NBFCs cannot undertake the business of credit cards or their issuance without prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the regulator said on April 21 . The notification contains significant steps to protect and for the interests of customers.

Any company, including a non-deposit taking one, will require a certificate of registration, apart from specific permission to enter into this business, the pre-requisite for which is a minimum net owned fund of Rs 100 crore and subject to such terms and conditions as the RBI may specify in this regard from time to time.

The direction also spelt out directions to issuers of credit cards in the interest of customers. Particularly, the issuance of unsolicited cards or upgrade and activation of existing cards without explicit consent of the recipient has been strictly prohibited. In case of such occurrence, without consent, for which the customer is billed, the card issuer has to reverse the charges forthwith and also pay a penalty without “demur” to the recipient at twice the value of the charges reversed.

In addition, the person in whose name the card is issued can also approach the RBI Ombudsman who would determine the amount of compensation payable by the card-issuer to the recipient of the unsolicited card as per the provisions of the Ombudsman Scheme, i.e., for loss of complainant’s time, expenses incurred, harassment and mental anguish suffered by him/her.

The RBI also said unsolicited loans or other credit facilities should not be offered to the cardholders without seeking consent. In case an unsolicited credit facility is extended without the written and/or explicit consent of the cardholder and the latter objects to the same, the card issuer has to not only withdraw the facility, but will also be liable to pay a penalty considered appropriate by the ombudsman, if approached.

Also, Card-issuers are obliged to  inform the cardholders of the implications of paying only ‘the minimum amount due’. A legend/warning to the effect that “Making only the minimum payment every month would result in the repayment stretching over months/years with consequential compounded interest payment on your outstanding balance” is to be prominently displayed in all the billing statements to caution the cardholders about the pitfalls in paying only the minimum amount due.

The most important terms and conditions (MITC) will specifically explain that the ‘interest-free credit period’ is suspended if any balance of the previous month’s bill is outstanding. The card-issuers shall specify in the billing statement, the level of unpaid amount of the bill i.e., part payment beyond ‘minimum amount due’, at which the interest-free credit period benefits would not be available to cardholders. 

Dhaka wants to wrap up the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with India within the next year, Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said.

In an exclusive interview to PTI, Munshi said that Bangladesh is in the advanced stage of talks with the Tata Group and Ashok Leyland for automotive investment in that country.

He also said that Bangladesh would be interested in a BIMSTEC free trade pact, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently spoke of.

A study on the trade agreement will be ready by May and it will be the position paper for final negotiations, he added.

Bangladesh will soon graduate to the status of a developing nation as per the UN, and will not be eligible for the many trade benefits it currently enjoys as an LDC (least developed countries) nation.

In the last financial year, India exported goods worth USD 9.7 billion to Bangladesh, and imported goods worth over USD 1.4 billion from that country.

However, studies have shown that trade can be ratcheted up to USD 25 billion with a free-trade deal, which will help both countries in expanding exports -- but Bangladesh increasing its exports at a faster pace.

He said Domino's India has set up 25 outlets in Dhaka and plans to increase the number more than ten-fold, besides setting up a large mother factory.

He pointed out that a large number of Bangladeshi firms are keen to invest in India too.

Walton Group of Bangladesh manufactures consumer durables, computers and telecom equipment, among others, and has revenue of nearly a billion dollars.

The crowded field to buy Chelsea now features 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams and seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton.

A long-standing fan of Arsenal, Hamilton has seized the opportunity to invest in its London rival as three bidders try to buy the Premier League club from sanctioned Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

Williams and Hamilton are part of a consortium that features proposed investment from Josh Harris and David Blitzer, the owners of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers who would have to sell their stakes in Premier League club Crystal Palace to buy Chelsea.

Abramovich has been disqualified from running Chelsea by the Premier League and he cannot profit from the proceeds of the sale, which the British government must approve under terms of a license that allows the team to continue operating.

·       Carlos Sainz Jr. signed a new contract with Ferrari on April 21b until 2024, ahead of the Italian team’s home Formula One race this weekend.

·       Sainz joined Ferrari from McLaren in 2021 on a two-year contract.

·       Ferrari leads the constructors’ championship after two wins for Sainz’s teammate, Charles Leclerc, in the opening three races. Sainz, who has never won an F1 race, finished second in Bahrain and third in Saudi Arabia but the Spanish driver crashed out of the last grand prix in Australia.

·       The 27-year-old Sainz is third in the drivers’ standings, 38 points behind Leclerc and four below George Russell.

Q1. Name the European Commission President  who will pay an official visit to India on April 24-25 ?

1. Ursula Von Der Leyen
2. Romano Prodi
3. José Manuel Barroso
4. Jean-Claude Juncker
5. None of These

Q2. The country's first portable solar rooftop system was inaugurated at Swaminarayan Akshardham temple complex in

1. Delhi
2. Ammedabad
3. Gandhinagar
4. Porbander
5. None of These

Q3. Name the national vice president of the BJP and a former Member of Parliament who  has been elected as the chairperson of the Haj Committee of India ?

1. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
2. Munnawari Begum
3. Mafuja Khatun
4. AP Abdullahkutty
5. None of These

Q4. Name the former Kenyan President  who has has died at the age of 90?

1. Uhuru Kenyatta
2. Mwai Kibaki
3. Raila Odinga
4. Kenneth Kaunda
5. None of These

Q5. Name the Commerce Minister of Bangladesh  who has said that  Dhaka wants to wrap up the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with India within the next year ?

1. Tipu Munshi
2. Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun
3. A H M Mustafa Kamal
4. Sadhan Chandra Majumder
5. None of These

Answers

1---------------Ursula Von Der Leyen

2----------------Gandhinagar

3--------------- AP Abdullahkutty

4-----------------Mwai Kibaki

5----------------- Tipu Munshi

Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani was arrested by Assam Police from Palanpur town in Gujarat over a tweet and taken to Assam by air in the early hours.

The prominent Dalit leader from Gujarat was arrested soon after a First Information Report (FIR) under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with offences related to promoting enmity between communities, was registered at Kokrajhar police station in Assam, said his aide Suresh Jat.

Mevani is independent MLA from Vadgam seat in Banaskantha. He recently joined Congress. 

Bharatiya Janata Party was the receiver of the maximum amount of donations from various corporate and business houses for the party fund, followed by the Indian National Congress (INC) and other three national parties, in the financial of 2019-20 during which the 17th Lok Sabha elections were held in the country.

Out of approximate Rs 921.95 crore (91% of the amount from known sources), donations received from the corporate and other business houses to the national parties, the BJP had received Rs 720.41 crore while the Indian National Congress (INC) even after being out of power, received Rs 133.04 crore during 2019-20. According to an analytical report, brought out by the Association of Democratic Reform (ADR), the corporate and business houses in dealing with the Electoral trusts, the manufacturing, the mining, the Construction and exports were the bigger donors to the national parties including the BJP.

the country, has not declared details on corporate donation', the report has claimed, mentioning further that the corporate donations were received by the national parties in 2019-20 during the 17th Lok Sabha elections were held in the country.

The national parties, including the BJP and the INC, had received corporate donations of Rs 881 crores during 2018-19 also. Sharing details about the donors to national parties, the DR report has stated that the Prudent Electoral Trust was the top donor to two of the national parties, namely the BJP and the INC, in 2019-20 as it had donated 38 times in a single year to these two parties.

Other corporate and business donors which donated to 5 national parties during 2019-20 were ITC Limited with Rs 55.025 crore, the Jankalayan Electoral Trust with Rs 45 crore, the BG Shirke Construction Technology Pvt Ltd with 25 crores, the Panchashil Corporate Park Pvt Ltd with 7.50 crore and others, the ADR report stated. 

As India sees a high number of uterus removal cases, even among much younger women, which may inflict a physical, social, and mental health burden on them, a nationwide campaign called 'preserve the uterus' is being launched to raise awareness among women and to educate healthcare practitioners about the vital reproductive organ to avoid an untimely or unjustified hysterectomy.

According to the National Family Health Survey 2015-16, up to 3.6 per cent of Indian women aged 30-39 years have undergone hysterectomy. As per data, the figure is highest in Andhra Pradesh and lowest in Assam.

The campaign is being launched ahead of the hysterectomy awareness month that is observed in May by global pharmaceutical major Bayer in partnership with the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) and the Integrated Health and Wellbeing (IHW) Council, a not-for-profit health awareness institution.

Hysterectomy refers to an operation to remove a woman's uterus. But it is commonly used to refer to the accompanying removal of fallopian tubes, ovaries, cervix, and other related organs.