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Finance ministry mulling 3-5% tax in Budget on cash withdrawal of 10 lakh a year

June 11, 2019 Loknath Das

NEW DELHI: Withdrawing a cumulative ₹10 lakh a year can attract 3-5 per cent tax if a proposal going around in the Finance Ministry takes shape in the Budget to track high value cash deals and make digital payments mandatory. In its push towards a digital economy, the central government is thinking of introducing a tax of 3-5 per cent on cash withdrawal of ₹10 lakh in a year, a move to discourage cash usage in the economy and resultant black money. Paying ₹30,000-50,000 for ₹10 lakh annual withdrawal will be seen as a loss, the…

Finance ministry mulling 3-5% tax in Budget on cash withdrawal of 10 lakh a year

June 11, 2019 Loknath Das

Draft norms for ‘on-tap’ licensing of small finance banks by August end

June 7, 2019 Loknath Das

On-tap licensing is a time-efficient feature that will allow parties to obtain the licence on-demand basis and eligible parties won’t have to wait. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue draft guidelines for ‘on-tap’ licensing of Small Finance Banks (SFB) by the end of August 2019 with a view to enhance supply of credit to small borrowers and encourage competition. On-tap licensing is a time-efficient feature that will allow parties to obtain the licence on-demand basis and eligible parties won’t have to wait. In September 2015, the RBI had…

Most of the ocean floor is a mystery, but this technology could help map it

June 3, 2019 Loknath Das

The numbers are startling: According to even the most generous estimates, more than 80 percent of the world’s oceans are totally unmapped. The average ocean depth is nearly two and a half miles, and oceans cover 70 percent of the planet. Do the maths and, in terms of total volume, 99 percent of Earth’s biosphere is essentially unknown. We think we’ve explored our planet, but those statistics are sobering. Topographically, we know more about the moon than we do about Earth. The math is about to get a little brighter,…

The Future of Finance is Female

May 13, 2019 Loknath Das

Diversification is the cornerstone of sound investment management, and yet diversity remains largely absent from the investment industry. Women investment professionals hold a mere 11% of C-suite positions according to the CFA Institute Gender Diversity in Investment Management study. In most financial firms, women are a minority of employees and that’s bad for customers because women make excellent investors. Despite diversity making headlines across industries globally, the Indian financial sector remains stubbornly impervious. Research indicates that gender diverse companies deliver better returns with lower volatility for investors. Efforts to reduce gender inequality in…

How Biometrics May Be Key In Reducing The Hassles Of Travel

May 6, 2019 Loknath Das

Facial recognition began as a tool of law enforcement and now is making travel easier. GETTY Mixing biometrics and travel usually means one thing for most countries — making sure the wrong people don’t get in. The United States, for example, has an advanced system of facial recognition that analyzes more than 100 points of reference on each face to evaluate whether people are who they say they are. It has become the aspirational standard for dozens of nations that are employing or looking to employ biometrics to screen people…

Prudential Singapore seeks collaboration with technology companies to chart the future of insurance

May 3, 2019 Loknath Das

In a world that is seeing game-changing disruptions across geographies and sectors, Singapore has positioned itself as a centre of innovation. Much like India, the financial services industry in Singapore is also undergoing transformation. Today, the digital wave is changing the way we work. Several organisations in Singapore like Visa, PayPal, KPMG, DBS and more are working with technology companies to deal with the digital disruption. Prudential: Bridging scale-ups globally to enter the Singapore market Prudential, one of Singapore’s leading and longest-standing life insurers, is riding this transformation wave –…

Global Finance Officials Pledge to Lift World Economy Out of Slowdown

April 14, 2019 Loknath Das

(WASHINGTON) — Global finance officials are pledging closer cooperation in efforts to lift the world economy out its current slowdown, but tensions persist on a number of fronts between the United States and other nations over trade and other issues. Officials wrapped up the spring meetings of the 189-nation International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on Saturday, expressing hope the slowdown that began last year will be followed by stronger growth in the second half of this year and into 2020. The IMF’s steering committee said all members, in…

Obama’s Important Message About The Future Of Travel

April 6, 2019 Loknath Das

Former US President Barack Obama speaking at the 2019 World Travel and Tourism Council’s Global Summit in Seville, Spain WORLD TRAVEL AND TOURISM COUNCIL When he was in his early 20s, a young Barack Obama visited Europe for the first time. He fondly remembers traveling alone, riding an overnight bus from Madrid to Barcelona, sharing a baguette with a fellow traveler who, in turn, shared his wine. They didn’t speak the same language, but it was that simple, human interaction that reinforced the fact that people around the world are…

RBI to set up panel on development of housing finance securitisation market

April 5, 2019 Loknath Das

The Reserve Bank of India, on Thursday, announced that it will soon set up a committee to assess the state of housing finance securitisation market in the country. The move is aimed at bringing in standardisation of asset securitisation practices to enable better management of credit and liquidity risks. The committee, which will be announced soon, will also study the best international practices, and lessons learnt from the global financial financial crisis. It will propose measures to further develop these markets in India by identifying critical steps required, such as…