Boss of Paytm : Vijay Shekhar Sharma accuses WhatsApp of unfair play, needs govt to step in

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of India’s largest digital payments company Paytm, can petition the designer of the country’s unified digital payment system (UPI) for redressal of what he termed as associate unfair taking part in field accorded to electronic communication service supplier WhatsApp, that has begun testing its payment service within the country. 

WhatsApp:- trial service launched in Bharat last week doesn't need a log-in session and Aadhaar-based payments. Sharma same he can approach. 

Representatives for Paytm confirmed that WhatsApp’s vice-president Neeraj Arora has stepped down from the board of Paytm, a footing that he command since 2015. 

Email queries sent to WhatsApp and NPCI didn't elicit a response at the time of filing this text. NPCI has ten core promoter banks, together with depository financial institution of Bharat, Punjab commercial bank, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and HSBC. In 2016, the material possession was broad-based to fifty six-member banks. 

WhatsApp’s entry, backed by deep pockets of Facebook(social media), comes shut on the heels of search large Google’s launch of its payments service Tez last year, creating Bharat the primary market within the world wherever the world technology giants together with Amazon ar competitory for market share. Sharma processed that he's not taking a stand against overseas corporations, however posing for “a level-playing field” against competitors. His firm, last valued at concerning $10 billion, counts China’s Alibaba and hymenopteran money besides Japan’s SoftBank as key shareholders. 

A business government responsive to WhatsApp’s payments product has rebutted Sharma’s claims. “While NPCI has suggested UPI apps to own login sessions, it's not obligatory. Even alternative apps that use UPI, like writing paper and Uber, don’t have login sessions,” the person same, adding that WhatsApp contains a session management in its app that must be made-to-order to UPI pointers. 

Another government within the payments area same that whereas security isn't an enormous concern on condition that users can want their UPI PIN to interact, WhatsApp has been given leeway to form client expertise far better that wasn't allowed to alternative corporations. These options, he said, add friction to the client expertise of the apps developed by alternative players compared to WhatsApp. 

“WhatsApp is machine making IDs, not material possession Pine Tree State edit and posts to a VPA (a UPI handle) simply, not doing a scan and pay in UPI QR codes and it's not sensible,” same this government on the condition of obscurity. 

“These are simply market gimmicks. WhatsApp is following the standard method for UPI. Spreading rumors isn't serving to Digital Bharat,” he added. 

“WhatsApp has done an honest payments app and alternative incumbents are simply spreading concern,” same Amrish Rau, Bharat head of worldwide payments firm PayU. 

In a response to comments created by rivals, Sharma same that his company together with Google’s Tez are the sole players World Health Organization are giant enough to matter. 

“Paytm is that the majority group action driver of UPI followed by Google. Everybody else is (small),” he said. 

Prasanto K Roy, vice-president of Nasscom’s net Council said:-

Industry body Nasscom same that it hopes that there'll be level taking part in the field going forward. “I would expect that the core principle of UPI — seamless ability (the U stands for Unified!) —will be revered and ability are additional clearly and visibly supported by WhatsApp going forward. it's period of time and therefore the product is in beta or pilot,”

Markets To open up nowadays after 2-Day city Bandh Over sealing Drive

NEW DELHI: Markets can open today once a two-day "Delhi Bandh" against the sealing drive by civic bodies, the traders' organization that had known as the closing aforesaid.

A 12-point charter has been sent to the Union Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri, urging him to require necessary steps to mitigate the issues of the traders caused because of the sealing, aforesaid Pravin Khandelwal, general secretary of Confederation of All Bharat Traders (CAIT).

"The forty-eight hour's city Bandh was spontaneous and in and amply mirrored the number of anguish and enmity of the traders. The markets can open nowadays," Mr. Khandelwal aforesaid.

He claimed the strike was a "great success".

Trade leaders from totally different states had joined their city counterparts to require out a manifestation from Red Fort to the government building in Chandni Chowk and later Saturday on a dharna hard to please "justice" over the sealing issue.

Protest marches and demonstrations were additionally controlled in numerous markets across the city, he said.

"Arbitrary sealing (was) conducted by the observation committee in the most dictatorial manner keeping aside the law book of MCD Act, 1957," alleged Mr. Khandelwal.

The charter of demands sent to minister Hardeep Puri, enclosed permitting basement for business use, waiving of penalty and interest, discontinuing parking facility in fixing floor space quantitative relation, fixing the limit of conversion charge for 10 years, among others.

Reserve Bank Of India : RBI Govt may give banks more time to switch to IndAS

The government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may postpone the implementation of new accounting standards for banks because of the legislative changes and additional capital requirements the process would entail, according to three senior officials familiar with the matter.

Banks and non-banking financial companies are due to switch to Indian Accounting Standards (IndAS) from 1 April 2018. They currently follow Indian generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) standards. Other corporate entities started complying with IndAS with effect from 1 April 2016.

“It is likely that RBI will follow the Irda path and defer the implementation of IndAS starting FY20-21,” said the third of the three officials cited earlier.

अर्थव्यवस्था पर नोटबंदी और जीएसटी के प्रभाव का सटीक आकलन कर पाना मुश्किल: सरकार

बैंकों ने 200 रुपये के नये नोट के लिए एटीएम मशीनों को पुनर्व्यवस्थित करना शुरू किया, ख़र्च होंगे 120 करोड़ रुपये.

नई दिल्ली: केंद्र सरकार अभी तक नोटबंदी और जीएसटी के फायदे गिनाते नहीं थक रही थी, लेकिन अब वही सरकार संसद में कह रही है कि इस बात का सटीक आकलन कर पाना मुश्किल है कि अर्थव्यवस्था पर नोटबंदी और जीएसटी का क्या असर हुआ है.

सरकार ने शुक्रवार को कहा कि देश की संपूर्ण आर्थिक प्रगति कई कारकों पर निर्भर करती है और इसका सटीक आकलन कर पाना मुश्किल है कि नोटबंदी और जीएसटी का अर्थव्यवस्था पर क्या असर हुआ है.

लोकसभा में रवींद्र विनाथ गायकवाड़ के प्रश्न के लिखित उत्तर में वित्त राज्य मंत्री पी राधाकृष्णन ने कहा कि भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था की संपूर्ण आर्थिक प्रगति कई कारकों पर निर्भर करती है जिसमें पूंजी निर्माण और बचत दर, प्रौद्योगिकी के उपयोग, अवसंरचना की उपलब्धता, संसाधन आवंटन दक्षता, संस्थाओं की गुणवत्ता, मौजूदा अभिशासन एवं नीति संबंधी ढांचे, मुद्रा आपूर्ति और वित्तीय विकास की स्थिति शामिल है.

उन्होंने कहा कि इस बात का सटीक आकलन कर पाना मुश्किल है कि अर्थव्यवस्था पर नोटबंदी और जीएसटी का क्या असर हुआ है.

मंत्री ने कहा कि सरकार ने अर्थव्यवस्था की स्थिति को और मजबूत बनाने के लिए अनेक पहल की है जिनमें विनिर्माण क्षेत्र को बढ़ावा देना, परिवहन तथा शहरी एवं ग्रामीण बुनियादी ढांचे के लिए ठोस उपाय करना और प्रत्यक्ष विदेशी निवेश के लिए व्यापक सुधार करना शामिल हैं.

बैंकों ने एटीएम मशीनों को पुनर्व्यवस्थित करना शुरू किया

बैंकों ने 200 रुपये के नये बैंकनोट के लिए एटीएम मशीनों को पुनर्व्यवस्थित करना शुरू कर दिया है. उद्योग जगत के विशेषज्ञों के अनुसार, इस प्रक्रिया में बैंकों को 100-120 करोड़ रुपये का खर्च उठाना पड़ सकता है.

देश में करीब 2.4 लाख एटीएम मशीनें हैं जिनमें करीब 30 हजार रिसाइक्लर मशीनें भी शामिल हैं. रिसाइक्लर मशीनें पैसा देने और पैसा जमा करने में भी सक्षम है. 200 रुपये के नोट अगस्त में पेश किये गए थे.

एटीएम बनाने तथा इससे संबंधित सेवाएं देने वाली कंपनी एनसीआर कॉरपोरेशन इंडिया के प्रबंध निदेशक नवरोज दस्तूर ने कहा, हमने एटीएम को व्यवस्थित करने की प्रक्रिया शुरू कर दी है. इसके लिए एक इंजीनियर को हर मशीन का दौरा करना होगा.

Bitcoins Income-Tax notices to 4-5 lakh HNIs across the country

New  Delhi,18th Dec.Widening its probe into bitcoin investments and trade, the Income Tax (IT) department is set to issue notices to 4 to 5 lakh high networth individuals (HNI) across the country who were trading on the exchanges of this unregulated virtual currency.

The taxman had conducted surveys at nine such exchanges last week to check instances of tax evasion.

The department, official sources said, found that out of the estimated 20 lakh entities registered on these exchanges,  ..

As the bitcoins or the virtual currencies (VCs) are illegal and unregulated in the country as of now, the IT department has taken action as per the existing provisions, they said.

The survey operations conducted last week, under section 133 A of the Income Tax Act, were undertaken for "gathering evidence for establishing the identity of investors and traders, the transaction undertaken by them, identity of counter-parties, related bank accounts used, among others," they said.

Sources told PTI that the Bengaluru investigation wing of the tax department, which supervised last weeks operations, has now dispatched the information of the individuals and entities found on these databases to eight other such wings across the country for a detailed probe.

A survey action under the IT law pertains to the tax officials making a surprise visit to the business premises of the party under action but not their residential ones.

The trigger for the action is understood to be the huge spike being registered in the value of bitcoins and other virtual currencies in the recent past.

Suspected black money being converted into white, post demonetisation, through the use of bitcoins was also under the departments scanner, officials said.

Earlier this month, there was a spurt in the value of a bitcoin. It rose from under USD 10,000 at the start of the year to close to USD 20,000, before a sharp 20 per cent plunge within hours.

Bitcoin, a virtual currency, is not regulated in the country and its circulation has been a cause for concern among central bankers the world over for quite a while now.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also cautioned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies. The government has also said that it does not recognise crypto-currency as legal tender in India.

In March, the Union finance ministry constituted an Inter-Disciplinary Committee to take stock of the present status of virtual currencies both in India and globally and suggest measures for dealing with them.

The committee has submitted its report which is being examined.

Modi Government Likely To Get Corruption Tag As UPA-II: Chidambaram

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the erstwhile Congress-led UPA-II dispensation had acquired a reputation for "many many corrupt deeds" at the fag end of its tenure.

MUMBAI:  Congress leader P Chidambaram has warned that as the Narendra Modi government inched closer to the end of its term, it might also be assailed by the same degree of corruption allegations which drowned the UPA-II. The former finance minister said the erstwhile Congress-led UPA-II dispensation had acquired a reputation for "many many corrupt deeds" at the fag end of its tenure.

He, however, said the same "odium" could be attached to the BJP government as well when it completed its term (in 2019) though he was not wishing it to "happen".

"Since the UPA-II was the last government that completed its tenure, that odium attached to the government. Wait for any government to complete its term of five years, the same odium will attach to that government as well," he said during a discussion at the Tata Literature Live festival in Mumbai.

"I am not wishing it happens, but it will happen," said Chidambaram, who was a key figure in the UPA regime.

"The point is, yes I know that the UPA-II had acquired, by the time its term came to an end, a reputation for many corrupt deeds. But unless someone is actually convicted and punished, I am not willing to accept that he or she is guilty," the former home minister said.

He said today what is being made out is that "everyone is presumed guilty until he is proven innocent, which I think is wrong, as it will destroy the rule of law in this country."

Touching upon the issue of corruption, the Rajya Sabha member said the main reasons for major graft "are greed as against the need for funding elections". "In the case of a political person, or a political party, it is the need to fund elections, which drives what you describe as corruption. Unless you find the ways to fund elections, you will not be able to bring down that scale of corruption," he said. 

Chidambaram claimed demonetisation was a "dismal" failure as far as curbing fake currency was concerned. "If you want to know where demonetisation has failed, if you are not able to curb corruption, if you are not able to curb black money...just go to or stay in (poll-bound) Gujarat for over the next 20 days, and you will know the kind of money that is being spent there," he alleged.

He said the Modi government could recover fake currency only to the tune of Rs. 41 crore, which accounted for only 0.0027 per cent of the total currency that came back into the system following notes ban.

"Demonetisation to the extent of eliminating fake currency is a dismal failure," Chidambaram claimed. Disputing the government's claims that notes ban had helped curb terrorism, he said, "As of November 10, the number of infiltrations, the number of militants neutralised, the number of civilians killed and the number of jawans martyred, all are larger than the numbers for the corresponding period in 2016."

News Source : NDTV

Narendra Modi govt's new mission - to link 1 billion UIDs with 1 billion bank A/Cs with 1 billion mobiles.

सरकार का नया टारगेट- 1 अरब मोबाइल 

और बैंक खातों से जोड़ा जाएगा आधार

मूडीज की ईज ऑफ डूंईंग रैंकिंग्स लिस्ट में भारत को 30 पायदान उछाल मिलने के बाद मोदी सरकार एक बड़े प्लान में जुट गई है। मोदी सरकार 'एक अरब-एक अरब-एक अरब' के विजन को पूरा करने की हर कोशिश कर रही है। विजन के हिसाब में एक अरब आधार नंबरों को एक अरब बैंक खातों और एक अरब मोबाइल से लिंक करने का प्लान बनाया जा रहा है।

दरसलअ, मूडीज की ओर से जीएसटी, नोटबंदी और आधार लिंक की तारीफ की गई है और इसी ऐवज में केंद्र सरकार अपने इस प्लान पर जोर देने लग गई है।

'वन प्लस-वन प्लस-वन प्लस' के इस विजन को हासिल करने की अटकलें सरकारी महकमे में गूंजने लगी हैं, हालांकि इसे पूरा करने की कोई तारीख तय नहीं रखी गई है। सरकार के इस प्लान पर जोर देने के और भी कारण है, पहला 6 लाख करोड़ रुपये के बड़े नोटों का चलन से बाहर होना है।

पिछले साल पीएम मोदी ने जब नोटबंदी का ऐलान किया था उस वक्त नोटों की कीमत 15.44 लाख करोड़ रुपये थी, जो कि इस साल सितंबर तक 12 लाख करोड़ रुपये रह गई। अगर नोटबंदी नहीं लागू होती तो ये बड़े नोटों की ये कीमत करीब 18 लाख करोड़ रुपये तक पहुंच सकती थी, लेकिन अब वह घटकर 6 लाख करोड़ रह गई है।

नोटबंदी और जीएसटी जैसे कदमों के चलते पिछले कुछ महीनों में केंद्र सरकार को विरोधियों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है, लेकिन मूडीज की ओर से सकारात्मक पहलू आने के बाद सरकार को मजबूत स्थिति मिली है। मूडीज की माने तो सरकार के ये कदम अर्थव्यवस्था को मजबूत करने वाला है।

News Source : Amar Ujala

New Delhi: Backed by Moody's rating upgrade and 30-spot rise in 'ease of doing business', the central government is mulling over a plan to next come up with "1 billion-1 billion-1 billion" connectivity vision.

As per a report in Times of India, the program aims at linking one billion bank accounts to one billion Aadhaar numbers and one billion mobiles.

Nevertheless, there are no immediate deadlines put in place to achieve the target.

Pinning faith in the continued progress on economic front backed by institutional reforms, Moody`s Investor Services on Friday lifted the Government of India`s local and foreign currency debt ratings to Baa2 from Baa3.

The rating agency said that the reforms will improve the business climate in the country and raise productivity. 

Moody`s also changed its rating outlook to stable from positive, saying that at the Baa2 level the risks to India`s credit profile were broadly balanced. 

News Source : ZEE News