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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday said it will soon put to circulation Rs100 notes in the market with enlarged identification features. “The Reserve Bank will shortly issue Rs100 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005, without inset letter in both the numbering panels,” RBI said in a release. The notes with ‘2016’ printing year will be similar in design with the existing Rs 100 notes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 having ascending size of numerals in the number panels, bleed lines, and enlarged identification mark, on the obverse. More news on demonetisation The RBI said it has already put to circulation Rs1 00 notes with the ascending size of numerals in the number panels but without bleed lines and enlarged identification mark. These notes will remain in circulation concomitantly with the notes being issued now, it added. “All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs100 issued by the central bank in the past will continue to be legal tender,” ...

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will soon make third-party audits mandatory for food companies to ensure food safety, the authority’s chief executive Pawan Kumar Agarwal said. “We are working on the regulations and final guidelines will be notified soon,” Agarwal said without disclosing further details. He was speaking at a programme organized by lobby group Confederation of Indian Industry here on Tuesday. Some food companies in India voluntarily hire laboratories to inspect safety of their products but it is not mandatory yet. Such audits are common in most developed countries where self-regulation is the norm. “We need to move towards self-regulation to ensure safe food for every Indian household. With the current strength and infrastructure, FSSAI alone would not be able to ensure surveillance at every corner. Surveillance is a big area. We are taking up surveillance in a few commodities. As we speak, the surveillance on honey and milk is going on,”...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has removed the so-called two-factor authentication for online card transactions involving sums up to Rs2,000, in a move aimed at simplifying and encouraging electronic payments. The move will likely help cab aggregators, online movie ticket sellers and even e-commerce marketplaces. Currently, any online transaction involving a card requires users to first enter card details on the merchant’s payment gateway, wait for a one-time password (OTP) to be sent to their mobile phone, and then use this number to complete the purchase. To be sure, discarding two-factor authentication for purchases up to Rs2,000 is an opt-in service, which means that customers will have to specifically opt for it. RBI said that card network providers and banks will have to inform customers about the availability of such services and take their consent. Customers opting for this facility will go through a one-time registration process requiring entry of card details and...

Once notes are cancelled, Reserve Bank can pay the amount to the government as dividend The government may issue an ordinance to provide clear legal support for extinguishing the demonetised Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes that are not returned by December 30. The government wants to amend the Reserve Bank of India Act to this effect and ordinance route may be opted for as Parliament would not be in session immediately after the last day of surrender.The ongoing winter session of Parliament -disrupted by protests as it has been -ends December 16 and the budget session will start only late January . An ordinance will pave the way for cancelling the said currency once the amount of money returned becomes clear on December 31.“We could look at it (an ordinance),“ said a government official. Only when the unreturned currency is cancelled can it be made available to the government, possibly via a dividend paid by RBI.Once this is done, the government could consider the amount so recovered...