BANKING NEWS UPDATE

§ Increase TDS threshold,slash rate at which it applies:Panel: A committee headed by retired Justice R V Easwar, in its first report released on Sunday, has suggested enhancing the threshold limits of income (across a wide spectrum, including investment income) for the purpose of deduction of tax at source (TDS) and has also proposed a reduction in the rate of withholding taxes (the rate at which TDS is applied).(Times of India) § Implementation of pay panel award likely to be deferred: With a massive financial resource crunch estimated for 2016-17, the government is planning to defer the implementation of the 7th pay commission award. Last week the Union cabinet approved the formation of empowered Committee of secretaries to work out ways for staggering the award through more than one financial year, instead of letting the Rs 1,02,000-crore bill from the implementation of the award come up at one go. (BS) § Postal deptt to open 1,000 ATMs : The Department of Posts (DOP) plans to open 1000 ATMs and bring all 25000 departmental post offices under Core banking system by March this year.It has already rolled out core Banking system in 12,441 post offices along with 300 ATMs,a DoP official said. (IE) § MUDRA not to regulate micro finance institutions: Govt: Clarifying its stand on regulation of microfinance companies, the government has said that the Reserve Bank of India would continue to regulate MFIs will not be regulated by the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency ( MUDRA) Bank, as proposed by the finance Ministry earlier. (IE) § Coming, an exclusive insurer for Indian ships: Four state-owned insurers to float new JV; move aimed at reducing forex outgo on premiums: To reduce the insurance cost of Indian ship-ownners, the centre plans to get the four public sector general insurers to float a new joint venture. The venture will exclusively provide cover to ships operating in Indian and South Asian waters. (BL) § TPG Capital, Partners Capital Remain in Race to Acquire ICICI Home Finance: Bids at 2700-2800 crore, below ICICI Bank’s expectation of 4400 crore: Private equity firms TPG-Capital and Partners Capital are the only bidders to buy the mortgage unit of ICICI Bank, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. (ET) § FIIs post worst first fortnight of outflows: The first fortnight of 2016 has been the most savage in terms of foreign fund outflows from India since Sebi started publishing daily data in mid-1999. Spooked by a weakening Chinese economy that has created an environment of financial uncertainty globally, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have taken out nearly $700 million from the Indian stock market so far this year, data collated from depositories and exchanges show .(Times of India) § Q3 earnings global cues to drive markets: Third-quarter results of blue-chips like RIL, Wipro and ITC, as well as global market trends, China GDP data, movement of rupee and oil will dictate stock market trading this week, say experts.(Times of India) § Top 7 cos lose Rs 48,763 cr in m-cap: The combined market valuation of seven of the top-10 most valued Sensex firms declined by Rs 48,762.5 crore last week, with IT bellwether TCS taking the steepest hit. While TCS, HDFC Bank ,CIL,Sun Pharma, ONGC, HDFC and HUL suffered losses in their market capitalisation (m-cap),RIL, Infosys and ITCemerged as gainers.(Times of India) § India elected to board of directors of AIIB: India, one of the founding members of the AsianInfrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), has been elected to the board of directors of the China-sponsored AAIB, whichis expected to begin loan approvals before the end of this year .(Times of India) § ONGC arm gets $1.7 bn loan refinanced at lower interest: At a time when depressed oil and commodities prices have left companies gasping, the overseas acquisition arm of state-run ONGC has made a killing by replacing a $1.7- billion loan with cheaper credit and longer payback time.(Times of India) § India,EU officials to meet today on FTA: Senior officials of India and the European Union are expected to hold discussions tomorrow on the stalled negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement .(Times of India) § Special safeguard at WTO redundant: As India negotiates hard to secure a special safeguard mechanism (SSM) at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to protect farmers from a sudden spurt in imports, many analysts have questioned the strategy.(FE)