NABARD opens first Farmers Club in Kargil

April 30th, 2013

Kargil got its first FarmersClub, as NABARD inaugurated Trespone Farmers Club at Trespone TSG Block in the district. What is Farmers Club (FCs) ? Farmers Clubs (FCs) are grassroot level informal forums of farmers. Such Clubs are organized by rural branches of banks with the support and financial assistance of NABARD for the mutual benefit of the banks concerned and the village farming community/rural people. With the enhancement of the programme, other agencies like NGO, VAs, KVKs, SAUs etc. are also now included as agencies included in the formation and promotions of FCs. Background: The Farmers Clubs programme which was earlier known as Vikas Volunteer Vahini (VVV) Programme was launched by NABARD in 1982. The programme was directed towards development in rural areas through credit, technology transfer, awareness and capacity building. The VVV Programme was renamed as Farmers Club Programme in 2005 by revisiting its earlier mission. What is the need of Farmers Clubs? Around 60% of countrys population depends on agriculture which contributes18% to Indias GDP. The Tenth Five Year Plan and National Agriculture Policy documents envisage a growth level of 4% in Agriculture. However the growth of the sector has not been satisfactory with less than 2% growth in the last 50 years. To meet the targeted growth it is imperative improve productivity and reduce costs by improving efficiency. Keeping that in mind NABARD devised FCs strategyto provide package of initiatives for transfer of technology, improving input use efficiency, promoting investments in agriculture both in private and in public sectors and creating a favourable and conducive economic environment. The emerging needs in agriculture sector now are adoption of location specific skill and knowledge based technologies, promote greater value addition to agriculture produce, forge new partnerships between public institutions, technology users and the corporate sector, harness IT more effectively to realize financial sustainability and compete in the international market. Who can form FCs? All Institutional Agencies (Commercial Banks, Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks) and all grassroot level organisations (NGOs, PRIs, State Agricultural Universities, KVKs, ATMA, Post Offices etc.) are eligible to form Farmers Clubs. What are the functions of FCs?

The broad functions of the Farmers Clubs are: Coordinate with banks to ensure credit flow among its members and forge better bank borrower relationship, Organise minimum one meeting per month and depending upon the need, there would be 2-3 meetings per month. Non-members can also be invited to attend the meetings, Interface with subject matter specialists in the various fields of agriculture and allied activities etc., extension personnel of Agriculture Universities, Development Departments and other related agencies for technical know how upgradation. For guest lectures, even experienced farmers who are non members from the village/ neighbouring villages could be invited, Liaison with Corporate input suppliers to purchase bulk inputs on behalf of members, Organise/facilitate joint activities like value addition, processing, collective purchase of inputs and farm produce marketing, etc.; for the benefit of members. They can also sponsor / organise SHGs, Undertake socio-economic developmental activities like community works, education, health, environment and natural resource management etc. Market rural produce and products How a bank is benefitted by opening FCs? FCs concept is a win-win situation for both the banker and the borrower. As per a study, the following benefits were accrued to a bank branch operating FCs: Increase in deposits. Increase in the credit flow and diversification of lending. Generation of new business avenues. Increase in the recoveries and decline in the non-performing assets. Reduction in the transaction costs of financial institutions/ Banks. Socio economic development of the village. Besides these benefits to the banks, the Farmers Club has also been instrumental in certain social welfare measures like free eye check-up camp, Animal Health Care Camp, Mass vaccination camp, community works like road, check-dams, afforestation, etc. Enhancement in bargaining power for bulk purchase of inputs and marketing of their produce. How NABARD supports FCs? NABARDs policy support for Farmers Club Programme lays stress on linking technologies with farmers club members and also facilitating market access through the following mechanism: Capacity building of members of Farmers Clubs including leadership training. Linkage with technology/markets Self Help Groups (SHGs)/Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) formation Forming Federations of Farmers Clubs/Producers Groups/Companies

Financial Support from NABARD NABARD also provides financial assistance of Rs.10,000/- per club per annum for a period of 3 years to all agencies irrespective of whether they are institutional or other agencies and also the region concerned. What is the current status of FCs? During 2009-10, 16,590 Farmers Clubs have been formed taking the cumulative number of farmers Clubs to 54,805 as on 31st March 2010.
Tags: Agriculture Banking Plans and Policies Socio-Economic

RBI to start plastic money project on trial basis

April 20th, 2013

Deputy Governor, RBI, K. C. Chakrabarty held that the RBI is probable to commence the introduction of plastic notes in select parts of India on a trial basis and it would commence with the introduction of Rs.10 denomination and continue with other small denominations. Plastic notes can withstand more wear-and-tear than their paper counterparts Have a longer life than paper counterparts Plastic notes are more difficult to fake and could therefore be a means of countering counterfeiting. S. Gopalakrishnan new head of CII S. Gopalakrishnan, Co-Founder Infosys elected as new President for Industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2013-14. S. Gopalakrishnan will replace Adi Godrej, Chairman of Godrej Group. Krishna Kumar is new ED of Canara Bank V. S. Krishna Kumar took charge as the ED (Executive Director) of Canara Bank with effect from April 4, 2013. India and Singapore ink MoU on Air Services India and Singapore inked a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral air services. The MoU rationalizes the capacity entitlements of both India and Singapore in terms of seats per week in each direction with a route specific cap for Singapore on each route. The MoU increases by 10%, the capacity entitlement with India. Reconstitution of Central Press Accreditation Committee Central Press Accreditation Committee (CPAC), reconstituted by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Function of CPAC: To approve applications for accreditation from the media, both Indian as well as foreign.

Jammu and Kashmir Bank wins FE Indias Best B anks Award-2012-13 In recognition of its strong fundamentals and dynamic growth model, J & K Bank won the prestigious FE Indias Best Banks Award for 2012-13. Ranked as No. 1 in Best Old Private Sector Bank category 3rd in the overall banking industry in terms of Profitability. 1st in terms of Profitability in the category of Old private sector banks.
Tags: Awards Banking Jammu and Kashmir Bank

Fact Box: Caratometer ( Karatmeter )

April 6th, 2013

Corporation Bank to use caratometers in order to check purity of Gold pledged Corporation Bank planning to use cartometers in order to check the purity of Gold pledged. Corporation Banks gold loan portfolio more than doubled to Rs 3,662 crore as of December 2012 from Rs 1,585 crore as at December 2011. To encourage boost agriculture lending, the Corporation bank has opened gold loan shoppe at 7 places. Karatmeter (also spelt as caratometer): A scientific and non-destructive method for testing the purity of Gold. Internationally used device. Used as a confirmatory test (after the assayer gives his report on the quality of gold), thus assuring the purity of gold pledged with the bank by borrowers. Uses X-rays to give an exact reading of the purity of gold in about 3 minutes. However, it only checks the purity of the gold on the top layer. Most showrooms across India use it. Other ways to determine the gold content include melting Gold down, the touchstone method or XRF (x-ray fluorescence) method.
Tags: Banking Fact Box Science and Technology

IRDA passes credit rating norm for choosing foreign reinsurers

April 5th, 2013

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). As per the IRDA (General Insurance Reinsurance) Regulations 2013, Foreign reinsurers who have a credit rating of at least BBB from Standard & Poors Corp. or an equivalent rating by any other international agency for the past five years, can reinsure Indian insurers. In the reinsurance framework, multiple insurance companies share the risk by purchasing insurance policies from other insurers in order to limit the total loss the original insurer would face in the case of a disaster.

What are the Objectives of this move by IRDA ? Increase retention (the portion of risk which an insurer assumes for its own account). IRDA was finding it difficult to track the audit trail of many transactions with regard to reinsurance placements and coinsurance. There was a demand from the general insurers that a level playing field be created for foreign insurance companies and Indian reinsurers. This was because, as yet there have been no restrictions in place for the foreign firms. KYC norms for self-help groups relaxed : RBI April 1st, 2013 In order to address the difficulties faced by SHGs in complying with Know Your Customer (KYC) norms while opening savings bank accounts and credit linking of their accounts, RBI has held that the banks can open savings account for the SHG even if know your customer verification is completed for only the office bearers of the SHG. Thus, it has been decided to simplify certain norms for SHGs. Thus, it will not be mandatory for the banks to complete the KYC of all members of the SHG before opening a bank account, rather now, verification can be completed only for the office bearers of the SHG. Also, as the banks would have already completed the KYC norms for the SHG while opening SHGs bank account, there would be no need for a separate KYC verification while giving credit to the SHGs.