Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 14 February, 2014

Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams

Global economic body OECD unveiled a new “game-changing” mechanism to combat the menace of offshore tax evasion, a protocol to which India is a signatory with the purpose of tackling black money.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development will formally present the standard for the endorsement of G20 finance ministers during a February 22-23 meeting in Sydney in Australia,” the world body, whose economic policies are followed by over 120 countries.
The G20 invited the OECD to develop a global standard on automatic exchange of information in 2013 and remains the driving force behind the move toward greater tax transparency worldwide.
India has already signed the OECD’s global standard for automatic exchange of information between tax authorities two years back and once the new format is implemented, the country will follow the new protocols envisaged in it.
OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria called the new norms a “game changer.”
The new standard on automatic exchange of information will ramp up international tax co-operation, putting governments back on a more even footing as they seek to protect the integrity of their tax systems and fight tax evasion.

Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan has termed the changes in priority sector lending norms suggested by the Nachiket Mor committee as "interesting ideas" which need to be discussed.
Among other things, the committee on financial inclusion headed by Mor, a former executive director with ICICI Bank, has suggested a weightage-based approach to the priority sector lending norms, which stress leveraging of strengths by a bank, and incentivising lending to the credit deprived sections and regions.
Through this approach, the committee feels a bank's maximum priority sector lending can touch the 50 per cent mark, as against the present requirement of 40 per cent.
As per the report, submitted last month, a bank having strength in farm credit should leverage its strength and do more of it, while some other bank having a strength in small enterprises loan should focus on its core strength.
The Mor committee also talks of certain credit deprived areas such as the north-east, and incentivising banks to lend more there by giving greater weightage.

Telecom operator Vodafone and Star India has announced a tie-up through which the broadcaster's sports telecasts can be viewed on mobile phones.
Kapil Dev, who led India to their first World Cup title in 1983, wished this sort of cutting edge technology was available when he was playing.
The former captain said it was good to see age group cricket being televised as most of the modern day cricketers have emerged from these competitions.

Favorite to host IPL7 is India and South Africa now. The IPL governing council categorically said the seventh edition of the tournament would be played in South Africa if it had to be moved out of India.
Bangladesh and UAE too, were in the short-list earlier, but no longer feature in the race.