• SPENDING ON INFORMATION-TECHNOLOGY BY BANKS AND SECURITY FIRMS TO TOUCH $9 BILLION: Information Technology (IT) spending in Indian Banking and Securities firms is expected to touch USD $ 9.1 Billion, an increase of around 11.7% over last year. This is because the transition of Indian Banking sector to a cashless society is creating many opportunities of technology investments into digital payments infrastructure.

• SBI TO USE BLOCKCHAIN FOR SMART CONTRACTS AND KYC BY NEXT MONTH: . State Bank of India will roll out beta launches of Blockchain – enabled smart contracts. By next month SBI will also launch Blockchain enabled Know Your Customer (KYC) application. These two applications are part of BankChain, a community of 27 banks, which have joined hands to explore and build Blockchain solutions in India. The Blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.

• NOW GET REWARED FOR PAYING INCOME TAX PROMPTLY: The Income Tax Department has proposed monetary rewards for honest taxpayers depending on the tax paid. The reward will be for taxpayers who are consistent in filing returns and have no outstanding tax liabilities. However if a tax payer defaults in the future, the tax department will deduct the monetary reward thus paid from his refund with interest.

• GST RATE ON RESTAURANTS SLASHED TO 5%: The GST council has slashed the tax on restaurants to 5% for all restaurants, both AC and Non AC. Earlier a 12% and 18% GST was levied on Non AC and AC restaurants respectively.

• CBDT DIRECTS IT DEPARTMENT TO REDRESS TAXPAYERS GRIEVENCES ON PRIORITY: Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT) has asked the Income Tax department to take prompt steps and address the taxpayers’ grievances, especially those related to refunds and PAN related issues. The CBDT chairman has written to all the principal chief commissioners of the department in the country, underlying the high pendency of such complaints and has asked them to resolve them at the earliest.

• GOVERNMENT SEEKS SPECIAL DIVIDEND FROM RBI FOR BANK RECAPITALISATION: The government has sought a special dividend from the RBI to fund a part of its Rs 2.11 lakh crore plan to recapitalise the public sector banks. The RBI has been asked to pay a

special dividend apart from the yearly surplus that it pays to the government. This dividend if agreed by the RBI will be used only for Bank recapitalisation.

• MOODY’S UPGRADES INDIA’S CREDIT RATING FOR FIRST TIME IN 13 YEARS: US based Moody’s has upgraded India’s sovereign credit rating by a notch to “ Baa2” with a stable outlook citing improved growth prospects driven by economic and institutional reforms. The rating upgrade comes after a gap of 13 years.

• PRESIDENT APPROVES ORDINANCE TO AMEND BANKRUPTCY CODE: The government has amended the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to prevent wilful defaulters from bidding for stressed assets. The President has given approval for the said amendment which will be followed by cabinet approval.