Dope test mandatory for Punjab staff

Widening his war on rampant drug abuse in the State, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ordered mandatory dope tests on all government employees, including police personnel, from the time of their recruitment through every stage of service.

The Chief Minister directed the Chief Secretary to work out the modalities and issue a notification in this regard. “Dope test would be made mandatory for all recruitments as well as promotions to be made by various Punjab government departments. Dope test would also be made a mandatory part of the annual medical examination of all civilian/police employees of the Punjab government, wherever prescribed Union Cabinet clears DNA profiling Bill

The Union Cabinet has cleared DNA profiling Bill

The Union Cabinet has cleared a Bill that allows law enforcement agencies to collect DNA samples, create “DNA profiles” and special databanks for forensic-criminal investigations. The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018, is the latest version of a Bill that originated as a DNA “profiling” Bill, framed by the Department of Biotechnology. The aim of that draft legislation was to set in place an institutional mechanism to collect and deploy DNA technologies to identify persons based on samples collected from crime scenes or for identifying missing persons. However, there was opposition, in that some activists argued that the manner in which DNA information was to be collected and the way they were to be stored by forensic laboratories constituted a violation of privacy

Loan accounts above ₹50 cr. to go to special branches:

PNB Bank designates 60 branches as ‘systemically important’ The fraud-hit Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Wednesday said it had begun a credit restructuring exercise that will ensure that large accounts, as well as lending operations, are concentrated in a few specially designated branches. “To ensure better accountability and operations, the bank is shifting most of the borrowal accounts above ₹50 crore to branches which will be designated Systemically Important Branches (SIBs),”.

Yes Bank gets SEBI nod for mutual fund business

Yes, Bank has received the final regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India to commence its mutual fund business. This go-ahead is subsequent to the approval by the Reserve Bank of India to the bank for sponsoring a mutual fund entity. Yes, Asset Management (India) Ltd. Is expected to unveil offerings across the spectrum in both the debt and equity markets over the next year, according to a release from the bank.

Moody’s survey shows oil prices as the main risk to India’s economy

Oil prices, pace of banks’ balance sheet clean-up and investment remain the key credit risks in India, according to an investor survey by Moody’s Investors Service. While market participants in Singapore and Mumbai were unanimous in pegging high crude price as the main risk to India’s economy, views varied on the second biggest risk, according to the ratings agency. “When asked about the top risks facing the Indian economy, most of the respondents highlighted high oil prices as the top risk, while 30.3% of those in Singapore picked rising interest rates as the next top risk, and 23.1% of those in Mumbai picked domestic political risks as the second top risk,” Joy Rankothge, a vice president and senior analyst at Moody’s, said in a press release. Participants at Moody’s 4th Annual India Credit Conference, conducted by the credit rating agency along with its Indian affiliate ICRA Ltd. in Mumbai and Singapore in June 2018, were polled on some of the most pressing credit issues facing India. Almost 175 people representing more than 100 local and international financial institutions attended the conference, Moody’s said. Fiscal slippage seen Most attendees at both locations opined that India would not meet the central government’s fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of GDP for the financial year ending in March 2019, according to the release. Further, only 23.3% of the respondents in Singapore and 13.6% in Mumbai thought that the fiscal targets would be achieved, with 84.7% in Mumbai and 76.7% in Singapore expecting some fiscal slippage. Those polled in both Singapore (85.7%) and Mumbai (93.6%) were of the opinion that the government’s bank recapitalisation package was mostly insufficient to resolve solvency challenges.