Mumbai, Sep 12: India has become the fourth largest holder of foreign exchange reserves in the world after the record surge in dollar inflows triggered by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) foreign currency non-resident (bank) (FCNR(B) deposits scheme, according to data.

With the $44.9 billion increase in its forex kitty to a record $785.7 billion during the week ended September 4, India has dislodged Russia from the fourth spot and is now ranked only behind China, Japan, and Switzerland, the data compiled by Bloomberg showed.

The record increase in the foreign exchange reserves has taken place despite a decline in the gold reserves component by $2.59 billion to $113.81 billion during the week as gold prices fell.

An increase in the foreign exchange reserves reflects strong fundamentals of the economy and gives the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) more headroom to stabilise the rupee when it turns volatile.

A strong forex kitty enables the RBI to intervene in the spot and forward currency markets by releasing more dollars to prevent the rupee from going into a free fall.

Meanwhile, the RBI has announced a Rs 1 lakh crore open market operation (OMO) sale of government bonds to mop up the excess liquidity in the banking system that has resulted from the strong inflow of foreign currency.

The RBI will sell government securities worth Rs 1 lakh crore in three tranches — Rs 50,000 crore on September 17, Rs 25,000 crore on September 21, and another Rs 25,000 crore on September 28. The auctions will be conducted through the multiple-price method using a multi-security auction.

Earlier, the Reserve Bank had raised over Rs 3.53 lakh crore through an overnight Variable Rate Reverse Repo (VRRR) auction with a 1-day tenor on Monday, to absorb surplus cash from the banking system.

A VRRR auction is a monetary policy tool used by a central bank to absorb excess cash from the banking system and ensure financial stability in the economy.

The RBI has stepped up liquidity absorption operations as the banking system has been flooded with funds following large inflows through the special FCNR(B) deposit scheme.

RBI’s special dollar-rupee forex swap facility for FCNR(B) deposits, Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCB) and External Commercial Borrowings (ECB), launched on June 8 this year, has driven an unprecedented surge in foreign exchange inflows into the country to the tune of $73 billion in less than 11 weeks of the launch.

The response was strong enough for the RBI to advance the closure of the FCNR(B) window itself, from September 30 to August 31, having already achieved its objective ahead of schedule.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Saturday launched a sharp attack on what it termed the growing global culture of election-time handouts, drawing parallels between US President Donald Trump’s proposed “Trump Dividend” scheme and welfare initiatives rolled out by political parties in India.

In an editorial published in the party mouthpiece Saamana, the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit alleged that the “freebie culture” fostered by Trump in the United States and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India has weakened democratic values and undermined human dignity.

The editorial argued that while India has schemes such as “Ladki Bahin” and similar welfare programmes in various states, Trump’s proposal to deposit $5,000 into the bank account of every adult American if Republicans win control of both houses of Congress amounts to a comparable election-time inducement.

“What Modi and Shah are doing in India, Trump is replicating in the United States — using public money, distributing handouts and winning elections,” the editorial claimed, adding that although the beneficiaries may differ, the underlying political approach remains the same.

According to the Thackeray camp, Trump’s proposed “Trump Dividend” is to secure electoral support through direct cash transfers. It argued that implementing such a scheme would impose a burden of more than $1 trillion on the US Treasury at a time when the country’s national debt has crossed $40 trillion, and its annual fiscal deficit stands at $1.8 trillion.

The editorial further claimed that Trump’s announcement had created unease within his own party and cited reports of concerns over the proposal’s fiscal implications and implementation.

“Furthermore, distributing this handout will require congressional approval. The moment Trump announced the $5,000 payout, leaders and ministers within his own party were left bewildered. Vice President J.D. Vance expressed clear dismay, attempting to control the narrative by stating that the money would only be distributed following strict scrutiny and legal procedures, ensuring wealthy adults would not benefit. This reflects the same strategy used by the Indian government’s grand announcements first, then delay execution using conditional clauses and bureaucratic fine print,” claimed the editorial.

Drawing a comparison with India, the Shiv Sena (UBT) referred to Modi’s 2014 promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh in every Indian’s bank account, alleging that the pledge remains unfulfilled. It also criticised a range of welfare schemes announced by state governments across the country, arguing that such programmes are increasingly being used as electoral tools.

The party said pressing issues such as unemployment, inflation and agrarian distress remain unresolved in India, while Trump’s administration was similarly failing to address domestic challenges in the US.

Claiming that “freebie politics” has become a global trend, the editorial alleged that governments are increasingly relying on public-funded handouts to secure electoral victories. It concluded that such politics, whether in India or the US, have compromised democratic principles and diminished public accountability.

Mumbai: Police has unmasked a fake officer and gang who had raided an Income Tax office in Andheri, Mumbai, in the style of the movie Special 26, held the owner and employees hostage, snatched their mobile phones and held the staff hostage. According to the Income Tax and Crime Branch officials, the police have exposed the gang who had conducted a fake raid and demanded a salary of Rs 1 crore and have also claimed to have arrested the absconding accused. According to the brief details of the said case, there was a dispute between the complainant, Rajkumar Kandasamy, aged 49, who was previously employed as a driver by Santosh Uday Khopatkar and the complainant. Due to this, the complainant fired Santosh Khopatkar from his job without paying him 06 months’ salary. Angered by this, Santosh Uday Khopatkar, using the information he had about the complainant, along with 06 men and 3 women acquaintances, formed a criminal conspiracy and falsely claimed to be government officers and employees of the Income Tax and Crime Branch Department and illegally entered the office owned by the complainant. He also abducted the complainant and his wife by showing fake government identity cards and snatched the mobile phones of the complainant, his wife and 10 other employees of the office and illegally prevented them from leaving the office and abused them by threatening them with legal action by the Income Tax Department. Also, a sum of Rs. 1 crore was sought to avert the action. Therefore, the complainant filed a legal complaint against the above-mentioned unknown persons and after noting their detailed statement, a case was registered under Sections 61(2), 204, 205, 233, 140(2), 127(1), 351(2), 308(4) of the Indian Penal Code, 2023.

The accused in the said case have been arrested on the basis of technical investigation. The arrested accused are 1) Santosh Uday Khopatkar, aged 37 years, 2) Vinay Ramesh More, aged 37 years, 3) Prem Kisan Sabnani, aged 50 years, 4) Pragya Harish Main, aged 27 years, 5) Reshma Shamrao Waring, aged 41 years, 6) Shabnia Hafeez Sheikh, aged 48 years. During the interrogation of the said arrested accused, it was found that accused Nos. 7 and 8 out of the said accused are working in the Income Tax Department as Income Tax Inspector and Tax Assistant respectively and the said accused along with accused Nos. 02 to 06 and accused Nos. 09 and 10 went to the office of the complainant and on getting information about their involvement in the said criminal conspiracy, the said accused were searched and arrested in the present case on 10th September. The arrested accused include 7) Suresh Mahavir Prasad Mishra, aged 57 years (Income Tax Inspector)8) Sunil Manohar Gore, age 59 years (Tax Assistant)9) Jatu alias Jitendra Namdev More, age 52 years 10) Ashok Vithoba Shinde, age 57 years are involved. This operation has been carried out by DCP Datta Nalawade under the leadership of Mumbai Police Commissioner Devin Bharti and the accused have been arrested and the gang has been exposed. DCP Datta Nalawade said that earlier also 6 accused were arrested in the case but the Income Tax Inspector and Assistant were also involved in it after which today more absconding accused have been arrested and the entire gang has been cracked down on.