2. RBI tells foreign banks to take country roads The government and RBI will nudge foreign banks in India to operate in unbanked areas and relatively small towns. To open branches in Tier III-VI cities - far away from the major metros It will be consistent with the efforts to achieve greater financial inclusion State-controlled banks have a wider presence in rural areas and semi-urban towns Private banks are now being pushed to bridge this gap.
3. Private sector lender Axis Bank said it has received approval from the RBI to set up a subsidiary in the UK, as well as permission to upgrade its Shanghai representative office into a branch. Axis Bank has a presence in Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai. Across India, Axis Bank has a network of over 1,090 branches and over 4,700 ATMs. Axis Bank gets RBI approval to set up UK subsidiary
4. Dabur completes acquisition of Turkey's HobiKozmetik Group FMCG player Dabur has completed the Rs 324 croreacquisition of Turkey-based personal care products maker HobiKozmetikGroup. The company had acquired Hobi Group firms-HobiKozmetik, ZekiPlastik and Ra Pazarlama The acquisition of Hobi Group will provide a platform to establish its base in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Middle East and North African (MENA) region, which has been the core markets for Dabur
5. Rupee-yuan trade platform sans dollar-peg sought As the Indian rupee and Chinese yuan are largely non-convertible currencies, export and import transactions between the two countries have dollar pegs. The rupees that an Indian buyer pays his bank for Chinese import, are converted into dollars which in turn is converted into yuan with the help of other banks for paying the Chinese seller. A direct yuan-rupee trade would cut transaction time, in fact the transactions could become real time and transaction cost would be lower. China has permitted limited trading of yuan in the Hong Kong offshore market for trade and certain capital account transactions now the talks are being going on for India .
6. Ahmedabad, B'lore, Chennai among world's fastest-growing cities Three Indian cities - Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Chennai - have been listed among the world's fastest-growing cities by Forbes magazine . It also called Gujarat the "most market-oriented and business-friendly" among Indian states. Forbes describes Ahmedabadas "the largest metropolitan region in Gujarat, perhaps the most market-oriented and business-friendly of Indian states."
