Achievement Tracking - Modi 2.0 Govt - No Discussions

[Nikhil T]

Centre transfers Rs 47,000 crores to states for increasing green cover

Hugely welcome step. This money was being collected from the industry since last two decades, but was never used. Just hope GoI has good monitoring so that the money is not eaten up by incompetence or corruption. India needs more green cover desperately to improve the living conditions and ensure water availability.

[Mollick.R]

10 public sector banks to be merged into four


https://www.livemint.com/news/india/pnb-obc-and-united-bank-to-be-merged-nirmala-sitharaman-1567158678718.html

Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank to be merged; Union Bank, Andhra Bank and Corporate Bank to be merged
Punjab National Bank (PNB), Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India to be merged; Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank to be merged

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a big consolidation of public sector banks: 10 public sector banks to be merged into four. Under the scheme of amalgamation, Indian Bank will be merged with Allahabad Bank (anchor bank - Indian Bank); PNB, OBC and United Bank to be merged (PNB will be the anchor bank); Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank to be merged (anchor bank - Union Bank of India); and Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank to be merged (anchor bank - Canara Bank). In place of 27 public sector banks in 2017, now there will be 12 public sector banks after the latest round of consolidation of PSU banks. The consolidation of public sector banks will give them scale, the finance minister said.

The government also announced capital infusion totalling over ₹55,000 crore into public sector banks: PNB ( ₹16,000 crore), Union Bank of India ( ₹11,700 crore), Bank of Baroda ( ₹7000 crore), Indian Bank ( ₹2500 crore), Indian Overseas Bank ( ₹3800 crore), Central Bank ( ₹3300 crore), UCO Bank ( ₹2100 crore), United Bank ( ₹1,600 crore) and Punjab and Sind Bank ( ₹750 crore).

Last year, the government had approved the merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda (BoB) that become effective from April 1, 2019. In 2017, the State Bank of India absorbed five of its associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

Here are the highlights of what the finance minister said today:

We want banks with strong national presence and enhanced risk appetite

Indian Bank to be merged with Allahabad Bank (anchor bank - Indian Bank)

Consolidated Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank to be 7th largest public sector bank with cRs 8.08 lakh crore business ((anchor bank - Indian Bank)

PNB, OBC and United Bank to be merged (PNB will be the anchor bank)

Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank to be merged (anchor bank - Union Bank of India)

Consolidated Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank to be 5th largest public sector banks with ₹14.6 lakh crore business

Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank to be merged
Consolidated Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank to be 4th largest public sector bank with ₹15.2 lakh crore business
No retrenchment has taken place post merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank; staff has been redeployed and best practices in each bank have been replicated in others. 8 PSU banks have so far launched repo rate-linked loans

Loan tracking mechanism in PSU banks is being improved for the benefit of customers

4 NBFCs have found liquidity support through PSU banks since last Friday

For NBFCs, partial credit guarantee mechanism has already been implemented

Govt working on banking reforms

Gross NPAs of PSU banks have come down

Provision coverage ratio highest in 7 years

Best practices of each bank in consolidation of Vijaya Bank, Bank of Borada and Dena Bank have been absorbed

Non-official directors to perform role analogous to independent directors

Public sector banks enabled to do succession planning

Bank boards given flexibility to fix sitting fee of independent directors

Bank of India, Central Bank of India will continue as public sector banks
"To make management accountable to board, board committee of nationalised banks to appraise performance of general manager and above including managing director," Sitharaman said.

Post consolidation, boards will be given flexibility to introduce chief general manager level as per business needs. They will also recruit chief risk officer at market-linked compensation to attract best talent.

[Mollick.R]

[jaysimha]

https://www.dailypioneer.com/2019/state ... nched.html

National cyber crime reporting portal launched
Sunday, 01 September 2019 | Staff Reporter | RAIPUR

Ministry of Home has launched the national cyber crime reporting portal where the citizens can log on to https://cybercrime.gov.in and lodge complaint on cyber crimes

[jaysimha]

https://www.oil-india.com/pdf/100-Days.pdf
major achievements of
Min of petroleum and natural gas
during 100 days

[Mollick.R]

Though little late but still posting it for records.........


Corporate tax cut: Modi govt gives big relief to India Inc, slashes rate to 22% from 30%


FM Nirmala Sitharaman announced that effective corporate tax rate, inclusive of all surcharges and cess, for the domestic companies would be 25.17%, and that for new manufacturing companies would be 17%

Corporate tax cut: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Friday announced the government's decision to cut corporate tax rate for domestic firms and new domestic manufacturing companies. The Finance Minister said the current corporate tax rate has been brought down to 22% from 30%. She added the effective corporate tax rate for the companies would be 25.17% inclusive of all surcharges and cess. For new manufacturing companies the existing tax has been reduced to 15% from rate 25%. The effective tax rate after surcharges and cess will be 17%.

"In order to promote growth and investment, a new provision has been included in the Income Tax Act, that allows any domestic companies an option to pay income tax at the rate of 22% without exemptions. Amendments will be made through an ordinance to IT Act," said Sithraman in a press conference ahead of the GST Council meet in Goa.

Sitharaman further announced companies which pay corporate tax at 22%, without any exemption or incentives, would not be required to pay Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT). Making the announcement, the finance minister said the new tax rate would be applicable from the current fiscal which began on April 1.

Sitharaman said that the revenue foregone on reduction in corporate tax and other relief measures would amount to Rs 1.45 lakh crore annually. This, she said, was being done to promote investment and growth.


https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/nirmala-sitharaman-finance-minister-slash-corporate-tax-rate-domestic-firms/story/380221.html

[Mollick.R]

India moves up 14 spots to 63 on World Bank's ease of doing business

WASHINGTON: India jumped 14 places to the 63rd position on the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking released on Thursday, riding high on the government's flagship 'Make in India' scheme and other reforms attracting foreign investment. The country also figured among the top 10 performers on the list for the third time in a row. The rankings come at a time when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and various rating agencies have slashed the country's growth forecasts amid a slowdown in the global economy.

India was ranked 142nd among 190 nations when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014. Four years of reform pushed up India's rank to 100th in World Bank's 'Doing Business' 2018 report. It was 130th in 2017 when it was ranked lower than Iran and Uganda. Last year, the country jumped 23 places to the 77th position on the back of reforms related to insolvency, taxation and other areas.

In its 'Doing Business' 2020 report, the World Bank commended the reform efforts undertaken by the country "given the size of India's economy". "This is the third year in a row that India makes to top 10 in Doing Business, which is a success which very few countries have done over the 20 years of the project, Without exception, the other countries that have done this are very small, population-wise, and homogeneous," Simeon Djankov, Director of Development Economics at the World bank told PTI in an interview. "India is the first country of its type to achieve that. It has jumped this year by 14 position," he said.

Apart from India, the other countries on this year's 'top 10 performers' list are Saudi Arabia (62), Jordan (75), Togo (97), Bahrain (43), Tajikistan (106), Pakistan (108), Kuwait (83), China (31) and Nigeria (131).


Prime Minister Modi's 'Make in India' campaign focused on attracting foreign investment, boosting the private sector — manufacturing in particular — and enhancing the country's overall competitiveness, the World Bank said in its report.

.................

While the competition to move up the ladder would increase and become much tougher, India is on track to be within top 50 of the Ease of Doing business in the next year or two, Djankov told PTI in response to a question. And to come under 25 or below 50, the Modi government needs to announce and start implementing next set of ambitious reforms now, as these reforms takes a few years to be realized on the ground, he said. "The administration's reform efforts targeted all of the areas measured by Doing Business, with a focus on paying taxes, trading across borders, and resolving insolvency.
The country has made a substantial leap upward, raising its ease of doing business ranking from 130 in Doing Business 2016 to 63 in Doing Business 2020,” the report said. One of the main reasons for improvement in India's ranking this year goes to the successful implementation of the Insolvency And Bankruptcy Code, the World Bank official said.

"Before the implementation of the reform, it was very burdensome for secured creditors to seize companies in default of their loans," the report said.




https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/india-moves-up-14-spots-to-63-on-world-banks-ease-of-doing-business/articleshowprint/71731668.cms

[Nikhil T]

Nice writeup of Modi's retaliation against Turkey and Malaysia

How Modi Govt is using aggressive diplomacy to its advantage

In the mean streets of international politics, if someone harms you and you take it lying down, the chances are that you will be pushed around as a patsy whom no one respects or fears. Knowing when to retaliate, in what proportion, and against whom is an essential aspect of growing up and holding one’s own in the competitive dog-eat-dog world of realpolitik.

The nationalistic ‘New India’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made some tough decisions. Be it surgical military strikes across borders, isolation campaigns against state sponsors of terrorism or international legal cases to secure justice for its citizens, the Modi government has vigorously defended India’s national interests.

Another element of this assertive diplomacy trend is emerging. India is leveraging its economic power and global standing to rap countries that are crossing it on core interests.

The forceful measures New Delhi adopted to convey its its displeasure to Turkey and Malaysia after their leaders criticised India’s revocation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir and assisted Pakistan to avoid being blacklisted at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) indicate that a Rubicon has been crossed. India will no longer meekly grumble and move on.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s propaganda at the United Nations that Kashmiris were “virtually under blockade with 8 million people, unfortunately, unable to step outside”, , and the fake news spread by Turkish and allied Islamist news outlets about massive protests in the Kashmir Valley, did not deserve to be forgiven by India.

Modi went into action through a variety of calibrated counterattacks. His proposed visit to Turkey was called off as a symbolic snub. A $2.3-billion contract to a Turkish company, Anadolu Shipyard, to build support vessels for the Indian Navy was put on the chopping block. And in light of Turkey’s controversial invasion of northern Syria, which violated international law and breathed new life into Islamic State terrorists, India came out swinging with uncharacteristically blunt condemnation of condemnation of Turkey’s illegal conduct.

To leave no one in doubt that this was payback for Kashmir, New Delhi expressed concern about Turkey “causing humanitarian and civilian distress” in occupied Kurdish areas.

A similar tit-for-tat unfolded with Malaysia, whose Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad raised India’s hackles by accusing it at the UN of “invading and occupying the country” called Jammu and Kashmir. While there was no official ban of Malaysian palm oil imports to India, patriotic Indian traders drastically slashed them and purchased more from the substitute supplier, Indonesia — a Muslim-majority country neighbouring Malaysia which is secular and not hostile to India. The stakes are not minor here because India is Malaysia’s biggest customer of palm oil, buying up to $1.63 billion of it in 2018. A fall in Malaysia’s palm oil futures market and Mahathir’s remark that “it is bad to have what amounts to a trade war” with India suggest that India’s anger is registering.

Malaysia has also been trying to persuade India to join a mega-regional Asian trade agreement known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Modi’s ‘three Ds’ (Democracy, Demography and Demand) are cards to bring Malaysia around to a balanced position or at least calm down its rhetoric on Kashmir. Given the decadeslong history of Mahathir’s usage of Islam for vote-bank politics in Malaysia, he will not apologise to India or abandon Pakistan. But since he is now in his early nineties and Malaysia runs a healthy trade surplus of $4.4 billion with India, Kuala Lumpur has more to lose than gain by annoying India in the medium to long terms.

The same cannot be said for Turkey, which has a trade deficit with India, and where Erdogan’s Islamist ideology has crossed all limits. Erdogan’s grandiose image as a leader of the entire Muslim world and his championing of causes worldwide where he believes Muslims are being victimised are obstacles for India to sway Turkey. Still, given the severe deterioration of the Turkish economy and the weakening of its currency in recent quarters, the loss of shipbuilding contracts from India worth billions and India’s refusal to sell sensitive dual-use explosives and detonators on which Turkey’s military manufacturers depend are strings which New Delhi can pull. India’s ultimate goal should be ‘compellence’, i.e. changing the behaviour of inimical countries through coercion. the Modi government has at least made a start by raising the costs for Turkey and Malaysia’s intemperate actions.

In an earlier era, India did a lot of handwringing when members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), including Turkey and Malaysia, sided with Pakistan on grounds of religious solidarity. Then, the familiar lament in New Delhi used to be that we cannot make bigoted Islamist horses drink the water of reason. Now, Modi is challenging the diehard Pakistan-backers with material disincentives and daring them to back off.

The toughest nut to crack in this quest is China, which canvassed for ‘all-weather-ally’ Pakistan at the UN and chided India for “unilateral changes” in Kashmir.

Unlike relatively weak Turkey or Malaysia, China is a superior power with whom India has a direct disputed border and multiple vulnerabilities. India cannot risk arm-twisting China and hence Modi is trying a different route of managing bilateral differences with President Xi Jinping.

Great powers have historically flexed muscle to pressurise countries which irk them to fall in line.

Today, China and the United States have far bigger markets and militaries than India to succeed in ‘compellence’ games. But the fact that India has embarked on the path of carrying a big stick and wielding it is a welcome development.

[pankajs]

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bus ... 787729.cms
UPI hits 1 billion transactions in October, plans to go global

[vijayk]