 dated 11.02.2016)

"Regulatory Relaxations for Startups- Clarifications relating to Issue of Shares" – (RBI Circular RBI/2015-2016/319 A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 52 dated 11.02.2016)

"Withdrawal of all old series of Banknotes issued prior to 2005" – (RBI Circular RBI/2015-2016/316DCM (Plg) No.G- 9/2856/10.27.00/2015-16 dated 11.02.2016)

AGRICULTURE & RURAL DEVELOPMENT

RURAL EMPLOYMENT– MGNREGA

Bhalla, Surjit S – "MGNREGA does not help poor" – The poverty debate in India needs to focus more onhelping the poor, than projecting a bleeding heart at their plight. An article. – (IE Feb 6, 2016 p 11)

INDUSTRY"Jobs grew 4.4%, wages 14% in 2013-14: But capital formation fell 5.6%, reveals 'Annual Survey of

Industries'" – The number of jobs in different industries rose by 4.4 per cent whereas the wages increasedby 14.05 per cent in real terms in 2013-14, says a government survey. The total number of persons engagedin different industries increased to 1.35 crore in 2013-14 from 1.29 crore in 2012-13, the 'Annual Survey ofIndustries' has stated. According to the survey, total wages provided to factory workers rose 14.05 per centin FY14 to Rs.1.26 lakh crore from Rs.1.10 lakh crore in FY13. A report. – (HBL Feb 11, 2016 p 4)

EXIM BANK"Exim Bank seeks Rs.1,700 cr govt fund infusion in FY17" – Trade financer Export-Import (Exim) Bank

of India has sought capital worth Rs.1,700 crore from the government for FY17, according to YaduvendraMathur chairman and managing director of the bank. A report. – (FE Feb 9, 2016 p 10)

– 15 –

INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS"RBI open to regulatory changes to boost infra investments" – Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is open to

regulatory changes so as to give a boost to investment in infrastructure sector, according to its DeputyGovernor H R Khan. We are open for regulatory changes as the situation demands as nothing is cast instone. We are sensitive to demand. A report. – (BS Feb 6, 2016 p 3)

INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS"FinMin, RBI to bring policy to boost infra projects: Plan to make ongoing infrastructure projects,

worth $100-150 bn, attractive to long-term global investors" – The finance ministry and the ReserveBank of India (RBI) would usher in policy and regulatory changes to make ongoing infrastructure projectsworth $100-150 billion attractive to long-term global investors. A report. – (FE Feb 6, 2016 p 2)

MUTUAL FUNDS"MFs' AUMs shrink by Rs.1,121 crore in Jan" – The latest plunge in equities, which began as the world

ushered in 2016 and China tripped the global markets, shaved assets under management (AUMs) of mutualfunds by Rs.11.21 billion to Rs.12.74 trillion in January, according to data from the Association of MutualFunds in India. – (FE Feb 6, 2016 p 11)

NON-BANKING FINANCE COMPANIES"Incentives for small industry and harmonising standards with global norms can make a difference:

Prompted by rising number of complaints, it will initially apply to deposit-taking NBFCs" – Customerscould lodge complaints against NBFCs for, among others, levying charges without adequate prior notice andnon-observance of RBI directives on interest rates and engagement of recovery agents. A report. – (HBLFeb 5, 2016 p 10)

"NBFC sector's bad loans to rise to 7.8 per cent" – The overall non-performing loans of the NBFC sectoris likely to increase to 7.8 per cent in financial year 2016-17 from an estimated 6.7 per cent in the currentfiscal. The overall gross NPA ratio of NBFCs across asset classes is likely to rise to 7.8 per cent by March2017, from 6 per cent at end-September 2015 and an estimated 6.7 per cent in FY16, according to the IndiaRatings and Research report. – (H Feb 8, 2016 p 6)

SMALL SCALE INDUSTRY

ENTREPRENEURSHIP"RBI's booster dose for startups" – Startups cheer relaxed norms for easy access of foreign funds, opening

up the ECB framework is a much needed move. A report. – (FE Feb 8, 2016 p 8)

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS"Trillions in bad loans may sap world economy for a long time" – Beneath the surface of the global

financial system lurks a multitrillion-dollar problem that could sap the strength of large economies for years tocome. The problem is the giant, stagnant pool of loans that companies and people around the world arestruggling to pay back. Bad debts have been a drag on economic activity ever since the financial crisis of2008, but in recent months, the threat posed by an overhang of bad loans appears to be rising. A report.– (FE Feb 5, 2016 p 22)

Datta, Devangshu – "Inching towards rock bottom" – The global economy is set to slow some more.Inflation remains near-zero in the euro zone. The rupee may appreciate only because the RBI has opted tomaintain status quo. The government is likely to sweep aside fiscal prudence for pump priming. An article.– (BS Feb 8, 2016 p 8)

Roubini, Nouriel – "The global economy's new abnormal" – World economy in 2016 will be characterizedby a New Abnormal in terms of output, policies, inflation, asset prices and financial markets. An article.– (Mint Feb 8, 2016 p 22)

– 16 –

USA"The American economy: Still kicking" – Reports of the death of the American consumer are greatly

exaggerated. An article. – (Eco 418(8975) Feb 6, 2016 p 67)

FUND MANAGEMENT"Global fund management" – A weekly report. – (FT Feb 8, 2016 Supl. pp 1-20)

LABOUR & PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT"The new curve in HR practice: Why it's important to move to smart people management and stay

on top of the social, mobile, analytics and cloud revolution" – Edited excerpts from an interview withNishchae Suri, partner and head, people and change advisory, at KPMG, in India, and president of theNHRDN's Delhi and NCR chapter. – (Mint Feb 8, 2016 p 12)

MANAGEMENT

LEADERSHIPHaque, Umair – "Are you a leader, or just pretending?" – An article. – (Mint Feb 10, 2016 p 22)

Swaroopananda, Swami – "Valuable leadership lessons from Hanuman" – An article. – (TI Feb 10, 2016p 16)

MANAGEMENT EDUCATION"The future of Indian business education: Big, not beautiful: The world's largest business-school

market needs a shake up" – AIMA's claim that India's business schools can rival those in America withina decade is probably overly ambitious. But it should, at least, be possible to emerge as a hub for globalmanagement education. For the world's largest business-school market, that is the least that should be expected.A report. – (FE Feb 8, 2016 p 12)

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