At 50,000, 22% of CAs in India are women

CHENNAI: The number of women seeking to get into the number-crunching profession of chartered accountancy (CA) has taken a big leap in the past couple of years. Female enrolments to the Common Proficiency entrance test (CPT) for the CA course, conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), have increased 51% over the past two years (between 2012 and 2014). From 27, 784 in 2012, the number of women taking the test went up to 33,460 in 2013 and further rose to 41,957 in 2014.

"There is a positive trend in the intake of all professional courses in general and more so in CA, because of high levels of employability it offers and its flexibility. Whenever the intake goes up, it is the women who contribute more to it," said K Raghu, president of ICAI. Girls from humble backgrounds are transforming the lives of their families through this route and in the absence of capitation fee parents are also supportive of their daughters picking CA, Raghu added.

No wonder that the number of qualified women chartered accountants is steadily rising.

As per ICAI's data, women CAs made up 20% of the total membership in 2012, a figure which rose to 21% in 2013 and now (in November 2014), women make up for 22% of CAs. Currently, there are almost 50,000 women CAs.

Experts say with education increasingly becoming the key tool for empowerment, the appeal of professional courses is rising and that is seen in the finance profession as well.



Narayanan Ramaswamy, partner and head of education sector at KPMG, feels that the nature of the course suits the systematic and studious temperament of girl students. Ramaswamy said that the flexible professional life that the course offers is a huge draw. A CA with a license to practice the profession can work from home and at the same time serve clients worldwide with the technology support available today. "The fact that one can get back to the profession even after a break, by staying updated, is increasing the interest for the course with women," says Ramaswamy.

Sripriya K, a practising CA who is one of the six women partners in a Chennai-based CA firm, is a case in point. She quit her well-paying consulting job at a top multi-national for her family and after this break, started her own CA firm along with some like-minded women. She believes that being good at multi-tasking, women take to CA naturally and excel in it.

To address dilemmas that are specific to women CAs, the ICAI has now launched a work portal for women to find part time jobs, jobs with flexi hours or jobs with work from home option. "This is a win-win for both job seekers and employers," officials at the institute said. As per ICAI, around 2,000 women CAs have registered in the portal and around 200 CA firms have posted employment opportunities.

The requirement of Companies Act, 2013 to appoint a woman director in every listed company and every public company with a minimum paid up share capital of Rs 100 crore or an annual turnover of at least Rs 300 crore, is likely to 

Highlights of Union Budget 2014-2015

To Download :

 Union Budget 2014-15 (Download) Offcial PDF

Simplified PDF (Highlights)

Direct Tax Proposals

Indirect Tax Proposals

1. Indian Custom Single Window Project to be taken up for facilitating trade.
2. Clean energy cess increased from Rs 50/ tonne to Rs 100/tonne.
3. Additional 5% excise tax to be levied on aerated drinks with added sugar (cold drinks). Tobacco products also to get costly as excise duty hiked to 72%
4. Government announces reduction in excise duty for specified food package industry from 10% to 6%.
5. Excise duty on footwear reduced from 12% to 6%
6. Basic custom duty on LED panel below 19 inch made nil.
7. Government announces measures to encourage manufacture of LCD/LED panels of TVs.
8. Housing loan rebate to raised from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.
9. Net effect of direct tax proposals is revenue loss of Rs 22,200 crore.
10. Government proposes to increase investment limit under Section 80C from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh.
11. Tax exemption limit for small and marginal, and senior tax payers changed from Rs 2.0 to Rs 2.5 lakh. For senior citizens, no tax for income up to Rs 3 lakh per annum.
12. No changes in tax rate.
13. PPF limit to be raised to Rs 1.5 lakh: Jaitley
14. Rs 100 crore for training of sportspersons for upcoming Asian Games.
15. Government announces Rs 150 crore for communication needs of Andaman and Nicobar islands.
16. Government announces Arun Prabha channel for northeastern region; will be 24/7 channel.
17. Rs 1000 crore provided for rail connectivity in northeastern region.
18. Programme for displaced Kashmiri migrants with Rs 500 crore to be started.
19. Rs 100 crore set aside for project to link rivers.
20. Government announces Rs 100 crore for development of Archaeological sites. Gaya to be developed as world class tourism spot.
21. Rs 5000 crore set aside for defence outlay over and above amount provided under interim budget.
22. National Police Memorial to be set up. Rs 50 crore set aside for this purpose.
23. Rs 100 crore set aside for development of Technology Development Fund.
24. Rs 100 crore War Memorial at Princess Park, India Gate.
25. Policy of One Rank One Pension to be adopted for defence personnel.
26. RBI will create framework for licenses of small banks.
27. Government aims to provide all households with banking facilities to empower the weaker sections; there should be atleast 2 bank a/cs in each household.
28. Urgent need to converge current Indian standard with international accounting standards: Jaitley
29. Rs 37, 800 crore allotted for National Highways.
30. Revision of rate of royalty on minerals to be taken up on request from the states.
31. In order to complete gas grid, 15000 km of additional pipeline to be developed through PPP mode.
32. New and renewable energy deserves high priority; ultra modern power projects to be taken up in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Ladakh with Rs 500 crore.
33. Rs 4200 crore set aside for Jal Marg Vikas project on river Ganga connecting Allahabad to Haldia , over 1620 km.
34. Scheme for development of new airports at tier II and III cities through PPP mode.
35. Rs 200 crore set aside for 6 more textile clusters in Rae Bareily, Lucknow, Surat, Bhagalpur. Rs 50 crore set aside for Pashmina Production program in J&K.
36. MSMEs are the backbone of the economy; to be revived through a Committee to examine and report in three months.
37. 6 more textile clusters to be set up.
38. Industrial Smart Cities to come up at 7 cities.
39. All govt departments and ministries to be integrated through E-platform by 31 December this year.
40. Rs 100 crore set aside for Kisan Television to provide real time information on various farming and agriculture issues.
41. National Industrial Corridor to be set up. Rs 1000 crore set aside for this.
42. Rs 5000 crore short time rural credit refinance fund for 2014-15.
43. Rs 50 core set aside for indigenous cattle breed and blue revolution for inland fisheries.
44. Propose to provide finance to 5 lakh landless farmers through NABARD.
45. Govt will initiate scheme to provide a soil health card; Rs 100 crore set aside. Rs 56 crore for soil testing labs across the country.
46. Agriculture University in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, and Horticulture University in Haryana, Telangana; Rs. 200 cr set aside by the government.
47. Slum development to be included in Corporate Social Responsibility activities.
48. Govt announces Rs 100 crore for modernization of madrassas.
49. Govt announces development of Metro rails in PPP mode; Rs 100 crore set aside for metro scheme in Ahmedabad and Lucknow.
50. Rs 100 crore set aside for Community Radio Centres; 600 new and existing ones will be supported.
51. National Rural Internet and Technology Mission; Rs 500 crore set aside.
52. Govt proposes to set up Center of Excellence in MP named after Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan.
53. 5 more IITs and 5 IIMs to be set up .
54. Propose to set up four more AIIMS; Rs. 500 crore set aside for this. Six new AIIMS started recently have become functional. Four new AIIMS will be set up in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Vidarbha and Purvanchal.
55. Govt proposes National Housing Banking programme; sets aside Rs 8000 crore for this program.
56. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana has a massive impact on rural development; Govt sets aside Rs 14,389 crore for this scheme.
57. Crisis Management Center for women at Delhi; money to be provided from Nirbhaya fund.
58. Govt announces Beti Padhao, Beti Badhao Yojana; sets aside Rs 100 crore for this.
59. Safety of women of prime importance.
60. EPFO will launch a unified account scheme for portability of Provident Fund accounts.
61. Schemes for disabled persons in the country. 15 new Brail presses to be established and revival of 10 existing.
62. Rs 50,548 crore proposed for Schedule Caste development.
63. Govt committed to providing 24/7 power supply to all homes. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojna for electricity supply to rural areas.
64. Rs 200 crore for 'Statue of Unity' of Sardar Vallabh Patel.
65. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichayin Yojana to be started for irrigation.
66. We will examine proposal to give additional autonomy to banks and make them more responsible: Jaitley
67. E-visas to be introduced at nine airports in India in phased manner.
68. FDI in insurance to be increased to 49%
69. FM announces FDI in defence up from 26 to 49 % with Indian management and control
70. Transfer pricing is major area for litigation; proposes changes in transfer pricing regulation: Jaitley
71. I propose to strengthen authority for advance ruling in tax: Jaitley
72. Aim to achieve 7-8 per cent economic growth rate in next 3-4 years.
73. We wish to provide an investment friendly taxation system: Jaitley
74. This govt will not ordinarily change policies retrospectively which creates a fresh liability.
75. GST will streamline tax administration and result in higher tax collection for center and states.
76. A new urea policy would be formulated.
77. Considering that we had two years of low GDP growth, a large subsidy burden, target of 4.1% fiscal burden is daunting: Jaitley
78. We must address the problem of black money: Jaitley
79. Iraq crisis leading behind an impact. Inflation has remained at elevated level: Jaitley
80. We have taken up the challenge in the right ernest; will create a vibrant and strong India: Jaitley.
81. The task before me is very challenging. We need to introduce fiscal prudence. there is an urgent need for more reforms.
82. The steps I will announce are only the beginning of the journey we wish to take for macroeconomic stabilization: Jaitley
83. People below poverty line anxious to free themselves: Jaitley
84. Green shoots of recovery seen in world economy.
85. We look forward to lower inflation: Jaitley
86. To Meet 4.1% Fiscal Deficit Target.
87. FY16 FISCAL DEFICIT TARGET AT 3.6%.
88. FY17 FISCAL DEFICIT TARGET AT 3%.
89. To Overhaul Subsidy Regime, Especially Food & Fuel.
90. To Formulate New Urea Policy.
91. Govt will constitute an Expenditure Management Commission.
92. Hope We Can Bring A Solution To GST Issue This Year.
93. Committed to providing a stable, investor-friendly tax regime.
94. Will Not Change Rules On Retrospective Taxation.
95. This govt will not create any law which will retrospectively lead to tax liability.
96. FDI in defence raised to 49%.
97. Insurance FDI raised to 49%.
98. Need to infuse Rs2.4Lcr in PSU banks by 2018.
99. To Sell Shares In Banks To Retail Investors.
100. Pass-through Status For REITs.
101. To raise FDI insurance to 49% | Need over Rs 2 lakh crore to fund PSU banks.
102. Will Examine Proposal To Give Addl Autonomy To Banks.
103. PSUs Plan Rs.2.47 Lk Cr Capex In FY15.
104. E-commerce sales in retail allowed without additional approval.
105. To Give Rs.7,060 Cr To Develop 100 Smart Cities.
106. Allocate Rs.1,000 Cr For PM Irrigation Scheme.
107. Plan Kisan Vikas Patra For Banked, Unbanked Population.
108. To Allocate Rs.500 Cr For New Rural Power Plan.
109. Allocate Rs.50,500 Cr For Scheduled Caste, Tribe Schemes.
110. Extend Senior Citizens' Pension Plan Till August 2015.
111. To Allocate Rs.500 Cr For New Rural Power Plan.
112. To Give Rs.14,389 Cr For Rural Roads Development.
113. Rs 150 crore to be spent on safety of women in all cities.
114. Rs 500 crore allocated for 4 new AIIMs.
115. Rs 6500 crore allocated for safe drinking water.
116. Infra Invst Trusts To Be Set Up To Securitise Infra Projs.
117. FM Arun Jaitley proposes to set up 5 new IIMs and 5 new IITs.
118. Allocating 500 cr for 4 new AIIMS units; to create AIIMS in all States.
119. FM Arun Jaitley proposes National Rural Internet and Technology Mission; Rs. 500 crores allocated.
120. To spend Rs 28635 cr for Sarva Siksha Abhyaan.
121. To Allocate Rs.100 Cr For Metro Projs For Lucknow & Ahmedabad.
122. Rs.4,000 Cr For Affordable Housing Via NHB.
123. Rs4000 crores for National Housing Bank for low-cost housing.
124. To Allocate Rs.12,000 Cr To NHB.
125. Plan Rs.50,000 Cr For Municipal Debt Management For Infra.
126. Rs. 100 cr for modernisation of madrasas.
127. Plan Rs.50,000 Cr For Municipal Debt Management For Infra.
128. Allocate Rs.100 Cr For Agri Infra Fund.
129. Proposes 50000 cr for urban infra projects; proposes Metro projects in cities with 20 lk people.
130. Allocating 100 cr to set up Agri Infra Fund. Allocating 200 cr to set up Agri Univs in Haryana, states.
131. See FY15 Agricultural Growth At 4%.
132. Propose To Continue Interest Subvention For Farmers.
133. To Set Aside Rs.8 Lk Cr For Farm Credit In FY15.
134. Plan To Finance 5 Lk Landless Farmers.
135. To set up a long term rural credit fund within NABARD.
136. Committed to introduce 2nd Green Revolution; Proposes Rs 500 cr farm price stabilisation fund.
137. To Undertake Open Mkt Sales Of Foodgrains When Required.
138. Restructuring Food Corp Of India To Be A Priority.
139. Kisan television will be launched to give real time information on advanced agriculture system.
140. Allocate Rs5,000 Cr For Farm Warehousing Plan.
141. Propose Rs.10,000 Cr Fund For Start-up Firms.
142. Propose Rs.200 Cr To Set Up 6 More Textile Clusters.
143. 16 new ports to be developed.
144. Propose Rs.11,635 Cr For Harbour Projects This FY.
145. To set up textile mega clusters in Varanasi & 5 other cities. Textile mega clusters to cost 200 cr.
146. Propose Rs.37,850 Cr Investment In NHAI & State Roads This FY.
147. Propose Scheme For Dvpt Of Airports In Tier-I, II Cities.
148. Propose Work On Expressways Parallel To Indl Corridors.
149. Adequate Coal To Be Given To Existing Power Plants.
150. NHAI To Target 8,000 km Of Road Development In FY15.
151. Propose Rs.500 Cr For Ultra Modern Solar Power Projects in Rajasthan,Tamil Nadu, Ladakh.
152. Rs.100Cr For Preparatory Work Of Clean Thermal Energy Scheme.
153. Require additional 15,000 km of gas pipelines. To set up additional pipelines amounting to 15,000 km.
154. To Introduce Single Demat A/c For All Fin Transactions.
155. New Indian Accounting Standard For Financial Sector From FY17.
156. To Let Bks Raise Long-term Funds W/Minimum Regulations.
157. To change tax laws governing FIIs, whose managers based abroad. Proposes extending 5% withholding tax to all bonds.
158. Allocate Rs.2.29 Lk Cr For Defence Sector.
159. To Enhance PPF Contribution To Rs.1.5 Lk.
160. To Allocate Rs.3,000 Cr For State Police Modernisation.
161. Rs.990 Cr For Socio-economic Dvpt Of Villages Along Border.
162. Rs 1000 crore allocated for One Rank One Pension plan.
163. Rs 2000 crore allocated for Ganga Namami yojana, Rs 100 crore set for ghat development.
164. Rs 1000 crore allocated for rail connectivity in Northeast region.
165. Non-plan Expenditure At Rs.12.2 Lk Cr.
166. Plan Expenditure At Rs.5.75 Lk Cr For FY15.
167. Total Expenditure At Rs.17.9 Lk Cr In FY15.
168. Revenue deficit to be 2.9% in fy15.
169. No changes in tax rates.
170. To Up Personal Income Tax Exemption To Rs.2.5 Lk.
171. Tax Exemption Increased To Rs.3 Lk For Senior Citizens.
172. 80c Exemption Limit Increased To Rs.1.5 Lk
173. Exemption For Self-Occupied Homes Raised To Rs.2 Lk.
174. Education Cess To Continue At 3%.
175. Invst Allowance Of 15% On Invst Of >Rs.25 Cr In Mfg.
176. Propose To Extend 10-Yr Tax Holiday For Power.
177. Budget Assumes Tax Revenue Growth Of 19.7% Vs 21% Voa.
178. Propose To Retain 15% Tax Rate On Intl Dividend Income.
179. To Hike Tax Rate To 20% For Transfer Of Mf Units.
180. 10% Customs Duty On Some Telecom Products.
181. To Cut Customs Duty On Lcd, Led Panels Sub-19 Inch To Nil.
182. Hikes Customs Duty On Flat Steel Products To 7.5% From 5%.
183. To Cut Excise Duty On Food Processing To 6%.
184. To Reduce Excise Duty On Footwear.
185. To Hike Excise Duty On Cigarettes By 11-72%
186. Hikes Excise Duty On Gutka To 70% From 60%.

Railway Budget 2014-15: Highlights

Union Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda presented his maiden Railway Budget in Parliament on Tuesday. Here are the highlights of this Budget

ü No new increase in passenger fares and freight charges

ü Bullet train in Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector

ü Diamond quadrilateral for high speed trains

ü Plan to hike speed of trains to 160-200 km/hr in 9 sectors

ü Online booking to support 7,200 tickets per minute; to allow 1.2 lakh users log in simultaneously

ü Reservation system to be revamped, ticket-booking through mobile phones, post offices to be popularised

ü Online platform for unreserved tickets

ü Combo parking-platform tickets at stations

ü Women RPF Constables to escort ladies coaches; 4,000 women constables to be inducted

ü Retiring room facility to be extended to all stations

ü Battery operated cars for differently-abled and senior citizens at major stations

ü Feedback services through IVRS on quality of food

ü Food can be ordered through SMS, phone; Food courts at major stations

ü Cleanliness budget up by 40 per cent over last year

ü CCTVs to be used at stations for monitoring cleanliness

ü Setting up of corpus fund for stations’ upkeep; RO drinking water in some stations and trains

ü Automatic door closing in mainline and sub-urban coaches

ü 58 new trains and extension of 11; 864 additional EMUs to be introduced in Mumbai over 2 years

ü FDI in railway projects, except in operations

ü FDI, domestic investments in rail infrastructure

ü Office-on-Wheels: Internet & workstation facilities on select trains

ü WiFi in A1, A category stations and in select trains

ü Railways university for technical and non-technical subjects

ü Some stations to be developed to international standards through PPP model

ü Parcel traffic to be segregated to separate terminals to make passenger traffic unhindered

ü Loss per passenger per kilometre up from 10 per cent in 2000-01 to 23 per cent in 2012-13

ü Solar energy to be tapped at major stations

ü Highest ever plan outlay of Rs. 65,455 crore for 2014-15

ü Expenditure in 2014-15 pegged at Rs. 149,176 crore.

New Trains

Jansadharan Trains

i) Ahmedabad-Darbhanga Jansadharan Express via Surat

Ii Jaynagar-Mumbai Jansadharan Express

ii) Mumbai-Gorakhpur Jansadharan Express

iv) Saharasa-Anand Vihar Jansadharan Express via Motihari

v) Saharasa-Amritsar Jansadharan Express

Premium Trains

i) Mumbai Central-New Delhi Premium AC Express

ii) Shalimar-Chennai Premium AC Express

iii) Secunderabad-Hazrat Nizamuddin Premium AC Express 6

iv) Jaipur-Madurai Premium Express

v) Kamakhya-Bengaluru Premium Express

AC ExpressTrains

i) VijayawadaNewDelhiAPExpress (Daily)

ii) LokmanyaTilak(T)-Lucknow (Weekly)

iii) Nagpur-Pune (Weekly)

iv) Nagpur-Amritsar (Weekly)

v) Naharlagun-NewDelhi (Weekly)

vi) Nizamuddin-Pune (Weekly)

Express Trains

i) Ahmedabad-Patna Express (Weekly)via Varanasi

ii) Ahmedabad Chennai Express (Biweekly)via Vasai Road

iii) Bengaluru -Mangalore Express (Daily)

iv) Bengaluru -Shimoga Express (Biweekly)

v) Bandra(T)-Jaipur Express (Weekly) via Nagda, Kota

vi) Bidar-Mumbai Express (Weekly)

vii) Chhapra-Lucknow Express (Tri weekly) via Ballia, Ghazipur, Varanasi

viii) Ferozpur-Chandigarh Express (6 days a week)

ix) Guwahati-Naharlagun Intercity Express (Daily)

x) Guwahati-Murkongselek Intercity Express (Daily)

xi) Gorakhpur-Anand Vihar Express (Weekly)

xii) Hapa-Bilaspur Express (Weekly)via Nagpur

xiii) Hazur Saheb Nanded-Bikaner Express (Weekly)

xiv) Indore-Jammu Tawi Express (Weekly)

xv) Kamakhya-Katra Express (Weekly) via Darbhanga

xvi) Kanpur-Jammu Tawi Express (Biweekly)

xvii) Lokmanya Tilak(T)-Azamgarh Express (Weekly)

xviii) Mumbai_Kazipeth Express (Weekly) via Balharshah

xix) Mumbai-Palitana Express (Weekly)

xx) New Delhi Bhatinda Shatabdi Express (Biweekly)

xxi) New Delhi-Varanasi Express (Daily)

xxii) Paradeep-Howrah Express (Weekly)

xxiii) Paradeep-Visakhapatnam Express (Weekly)

xxiv) Rajkot-Rewa Express (Weekly)

xxv) Ramnagar-Agra Express (Weekly)

xxvi) Tatanagar Baiyyappanahali (Bengaluru) Express (Weekly)

xxvii) Visakhapatnam-Chennai Express (Weekly)

Passenger Trains

i) Bikaner-Rewari Passenger (Daily)

ii) Dharwad-Dandeli Passenger (Daily)via Alnavar

iii) Gorakhpur-Nautanwa Passenger (Daily)

iv) Guwahati-Mendipathar Passenger (Daily)

v) Hatia-Rourkela Passenger 7

vi) Byndoor-Kasaragod Passenger (Daily)

vii) Rangapara North-Rangiya Passenger (Daily)

viii) Yesvantpur-Tumkur Passenger (Daily)

MEMU services

i) Bengaluru-Ramanagaram 6 days a week (3 Pairs)

ii) Palwal-Delhi-Aligarh

DEMU services

i) Bengaluru-Neelmangala (Daily)

ii) Chhapra-Manduadih (6days a week) via Ballia

iii) Baramula-Banihal (Daily)

iv) Sambalpur-Rourkela (6 days a week)

v) Yesvantpur-Hosur (6 days a week)

Flipkart buys Myntra & Moto E will be Available for Sale at 11AM Tomorrow

Update: It’s official, Flipkart has bought Myntra. Myntra founder Mukesh Bansal will join Flipkart board. Both entities will remain independent.

Key points

- Mukesh Bansal will be joining Flipkart board and head fashion vertical
- Both the companies will continue to work separately.
- Flipkart will be investing upward of $100M in Myntra i
- Post acquisition, Myntra and Flipkart will account for 50% marketshare in Fashion.
- All Myntra employees get Esops which will now be converted to Flipkart stock
- Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Motorola Moto E to be 

available again on Flipkart from 

tomorrow 

The E-Commerce Website Officially Announced that new stocks of the Moto E will be arriving at 11:00AM tomorrow. Last week, Motorola thanked users for the highly positive response and also promised that new stock would soon be available.

The Motorola Moto E went on sale last week, and within 16 hours Flipkart ran out of stock. Though limited stocks arrived the next day, they too flew off the shelves in no time. The Moto E is priced at Rs 6,999 and offers a lot of bang for the buck. We were quite impressed with the device, and you can read all about it in our review here.

To recap on the specifications, the Moto E features a 4.3-inch qHD display, 1.2GHz Snapdragon 200 dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 5-megapixel rear camera, 4GB internal storage, microSD card slot, and a 1,980mAh battery. On the software front, it runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

At 11:00AM when the stocks arrive, you can buy the Moto E By clicking the Below Links :

Moto E (4GB Black) : http://goo.gl/MGwYZY

Moto E (4GB White) : http://goo.gl/07qNxo

To Buy Moto G and Moto X :

Moto G (16GB - Black Colour) : http://goo.gl/llc2k7

Moto G (8GB - Black Colour) : http://goo.gl/cHJkZE

Moto X (16GB - Black Colour) : http://goo.gl/uQbEBJ

Moto X (16GB - White Colour) : http://goo.gl/ys8HtO

Moto X (16GB) Royal Blue : http://goo.gl/LIumL6

Moto X (16GB) Turquoise : http://goo.gl/A223Nr

Moto X (16GB) Red : http://goo.gl/XiJsFF

Moto X (16GB) Walnut : http://goo.gl/HYcPwZ

Moto X (16GB) Teak : http://goo.gl/DszNfW

Building hostels for women, orphans to be CSR activity

Setting up of hostels for women and orphans as well as efforts that benefit armed forces veterans, war widows and their dependents will come under the 'Corporate Social Responsibility' spending ambit. 

With the government notifying norms for CSR spending by companies, Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot today said the rules have been finalised after extensive discussions with all stakeholders. 

The new CSR regime, part of the Companies Act 2013, requires certain class of corporates to shell out at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards social welfare spending activities. 

Besides setting up homes and hostels for women and orphans, setting up old age homes, day care centres and such other facilities for senior citizens would be considered as CSR activities by the government. 

Significantly, "measures for reducing inequalities faced by socially and economically backward groups," would also come under CSR ambit. 

Further, measures initiated by companies for the benefit of armed forces veterans, war widows and their dependents would be classified as social welfare spending by companies. 

Both domestic and foreign companies having net worth of at least Rs 500 crore or having minimum turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or those with at least net profit of Rs 5 crore, have to make CSR spend. 

Another area included in the CSR framework is promoting preventive health care and sanitation and making available safe drinking water. 

Commenting on CSR rules, Pilot further said they "provide for the manner in which CSR Committee shall formulate and monitor the CSR Policy, manner of undertaking CSR activities, role of the Board of directors therein and format of disclosure of such activities in the board's report". 

As per the notified rules, ensuring ecological balance, protection of flora and fauna, animal welfare, agro-forestry, conservation of natural resources and maintaining quality of soil, air and water can also be CSR initiatives. 

In addition, livelihood enhancement and rural development projects would be under CSR framework. 

Other areas covered include protection of national heritage, art and culture, setting up public libraries, promotion and development of traditional arts and handicrafts, training to promote rural sports, nationally recognised sports, paralympic sports and Olympic sports. 

"Contributions or funds provided to technology incubators located within academic institutions which are approved by the central government," would also be considered as CSR activities, according to the rules.

Source : Business - Standards 

RBI to Enable ATM Withdrawal Sans Bank Account

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said that people without bank accounts in India would be able to withdraw money from automated teller machines (ATMs).

The RBI has recently approved the in-principle setting up of a payment system that will allow funds transfer from bank account holders to those who do not have accounts through ATMs, Rajan said on the sidelines of a Nasscom function here on Wednesday.

Essentially, the sender can have the money withdrawn from his account through an ATM transaction. The intermediary processes the payment, and sends a code to the recipient on his mobile that allows him to withdraw the money from any nearby bank’s ATM.

“The system will take care of necessary safeguards of customer identification, transaction validation, velocity checks etc. We need more such innovative products, some of which mobile companies are providing,” said Rajan.

The RBI Governor also said that no decision has been arrived at on the issue of setting up 'Payments Banks' or specialised banks to provide services to small businesses.

“At this point there is no decision to move forward. We will look at it in great detail, including what value it brings, the viability as well as whether it presents arbitrage opportunities vis-a-vis the Schedule commercial banks,” he said.

Concern over virtual currencies

Rajan also expressed concern over the methodologies being used to determine the value of virtual currencies like Bitcoin.

“As a currency I do worry a little bit when the underlying fluctuates tremendously. One of the values of a currency is some stability,” he said at a Nasscom function here on Wednesday.

The RBI is presently studying the issue but did not clarify whether this virtual currency is legally valid. In late December, the central bank had warned on the dangers of investing in virtual currency.

“If a currency is a target of speculation as opposed to primarily a means of exchange, it does create some concerns for the user,” the governor said referring to the value of bitcoins that have multiplied in recent months.

Rajan Cautions on Fraudulent Emails

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan  warned against fraudulent emails that are being sent under his name asking people for their bank account details. “Many of you must receive frequent emails, purportedly from me, informing you of a large sum of money that awaits you at the RBI, and urging you to send me your account details so that I can transfer the money to you. Let me assure you that the RBI does not give out money, I do not send these emails, and if you do fall for such emails, you will lose a lot of money to crooks and be reminded of the adage – if anything looks too good to be true, it probably is not true,” he said.

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Bank employees’ two-day strike hit transactions across India

The two-day nationwide strike by bank employees has affected clearing of cheques worth Rs7.40 lakh crores across the country on Monday. At many places, ATMs are not functioning or are dried up. The strike would continue on Tuesday as well

Banking operations, including clearing of cheques, across the country were hit Monday as around 10 lakh employees went on a two-day nationwide strike over wage revision settlement and ongoing banking sector reforms.

United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), the umbrella organisation of five employeeunions and four officer unions of state-run banks in the country, had given the call for strike on 10-11 February. Due to the strike, banking transactions, including clearingoperations, were paralysed across the country. While bank branches remain closed at several places, normal banking services were disrupted.

"All over the country about 10 crore cheques worth Rs7.40 lakh crore could not be cleared. In Chennai clearing house, about 90 lakh cheques worth about Rs64,000 crore could not be processed in clearing. Government transactions, foreign exchange transactions andmoney market operations were also affected.  In many places, ATMs did not function or were dried up," said CH Venkatachalam, general Secretary, All India Bank EmployeesAssociation (AIBEA) in a statement.

Around 10 lakh bank employees and officers working in 27 public sector banks including State Bank of India (SBI) and 12 old generation private sector banks and eight foreign banks are on a two days nationwide strike.

Apologising for the inconvenience caused to public due to the strike, Mr Venkatachalam said, "Since Indian Bank's Association (IBA) and government did not settle our demands,the strike has been forced on us. We are sorry that the banking public would have been inconvenienced by this strike but that was unavoidable due to the non-serious approach of the IBA and government to avert the strike by improving their offer on wage increase and discussing our concerns on the banking sector reforms."

UFBU had called for a strike on 20-21 January this year. At that time, the IBA increased its offer to 9.5% from 5% with a promise to improve it further. However, during the discussions on 27th January, the IBA increased its offer by just 0.5% to 10%, which was rejected by UFBU representatives. The Union has been seeking an increase of 30% as their wage revision is pending since November 2012.

On 14 December 2013, the IBA called the Unions for talks and made their offer, which was found to be too low and hence was not acceptable to the Unions and hence UFBU decided to go ahead with the strike, the statement from AIBEA said.

According to UFBU, the last wage settlement in the banking sector expired in October 2012 and hence a revised settlement was due from November 2012.

Mr Venkatachalam said, bank managements are claiming that bad loans are increasing and hence profits are reducing. “Bad loans increase but not because of employees. Employees should not be held responsible for the same.  In the last five years Rs1.40 lakh crore have been provided towards bad loans from the profits. In addition, in the last six years, bad loans worth Rs1.41 lakh crore have been written off. But when it comes to our salary revision, managements are reluctant,” he said.

According to UFBU, its demands are reasonable and also negotiable. Mr Venkatachalam said, “UFBU would like to settle the demands through mutual discussions. But if the banks do not adopt a fair approach, the employees’ resentment would have to be ventilated through strikes only. We hope that IBA would understand our demands and come forward to settle the demands through amicable negotiations and finalise the settlement at the earliest.”

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