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Finance Minister Asks Financial Entities To Ensure Customers Nominate Heirs

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Finance Minister Asks Financial Entities To Ensure Customers Nominate Heirs

Nirmala Sitharaman asked banks, financial institutions to ensure customers update nominees

Mumbai:

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today asked banks and other financial institutions to ensure that their customers must update nominees to help resolve the problem of unclaimed money in future.

“I want the banking system, the financial ecosystem including the mutual funds, stock markets to keep in mind that when someone deals with his (customer’s) money, the organisations will have to think about the future and ensure that customers nominate their heirs, give the name and address,” Sitharaman said speaking at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF).

According to a report, the banking system alone has more than Rs 35,000 crore of unclaimed deposits, while the overall quantum of the unclaimed money is said to be more than Rs 1 lakh crore.

The Reserve Bank on August 17 launched a centralised web portal UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits – Gateway to Access information) to help people search and claim unclaimed deposits.

The portal, launched by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, has been developed by the central bank to help the public to facilitate and make it easier for them to search their unclaimed deposits across multiple banks in one place.

The finance minister said that it is essential to build a responsible financial ecosystem, and added that one laggard can cause a disruption, which can lead to trust deficit and the resultant crisis in the financial world.

She also noted that tax havens and round-tripping of money are a threat to responsible financial ecosystem.

“We equally should talk about the threats to a responsible financial global ecosystem and the global challenges thereof to build a responsible financial ecosystem,” she added.

Listing out the threats faced by the financial system, she said there are physical border threats, which are conventional warfare and other things. Then there are cyber threats whose intensity, unpredictability, and also the depth and access have gone up too high today.

“As much as you build firewalls, there are more and more newer ways in which attacks are being made. Cryptos which are a threat as well as an opportunity is also an example of the urgent need global cooperation because we are not going to be able to have a responsible financial ecosystem which we cannot regulate.” On how the fintech players have helped the country, the minister said in about last four years, the number of demat accounts has increased by 2.5 times from 4.1 crore in 2019-20 to 10 crore in 2022-23.

A record number of mutual fund SIPs are being registered, which helps in generating long-term wealth. Monthly SIP inflows have touched an all-time high of Rs 15,245 crore in July. When it comes to the assets under management of the mutual fund industry, it has increased tremendously in the last decade, growing more than four-folds from Rs 10 lakh crore in May 2014 to Rs 46.37 lakh crore in July 2023, she said.

On the increasing number of income tax return filings, she said the August data signals that the formalisation of the economy is now really wide and it is accessing so many different areas. Credit facilities, social security, pension, insurance, all of them are getting covered.

Though Maharashtra still continues to be the leader in income tax filing, other states are also moving up. In places like the north-east, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, the new I-T return filings have gone up to two digits, grown by double digits growth. This augurs very well for the financial ecosystem.

She also asked fintech companies to invest heavily in robust security measures, utilising advanced encryption and other measures to protect user data and financial transactions.

A secured system is what will build trust and therefore that is a must for the financial ecosystem to truly flourish, she said, adding, India can lead in making the financial ecosystem inclusive, resilient and sustainable as we have the tools but we have to make it responsible.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)



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Sensex Jumps 1,000 Points, Nifty Breaches 25,000 After Trading Flat Till Noon

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New Delhi:

Sensex jumped past 1,000 points today after trading flat till noon. Nifty too soared by rising over 1.5 per cent and breached 25,000 for the first time since October 17 in 2024. 

Sensex was up 1,260.14 points at 1:55 pm while Nifty was up 396.55 points at 25,063.45.

Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade in the morning, dragged down by blue-chip bank stocks and weak trends in Asian markets.

The 30-share BSE benchmark gauge Sensex declined 106.78 points to 81,223.78 in early trade. The NSE Nifty dipped 38.45 points to 24,628.45.

Later, the BSE benchmark traded 247.22 points lower at 81,082.80, and the Nifty quoted 67.15 points down at 24,599.75.

From the Sensex firms, Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank were the major laggards.

Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra and UltraTech Cement were the gainers.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were trading lower.

US markets ended on a mixed note on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dropped 2.10 per cent to USD 64.70 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 931.80 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

On Wednesday, the BSE Sensex climbed 182.34 points or 0.22 per cent to settle at 81,330.56. The Nifty rose by 88.55 points or 0.36 per cent to 24,666.90. 





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Sensex Up 281 Points As Retail Inflation Drops To 6-Year Low In April

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Mumbai:

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded in early trade on Wednesday as retail inflation eased to a nearly six-year low of 3.16 per cent in April, creating enough room for the Reserve Bank to go for another round of rate cut in the June monetary policy review.

Also, a cooling US April inflation data added to the positive trend in the equity markets.

The 30-share BSE benchmark gauge Sensex climbed 281.43 points to 81,429.65 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 96.65 points to 24,675.

From the Sensex firms, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Eternal, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv and Reliance Industries were the major gainers.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel climbed over 2 per cent after it posted about a five-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 11,022 crore in the March 2025 quarter, mainly due to the tariff hike impact and one-time gain on tax benefits.

However, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Nestle and IndusInd Bank were among the laggards.

Tata Motors dipped over 1 per cent after the firm reported a 51 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 8,556 crore for the March quarter, hit by lower volumes and operating leverage.

“A strong tailwind for the Indian market is the sharp dip in April CPI inflation to 3.16 per cent. This leaves enough room for the MPC to cut rates thrice more in this cutting cycle. This is positive for the market in general and rate sensitives in particular,” VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Retail inflation eased to a nearly six-year low of 3.16 per cent in April mainly due to subdued prices of vegetables, fruits, pulses, and other protein-rich items, creating enough room for the Reserve Bank to go for another round of rate cut in the June monetary policy review.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was 3.34 per cent in March and 4.83 per cent in April 2024. It was 3.15 per cent in July 2019.

“These developments (India, US inflation data) are likely to boost investor sentiment. In addition, easing trade tensions between the US and China, as well as a reduction in geopolitical frictions between India and Pakistan, are supportive of a favorable market environment,” Vikas Jain, Head of Research at Reliance Securities, said in his pre-open market quote.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were trading higher while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index quoted lower.

US markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.57 per cent to USD 66.25 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 476.86 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

On Tuesday, the Sensex tanked 1,281.68 points or 1.55 per cent to settle at 81,148.22. The broader Nifty of NSE dropped 346.35 points or 1.39 per cent to 24,578.35.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)




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Wholesale Inflation Falls To 0.85% In April

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New Delhi:

Wholesale price inflation dropped to 0.85 per cent in April as prices of food articles, manufactured products, and fuel eased, government data showed on Wednesday.

WPI-based inflation was 2.05 per cent in March. It was 1.19 per cent in April last year. ” Positive rate of inflation in April, 2025 is primarily due to an increase in prices of manufacture of food products, other manufacturing, chemicals and chemical products, manufacture of other transport equipment and manufacture of machinery and equipment, etc,” the industry ministry said in a statement.

As per the WPI (Wholesale price index ) data, food articles saw a deflation of 0.86 per cent in April from an inflation of 1.57 per cent in March, with vegetables seeing a sharp drop. Deflation in vegetables was 18.26 per cent during April compared to deflation of 15.88 per cent in March. In onion, inflation eased to 0.20 per cent in April, as against 26.65 per cent in March.

Manufactured products, however, saw inflation at 2.62 per cent in April, compared to 3.07 per cent in March.

Fuel and power too saw a deflation of 2.18 per cent in April, compared to 0.20 per cent in March.

The RBI mainly takes into account retail inflation while formulating monetary policy. Data released on Tuesday showed, retail inflation eased to 3.16 per cent in April mainly due subdued prices of vegetables, fruits, pulses, and other protein-rich items. This is the lowest level of inflation since July 2019.

Easing of inflation would create enough room for the Reserve Bank to go in for another round of rate cut in the June monetary policy review.

In April, the RBI cut the benchmark policy rate by 0.25 per cent to 6 per cent. This is the second cut during the year to stimulate the economy, facing the threat of US reciprocal tariffs. The RBI sees retail inflation averaging 4 per cent in the current fiscal from the previous estimate of 4.2 per cent.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)




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