25 JANUARY 2014

Ø  A Reserve Bank-appointed committee headed by Deputy Governor Urjit Patel was asked to revise and strengthen the monetary policy framework in India. In its core recommendations it wants monetary policy to formally move towards using headline CPI (Consumer Price Index) as its nominal anchor. Communicating the nominal anchor without any ambiguity will be a key task. The objective is to ensure a monetary policy regime shift away from the current approach, which has multiple objectives, to one that is centred on the target CPI. However, taking into account the current macroeconomic scenario, the committee has conceded the need for flexibility in inflation-targeting to enable the central bank to deal with other objectives in the short run. The ultimate goal is to contain CPI inflation within a target band of 4 per cent plus or minus 2 per cent. A smooth two-year transition is envisaged. Monetary policy will henceforth be conducted by a new Monetary Policy Committee which will have the Governor as its head and three senior officers of the RBI as its members. In addition, two outside experts will be nominated. All members will vote on the policy at meetings every two months. India has the highest rate of inflation among G-20 countries. 

Ø  To provide easily accessible legal services to the rural population, Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam on Friday launched free clinics in 2,648 villages nationwide. The village legal services clinics will be manned by para-legal volunteers selected by the Legal Services Authorities and lawyers… The thrust is on assistance in issues relating to the Below-Poverty-Level cards, electoral identity cards and Aadhaar cards, gas connections and pension.

Ø  Sierra Leone said on Friday it had exported the largest diamond discovered in the west African nation last year — a 125-carat stone worth around $800,000.