The price of bitcoin (BTC) has fallen below the $20,000 level for the first time since mid-January because a wave of bearish news has overwhelmed crypto’s strong 2023 uptrend.

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The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization quickly regained some of its lost ground late Thursday (ET) and was recently hovering at about $20,040, down 7.7% over the past 24 hours.

After reaching a record high of over $69,000 in November 2021, bitcoin tumbled late that year and all through 2022 to begin 2023 at around $16,600. A powerful rally into mid-February had bitcoin ahead more than 50% for the year at one point to $25,000.

Requests for comprehensive financial solutions for small time traders and soft OTS policy

Kashmir Economic Alliance(KEA) called upon the J&K Bank MD and CEO Baldev Parkash at the bank’s corporate headquarters here on Tuesday to discuss the issues faced by the business community and also the way forward.

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Delegation was led by its Chairman Haji Mohammad Yaseen Khan accompanied Qazi Tauseef who represented KTMF. Senior officers from J&K Bank Management which include Ashutosh Sareen, Syed Rais Maqbool, Syed Shujaat Hussain & Shabir Ahmad were present in the meeting.

KEA while expressing gratitude to the MD & CEO for his timely outreach to the bank’s different stakeholders especially business community besides extending the much needed financial support to the affected, raised some issues concerning business community and also suggested that customer service at operative levels needs to be improved and made more responsive.

Khan who also heads Kashmir Traders & Manufacturers Federation(KTMF) requested the chairman for setting up an bridge which shall oversee the issues faced by the traders and also to explore the common areas of interest. They will brainstorm on the progress and challenges in the sectors besides deliberating on the resolution of stressed assets of the bank. Khan assured Managing Director J&K Bank that the Alliance would play an active role in resolution of such cases.

Interacting with the management J&K Bank, Khan said there is a lot of synergy between Alliance and the bank. We would continue to work in close coordination and explore and exploit the under-serviced and potential sectors of the economy to strengthen the economy. KEA requested the bank to leverage the credit guarantee fund scheme in an improved manner. There is no denying the fact J&K Bank is lifeline of J&K economy and people have huge expectations from this institution. With businesses in a slower path, J&K Bank has a vital role to play in getting the economy back on its feet, Khan observed.

While putting forward many suggestions before the MD, KEA requested for comprehensive financial solutions for small time traders and soft OTS policy. The members also urged the bank to revisit the lending policies pertaining to horticulture, education, relax lending guidelines to general traders falling under MSME sector, review rating mechanism and formulate a restructuring plan to provide additional funding to the borrowers.

Reiterating the trust reposed by the people of J&K state in the state’s premier financial institution, KEA expressed a feeling of pride for being associated with the Bank which they said, “is the only bank they bank upon” and a buttress to the trade and the business community. They requested the chairman to introduce schemes for the development of sports and medical infrastructure and promotion of education sector as well.

While interacting with the members of the delegation, MD & CEO Baldev Parkash assured the delegation members that their suggestions and the issues discussed would be considered by the bank on merit and resolved in a time bound manner.

Sale of gold jewellery and gold artefacts hallmarked without six-digit alphanumeric HUID — unique identification number — shall not be permitted from April 1, the government on Friday said.

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Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday chaired a meeting to review the activities of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), PTI reported.

To promote quality culture in micro scale units, it has been decided that the BIS will provide 80 per cent concession on the certification/minimum marking fee across various product certification schemes.

Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of the precious metal. It was voluntary in nature till June 16, 2021.

After that, the government decided to implement mandatory gold hallmarking in a phased manner. In the first phase, it was made mandatory in 256 districts and 32 more districts were added in the second stage, taking the total number to 288 districts. 51 more districts are being added. “starting from 1st April 2023, the sale of only gold jewellery with HUID shall be permitted,” an official statement said cited by PTI.

Nidhi Khare, additional secretary in the department of consumer affairs, said that “in consumers interest, it has been decided that after March 31st, sale of gold jewellery and gold artefacts hallmarked without HUID will not be permitted.”

At present, she said four digits as well as six-digit HUID are being used currently.

She said the hallmarked gold jwellery items are being sold across the country, even in those districts where it is not mandatory yet because of consumers demand for quality product.

Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number is a six-digit alphanumeric code consisting of numbers and letters.

HUID will be given to every piece of jewellery at the time of hallmarking and it is unique for every piece of jewellery.

The jewellery is stamped with the unique number manually at the Assaying & Hallmarking Centre (AHC).

In the meeting, Goyal directed the BIS to augment the testing infrastructure in the country.
The BIS was told to increase the frequency of product testing and market surveillance depending on the criticality of components used for the consumer safety.

BIS should also increase the frequency of lab inspection.

BIS has been directed to enhance market surveillance for different products such as pressure cooker, helmets, and other consumer products to ensure product safety. BIS has proposed Quality Control Orders (QCO) for 663 products in the coming time. Currently, there are 462 products covered under QCOs, the statement said.

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“In an effort to promote quality culture in micro scale units, BIS is providing an 80 per cent concession on the certification/minimum marking fee across various product certification schemes of BIS,” the statement said.

Additionally, units located in the northeast will continue to receive an extra 10 per cent concession.
“We are committed to ensuring that all products in India meet the highest quality and safety standards,” Goyal said.

These measures shall promote micro scale units, enhance the testing infrastructure, and develop a culture of quality consciousness among citizens, he added.