Jan Dhan Yojana was launched by the government to bring more people into the banking system. Photo: Mint
Rs2,306 crore
What is it? Losses recorded by Flipkart Internet, the marketplace arm of Flipkart that earns commission from sellers on every sale, in 2015-16.
Why is it important? This is more than twice the losses it posted a year ago (Rs1,096.4 crore) even as its sales doubled to Rs1,952 crore in the year ended March 2016 from Rs772 crore in the previous year. It indicates that cash burn is still high for Flipkart and that it needs to raise funds to keep up in the race. This comes at a time when Amazon India recently announced stepping up its investment to $5 billion(from $2 billion announced in 2014) and is neck-to-neckwith Flipkart, trying to achieve the numero uno position in the e-commerce industry.
Tell me more: Flipkart, which saw job cuts, multiple markdowns in its valuation and leadership change this year, has been finding it difficult to raise funds at its preferred valuation of $15 billion.
₹27,532 crore
What is it? The amount deposited in no-frills bank accounts under Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana scheme since demonetisation.
Why is it important? The total deposits was around Rs45,000 crore in the first week of November, surging by 39-49% in the first week and 11-23% in the second. In the two months prior to the announcement, the biggest surge it saw was 1.6%. Besides, more than a fifth of the accounts continue to have zero balance. It raises questions on whether Jan Dhan accounts are being used to convert black money into white.
Tell me more: Jan Dhan Yojana was launched by the government to bring more people into the banking system—making it easy to open an account without furnishing KYC (know-your-customer) details with a total deposit limit of Rs50,000. Critics have pointed out to the large number of zero-balance accounts and questioned its usage. Following demonetisation, they are getting filled up. In Gujarat, for example, zero-balance accounts reduced by over 30,000since 8 November.
20
What is it? The number of administrative requests sent by the Indian government to Switzerland in the recent months to investigate Indian tax evaders. Swiss banks have been magnets to black money hoarders since they promise high levels of secrecy.
Why is it important? The process of getting information involves submitting proofs of illegal activities, which then can be appealed by the account holder to stop the bank from sharing information. It highlights the difficulty in tracking black money stashed overseas. Without finding a way to solve this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s battle against black money will remain incomplete.
Tell me more: India and Switzerland recently signed a dealfor automatic sharing of information. However, the deal covers accounts as of September 2018 and onwards, and the first exchange of information won’t take place till September of 2019.
3
What is it? The number of top officials at Ricoh India, which makes printers, who were asked to leave or quit after an internal investigation revealed accounting fraud. The officials are: Manoj Kumar (chief executive officer), Arvind Singhal (chief financial officer) and Anil Saini (senior vice-president and chief operating officer).
Why is it important? Share prices of Ricoh, which is listed in stock exchanges, dropped by 76% in the last one year. As per the revised estimate, Ricoh incurred a loss of Rs1,118 crore in financial year 2015-16 as compared to Rs33.9 crore in the previous fiscal.
Tell me more: Fictitious sales to inflate revenues, bad debts relating to such fictitious sales and wrong accounting entries are among the causes identified by internal investigators. Fictitious sales were Rs683 crore and bad debts relating to fictitious sales were Rs176 crore in the 12 months ended March 2016.
Rs9,900 crore
What is it? The amount mutual funds invested in equitiesin November so far.
Why is it important? It comes at a time when foreign investors have pulled out a net of Rs15,763 crore in November. Foreign investors started pulling out since 1 October over American presidential results and the impact it will have on the relationship with emerging economies, and then over the impact of demonetisation.
Tell me more: Meanwhile, domestic investors have been increasing their investments in the equity markets Rs2,717 crore in August, Rs3,841 crore in September and Rs8,106 crore in October.
howindialives.com is a search engine for public data
[“Source-Gadgets”]
