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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said that it maintained the quality of bank notes “well within the various tolerance parameters for dimension, placement of design, print features, etc,” and that its currency printing presses were state-of-the-art and well-documented. The RBI’s clarification came after the opposition Congress alleged that the RBI was printing two types of Rs 500 notes, differing in size, terming it the “biggest scam of the century”. “ The currency printing presses are equipped with state of the art machinery, documented systems and technically qualified personnel through which quality control is ensured at each stage of banknote production,” the RBI said, adding there were integrated systems in place for inspecting each note. “ The stringent quality control procedures also include various online and offline systems for inspection of final product quality. Labs with specialised paper and ink testing facilities, which verifies the specification ...

Income tax (I-T) officials fear 80 per cent of the outstanding tax demand arrears, quantified over Rs 8.4 lakh crore, is unlikely to be recovered. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) plans to adopt a two-pronged strategy to reduce such huge dues. It would focus on optimising disposal in terms of numbers and on maximising disposal of appeals involving high quantum of demand. The CBDT has asked commissioners of I-T (appeals) to dispose of at least 30 per cent of appeals that involve I-T arrear demands of over Rs 10 lakh. It has also directed them to conclude 100 per cent of cases that involve demands of over Rs 50 crore. Arrears of tax demands are demands raised against assessees in the past that have not been paid. The total outstanding arrear demands increased to Rs 10,52,084 crore in April 2017 from Rs 9,29,972 crore in March 2016. Officials indicated 80 per cent of this would be difficult to recover in this fiscal year. The arrears are piling up because of litigation, l...

Prevention of cow slaughter took centre stage again on Sunday as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)  chief Mohan Bhagwat called for a nationwide ban on the killing of what many Hindus consider to be a holy animal, or even their "mother". Bhagwat called on the government to make laws to this effect. While he acknowledged that several states had stringent laws against cow slaughter, chiefly attributing them to dedicated RSS members running these state governments, he said that there was a need for a similar law for the entire country. While speaking at an event organised to mark the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir in New Delhi, Bhagwat said: "Sampoorna Bharatvarsh me gauvansh hatya band ho, ye hamari ichchha hai (The killing of cows and its progeny should be banned across the entire country, that is our wish)." Bhagwat's remarks came two days after the Supreme Court asked the Centre and the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Karnataka, ...

Services PMI Moving away from the contractions related to demonetisation, the services sector maintained a stronger rate of expansion in February, the widely tracked Nikkei’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey showed on Thursday. PMI for services rose to 51.5 points from 50.3 points in February. A reading above 50 signifies expansion, while one below that shows contraction. The sector had contracted for three consecutive months till January as business flow failed to recover from the impact of demonetisation. PMI averaged 49.3 points in the third quarter of the financial year; it was at 49.5 points for the first two months of the fourth quarter. Underpinning the expansion in services activity was a back-to-back rise in new business inflows. As was the case for output, the growth of new work also gathered pace in March. Anecdotal evidence highlighted improving demand conditions. At the same time, factory new orders increased at the strongest rate since last October. I...

The  Wholesale price   index-based inflation (WPI) jumped to a 39-month high of 6.55 per cent in February compared to 5.25 per cent in the previous month on the back of expensive food and fuel items, even as manufacturing products saw a decline in inflation. The data justifies the Reserve Bank of India's caution on loose monetary stance amid expected increase in interest rates in the United States in the next few days. Expectations are that the consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation would also break its six-month declining spree in February on the support of food prices. The data for CPI inflation would come later today. Icra principal economist Aditi Nayar pegged CPI inflation at 3.9 per cent in February against 3.2 per cent in January. With this, the gap between WPI and CPI, which has been widening in the last few months, would narrow down. In fact, food has a higher weight of over 45 per cent in CPI than just 14.3 pe...

Closing stocks of wheat with Central agencies as on March 2017 is projected to be 10 mn tn higher Indians are expected to consume over 100 million tonnes of  Wheat in 2016-17  marketing year that will end in March if Centre’s production estimates and trade’s import numbers for the year are correct. The government on Wednesday, as per its second advanced estimate, said that wheat output in 2015-16 crop year which is marketed till March 2017 is around 92.29 million tonnes. This is lower than its earlier estimate of 93.5 million tonnes. Assuming that the production numbers are accurate, the 2016-17 season started with an opening wheat stocks of around 14.5 million tonnes with the Food Corporation of India (FCI).  This when added to the total estimated production of 92.29 million tonnes, takes the total availability from domesticcrop at 106.7 million tonnes.  That apart, trade sources said that India is expecte...