Idukki: Water level in Idukki dam is receding from Sunday morning. According to Kerala State Disaster Management Authority, water level in Idukki dam is 2399.38 ft on Sunday morning. Shutters of Cheruthoni dam was opened on Friday afternoon following the heavy rain in the catchment area. Full reservoir limit of the dam is 2403 feet.Five shutters of Cheruthoni dam was opened in order to control the water level here. These shutters have not been closed yet.Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will arrive in Kochi on Sunday around 12.30 in the afternoon. He will undertake an aerial survey of flood-hit areas n Idukki and Cheruthoni.In the evening he will hold discussions with the Chief Minister and people’s representatives. Meanwhile, water level in Periyar river is also dropping.It is reported that the water level has fallen below 10 feet than the previous day. Though the water level receded, people are still in relief camps....Houses in Aluva, Paravur and Eloor were submerged after the heavy rain on Saturday. However, water level in Idamalyar dam is rising. Hence, one more shutter of the dam was opened. Maximum capacity of the river is 169 metres..Meanwhile, heavy rain is reported in Wayanad. As shutters of Banasura dam were opened without notice, many areas reeled under flood. Minister TP Ramakrishnan will visit relief camps on Sunday.......
Forget cash or card, soon your thumb would be enough to pay at petrol pumps
Soon, you won't have to carry any cash, card or mobile phone to pay for fuel at petrol pumps. Your thumb would be enough for payment at the petrol pump. According to a Dainik Jagran report, Indian Oil Corporation (IOCLNSE -0.09 %) has tied up with Oxigen Micro Agency and IDFC bank to roll out the facility at its fuel stations.
Under Digital India programme, IOCL has already installed two Micro ATM machines in Bhopal and plans to expand the facility to other places across the country in the next couple of months.
How the payment is done:
Oxigen Micro ATM machine is a point of sale machine that allows the owner to accept the payments from several modes other than cash. The machine allows payment made through credit card, debit card, UPI, BHIM Aadhaar pay Bharat QR code and UPI.
Besides, IOCL is also planning to import self-service petrol pump machine ins India. Soon, Bhopal will have the self-service fuel pump which the motorist can use to fill the vehicle tank after making payment through card.
As bank customers suffered by waiting in long queues to withdraw their money from November onwards last year, another group of people -- bank employees -- endured the hardship of extended work hours and customer anger.
According to C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary of the All India Bank Employees’ Association, the whole experience had left “a big scar in the minds of bankers”. (PTI)
The bank unions said that of the more than 100 persons who lost their lives during the demonetisation chaos, over 10 were bank employees and officers. Das said that despite the enormous amount of extra work put in by the employees, very few were compensated. “Over 50 per cent of employees and officers are yet to get their compensation for the extra work they did during the demonetisation period,” Das said.As bank customers suffered by waiting in long queues to withdraw their money from November onwards last year, another group of people — bank employees — endured the hardship of extended work hours and customer anger. The employees, say bank unions, bore the major brunt of the sudden decision announced on November 8 last year by the Prime Minister. “Banking personnel were rigorously working towards recovery of bad loans before the announcement of demonetisation, but the entire drive of recovery got derailed after the announcement as employees had to work day and night for giving service to depositors,” Sanjay Das, Assistant General Secretary of the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation, told IANS.
According to C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary of the All India Bank Employees’ Association, the whole experience had left “a big scar in the minds of bankers”. He said a million bank employees handling 1,000 million people coming to branches to deposit old notes was certainly a big task. He said the bankers were abused by the general public for not disbursing new notes and diverting the same to others. “The RBI made matters worse by saying that sufficient number of new notes were disbursed to banks,” he added.
He said the bank managements were not bothered about the problems faced by branch officials. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also asked bankers to work on Saturdays and Sundays. Officials in the branch were in office till late in the evening. Although some clerical staff, he said, were paid overtime, officers were left out.
Pradip Biswas, General Secretary of the Bank Employees Federation of India, said that not only employees but even the banks had not been reimbursed by the government for the cost incurred on recalibration of ATMs. Criticising demonetisation, Biswas doubted that the whole exercise was done to unearth black money as claimed by the government. “The annual report of the RBI revealed that Rs 15.28 lakh crore, or 99 per cent of Rs 15.44 lakh crore of scrapped notes, came back into the system after demonetisation. Now the question arises: was the demonetisation scheme designed to convert black money into white?” Biswas wondered. He said the government had described it as a fight against black money, funding of terrorist outfits and counterfeit currency. “But all their claims have fallen flat,” he said.
“The scrapping of notes failed miserably in addressing its objective of striking a blow against the black economy. Instead, the side effect of the note ban has impacted the banking industry adversely,” said Das, who is also the West Bengal State Secretary for the union. The massive inflows of bank notes put a strain on the banks’ daily operations and banking personnel were not able to focus on credit disbursement, which resulted in potential loss of banks’ income, Das said, adding that bank credit growth came down to about 5.1 per cent in 2016-17 from an average of 11.72 per cent in the previous five years.
The apex bank too has mentioned that banks’ preoccupation with exchange of notes and deposits was one the factors for low credit growth. “Credit growth touched a low in more than two decades on account of factors such as subdued state of economic activity, risk aversion of the banking sector… loan repayment by use of specified bank notes (old notes) and banks’ pre-occupation with exchange of notes and deposits following demonetisation,” said the RBI’s latest annual report.
D. Thomas Franco Rajendra Dev, General Secretary of the All India Bank Officers Confederation, said that, initially, they had welcomed the government’s move. “But it turned out to be a nightmare for the bankers.” He said people thought bankers were at fault for not disbursing the new notes, but “the RBI supplied new currencies only to private banks daily and not to government-owned banks”. Dev said the government should probe whether new notes found their way into the hands of industrialists and businessmen directly from the currency printing presses.
But some senior bank officers differ with the unions about the impact of demonetisation on the economy in the long run. “Right now people are complaining, but one thing is certain that (huge) money has come into circulation. Banks have accessed low-cost deposits and, subsequently, lenders have reduced the lending rates,” said Punjab National Bank Executive Director Sanjiv Sharan. One year down the line, economic conditions would improve, and with the government’s thrust on low-cost housing and infrastructure development, credit demand would grow, he added. “For the time being it may seem that demonetisation is disturbing the economy. But in the long run, it will help it,” Sharan contended.
Expect more relief in GST, PM Narendra Modi hints ahead of council meet
Most changes to the goods and services tax (GST) regime suggested by a panel of state finance ministers to help small businesses and traders could be endorsed by the GST Council at its next meeting on November 9 and 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hinted on Saturday.
By: FE Bureau | New Delhi | Updated: November 5, 2017 5:21 AM
Most changes to the goods and services tax (GST) regime suggested by a panel of state finance ministers to help small businesses and traders could be endorsed by the GST Council at its next meeting on November 9 and 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hinted on Saturday. He also expressed confidence that India’s rank in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking will improve even further once the GST is taken into account from next year.
“I am happy to say that the ministers’ committee, set up by the GST Council, is addressing all the issues raised by small traders and almost all the suggestions made by the small businesses are being accepted positively. If no state raises objections in the GST Council meeting on November 9 and 10, I am confident whatever changes are required to strengthen the businesses and the broader economy will be done,” Modi said, addressing the gathering at an event at the Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra in the capital. While a reduction in tax rates for several items under the highest 28% slab is expected, the group of state finance ministers has recommended that all taxpayers be allowed to file detailed returns on a quarterly — instead of monthly — basis while they continue to make the tax payments every month.
Also, all restaurants should pay a 12% tax instead of having to follow two sets of rates (currently, air-conditioned restaurants pay GST at 18%, while the levy is 12% for non-air-conditioned ones). However, the uniform 12% rate will come with the removal of the input tax credit facility. Also, the benign composition scheme that allows the businesses to pay tax as small percentage of turnover instead of the item-wise GST rates may be made available to units with turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore as against Rs 1 crore now. The composition scheme may be made accessible to units with intra-state sales as well.
Modi said the country’s rank in ease of doing business has climbed 42 places in the last three years, including the unprecedented 30-notch jump in the latest ranking to 100th of 190 nations. He said the GST not just integrated the nation of 1.2 billion into one market with one tax rate, but also offered a stable and transparent tax regime. The Prime Minister said while the jump is impressive, he does not want to sleep over it with contentment, but intends to push everyone concerned to achieve even greater heights. “There are many other reforms that have already happened, but need gestation and stabilisation time before they are taken into account by the World Bank. There are a few other reforms where our team and the World Bank team need to find common ground,” Modi said. Courtesy Financial Express
Christine Lagarde described demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) - as a monumental effort by India.
Washington: Days after the International Monetary Fund lowered its growth forecast for the current and the next year, IMF chief Christine Lagarde today said the Indian economy is on a "very solid track" in the mid-term.
"Turning to India...we have slightly downgraded India; but we believe that India is for the medium and long-term on a growth track that is much more solid as a result of the structural reforms that have been conducted in India in the last couple of years," the IMF Managing Director Lagarde said.
Describing the two major recent reforms in India - demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) - as a monumental effort, Lagarde said it is hardly surprising that there "is a little bit of a short-term slowdown" as a result.
"But for the medium term, we see a very solid track ahead for the Indian economy," she said to a question on India.
"We very much hope that the combination of fiscal, because the deficit has been reduced, inflation has been down significantly, and the structural reforms will actually deliver the jobs that the Indian population, particularly the young Indian people expect in the future," Lagarde said.
