1) Transactions above 3 Lakhs are to be Banned to curb Black Money.

• Special Investigation Team (SIT) on blackmoney has recommended ban on cash transactions of above Rs. 3 lakh and restricting cash holding with individuals to not more than Rs. 15 lakh to curb illegal wealth in the economy.
• SIT headed by Justice M.B. Shah (retd), submitted its fifth report to the Supreme Court on methods to curb black money in the economy.
• The panel felt that large amount of unaccounted wealth is stored and used in form of cash.

• Naspers backed Travel Boutique Online has entered into a strategic partnership with Fxkart.com, an online aggregator/ marketplace of foreign exchange dealers.
• The partnership allows Travel Boutique Online’s 19,000 travel agents to make foreign exchange bookings for their customers seamlessly.
• Travel Boutique Online (TBO), a B2B travel portal, allows travel agents make bookings for consumers by offering them correct pricing and inventory.
• Fxkart.com is one of the most promising start-ups in the fin-tech sector.

• Yatra Online has agreed to reverse-merge with Terrapin 3 Acquisition Corp., a transaction which will see it trade on Nasdaq as YTRA.
• Under the terms of the agreement, the current shareholders of Yatra will own at least 35% of the combined company and the first $100 million from Terrapin will be used to fund the combined company and pay transaction expenses.
• Yatra be listed on the U.S. stock exchange Nasdaq under the symbol `YTRA`.
• TRTL, a shell company, is focused on effecting a merger, acquisition, or similar business combination. The combined company will continue to be led by Yatra`s management team under the leadership of chief executive and co-founder Dhruv Shringi.

• BSE is planning to trade currency, metals and energy at its upcoming international commodity exchange at the International Finance Tec-City (Gift City) in Gandhinagar.
• BSE board has given its approval and it will apply to the regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to set up a commodity derivative segment.
• The new exchange will also help global companies raise finance from other overseas investors.

• Dabur India Ltd signed an MoU with Defense Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh, which is a part of DRDO, to promote sustainable cultivation of high-altitude medicinal plants in Ladakh, amongst the most difficult terrain in the world.
• Both the organisations will educate farmers in Leh-Ladakh about high altitude medicinal plant species and also help enhance the livelihood of villagers in the cold desert area of Leh-Ladakh by involving them in cultivation of medicinal plants.
• Focus on development of a self-sustainable system by creation of a value chain for the targeted endangered species and sustainable management of bio-resources by implying scientific agronomy practices and thereby ensuring biodiversity conservation.

• Commerce ministry Nirmala Sitharaman launched an e-marketplace for online purchase of goods and services by various central government ministries and departments.
• The move is aimed at bringing in more transparency and streamlining the government procurement of goods and services.
• Under this initiative various brands and specifications are available at the portal with cost.
• Portal has been developed by the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) which works under the Commerce Ministry and carries out the procurement.

7) SoftBank to Buy ARM Holdings for $32 billion.

• Japanese internet and telecommunications conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. caught the global chip industry by surprise with a $32 billion deal to acquire ARM Holdings PLC, the U.K.-based designer of the microprocessors that power more than 95% of the world’s smartphones.
• The Japanese telecoms group’s takeover of Cambridge-based Arm, which was founded 25 years ago and employs 4,000 people, will be the largest acquisition of a European technology business.
• ARM will continue designing processors for various segments of the computing industry after the acquisition, but investments will go up and product development will be faster.
• The deal is the first major cross border transaction in post- Brexit Britan.

• Ashok Leyland will be setting up a bus assembly plant in Kenya with an investment of Rs. 70 crore as part of its global expansion plans.
• The new plant in Kenya will serve at least three neighbouring countries, besides catering to local demand.
• The plant has an annual capacity of 2,000 vehicles and caters to demand of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and African markets from the plant.

• Brexit causes `substantial` increase in economic, political, institutional uncertainty.
• The global economy is projected to expand 3.1 per cent for 2016 and 3.4 per cent in 2017, according to the IMF.
• Forecasts represent a 0.1 percentage point reduction for both years relative to the IMF.
• The IMF urged advanced nations to avoid relying too heavily on monetary policy to spur their economies and to exploit synergies among a range of policy tools.

• Energy Efficiency Services Ltd India’s largest energy saving services company, intends to raise $100 million through a green bonds issue in London.
• Green bonds are debt instruments issued with the promise that the funds will be used for environment-friendly purposes, such as renewable energy or energy efficiency enhancing projects.

• Three US states have taken legal action against Volkswagen in the wake of the carmaker`s emissions scandal.
• New York, Massachusetts and Maryland have filed lawsuits alleging that former Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterport and other top executives were involved in a campaign of ``systematic cheating and deception`` to mislead US regulators over the emissions of its diesel cars.
• The lawsuits also alleged that members of Volkswagen’s engineering department deleted incriminating data in August 2015.

12) British govt fund CDC to invest Rs. 1,000 crore in India Infoline Finance.

• CDC Group plc, the UK-owned development finance institution, will make an investment of about Rs. 1,000 crore in India Infoline Finance a non-bank finance company.
• The proposed investment by CDC is through compulsorily convertible preference shares, resulting in about 15 per cent equity stake on a fully diluted basis.
• CDC’s investment will help IIFL Group expand the financing business and address the capital needs of under-served segments through diversified offerings.
• IIFL Finance, a subsidiary of IIFL Holdings, is a non-banking financial company engaged in the business of home and property loans, gold loans, commercial vehicle finance, healthcare finance, loan against securities and SME business loans.

• The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has called for restarting of negotiations for India`s Free Trade Agreements with the UK and the European Union.
• India-EU FTA has been on the anvil for 10 years.

• Food safety regulator FSSAI issued draft guidelines for standards of instant noodles and has proposed that egg powder may be added.
• Also mentioned in the notification is that ``starches, dried fruits and vegetables, nuts, edible protein and egg powder may be added.
• Issued draft guidelines for quality standards of fortified atta, maida, durum wheat maida, quinoa, fortified rice, tapioca sago and pearl millet flour.
• Besides instant noodles, the food regulator also issued draft guidelines for quality standards of fortified atta, fortified maida, durum wheat maida, quinoa, fortified rice, instant noodles, tapioca sago or palm sago and pearl millet flour.

• Ford Motor Company is setting up a Research and Development (R&D) centre in Tamil Nadu.
• The first such facility to be located outside of the US.
• Ford has indicated that it would be investing Rs. 1,300 crore in its new global technology and R&D campus, which will be set up and running by the first quarter of 2019.
•  The company also plans to increase the total headcount in the engineering operations by 2,000 taking the total staff strength in this business to about 12,000. The new facility is coming up on a 28-acre plot at Sholinganallur.

• For fast tracking the allotment of PAN and TAN to company applicants, Digital Signature Certificate(DSC) based application procedure has been introduced on the portals of PAN service providers M/s NSDL eGov and M/s UTIITSL. 
• Under the new process PAN and TAN will be allotted within one day after completion of valid on-line application.
• Similarly, a new Aadhaar e-Signature based application process for Individual PAN applicants has been made available on the portals of PAN service providers M/s NSDL eGov.
• Introduction of Aadhaar based e-Signature through M/s NSDL eGov in PAN application not only ensures paperless hassle free PAN application process but also seeding of Aadhaar in PAN which will curb the problem of duplicate PAN to a great extent.

• To check evasion, the Income Tax Department has decided to act on certain high-value non-PAN transactions that were reported to it under the annual information returns.
• Letters will be issued to the parties of 14 lakh non-PAN transactions forming part of identified 7 lakh high risk clusters that are being scrutinized by the department closely.
• Cash deposits of Rs. 10 lakh or more in a savings bank account, sale/purchase of immovable property valued at Rs. 30 lakh or more, many of these transactions do not have PAN linked to them.

• French cosmetics firm L`Oreal has agreed to acquire US-based IT Cosmetics for $1.2 billion.
• The all-cash deal will reportedly add over 300 skin-care and makeup products to L`Oreal`s lineup.
• IT will continue to operate out of its headquarters in Jersey City, New Jersey.

• Online marketplace Snapdeal announced its partnership with e-ticketing platform BookMyShow and extended its service offerings.
• With this partnership, customers can now book tickets for movies on Snapdeal.
• BookMyShow`s e-ticket booking service can be accessed through Snapdeal`s app as well.

• HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company and Shamrao Vithal Co-operative (SVC) Bank announced their bancassurance agency partnership to provide a range of non-life insurance offerings to the customers of the bank.
• The partnership combines HDFC ERGO’s experience in introducing innovative non-life insurance products with SVC Bank’s customer base across various States.
• Bancassurance is an arrangement in which a bank and an insurance company form a partnership so that the insurance company can sell its life assurance and other insurance products and services by banking institutions.