आर्थिक

It refers to public-sector LIC of India proposing acquiring 51-percent stake in public-sector IDBI Bank which is presently is not doing well. Even there were talks of making IDBI Bank again a financial institution doing away with retail-banking. But this is certainly a better remedy that LIC of India enters retail banking by having major holding in IDBI Bank. Such a step can provide a single window to customers for banking and insurance, which may make IDBI Bank with managing control of LIC of India, a favorite choice for banking. Such managing control of LIC of India in IDBI Bank can result in huge fund-saving for LIC of India if properly planned. Every branch of IDBI Bank then be automatically become a branch of LIC of India also where business of nearing branches of LIC of India can be...

Even present BJP-ruled central government has continued with policy of worshipping Mohandass Karamchand Gandhi, made popular by prefixing Mahatma before his name. He continues to have privileged honour by getting his photo printed on notes of all denominations issued even by the present regime after demonetisation of old currency-notes of rupees 500 and 1000 on 08.11.2016. Many in BJP and RSS including holding ministerial posts do not favour continuing with such practice because of so-alleged minority-appeasing pseudo-secular policy of Gandhi who is said to have made biggest mistake of post-independence India by vetoing against the deserving Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel becoming first Prime Minister of India. That single mistake made Nehru-Gandhi family push country into dynast...

Bitcoin's blistering bull run, and all the worries that come with it becoming the biggest asset bubble ever, has finally galvanised the Income Tax Department into taking action. After surveying nine major cryptocurrency exchanges in the country last week to investigate instances of tax evasion, the taxman is now all set to issue notices to lakhs of high networth individuals (HNI) involved in Bitcoin trading in India. According to official sources, the survey had revealed that out of the estimated 20 lakh entities registered on these exchanges, about 4 to 5 lakh were "operational" and indulging in transactions and investments. "Those individuals and entities are now being probed under tax evasion charges. Notices are being issued seeking their financial details and, if tax demand ...

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 17.01.2018 clarified that 10-rupee coins issued so far in all the 14 designs are valid because of reports about people not accepting these coins in fear of their being fake. But coin-collectors wanting to have commemorative coins have no knowledge about their availability. RBI should arrange availability of all previous commemorative coins for desiring ones at selected bank-branches across the country, all postal philatical centres apart from all RBI offices at face-value. These counters should also sell commemorative-coin sets issued on occasion of issue of a new coin right from the day of release abolishing cumbersome procedure to get these through advance booking to be delivered months or years after their release thus killing the very purpose of commemora...

Super-costly medical facilities including even costly MRIs, CT-scans and medicines (including very costly ones) are being provided totally free-of-cost in hospitals and dispensaries run by Delhi government at cost of state-exchequer funded by Delhi tax-payers. But all these facilities are being mainly used by people coming from neighbouring states especially for the purpose. There are reports that announcements in this regard are made during gatherings at religious places making people from those states rushing to Delhi to avail such free super-costly medical-facilities including medicines, because their states do not provide such super-costly medical-services so freely. It is grossly unjustified that Delhi tax-payers have to bear burden of costly medical-facilities provid...

Various airlines-companies give Frequent-Flyers-Points (FFP) to their customers for promoting their sales and clients, which when accumulated provide passengers even free air-travel. There is a large section of people including Parliamentarians, government-employees and others who frequently fly at expense of central and state governments or their undertakings. All airlines-companies should be asked to compulsorily open Frequent-Flyers-Accounts in names of central and all state governments where only FFPs may be credited for air-tickets purchased or reimbursed at public-expenses. FFPs on air-tickets purchased directly at public-expenses can be credited directly to such opened government-accounts for crediting FFPs. In case of reimbursement later by governments, reimbursement...

Central and some state-governments have started accepting on-line RTI applications. But most of the population especially less educated ones and that too from rural areas are not internet-users. For benefit of that majority-section of public, post-free RTI applications addressed to central public-authorities should be accepted in all about 160000 post-offices in the country rather than presently in just 4500 post-offices. Even smallest post-office daily sends post-bags to head post-office with registered postal articles, cash and other revenue-items like unsold postage-stamps and postal-orders. This post-bag can carry post-free RTI applications addressed to central public-authorities. SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL (Guinness Record Holder & RTI Consultant)

It refers to interesting but damaging news-item that country’s largest public-sector State Bank of India (SBI) earned as much as rupees 1771 crores during the half-yearly period of April-November 2017 through Minimum-Balance-Charges in accounts as against total profit of rupees 1581.55 crores during the same period. Data puts a big question-mark on working of the bank where losses would have outweighed the profits in case the bank would not have raised minimum-balance-requirements. At a time when central government is advocating for opening zero-balance accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna for encouraging cashless transactions, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and central government should ask banks to abolish minimum-balance-requirements in all types of bank-accounts. Otherwise...