Ministry of Railways has made some relaxation in the condition of production of original Proof of Identity during train travel and particularly for the passengers belonging to the lower economic classes.

Fourteenth Finance Commission Constituted             As mandated by the Article 280 of the Constitution, the Government has constituted the Fourteenth Finance Commission consisting of Dr. Y.V.Reddy, former Governor Reserve Bank of India, as the Chairman and the following four other members, namely: -

The Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2011 was introduced in order to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970/1980. The said Bill has been passed by both the Houses of Parliament during its just concluded Winter Session.

The Central Government had permitted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the equity capital of Asset Reconstruction Company (ARCs) upto 49% vide Press Release dated 08.11.2005. Further, on 09.11.2005, the Government permitted the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to invest in Security Receipts (SRs) issued by ARCs upto 49% of each tranche of scheme of SRs.

Maharashtra State has introduced the DEEMED CONVEYANCE SCHEME FOR CO-OP. HSG SOCIETIES.This scheme will help societies in getting conveyance of the land in their name in a fast track manner. Scheme is starting from 15/12/2012 to 30/06/2013.One more scheme for Registration of societies is also starting wherein all unregistered societies can get registered.

The recommendation of Shyamala Gopinath Committee regarding agents’ commission was to reduce commission of 0.5% on Senior Citizens Saving Scheme (SCSS) and 1% on Public Provident Fund (PPF) to zero, reduce 4% commission under Mahila Pradhan Kshetriya Bachat Yojana (MPKBY) to 1% in a phased manner and to reduce 1% commission for all other schemes under Standardised Agency System (SAS) to 0.5%.

The Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah Informed Rajya Sabha today that as per monthly generation report compiled by Central Electricity Authority, 83.483 MU of grid solar power was produced during August, 2012 and 539.205 MU during the period April, 2012 to August, 2012.

The Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah Informed Rajya Sabha today that the Government has announced a National Manufacturing Policy which recognizes the need to launch programmes to build national capabilities in sectors of strategic significance that include solar energy.

In view of the difficulties faced by exporters on account of the weakening of external demand, RBI has taken following measure; (i) Period of realization and repatriation to India of the amount representing the full export value of goods or software was enhanced from 6 months to 12 months.

As per the existing provisions of Minimum Wages Act, minimum wages are revised quinquennially in the Central Sphere. In order to protect the minimum wages against inflation, the Central Government introduced the idea of Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) since 1989.