Source: Indian Express
An article for general reading.

Due to the ongoing war with Ukraine, Russia's economy has revived and it has moved in the 'High-income country' with Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (using nominal exchange rate) of $14,250. This has happened because of Govt. heavy expenditure on defence, unemployment coming down (people are hired in military), higher private investment in defence manufacturing etc.

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Term of the day: Neutral rate of interest (or Natural rate)

Neutral rate of interest is the short-term interest rate that would prevail when the economy is at full employment and stable inflation. It is the rate at which monetary policy is neither contractionary nor expansionary. It’s usually discussed in real terms, that is, nominal interest minus inflation. So, presently the (benchmark, repo rate) interest rate in the economy is 6.5% and the inflation around 4.5% to 5%, so the neutral/natural rate of interest is around 1.5% to 2%.

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I will be conducting a live youtube session on Budget 2024-25 and Economic survey 2023-24 tomorrow at 5 pm. Will share the link tomorrow. The Indian Economy Book latest (8th) edition with all the budget and survey updates will come in August first week.

Budget 2024-25 and Economic Survey 2023-24

Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework for Urban (Primary) Cooperative Banks (UCBs).

RBI has brought in PCA framework for all UCBs which will be effective from 1st April 2025. The three parameters based on which the PCA framework will be invoked are:

1. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR)
2. NPA level
3. Two consecutive years loss

Once the UCBs above three parameters deteriorate beyond a certain level then RBI will take supervisory actions which may be related to Governance/Strategy/Business or even cancellation of banking license too.

Seventh Schedule:
Union List:
54. Regulation of mines and mineral development to the extent to which such regulation and development under the control of the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest

State List:
50. Taxes on mineral rights subject to any limitations imposed by Parliament by law relating to mineral development.
—————————————————————————————————

Right now 'Royalty' is levied under Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) [MMDR] Act 1957 but this is collected by State Government because the State Govt. is the owner of Minerals lying in their State. So, if a company has the mining lease then the company will pay 'Royalty' (as decided in MMDR Act 1957) to the State Govt.

But 'Royalty' is not considered as tax, rather it is a contractual consideration paid by the mining lessee to the lessor (owner) for the right to extract minerals. So as per the point 50 under Seventh Schedule State List, A State Government has the right to impose any tax (or Cess which is also a temporary tax) on mining activities. BUT Centre has the power to frame rules and regulations for development of mines and minerals (Point 54 under Union List) , so if Centre wants it can prohibit/limit any tax imposed on mines and minerals (by States) by amending the MMDR Act 1957 in the Parliament. But till then, as per the SC Judgement, States can imposes taxes (or Cess) on mining related activities within their States.

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RBI guidelines on wilful default and wilful defaulter (earlier RBI had published draft guidelines)

Wilful Defaulter means a borrower or a guarantor (in case the borrower or guarantor is a company then wilful defaulter will be its promotors or directors who are in charge and responsible for the management of the affairs of the entity) who has committed 'wilful default' and the outstanding amount is ₹25 lakh and above, or as may be notified by RBI from time to time.

Wilful Default by a borrower (or guarantor) shall be deemed to have occurred when the borrower defaults in meeting payment/ repayment obligations to the lender and any one or more of the following features are noticed:

1. the borrower has the capacity to honour the said obligations;
2. the borrower has diverted the funds availed under the credit facility from lender;
3. the borrower has siphoned off the funds availed under the credit facility from lender;
4. the borrower has disposed of immovable or movable assets provided for the purpose of securing the credit facility without the approval of the lender;
5. The borrower or the promoter has failed in its commitment to the lender to infuse equity despite having the ability to infuse the equity, although the lender has provided loans or certain concessions to the borrower based on this commitment and other covenants and conditions.

A lender shall identify and classify a person as a 'wilful defaulter' by following the procedure provided in RBI guidelines (no need to go into all this)

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The Indian Economy (latest, 8th edition) Book will be in the market before 15th August.

Hindi Edition will come by August end.

The (8th) edition of the Indian Economy Book has gone into PRINTING but due to the long weekend (15th Aug, Rakshabandan on 19th), it will come in the market next week.

Wish you all a very happy Independence Day.

Source: Indian Express

Land Reforms in Rural Areas:
1. Assignment of a Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) or Bhu-Aadhaar for all lands;
2. Digitisation of cadastral maps;
3. Survey of map sub-divisions according to current ownership; and
4. Establishment of a land registry.

Land Reforms in Urban Areas:
1. Digitization of land records using GIS mapping
2. Establishment of an information technology-based system for property record administration, updating, and tax administration.

https://bit.ly/3SdghTR

Indian Economy 8th Edition - Vivek Singh

Amazon - https://rb.gy/c373d0

Flipkart - https://www.flipkart.com/product/p/itme?pid=9789358705270

You can place the order on Tuesday/wednesday

The Union Cabinet, yesterday, approved the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS).

The salient features of the UPS are:

1. Assured pension: 50% of the average basic pay drawn over the last 12 months prior to superannuation for a minimum qualifying service of 25 years. This pay is to be proportionate for lesser service period upto a minimum of 10 years of service.

2. Assured family pension: @60% of pension of the employee immediately before her/his demise.

3. Assured minimum pension: @10,000 per month on superannuation after minimum 10 years of service.

4. Inflation indexation: on assured pension, on assured family pension and assured minimum pension. This means that the pension will keep on increasing as per inflation and it (Dearness Relief) will be based on All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW) as in case of service employees.

5. Lump sum payment at superannuation in addition to gratuity - 1/10th of monthly emoluments (pay + DA) as on the date of superannuation for every completed six months of service this payment will not reduce the quantum of assured pension.

The new scheme (UPS) will be applicable from April 1, 2025. It will affect 23 lakh Central Govt. Employees, and States may also join it benefiting around 60 lakh state Govt. employees. Employees can choose either UPS or NPS.

The main difference in UPS is, it offers assured pension - which is 50 per cent of the average basic pay drawn over the last 12 months prior to superannuation for a minimum qualifying service of 25 years. While in case of NPS, the contribution by employer/govt. (14%) and employee (10%) is invested in market (equity and bonds) and pension is created as per the value of the fund at retirement. In case of UPS, employer/govt. (18.5%) and employee (10%) will have to contribute but they can get an assured pension. In Old Pension Scheme (OPS), there was no contribution from employer/govt. and employee.

Source: Indian Express.
I have already explained in detail about Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). You can also look at this article which gives a comparison of UPS, NPS and OPS.