Markets watchdog Sebi June 13 came out with a strict disclosure framework for credit rating agencies wherein they will be required to provide the probability of default for various rated instruments.

The regulator's move comes against the backdrop of rising instances of debt defaults and concerns over the role of credit rating agencies in assessing the possible risks. Credit rating agencies have also come under the scanner in the IL&FS case.

"...CRAs (credit rating agencies), in consultation with Sebi, shall prepare and disclose standardized and uniform probability of default (PD) benchmarks for each rating category on their website, for one-year, two-year and three-year cumulative default rates, both for short-run and long-run," the circular said.

The Reserve Bank of India said June 13 said it will infuse Rs 12,500 crore into the financial system through bond purchases on June 20.

The decision has taken based on a review of the evolving liquidity conditions and assessment of the durable liquidity needs going forward, the central bank said in a statement.

The purchase of government securities under the Open Market Operation (OMO) for Rs 125 billion (Rs 12,500 crore) will be conducted on June 20, 2019.

The government securities to be purchased in the auction would be communicated in due course, the RBI added.

Farmers will have to contribute 100 rupees per month under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana that seeks to provide a minimum fixed monthly pension of  3,000 rupees on the attainment of 60 years. 

The central government will also contribute an equal amount to the pension fund to be managed by the LIC, which will be responsible for the pension payout. The government in its first cabinet meeting had approved a separate pension scheme for farmers with an aim to cover 5 crore beneficiaries in the first three years. 

Discussing the new scheme with state agriculture ministers through a video conference, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar urged all states and union territories to roll out the programme at the earliest.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the plenary session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan today. Mr Modi will present his vision for regional cooperation and development. 

The two-day SCO Summit began yesterday in Bishkek. On the sidelines of the summit, Prime Minister will hold bilateral talks with Presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Belarus and Iran today. India and Kyrgyzstan will also sign a number of agreements after the delegation level talks. Mr Modi will also jointly inaugurate the India-Kyrgyz Business Forum. 

Yesterday evening, Mr Modi held bilateral talks with Presidents of China, Russia and Afghanistan. Prime Minister's first engagement in Bishkek was the bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

More than half the world’s population is active on the internet, with India accounting for about 12% of them, retaining its second position, an annual report on internet trends by venture capitalist Mary Meeker said on Tuesday.

China has the largest base, accounting for 21% of all internet users globally, and the US comes third at 8%.

The number of people active online in 2018 was approximately 3.8 billion, or 51% of the world’s population. That compares with the previous year’s 3.6 billion people, or 49% of the world’s population.

The growth in internet users in India was driven by cut-price data plans introduced by Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd and cheaper smartphones, the report said.

Jawaharlal Nehru University on June 12 said it would confer its Distinguished Alumni Award to Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

The award will be presented at JNU’s third convocation to be held in August.

“The Executive Council of the JNU approved a proposal to bestow the award on Finance Minister Ms. Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Mr. Jaishankar, during the third convocation of the university to be held in August this year,” Registrar Pramod Kumar said in a statement.

“Their highly distinguished career and achievements have made the university very proud and they are a great source of inspiration for JNU students and researchers. They will be the first recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award,” Mr. Kumar added.

In Gujarat, cyclone Vayu is likely to hit the Veraval coast by today afternoon with a wind speed of 155-165 kmph.

The state government along with security agencies have geared up to reduce the damage of cyclone. So far, 2 lakh 75 thousand people have been shifted to safer places. Meanwhile, many parts in Saurashtra and south Gujarat witnessed rainfall in the morning ahead of the landfall of the Cyclone.

AIR correspondent reported that Chief Minister Vijay Rupani visited the Gandhinagar control room yesterday midnight and held a meeting with district collectors of Saurashtra and Kutch through Video Conference.

He asked the officials to ensure 100 per cent evacuation of people and cattle living up to 10 kilometres from the sea shore.

Union Cabinet has approved the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill 2019 to replace Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2019.

This will enable UIDAI to have a more robust mechanism to serve the public interest and restrain the misuse of Aadhar. After the amendment, no individual will be compelled to provide proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo authentication for the purpose of establishing his identity unless it is so provided by a law made by Parliament.

For the convenience of the general public in the opening of bank accounts, the proposed amendments will allow the use of Aadhaar number for authentication on a voluntary basis as an acceptable KYC document. The Bill will be introduced in the ensuing session of Parliament.

Giving a major push to reforms in the education sector, Cabinet has approved the introduction of Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Bill 2019.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has left for Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan this morning to attend the meeting of Council of Heads of States of Shanghai Cooperation Organization -SCO.

Presidents and Prime Ministers of 8 member countries will participate in this multilateral international forum which will also be attended by 4 head of states as observers.

The SCO is a China-led eight-member economic and security bloc.  In July 2015 in Ufa, Russia, the SCO decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members and both the countries officially joined SCO as full members during the Astana Summit in 2017.

Important issues including global security situation, multilateral economic cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and topical issues of international and regional importance will be discussed during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit.

British consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser named PepsiCo executive Laxman Narasimhan as its Chief Executive Officer on Wednesday. Narasimhan was serving as PepsiCo's global Chief Commercial Officer. He will be join the company as CEO-deignate and will be appointed to the board on July 16.

The company said in a statement that he will become group CEO on September 1.

Reckitt Benckiser said in the statement that Narasimhan's initial priorities will be to focus on delivering outperformance, especially in the health business unit, and to drive the Lysol maker's plan to split the firm into two business units under the same company.