By: D.K Choudhary
Study by Oxfam Shows Richest 1% in India Holds 58% of Total Wealth
i. As per a report titled ‘An economy for the 99 per cent’ released by rights group Oxfam on January 16, 2017, the richest 1 percent of the population in India holds 58 percent of the country’s total wealth which is higher than the global figure of 50 percent.
ii. The report found that since 2015, the richest 1 percent population in India has continued to own more wealth than the rest of the countries.
iii. Besides, it also discovered that 57 billionaires in India having collective wealth of USD 216 billion was equal to the wealth that lowest 70 percent population held. However, when taken globally only 8 billionaires have the same amount of wealth as the poorest 50 percent of the world population.
iv. The study stated that India has 84 billionaires with a collective wealth of USD 248 billion. The total Indian wealth in the country was calculated at USD 3.1 trillion. Top 3 billionaires comprised of Mukesh Ambani (USD 19.3 billion), Dilip Shanghvi (USD 16.7 billion) and Azim Premji (USD 15 billion).
IMF Lowers India’s GDP Growth Rate to 6.6% from 7.6% for FY17
i. According to the World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on January 16, 2017 has lowered the India’s GDP growth rate for the current fiscal year by one point to 6.6 percent from its previous estimate of 7.6 percent due to the effect of demonetization on consumption and expenditure.
ii. IMF also cut India’s GDP forecast for 2017-18 by 0.4 points to 7.2 percent as against previous forecast of 7.6 percent. For the year 2018-19, the projected growth rate remained unchanged at 7.7 percent.
iii. Besides, IMF estimated the growth rate of China at 6.7 percent for 2016-17, 6.5 percent for 2017-18 and 6 percent for 2018-19.
iv. The global growth for 2016 was estimated at 3.1 percent that remained unchanged from previous forecast while for 2017 the global forecast is estimated at 3.4 percent for advanced and 3.6 percent for developing economies.
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
♦ Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
♦ CEO: Christine Lagarde
♦ Founded: 27 December 1945
Yes Bank Launches Business Accelerator Program Yes Fintech
i. Private sector lender YES BANK in collaboration with T-Hub, Anthill and Lets Talk Payments launched a unique business accelerator program “YES FINTECH” to provide start-ups a platform for creating sustainable and market ready products as well as provide innovative banking solutions to the customers.
ii. YES FINTECH has invited start-ups applications from across the global community, till 
February 3, 2017 on its website www.yesfintech.com. It would select top 12 start-ups for 15 week dual destination program to be held in Mumbai and Hyderabad.
iii. The 15-week programme would be conducted in four phases with three weeks of on-site interventions and 11 weeks off-site interventions. Each stage will be focussed on creating a market-ready product and a sustainable business model.
iv. The focus areas will be payments, forex & treasury, capital markets, lending, trade finance, customer value added services, government risk & compliance, and enterprise software.
v. T-Hub is India’s fastest growing start-up engine specialized in innovation, scale and deal flow. Anthill and LetsTalkPayments are global platform for financial technology (Fintech).
Yes Bank Launches India’s First Customisable Savings Account
i. YES Bank has launched a first of its kind unique Customizable Savings Account to enable the customers to design an account as per their convenience.
ii. Mumbai based bank has become the first bank in India to launch such type of account that enables the customer to choose various features of a savings accounts that suits one’s own lifestyle.
iii. The Customizable Savings Account will also protect the customer from unwarranted charges by eliminating unnecessary account features.
iv. Customers can choose options like debit cards, alternatives to minimum balance requirements, and banking benefits such as ATM usage, digital banking products, branch banking and family grouping.
YES BANK
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai
♦ Founded: 2004
♦ CEO: Rana Kapoor
RBI Hikes Cash Withdrawal Limit from ATMs to Rs. 10,000 per Day
i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from January 16, 2017 has increased the limit of cash withdrawal from ATMs to Rs 10,000 per day from the current Rs 4,500 with immediate effect.
ii. However the bank made no changes to the weekly withdrawal limits which is Rs 24,000.
iii. Besides, the total limit to withdraw from current accounts has also been increased to Rs 1,00,000 per week from the current limit of Rs 50,000 per week which will also be applicable on the overdraft and cash credit accounts.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
♦ Headquarter: Mumbai, Maharashtra
♦ Founded: April 1, 1935
♦ Governor: Urjit R Patel
