I expect a simpler but effective tax system

I look forward to this year’s Budget as a milestone in India’s growth and development. We are at a crucial stage where the estimated fiscal deficit of 5.6-5.7 per cent of GDP looks too high and will take delicate balancing to bring it down by a percentage point. The overall GDP growth rate is showing a declining trend. We are just recovering from high inflation and have a challenge to keep it under control. I expect a simpler but effective tax system in the Budget to ensure the realisation of the targeted revenue generation.
Infrastructure and power generation are important sectors for growth. Many states, including Maharashtra, are facing serious power shortage. Serious efforts are needed to bring in investment in

Pioneering change

One should not mistake Mumbai-based Shamrao Vithal Cooperative (SVC) Bank as a regular urban cooperative bank. Not only has the bank grown exponentially – in the past seven years, the bank has scaled up its turnover from Rs 1,600 crore to 13,000 crore. From presence in 37 places, it now boasts of being in 120 locations. “We have grown by nearly six times in less than a decade, only because of the technological advancement the bank committed itself to,” says Ravikiran S Mankikar, General Manager, IT.
The bank not only has an in-house IT team, it is also the only bank in India that has its core banking on a virtual platform. Even the core banking business is done via virtualisation – the backbone for cloud. The bank caters to 10 lakh customers through 129 branches and has implemented a three-tier architecture-based banking solution on a distributed database called Genius I, which provides a single window solution for

Two power centers result in coordination problems: Chairman, Mahesh Bank

The A.P. Mahesh Co-operative Urban Bank is leading Urban Cooperative bank of Andhra Pradesh with a presence in the far-flung areas of the state. It caught media attention on the eve of launch of its own ATM Card recently.
The year 2012 being the international year of cooperative as declared by United Nations, Indian Cooperative decided to celebrate the success of cooperative institutions by interviewing the Chairman of Mahesh Bank, the dynamic Mr Ramesh Bung. This is our time as the ICA contributor said once, signalling the onset of IYC 2012.
Institutions are built around individuals

Deposits in co-op banks, societies up

CHENNAI: Deposits in co-operative banks and societies in TN have touched Rs.23,081 crore so far this fiscal, even as crop loan disbursal is close to achieving target, the Cooperation Department said on Tuesday.
Minister for Cooperation Sellur K Raju reviewed implementation of 15 schemes announced in the budget session of the Assembly last year as there are just 45 days left in the current financial year. Raju directed the officials to achieve the targets fixed for various loans by March 2012.
During the current financial year, it was decided to extend short-term crop loans to farmers to the tune of Rs.3,000 crore and so far, Rs.2,821.61 crore has been disbursed. Of this, around Rs.600 crore was to be given to the members belonging to the SC/ST communities and as of now, Rs.373.11 crore has been disbursed. The government had fixed Rs. 5,920 crore as the target for disbursing loans through 125 urban cooperative banks and of this, Rs.4,377.36 crore has been given, the department said.
The status of disbursal of other loans is as follows: jewel loans Rs.676.69 crore against Rs.1,000 crore), investment loans (Rs.151.60 crore against Rs. 300 crore), produce pledge loans (Rs.40.75 crore against Rs.85 crore), minor irrigation loans (Rs.26.10 crore against Rs.50 crore), micro credit loans (Rs.46.57 crore against Rs.80 crore), and loans for differently-abled (Rs.9.99 crore against Rs.15 crore).
Meanwhile, it was decided to disburse Rs.170 crore as loans to SHGs through District Central Cooperative Banks, Urban Cooperative Banks, Primary Agricultural Rural and Development Banks. Of this, Rs.111.50 crore has been disbursed so far, a government release said.

Launch of Mahesh RuPay ATM Card ‎

The Mahesh Rupay ATM card is expected to draw more users to its ATM channel and also reduce the overall transaction costs for the bank.

The A.P. Mahesh Co-operative Urban Bank has launched its Mahesh RuPay ATM card in collaboration with National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). Intended primarily for no frills account holders, the Rupay ATM card is expected to draw more users to its ATM channel and also reduce the overall transaction costs for the bank.

Commenting on the launch, A P Hota, managing director and chief executive officer of NPCI said that in the longer run, increasing use of ATM cards will prove to be cost-effective for both the lenders and its customers and that the A P Mahesh Co-operative Urban Bank had taken a lead in the cooperative sector in south India by launching its ATM card.

According to reports, the bank's business has crossed Rs1775 crore and it plans to expand its branch network to other states in the country. At present, it has a total of 36 branches majority of which are located in Hyderabad and its twin city, Secunderabad.

http://www.moneylife.in/article/launch-of-mahesh-rupay-atm-card/23495.html

Banking on better IT solutions

It is one of the oldest urban cooperative banks in India, but you can’t mistake it for being outdated. Cosmos Cooperative Bank Ltd is relentlessly working towards innovation and making its services and functions more robust to serve its customers better. But when it came to giving the bank’s IT infrastructure a makeover, there was a lot to be done.
A year ago, the bank had 17 independent servers, several of them outdated and badly networked. “With power costs going through the roof, running them was proving to be expensive,” reveals Vasant Manwadkar, Head, IT, Cosmos Bank. Maintaining these servers also meant designating at least three people for their upkeep, apart from paying for their AMCs and

Financial Inclusion in Urban Cooperative Banks

Mr Anand Sinha, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India spoke on the occasion of the launch of the Financial Inclusion program of Cosmos Bank at Pune recently.
Since the speech encompassed many areas of Urban Cooperative Banks operation we produce below the text of speech for readers’ benefit

Shri Shashikant Bugde, Chairman, Shri Krishnakumar Goyal, Vice-Chairman,  Dr. Mukund Abhyankar and other Directors of the Cosmos Bank, Shri Sudhir Thakre, Secretary, Rural Development, Govt. of Maharashtra, all the aspiring women entrepreneurs present here this evening and ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to be here this evening amongst all of you on the occasion of the launch of the Cosmos Bank’s Financial Inclusion Programme.  I would like to thank the Cosmos Bank for inviting and giving me an opportunity to be a part of this initiative which seeks to address one of the most pressing issues of our times.
2.  Cosmos Bank is one of the oldest banks in the country and has recently completed 105 years of service. While nurturing the traditional values it has inherited, of serving the small customer, the bank has also moved with times and has prepared itself for the future, by adopting new technologies and