General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - December 2018

Dec 2018

Sep 17, 2024

GST Council Forms GoM to Review Tax Rate on Health, Life Insurance

The GST Council constituted a 13-member Group of Ministers (GoM) to review and suggest GST rates on health and life insurance premiums. The report is due by October 30, 2024, and Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary leads the group. The decision was made during the 54th GST Council meeting earlier in September 2024. A final decision will be made in November based on the GoM's recommendations.
Key Objectives of the GoM are:
Review GST rates on health and life insurance, including premiums for individual, group, and family plans
Examine tax rates on specialised categories such as senior citizens and those with mental illness
Review rates on term insurance, life insurance with investment plans, and reinsurance
Currently, a GST rate of 18% applies to health and life insurance premiums. Some opposition-ruled states like West Bengal have called for complete exemption, while others advocate reducing the rate to 5%.

HDFC Bank Aims to Boost Income of 5 Lakh Marginal Farmers by 2025 under 'Parivartan'

India's private sector bank HDFC looks to increase the income of 5 lakh marginal farmers who earn less than 60,000 annually by 2025, as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Parivartan.
The bank's focus on rural development reflects continued commitment to fostering sustainable growth and uplifting vulnerable communities.
Since its inception in 2014, Parivartan has grown into one of India's largest CSR programmes, active in 28 States and 8 Union Territories.
With over 65 per cent of India's population residing in rural areas, they strongly believe that inclusive development can only be attained when the prosperity and livelihood in villages keeps pace with the growth.

DPIIT Launches BHASKAR: A Revolutionary Platform for India's Start-up Ecosystem

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, launched a groundbreaking digital platform named Bharat Start-up Knowledge Access Registry (BHASKAR) under the Start-up India program. This initiative aims to strengthen India's start-up ecosystem by centralising and streamlining collaboration between key stakeholders like start-ups, investors, mentors, service providers, and government bodies. It aligns with India's vision to become a global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship, further boosting the country's commitment to the start-up movement.
BHASKAR acts as a bridge between start-ups, investors, mentors, and stakeholders, promoting seamless interaction across different sectors.
The platform provides immediate access to critical tools and knowledge, helping start-ups make faster decisions and scale efficiently.

Sep 16, 2024

India's Foreign Kitty Jumps to Fresh Time High at 689.24bn

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that India's forex reserves jumped USD 5.248 billion to a new all-time high of USD 689.235 billion till 6^th September, 2024.
Forex reserves or foreign exchange reserves are assets that are held by a nation's central bank or monetary authority. It is generally held in reserve currencies, usually the US Dollar and to a lesser degree the Euro, Japanese Yen, and Pound Sterling. It is used to back its liabilities.

UPI Users Can Now Send 5 Lakh for Some Transactions

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) increased the transaction limits for tax payments using UPI (Unified Payment Interface), by allowing people to send 5 lakh in a single transaction.
Acquiring entities must ensure that the classification of their merchants within MCC-9311 strictly adheres to the tax payments only. Merchants shall ensure UPI as a payment mode is enabled for the increased limit for the tax payments category.
Earlier, the transaction limit for UPI was Rs. 1 lakh except for certain categories of payments which have higher transaction limits.
It has now been decided to enhance the limit for tax payments through UPI from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh per transaction.
This will further ease tax payments by consumers through UPI.
Categories of Payment are: (1) Tax payments, (2) Hospital and educational services and, (3) IPOs and government securities.

To Resolve Exporters Issue Piyush Goyal Launches Portal

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, launched the 'Jan Sunwai portal', which is an online platform of the Department of commerce, designed to streamline communication between stakeholders and authorities.
The portal has been designed to streamline the communication between stakeholders and authorities.
This portal will provide a significant boost to the existing commerce and business sector since people will not have to visit our offices with their grievances
This portal's accessibility extends to solve the problem related to many commerce department for exports such as, Department of commerce, DGFT (Director General of Foreign Trade), Tea Board, Coffee Board, Spices Board, Rubber Board, APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority).

Sep 14, 2024

Tata Electronics, TCS to Develop India's First Domestic Chips by 2026

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is collaborating with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd, as the conglomerate aims to introduce India's first domestically produced chips by 2026.
Tata Electronics aims to have the first chips from the Assam facility available by late 2025 or early 2026, targetting industries such as automotive, electronics, power, consumer goods, and healthcare.

Exporters Raise Declining Bank Credit at Board of Trade Meet

Exporters raised the issue of 'declining bank credit' to exporters at the Board of Trade (BoT) meeting that held in Mumbai along with other problems faced by them due to disruption in global logistics and emerging demand situation.
The BoT was the forum to raise the issue of declining credit to the export sector as it saw participation of Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India, officials from Department of Financial Services and bankers, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of Federation of Indian Export Organisations Ajay Sahai said.
The board, which is headed by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, has secretaries from Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, shipping, road transport and highways, revenue, agriculture, MSMEs, economic affairs and civil aviation.

Sep 13, 2024

Union Bank of India Becomes First Major Bank to Join PCAF

Union Bank of India became the first major bank to sign on to the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF). This decision reflects a growing global focus on managing climate risk and aligns with the recent draft guidelines on climate risk disclosures issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
PCAF is a global initiative where financial institutions collaborate to develop a standardized method for assessing and disclosing greenhouse gas emissions linked to their loans and investments. By joining PCAF, Union Bank of India reaffirms its commitment to measuring and managing financed emissions, which are indirect emissions from its lending and investment activities. These emissions, often termed Scope 3, can significantly surpass a bank's operational emissions and present notable risks given climate change and evolving regulations.

Sep 12, 2024

CCI Approves Tata Motor Finance Merger with Tata Capital

The Competition Commission of India approved the merger of Tata Motor Finance with Tata Capital. The merger, announced in June, will see Tata Capital issue its equity shares to the shareholders of Tata Motor Finance resulting in Tata Motors effectively holding a 4.7% stake in the merged entity.
The transaction is in-line with Tata Motors' stated objective of exiting non-core businesses and focus its capital spends on emerging technologies and products.

R. S. Sharma Appointed Non-Executive Chairperson of ONDC

The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) announced the appointment of R. S. Sharma as its Non-Executive Chairperson. Sharma, who has previously served as the Director General and Mission Director of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), and CEO of the National Health Authority, will now lead ONDC into its next phase of growth and innovation.
R. S. Sharma has been a pivotal figure in India's digital transformation. His extensive career includes roles such as the Chief Secretary for the Jharkhand government and key positions within ONDC's advisory and strategy councils. Sharma was instrumental in guiding ONDC's evolution from a pilot project to a national initiative. His contributions also include leading the CoWin project, which was crucial for the Covid-19 vaccination campaign.

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