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NDTV,  Press Trust of India  |  Updated: October 26, 2017,  New Delhi Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel said on Wednesday that the Rs. 2.11 lakh crore bank recapitalisation plan is a 'monumental step forward' in safeguarding India's economic future and a comprehensive policy would be put in place to address the challenges faced by the sector. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday announced that Rs. 2.11 lakh crore would be infused in public sector banks (PSU) banks over two years, of which Rs. 1.35 lakh crore will be through recapitalisation bonds. The remaining Rs. 76,000 crore would be from the budgetary support and market raising.  Welcoming the government's decision, Mr Patel in a statement said that a well-capitalised banking system is a prerequisite for stable economic growth.  "Economic history has shown us repeatedly that it is only healthy banks that lend to healthy firms and borrowers, creating a virtuous cycle of investm...

The Economic Times, BY REUTERS | OCT 25, 2017,  Saudi Arabia's main sovereign wealth fund wants to increase its financial clout to 1.5 trillion riyals ($400 billion) by 2020 as part of the kingdom's efforts to boost private-sector growth and wean itself off oil export dependence.  The assets-under-management goal, laid out by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) on Wednesday, came on the second day of an international conference in Riyadh. It was accompanied by publication of PIF's first comprehensive business programme, outlining targets for investments and returns for 2018-2020.  PIF, which is expected to receive proceeds from the planned sale of 5 percent of state oil company Saudi Aramco's shares, has currently around $230 billion worth of assets under management.  It plans to create 20,000 direct domestic jobs, and 256,000 construction jobs by 2020. This will increase PIF's contribution to Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product from 4.4 percent...

The Economic Times, By: Anirban Nag,  By Bloomberg | Oct 25, 2017,  India’s pension system is ranked 28 out of the 30 countries, highlighting the inadequacy of the nation’s retirement program in the world’s second most populous nation.  Still, with Asia’s third-largest economy growing at a relatively healthy pace, India’s overall index value rose to 44.9 in 2017 from 43.4 a year ago, according to the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index for 2017. India’s pension system was also found to be more sustainable than that of Poland, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Austria, Brazil, China and Argentina though it ranked low on the ’adequacy’ sub-index.  Only 7.4 percent of the working age population in India is covered under a pension program. That compares with 65 percent for Germany and 31 percent for Brazil, another major emerging market economy, according to the World Economic Forum’s report on Global Human Capital.  Part of the reason ...

The Times of India, AFP, October 25,2017 Remote and impoverished, Pakistan's Gwadar port at first glance seems an unlikely crown jewel in a  multi-billion-dollar development project with China  aimed at constructing a 21st century Silk Road. Situated on a barren peninsula in the Arabian Sea, Gwadar, or the "gate of the wind", owes its fortuitous selection as Pakistan's next economic hub to its strategic location near the Strait of Hormuz. The city is set to become the bridgehead for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $54 billion project launched in 2013 linking western China to the Indian Ocean via Pakistan. The corridor is one of the largest projects in Beijing's "One Belt One Road" initiative, comprising a network of roads and sea routes involving 65 countries. The Chinese-financed initiative aims to connect the country with Africa, Asia and Europe through a vast network of ports, railways, roads and industr...

The Hindu Business Line, Our Bureau, October 23,2017, New Delhi In one of its “most extensive” global surveys on corporate responsibility (CR) in 2017, global audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG found human rights an important issue in CR and sustainability disclosures, with 95 Indian companies acknowledging this, which was well above the global average. Commenting on regulation driving human rights reporting in India, Santhosh Jayaram, Partner, Sustainability Services, KPMG in India, said: “The recent ratification by India of International Labour Organisation Conventions 138 and 182 clearly indicates the importance of human rights to the country. From a corporate reporting point of view, the Business Responsibility Report (BRR), an annual disclosure mandated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), requires the top 500 listed companies to report on nine core principles, one of which focuses on human rights. “This mandate can be credited as the driver for most of I...

Financial Express, October 25, 2017 GVK Power and Infrastructure (GVKPIL) on Tuesday said it has received approval from the Maharashtra state Cabinet for developing the Rs 16,000-crore Navi Mumbai airport project, following the Project Monitoring and Implementation Committee (PMIC) approving its financial bid earlier last week. GVK-led Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) won the contract in February 2017. MIAL is a joint venture between the Airports Authority of India (AAI), GVK and other minority investors. The Rs 16,000-crore public-private-partnership (PPP) Navi Mumbai airport project will have an equity of 74% by MIAL and 13% by AAI. City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), too, will hold 13%. CIDCO is the nodal government agency for the greenfield project that will be built on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis. “We have received the approval from the Maharashtra government today but we are yet to receive the letter o...

Moneycontrol News, October 24, 2017 India will not need to import pulses in the next two years and the country will be self sufficient to meet domestic demand, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh today said. The production of pulses stood at record 22.95 million tonnes in the 2016-17 crop year (July-June) as against 16.35 million tonnes in the previous year. The country imported about 5 million tonnes of pulses last fiscal. With bumper output and low domestic price, the government has recently restricted import of some varieties of pulses, which will lead to reduction in imports this fiscal. "Pulses production increased by about 6.5 million tonnes last year. We will not have to import after two years," Singh said while addressing agriculture round table organised by Business Standard newspaper. The minister said the government is focusing on raising the production of oilseeds to cut imports of edible oils. Stating that the government is committed towards th...