The Reserve bank of India (RBI) is expected to keep key policy rates unchanged when it next meets on 2-4 December to review monetary policy, as per a Mint survey of ten economists. According to the survey findings, while economic recovery will continue to remain the cornerstone of the central bank’s monetary policy focus for the foreseeable future, high inflation, that has hovered at the 6% mark, will likely outweigh other concerns in the next policy review.

India’s retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) hit a nearly six-and-a-half-year high of 7.6% in October, with food inflation registering a steep rise.

All the 10 respondents polled expect RBI to maintain repo rate at 4% while maintaining an accommodative policy stance for future interventions. "While the risks to growth still persist, RBI has had to adopt a judicious mix of maintaining an accommodative stance alongside holding rates steady in recent months as headline and core inflation indices have remained stubbornly elevated," said Shubhada Rao, founder QuantEco Research.

The Supreme Court Friday directed the government make sure that all steps be taken to implement its decision to forego interest on eight specified categories of loans paid upto Rs two crore in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said the COVID-19 pandemic has not only caused serious threat to the health of the people but has also cast its shadow on the economic growth of the country as well as other countries in the entire world.

What are the eight categories of loans? The eight categories of loans are as follows:

MSME (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises), Education, Housing, Consumer durable, Credit card, Automobile. Personal, and Consumption

The RBI had on March 27 issued the circular which allowed lending institutions to grant a moratorium on payment of instalments of term loans falling due between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2020, due to the pandemic. Later, the moratorium was extended till August 31 this year. The pleas pertained to charging of interest on interest by banks on EMIs which have not been paid by borrowers after availing the loan moratorium scheme of RBI during March 1 to August 31.

The top court's judgement came on a PIL filed by Agra resident Gajendra Sharma seeking directions to declare the notification dated March 27, 2020 issued by Reserve Bank of India as ultra vires to the extent it charges interest on the loan amount during the moratorium period.

It may be recalled that in October, the Centre has informed the Supreme Court that lenders have been directed to credit in the accounts of eligible borrowers by November 5 the difference between compound interest and simple interest collected on loans of up to Rs 2 crore during the RBI's loan moratorium scheme.

The Ministry of Finance has said that after crediting this amount, the lending institutions would claim reimbursement from the Central government.

In an affidavit filed in the apex court, the government has said that the ministry has issued a scheme as per which lending institutions would credit this amount in the accounts of borrowers for the 6-month loan moratorium period which was announced following the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Under the scheme, all lending institutions (as defined under clause 3 of the scheme) shall credit the difference between compound interest and simple interest in the respective accounts of eligible borrowers for the period between March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020, the affidavit said.

On October 14, the apex court had observed that the Centre should implement "as soon as possible" the interest waiver on loans of up to Rs 2 crore under the RBI's moratorium scheme and had said that the common man's Diwali is in the government's hands.

(With inputs from agencies)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday assured the Bombay high court that a plush triplex penthouse at Samudra Mahal in Worli, Mumbai, owned by fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi -- a prime accused in the Rs13,500 crore fraud at the Punjab National Bank (PNB), will not be auctioned before December 14.

The assurance came in response to a petition filed by Nirav Modi’s son Rohin, challenging confiscation of the property, claiming that it belonged to a Trust settled in his name.

On June 8, 2020, a special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court in Mumbai has ordered confiscation of Nirav Modi’s movable and immovable properties worth Rs1,396 crore.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit women worldwide with job losses and closures of childcare centers. Yet a surprising bright spot is emerging: India’s $200 billion technology services industry, where new rules are expected to provide female workers with a broad swath of flexible work arrangements and fresh employment opportunities.

On the outskirts of New Delhi, Teena Likhari, 45, quit her job running operations for the Indian back office of a Silicon Valley company in 2018 because of a family medical emergency. Looking to rejoin this year, she expected a market stunted by lockdowns. Instead, the pandemic had made work-from-home mainstream in her industry, which had long shunned the practice.

Not only did the operations manager quickly land a job with Indian outsourcer WNS Global Services, but working from her home in the city of Gurgaon, she began overseeing a 100-member team in the city of Pune about 900 miles away.

Record airline losses from the coronavirus outbreak will continue to mount next year as anticipated vaccination programs take time to revive travel demand, according to the industry’s main trade group.

The International Air Transport Association on Tuesday predicted carriers will lose a combined $157 billion in 2020 and 2021, almost 60% more than it had forecast in June and five times the deficit racked up during the 2008-2009 recession. It called the crisis “devastating and unrelenting.”

The forecast comes as airlines cling to hopes that passenger testing combined with the roll-out of Covid-19 inoculations next year will spur governments to ease travel restrictions they say are to blame for holding back bookings. IATA said the industry won’t turn cash positive until the fourth quarter of 2021, though that’s earlier than expected before recent advances in vaccine tests.