SLBC confirms 100% Jan Dhan coverage in Dakshina Kannada

The State-level bankers’ committee (SLBC) of Karnataka has permitted the lead bank of Dakshina Kannada district for confirmation of 100 per cent coverage of households under the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

This was revealed at the Dakshina Kannada district-level review committee meeting of bankers in Mangaluru on Tuesday.

Amarnath Hegde, Chief Manager of the Lead Bank of the district, informed the meeting that the district-level PMJDY implementation committee in its meeting on November 7 had decided to send a proposal to the SLBC for officially declaring the district as fully covered in opening of basic savings bank accounts for all households. The proposal was submitted to the SLBC and state administration on November 10.

The December 1 SLBC meeting in Bengaluru, which appreciated the efforts of Dakshina Kannada district, had permitted the lead bank for confirmation of 100 per cent saturation, he said.

Thulasi Maddineni, Chief Executive Officer of Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, who presided over the meeting, said that the bankers have completed the task of opening of accounts under the PMJDY. Now they have the important task of making all these new accounts operational. The banking habit has to be inculcated among those who have opened the accounts, she said.

Hegde urged the bankers to speed up the Aadhar seeding process and to issue RuPay cards to the new account holders.

He said that the banks may also create awareness among the RuPay card holders to keep their cards active through regular transaction. Cards become inactive if not operated within 45 days to get the benefit of personal accident insurance coverage up to Rs1 lakh, he said.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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YES Bank raises $200-mn loan from ADB

YES Bank has raised $200-million unsecured loan from the Asian Development Bank to finance working capital and investment loans for small farm households and rural women in self-help groups.

Additionally, ADB will also provide a capacity development technical assistance grant of up to $1 million to YES Bank, the private sector bank said in a statement.

The grant will be used by the private sector bank for capacity building, improving the financial literacy of women borrowers, and for leveraging the YES livelihood enhancement action programme, which provides financial services to SHGs, for agriculture value chain integration.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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Allahabad Bank gets nod to raise funds via QIP

Allahabad Bank obtained board approval for raising capital from various means including Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP).

The board at its meeting held Monday have discussed and approved in principle the raising of capital of the bank through preferential or QIP issue, Allahabad Bank said in a statement.

Funds would be raised in such a manner that the equity shareholding of the Government of India will not go below 52 per cent.

The government holding in the Kolkata-based banks stood at 58.90 per cent at the end of September 2014.

Keeping the huge capital requirement in the mind, the Union Cabinet earlier this month, allowed public sector banks to raise up to Rs. 1.60 lakh crore from markets by diluting government holding to 52 per cent in phases so as to meet Basel III capital adequacy norms.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the first Budget speech had said: “To be in line with Basel-III norms there is a requirement to infuse Rs. 2.40 lakh crore as equity by 2018 in our banks. To meet this huge capital requirement we need to raise additional resources to fulfil this obligation.”

While preserving the public ownership, the capital of these banks will be raised by increasing the shareholding of the people in a phased manner through the sale of shares largely through retail to common citizens of this country, he had said.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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RBI staff to join banking sector strike on Jan 7

Reserve Bank employees have decided to observe a strike on January 7, 2015, in solidarity with the cause of the United Forum of Bank Unions in the commercial banking sector.

The All-India Reserve Bank Employees Association and the All-India Reserve Bank Workers’ Federation have urged the RBI Governor to intervene to bring peace in the banking sector, stating that the RBI cannot remain a mute spectator.

The Association and Federation advised units to observe peaceful and organised action in all RBI offices and liaise with units of the United Forum in the run-up to the strike.

“We have got an important stake in bank employees’ success and achievements. Their settlement has provided us the basis of our wage negotiations, which are pending,” said Samir Ghosh and SV Mahadik, RBI employee union leaders.

“Indian Banks’ Association has created a desperate situation for bank employees whose patience has run out. The Government is silent, unconcerned about the turmoil in this sensitive sector and the plight of millions of customers.”

Bankers have made huge profits in 2012, 2013 and 2014 from the toil and sweat of employees. But they refuse to give them a modest wage increase forcing them to strike work off and on, the leaders noted.


Source : Thehindubusinessline

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