FEBRUARY

ECONOMY

Ø  Petro: Venezuela becomes first country to launch virtual currency

Ø  Venezuela become first sovereign country to officially launch its own cryptocurrency called Petro backed by oil, gas, gold and diamond reserves to circumvent US-led financial sanctions. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has claimed that the pre-mined cryptocurrency Petrohas raised US $735 million on the first day of its pre-sale.

Ø  PNB Arm, IFC Tie Up To Raise $800 Mn For Affordable Housing

Ø  PNB Housing Finance Ltd has tied up with International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, to raise $800 million for green and affordable housing in India. IFC is in negotiations with two other housing finance firms to invest another $150 million, as well as with property developers to assist the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) from both the demand and supply sides. Under PMAY, the government offers interest subsidy of 6.5% to economically weaker sections on their home loans. The scheme is for people with an annual income up to Rs3 lakh.

Ø  CCI slaps Rs 136 crore fine on Google for unfair business practices

Ø  The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a fine of around Rs. 136 crores on search engine major Google for unfair business practices in the Indian market for online search. The penalty is being imposed on Google for infringing anti-trust conduct. It was alleged that Google is indulging in abuse of dominant position in the market for online search through practices leading to search bias and search manipulation, among others.

Ø  India contributes $1 mn to UN Development Partnership Fund

Ø  India has contributed additional $1 million to India-UN Development Partnership Fund, earmarked for South-South cooperation. The contribution aims to intensify its partnerships with other developing countries in south. India has pledged multi-year contribution of $100 million to the fund established in June 2017. India has already provided $6 million within the seven months since launch of fund.

Ø  Union Govt makes PAN mandatory for transactions over 2.5 lakhs

Ø  The union government made Permanent Account Number (PAN) mandatory for any entity conducting financial transactions of 2.5 lakh or more. Adding that an Aadhaar-like identity number is being developed for enterprises PAN card will also be used as a Unique Entity Number for non-individuals from April 1.