Competition regulation complements sectoral oversight while select bank mergers may be exempted from routine scrutiny.
The Competition Commission of India is a market regulator mandated to foster competition and protect markets from anti competitive practices while complementing sectoral regulators. The Government proposes an exemption for bank mergers and acquisitions from CCI scrutiny under the Banking Law Amendment Act. A Draft National Competition Policy is ready for submission to the Cabinet, envisioning a Cabinet Committee on Competition to guide ministries and departments to engender a competition culture; the Competition (Amendment) Bill is referred to a Group of Ministers.

International crude oil price unchanged; rupee depreciation pushed up domestic per barrel rupee cost.
The international crude oil price for the Indian Basket was unchanged at US$ 98.49 per barrel; however the rupee denominated per barrel price rose marginally due to slight rupee depreciation against the US dollar, with comparative figures provided for the prior trading day and the preceding fortnight.

Corporate governance reforms urged to strengthen institutions, enable inclusive growth and drive capacity building in the banking sector.
Strengthening economic and financial institutions is essential to harness market potential and secure sustained inclusive growth by adopting corporate governance practices, sustainable reporting, and creative capitalism that align profit with social responsibility. The meeting sought to design capacity building programmes for senior banking management and regulators on CSR, IFRS, corporate governance and Basel III, supported by a memorandum establishing a dedicated training hub and collaboration between national training and professional accountancy institutes.

Public Financial Institution designation sets eligibility criteria for institutions seeking PFI status and disclosure compliance
Declaration as a Public Financial Institution requires corporate status under a central enactment, principal activity of industrial or infrastructural financing, minimum operational duration, specified income composition and net-worth thresholds. Registered Infrastructure Finance Companies and Housing Finance Companies must obtain a regulator's no-objection certificate addressing supervisory concerns and include disclosure of compliance with the Ministry's directions in their audited financial statements.

International crude oil price rise increases domestic rupee cost amid concurrent rupee depreciation and exchange rate movements.
International Crude Oil Price for the Indian Basket rose to US$ 106.95 per barrel on 22 May 2012, with the rupee price increasing to Rs 5,869.42 per barrel due to the dollar price rise and rupee depreciation; the PPAC release supplies day-to-day and fortnight comparisons and accompanying exchange-rate figures to show short-term price and exchange-rate movements.

Profitability decline prompts operational and cost-control measures to restore steel producer's margins amid input-cost pressures.
Profitability fell markedly between 2009-10 and 2010-11 and remained weak into 2011-12 due to higher input costs (notably imported coal), raised salary and wage bills, increased interest and depreciation, reduced interest earnings, higher mineral royalty, lower production and sales volumes, and adverse foreign exchange variation; higher net sales realisation only partially offset the decline. To improve profits the company is pursuing production and product mix optimisation, energy and process efficiencies, higher coal injection rates, asset disposals, increased by product and scrap sales, and tighter administrative cost control.

Counterfeit-note detection: mandatory machine authentication before reissuing high-denomination cash to prevent circulation of unauthenticated notes.
Banks must ensure banknotes of denominations of one hundred and above are authenticated by machines before reissuance over counters or through ATMs. This mandatory machine authentication conditions re-circulation of high-denomination notes and applies immediately to all branches irrespective of daily cash-volume, requiring realignment of cash-management processes so received high-denomination notes are not put back into circulation without machine processing for authenticity.

Machine authentication of high-denomination banknotes required before recirculation; applies to all branches, for counter and ATM issuance nationwide.
Banks must machine-authenticate banknotes of denomination one hundred and above before reissuing them over counters or through ATMs; no high-denomination cash receipts may be recirculated without machine verification. This instruction is effective immediately and applies to all bank branches regardless of daily cash volume, requiring re-alignment of cash management and branch-level compliance for sorting and processing of such notes.

EEFC conversion requirement: exchange earners must convert part of EEFC balances to rupees and limit foreign currency retention.
Regulators mandate that exchange earners convert a prescribed portion of existing EEFC balances into rupees within a short compliance period and report to the Foreign Exchange Department; for future forex receipts, only a reduced share may be retained in non interest bearing EEFC accounts while the remainder must be surrendered for conversion. EEFC balances must be used up before accessing the forex market, authorised dealers may require a declaration, and similar rules apply to Resident Foreign Currency and Diamond Dollar accounts.

Competition advisory group constituted to provide strategic market and advocacy guidance to the competition authority through periodic consultations.
Constitution of an Eminent Persons Advisory Group (EPAG) as a non decisionmaking consultative body to advise the Competition Commission of India on market and competition issues, advocacy strategies, and good international practices, with interdisciplinary membership from the corporate sector, academia, NGOs and regulatory institutions and periodic meetings to interact with the Commission.

ATM reimbursement duty: banks must promptly refund failed transactions, with daily penalties for unjustified delay.
Banks must reimburse customers for amounts debited in failed ATM transactions within seven days of a complaint; if reimbursement is not effected within that period, the bank is liable to pay a daily penalty of Rs100 for each day of delay.

Cybersecurity coordination to enable early warning alerts and coordinated mitigation of malicious cyber activity across stakeholders.
A proposed multi stakeholder Cyber Coordination Centre will detect malicious activity and issue early warning alerts to enable coordinated mitigation by government, academia and industry. Measures complementing this mechanism include the Information Technology Act legal framework, national incident response advisories and security guidelines, adoption of recognised information security management practices by critical infrastructure operators, regular security audits, cyber security policies for government bodies, targeted training in cyber forensics and network security, and a Crisis Management Plan for countering cyber attacks and terrorism.

International crude oil price rises, driven by dollar strength and rupee depreciation, raising domestic per barrel rupee cost.
International crude oil price for the Indian Basket rose to US$115.57 per barrel on 24 April 2012 from US$115.14 the previous trading day, and to Rs 6,100.94 per barrel in rupee terms due to the combined effect of higher dollar crude prices and rupee depreciation (exchange rate Rs 52.79/US$ from Rs 52.23/US$); these figures were published by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.

Development focus: prevent dilution and secure Doha Round conclusion to keep trade policy centred on development.
The statement warns against using global crises as a pretext to retreat from development commitments and calls for an early conclusion of the Doha Round to maintain an open, equitable, rule based multilateral trading system with development as a core element, prioritizing LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS. It further urges international financial regulatory oversight and reform, stronger policy coordination, promotion of sound global financial markets and equitable access for developing countries to decision making on these reforms.

Monetary easing to support slowing growth while safeguarding against renewed inflation and strengthening liquidity buffers.
The Reserve Bank announced monetary easing by lowering the repo rate, recalibrating reverse repo and MSF rates, and raising the MSF borrowing limit for banks to bolster liquidity. The move responds to growth running below its post crisis trend and moderating headline and core inflation, but further easing is constrained by upside inflation risks-particularly from administered price revisions and fiscal slippage. The Bank set a three point stance to adjust rates for growth, guard against demand led inflation, and enhance liquidity, and outlined regulatory and developmental measures including financial inclusion, bank customer protections, NBFC exposure limits on gold lending, and timelines for Basel III and securitisation guidelines.

International crude oil price rises, pushing domestic rupee price higher due to dollar strength and rupee depreciation.
International crude oil price for the Indian Basket rose on 26 March 2012 in dollar terms, and the rupee per barrel price increased due to the higher dollar price combined with rupee depreciation; the release compares these figures with the prior trading day and a recent fortnight average and states the exchange rate used for conversion.

Trade Target Revision elevates India Africa trade ambition and promotes regional trade cooperation and capacity building.
Ministers agreed to raise the bilateral trade target and to deepen economic ties by strengthening trade relations through capacity building, concluding trade cooperation agreements with African RECs and countries, and promoting sectoral cooperation across agriculture, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, mining, energy, infrastructure, financial services and IT. They launched the India Africa Business Council to guide enhancement of commercial relations and identify impediments, and inaugurated a cotton technical assistance programme for cotton growing African countries with a designated project management agency to build capacity and competitiveness.

International crude oil price rise signals higher import bill and upward pressure on domestic fuel costs amid rupee depreciation.
The Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell published that the international crude oil price for the Indian Basket rose to US$ 125.15 per barrel on 08 March 2012, and that rupee denominated prices increased due to both higher crude quotes and rupee depreciation, with comparative figures for the prior trading day and prior fortnight illustrating short term volatility and upward pressure on import costs and domestic fuel prices.

International crude oil price reporting shows slight dollar decline but higher rupee price due to currency depreciation.
The Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell published the international crude oil price for the Indian Basket showing a slight decline in dollar terms but a higher rupee price due to rupee depreciation; the daily computation uses the previous trading day's market figures and the applicable exchange rate to convert dollar prices into rupees.

Regulator approval requirement: companies or LLPs proposing professional practice objects must obtain regulator in-principle approval before incorporation.
Entities (companies or LLPs) that list as an object the practice of regulated professions or activities may be incorporated only upon production of an in-principle approval / NOC from the relevant statutory regulator or professional institute; the Registrar of Companies/Registrar of LLP must verify such approval before completing incorporation.