Centre unveils plan to tap household gold

May 20, 2015

New Delhi, May 20: The Centre on Tuesday unveiled a draft gold monetisation scheme that provides flexible interest rate and possible exemption from income, wealth and capital gains taxes in order to unlock the value of this dormant asset held by households.

goldjThe Finance Ministry has sought comments from stakeholders by June 2.

The key objective of the scheme, announced in the 2015-16 Budget, is to mobilise gold held by households and institutions, and to reduce the import of gold without hurting domestic demand.

To encourage small depositors, the minimum deposit is pegged at 30 grams. Under the scheme, a customer will have to get the jewellery tested at one of the 350 hallmarking centres across the country.

After a preliminary test to find the approximate amount of pure gold, the customer will be asked to fill up a bank KYC (know your customer) form and give his consent to melt the gold.

The gold is then subjected to a fire assay test, which will ascertain its purity through melting. At this point, the customer will have the option to either take back the melted gold or deposit it.

Should he choose the latter, the collection centre will issue a certificate mentioning the amount and purity of the deposited gold.

When a customer produces the certificate at a bank, it will in turn open a “Gold Savings Account” for the customer and credit the “quantity” of gold into the customer’s account.

Banks have been given the freedom to decide on the rate of interest. The principal and interest will be valued in gold, the draft guidelines stated. “If a customer deposits 100 grams of gold and gets one per cent interest, then, on maturity he has a credit of 101 gms,” the draft stated.

The customer will only take the certificate to the bank. The gold is transferred by the testing centres to the refiners (32 across the country), which will keep them in their warehouses for a fee from the banks.

For the customer, the tenure of the deposit will be one year, and extensions can be made in multiples of it. There’s also the facility to break the lock-in period. Redemption can be in the form of either cash or gold, as decided at the commencement of the deposit.

The scheme also aims to encourage the gems and jewellery sector which has taken a hit after a 10 per cent duty was imposed on gold in 2013 to stop its runaway import.

This will be primarily accomplished through the instrument of “Gold Loan Account” envisaged by the scheme, which will allow banks to lend gold to jewellers.

India imports 800 to 1,000 tonnes of the yellow metal every year. According to conservative estimates, stocks of gold in India are nearly 25,000 tonnes or equivalent to about Rs 63 lakh crore.

This amounts to nearly 56 per cent of the total goods and services produced in the country. Given this context, the “Gold Loan Account” could benefit jewellers in cutting down imports.

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News Network
January 18,2020

Kanpur, Jan 18: Kanpur has witnessed an Unnao-like incident as the out on bail accused in rape case attack the family members of the victim. The mother of the victim, who later died in the hospital, was brutally attacked by the accused. The accused reportedly attacked the victim's mother and her aunt on January 8.

The actual rape case goes back to 2018 when a group of men abducted a minor girl from her own society. The accused had reportedly raped her and also beaten up her mother.

A video of mother being beaten up reportedly went viral soon after.

The mother of the victim had reportedly filed a complaint against one of the accused for abducting and molesting her daughter two years ago at a tannery falling under jurisdiction of Chakeri police station. The main accused along with five others was booked under section 354 of the IPC (sexual assault of children) and sent to jail. Around two weeks ago, the accused got bail and on January 9 they attacked the deceased and her sister.

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News Network
April 11,2020

New Delhi, Apr 11: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on hailed accredited social health activists, auxiliary nurse and midwives and anganwadi workers for their role in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, saying they are "true patriots" who toil to keep communities safe in the midst of this grave crisis.

In an environment where fear and misinformation pose a bigger danger than the virus itself, community workers have a key role to play in educating people about the dangers of COVID-19 and the manner in which it is transmitted, Gandhi said.

In a message for Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), Auxiliary Nurse and Midwives (ANMs) and Anganwadi Workers, he said they are working with dedication and courage, putting their lives at risk, on the frontlines of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The greatest form of patriotism is to serve our country in her hour of need. Our community workers are true patriots, our unsung heroes, who toil tirelessly away from the limelight, to keep our communities safe in the midst of this grave crisis," the former Congress chief said.

"As a nation, we owe them and their families a huge debt of gratitude for the tremendous personal sacrifices each of them is making. I hope that when this crisis is over their exemplary service will serve as a catalyst for deep-rooted change in their conditions of work," he said.

Gandhi said he salutes each and every community worker for their service to the nation and prays that they and their families will remain safe during this pandemic.

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News Network
March 11,2020

New Delhi, Mar 11: A doctor in Kerala on Tuesday alleged that she was sacked by the management of the private clinic she was working with for informing authorities about a non-resident Indian (NRI) patient who reportedly declined to undergo the mandatory check for coronavirus.

Dr Shinu Syamalan said the patient had come to the clinic recently with suspected symptoms of the virus.

"When he was asked whether he had visited any foreign countries, he said he was coming from Qatar. But he had not reported to the Health department about his foreign trip," she said.

When he was directed to inform about his foreign travel to the state Health Department, which has been monitoring people coming from abroad for the virus, he refused and said he was going back to Qatar, she told reporters.

Concerned over the health of the person who had high fever, Ms Syamalan informed health and police authorities.

"Officials who let the patient go abroad do not have any problem, but I have become jobless," she posted on social media.

She alleged she was sacked by the management of the clinic for reporting the matter to police and informing the public about the incident through social media and through television.

"The argument of the management is that no one would turn up for treatment in the clinic if they come to know that it was visited by patients with suspected symptoms of Coronavirus," she said.

There was no immediate reaction from the management of the private health clinic.

Official sources said the District Medical Officer (DMO) at Thrissur has complained to the collector against Shinu Syamalan accusing her of defaming health officials.

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