Reserve Bank to transfer Rs 57,128 crore as dividend to the Union govt

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will be transferring Rs 57,128 crore of its surplus to the Union government for the fiscal 2019-20, against Rs 1.76 trillion of transfer it did last year, the central bank said in a statement. The government had budgeted Rs 60,000 crore as dividend to bridge its fiscal deficit, but government officials had expected more from the RBI. Economists, however, had expected the dividend transfer to be relatively muted this year and the transfer is largely inline with the expectations. Read more July WPI at -0.58%, in negative zone for fourth month on the trot

The Wholesale Price Index continued to be in the deflationary territory for the fourth straight month in July. Data released by the Commerce Ministry on Friday showed that WPI inflation came in -0.58 per cent year-on-year, compared with -1.81 per cent in June and a 4.5-year low of -3.37 per cent in May. The steep fall in deflation from June to July slightly reduced the gap between WPI and Consumer Price Index-based inflation. Read more

The Supreme Court on Friday held activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt for his two derogatory tweets against the judiciary. A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said it would hear on August 20 the arguments on quantum of sentence to be awarded to Bhushan in the matter. Read more

The government proposes to include payments over Rs 50,000 on life insurance, health insurance premium payment over Rs 20,000, foreign travel and donations and payment of school/ college fees over Rs 100,000 a year in the list of Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT). Other transactions proposed to be included are purchase of white goods, jewellery and paintings over Rs 100,000 and demat accounts and bank lockers. With a list of proposed measures to widen the tax base, in a tweet, government said no taxpayer should be left behind in the drive to ensure better compliance and transparency. Read more

Rajasthan CM Gehlot wins trust vote, but will have to struggle to win trust

The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan won the trust vote as expected, but amid speeches loaded with double entendres, sarcasm and underlying bitterness. While Gehlot said, "we’ve got our cure" presumably referring to setting up a committee to hear the grievances of the ‘rebels’; Pilot said he was ready to face the "fire" at the frontline. Read more

Two of India’s largest airports, Delhi and Mumbai, are trying to find viable alternatives to the current requirement of two weeks’ quarantine for arriving travellers in a bid to reduce their cost burden and spur demand. The airports are in discussions with laboratory chains such as Dr Dangs Lab and Dr Lal PathLabs to offer ‘Test-on-Arrival’ RT-PCR testing procedures. Read more