Daily Current Affairs September 09 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

RBI and NPCI Introduce Credit Lines for UPI and Conversational Payments

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has launched several new digital payment products including Credit Line on UPI, UPI LITE X, Tap & Pay, Hello! UPI, and Conversational Bill Payments by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) during the Global Fintech Festival.·

Aim :

• To create an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable digital payments ecosystem in India.
• The goal is to help UPI (Unified Payments Interface) achieve a target of processing 100 billion transactions per month.

Daily Current Affairs September 08 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

SEBI to Enforce One-Hour Trade Settlement by March 2024

• Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), plans to introduce one-hour trade settlements in India by the end of the fiscal year, March 2024 with an aim to significantly reduce the time taken for the settlement of securities transactions.
• SEBI has adopted a roadmap to transition from the current settlement cycle to one-hour settlements, with the ultimate goal of achieving instantaneous settlements in the securities market.

Daily Current Affairs September 07 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Paytm Introduces Card Soundbox Device for Contactless UPI and Credit/Debit Card Payments        

• Paytm has introduced the Paytm Card Soundbox, a device designed to facilitate mobile and card payments, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and RuPay.
• This product is aimed at helping merchants expand their businesses by offering a “tap and pay” solution for credit and debit card payments.
• It builds upon Paytm’s earlier innovation of audio-based confirmations with the Paytm Soundbox.

Daily Current Affairs September 06 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

RBI Permits Scheduled Commercial Banks to Offer Credit Lines via UPI

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) (excluding Payment Banks, Small Finance Banks, and Regional Rural Banks) are now allowed to facilitate payments using pre-sanctioned credit lines for individuals with their prior consent through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system.
• UPI currently supports linkage with savings accounts, overdraft accounts, prepaid wallets, and credit cards.
• Credit lines are now included as a funding account option within the UPI system.

Daily Current Affairs September 05 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

NPCI Introduces ‘Falcon’: India’s Own Blockchain-Backed Open-Source Initiative

• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has introduced ‘Falcon,’ an open-source project designed to simplify the management and utilization of blockchains based on ‘Hyperledger Fabric’ and supported on Kubernetes clusters.

Aim :

• To assist blockchain developers in leveraging distributed ledger technology for efficient, reliable, and automated deployment of network and Web3 solutions.
• It is particularly focused on fostering innovation in blockchain-based payment solutions.

Daily Current Affairs September 03 & 04 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

SEBI Forms New Panel for Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee

• The Capital Market Regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has reconstituted its Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee and advises it on a range of issues impacting the further development of the Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) space.

Key Highlights :

Committee Membership Expansion :

• According to SEBI, the committee, initially constituted in March 2015, underwent a recent change in its composition in February 2022.
• Now, the committee has been expanded to include 25 members, up from its previous count of 20.

Daily Current Affairs September 02 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Savart Launched ‘The Ad Astra Fund’: The World’s First Fully Automated Investment Fund

• Savart, one of India’s largest investment advisors, launched its maiden and flagship Portfolio Management Service (PMS) called, The Ad Astra Fund -World’s First Fully Automated Investment Fund, in Hyderabad, Telangana.
• On the day of its launch, The Ad Astra Fund secured investment commitments worth INR 31 crores, indicating strong initial investor interest.
• The fund has set an ambitious goal of reaching an Asset Under Management (AUM) of INR 350 crores by the end of the fiscal year 2024 (FY24).

Daily Current Affairs September 01 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Bad Bank chairman Karnam Sekar resigns over disagreements in merger with IDRCL

• Karnam Sekar, the chairman of the National Asset Reconstruction Company of India (NARCL), commonly referred to as the Bad Bank, has resigned due to differences in the structure and functioning of the institution.
• National Asset Reconstruction Company of India (NARCL) Chairman Sekar resigned soon after a proposal for merging the public sector NARCL with India Debt Resolution Company Limited (IDRCL) was suggested.

Origin of Merger Proposal :

• The report notes that the proposal for the merging of two entities first came from IDRCL, headed by former State Bank of India (SBI) managing director (MD) Diwakar Gupta.
• It was suggested to the Finance Ministry that the two entities should be merged in order to optimize business opportunities and reduce costs.

Daily Current Affairs August 31 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Asian Development Bank & Fourth Partner Energy sign $14.7mn loan agreement to build solar power plant in Tamil Nadu

•     The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Fourth Partner Energy Private Limited (Fourth Partner) an Independent Power Producer (IPP) signed a long-term loan of up to 2 billion Indian rupees (about $14.7 million) to construct and operate a 25-megawatt solar photovoltaic-based power plant to increase clean and low-cost energy supply to commercial and industrial customers.
• The power plant, located in Tirunelveli district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India, is expected to generate about 7 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually and will directly sell power to commercial and industrial users.
• This is ADB’s 1st direct financing to a renewable energy plant.

Daily Current Affairs August 29 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

RBI approves merger of Akola Merchant Co-operative Bank Limited with Jalgaon Peoples Co-operative Bank

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the merger of Akola Merchant Co-operative Bank Limited, located in Akola, Maharashtra, with The Jalgaon Peoples Co-operative Bank Limited, situated in Jalgaon, Maharashtra.
• This strategic move was authorized by the RBI under Sub-Section (4) of Section 44A along with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• After the merger, the branches of Akola Merchant Co-operative Bank will function as branches of The Jalgaon Peoples Co-operative Bank.
• This merger is expected to strengthen the banking sector in the region and improve customer services for both banks’ clients.

Daily Current Affairs August 27 & 28 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

India’s banking system liquidity slips into deficit for 1st time in FY24

• India’s banking system liquidity has slipped into deficit for the 1st time this financial year(2023) after the Reserve Bank of India’s temporary liquidity withdrawal move and tax outflows.

Key Highlights : 

• As of August 21, 2023, the liquidity of the Indian banking system was reported at Rs 236 billion ($2.84 billion), according to data provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• This marked a significant departure from the scenario at the beginning of August 2023 when the banking system enjoyed a surplus liquidity of 2.8 trillion rupees.

Daily Current Affairs August 17 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

RBI to launch pilot project on Public Tech Platform for frictionless credit

• In a step towards enhancing India’s financial landscape, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the launch of the Pilot Project for Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit by Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI.

Aim: 

• To enable delivery of frictionless credit by facilitating a seamless flow of required digital information to lenders.

Daily Current Affairs August 16 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS ; BANKING & FINANCE

Bank of Maharashtra tops list of public sector lenders in loan and deposit growth of 25% in Q1 2023

• Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has emerged as the top performer among public sector lenders in loan and deposit growth of 25% in percentage terms during the first quarter of the current financial year.
• The deposit and advances of the Pune-based lender are the highest by any public sector bank (PSB) during the April-June quarter.

Daily Current Affairs August 15 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

RBI Monetary Policy Highlights: Keeps Repo rate unchanged at 6.5%; Retail inflation for FY24 pegged at 5.4%

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5% for the 3rd time in a row.

RBI’s Policy Rates :

Category	Rate
Repo Rate	6.5%
Reverse Repo Rate	3.35
Standing Deposit Facility	6.25%
Marginal standing facility	6.75%
GDP growth projection	6.5%
C  Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation	5.4%
Bank Rate	6.75%
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)	4.50%
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)	18%

Key Highlights :

• Real GDP growth for 2023-24 is projected at 6.5% with Q1:2023-24 at 8.0%; Q2 at 6.5%; Q3 at 6.0%; and Q4 at 5.7% & Q1FY25 at 6.6%.

Daily Current Affairs August 13 & 14 2023

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

RBI proposes to raise UPI-Lite payments limit to Rs 500 per transaction

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced to increase the transaction payment limit from Rs. 200 to Rs. 500 for UPI Lite in offline mode to promote digital transactions.
• However, the overall limit of small-value digital transactions is kept unchanged at 2,000 rupees.
• Earlier, a limit of Rs 200 per transaction and an overall limit of Rs 2,000 per payment instrument had been prescribed by the RBI for small value digital payments in offline mode, including for National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) and UPI Lite.

Daily Current Affairs August 12 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE

SEBI changes IPO rules & listing time cut to 3 days from 6 days

• Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) halved the timeline for listing of shares on stock exchanges after the closure of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) to 3 days from 6 days at present.
• The new listing timeframe will be voluntary for all public issues opening on or after September 1, 2023, and mandatory for all the issues which come after December 1, 2023.
• Under the new guidelines, IPOs will have to mandatorily list after 3 days of the issue closing date.
• The move came after SEBI’s board cleared a proposal regarding the same in June 2023.

Daily Current Affairs August 11 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Banks wrote off ₹14.56 lakh crores non-performing assets between FY15 and FY23

• As per the RBI provisional data, ₹14-lakh crore worth Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) were written off by Scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) between FY15 and FY23 (9 years).
• Out of these, nearly half (₹7,40,968 crore/ ₹7.40 lakh crore) were related to large industries and services.
• The SCBs have recovered an aggregate amount of Rs 2,04,668 crore in written-off loans, including corporate loans, since April 2014 and up to March, 2023.

Daily Current Affairs August 10 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Bajaj Finance partnered with ICICI Lombard General Insurance to offer motor insurance policies

• Indian non-banking financial services company, Bajaj Finance Limited (BFL) has partnered with ICICI Lombard General Insurance along with other partners to provide car and two-wheeler insurance plans on the platform Bajaj Finance Insurance Mall.

Key features and benefits :

• Offers Comprehensive coverage: Get complete coverage for the insured vehicle as well as for the third party.
• Offers own damage cover: These policies cover damages caused to the insured vehicle by accidents, thefts, natural calamities and fire.
• Offers third-party cover: Get financial coverage for third-party liabilities.

Daily Current Affairs August 09 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

NABARD sanctions Rs 1,974 crores to the Government of Rajasthan for Rural Infrastructure Development Fund for 2023-24

• National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs 1,974.07 crore to the Rajasthan government under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for 2023-24.
• Rs 930.44 crore has been sanctioned for 3 rural drinking water supply projects in Ajmer, Jalore, and Kota districts.

Daily Current Affairs August 08 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Mastercard Launches CVV-Free Payment Feature For Tokenized Transactions

• Payments giant Mastercard announced the introduction of Cardholder Verification Value (CVV)-less online transactions for its debit and credit cardholders who have tokenized their cards on merchant platforms.

Daily Current Affairs August 06 & 07 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Govt land worth Rs 2000 cr to become garbage-free under Smart City Mission in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu

• Under the waste-to-wealth concept given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Coimbatore Smart City Mission has taken the initiative of cleaning the waste accumulated over decades and earning from it.
• Smart City Mission officials say valuable government land worth about 2,000 crore rupees will also become garbage-free.
• According to official data, over 15.5 lakh cubic metres of garbage were accumulated in Coimbatore city for many years. Due to this garbage, 650 acres of land were also buried in the pile of garbage.

Daily Current Affairs August 05 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

RBI fines 4 PSUs for late reporting of overseas investments

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed late submission fees (LSF) of ₹2,000 crore on major public sector undertakings namely, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, GAIL (India) Ltd, and Oil India Ltd for delayed reporting of their overseas investments.
• As per RBI notification dated 22 August 2022, restrictions have been placed on further remittance or transfer, wherein authorized dealer banks shall not facilitate any outward remittance/financial commitment by a person residing in India towards a foreign entity until the delay in reporting is regularized.
• State Bank of India (SBI) is the authorized dealer (AD) bank for these public sector undertakings’ (PSUs’) foreign transactions.
• It is the work of the AD bank to report and reconcile their overseas direct investments (ODIs) within the requisite timelines.

Daily Current Affairs August 04 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Fintech company CRED launched RuPay credit card-based UPI payments                               

• Fintech firm CRED in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), introduced RuPay credit card-based Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments for its members.
• CRED supports RuPay credit cards issued by banks including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, Axis Bank, BOB Financial Solutions, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Punjab National Bank, and Union Bank.

Daily Current Affairs August 03 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Paytm launches 2 new innovative devices – Paytm Pocket Soundbox and Paytm Music Sound Box to help India’s small shops   

• One97 Communications Limited (OCL), the parent company of Paytm, India’s prominent payments and financial services company, launched two payment devices – Paytm Pocket Soundbox and Paytm Music Sound Box to provide enhanced payment experiences for merchants while being non-promotional.

Daily Current Affairs August 02 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

SIDBI Accelerator Fund to be set up at IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship startup incubator    

• The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the principal financial institution for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, announced its partnership with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad’s (IIM-A) startup incubator Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (CIIE) to set up a SIDBI Accelerator Fund at the incubator with an initial corpus of Rs 20 crores.

Aim:

• To promote Deep Tech and science-led Innovation by facilitating access to seed capital.
• The programme focuses on supporting startups with meritorious ideas and technologies important for India’s goals for 2047 to become self-reliant as well as a dominant player in high quality/ high entry barrier products/services.

Daily Current Affairs August 01 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Government of India & Asian Development Bank signed a 200 million dollar loan to enhance urban services in Rajasthan 

• The Government of India (GoI) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $200 million loan as additional financing for the ongoing Rajasthan Secondary Towns Development Sector Project to expand water supply and sanitation systems and enhance urban resilience and heritage living in selected towns.
• The loan agreement was signed between, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs Vumlunmang Vualnam, and the Country Director of Asian Development Bank, India Resident Mission, Takeo Konishi.

About the Project :

Daily Current Affairs July 30 & 31 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

SEBI revealed framework for corporate debt market development fund

• Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) came out with an exhaustive framework for the Corporate Debt Market Development Fund (CDMDF).
• Under the CDMDF, mutual funds will have to contribute 25 basis points (bps) of the specified debt asset under management (AUM) to the fund.

Daily Current Affairs July 29 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

ADB & India signs $295 million loan to upgrade state highways in Bihar

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India (GoI) signed an agreement for a $295 million loan to upgrade around 265 kilometre state highways with climate and disaster-resilient design, and road safety elements in Bihar.
• The signatories to the agreement for the Enhancing Connectivity and Sustainability in Bihar Roads Project were Vumlunmang Vualnam, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, who signed on behalf of GoI and Mr. Takeo Konishi, Country Director for ADB in India, who signed for ADB.

Daily Current Affairs July 28 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Canara Bank becomes a major lender to State PSUs and corporations in FY23

• Canara Bank topped the list of public sector banks (PSBs) with the highest lending to corporations and public sector undertakings (PSUs) of States and Union Territories (UTs) for the 5th year in a row.
• According to government data, Canara Bank led the lending to government-backed entities, with a total disbursement of ₹187,813 crore in FY23.
• The Lending amount was 11% higher than the ₹1,69,532 crore the state-run bank lent to government entities.
• Canara Bank’s lending to State-run public sector enterprises and corporations alone accounted for over 45% of the total lending of all PSBs.

Daily Current Affairs July 27 2023 | Latest News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Indian Banks get ₹5,729 crores from Depositor Education and Awareness fund (DEAF) to refund unclaimed deposits

• The Union minister of State for finance, Shri Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad announced that Indian banks have received ₹5,729 crores from the “Depositor Education and Awareness” (DEA) Fund to facilitate the refund of unclaimed deposits in the last 5-years.
• The “Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014“, which was issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), outlines regulations pertaining to unclaimed deposits and details the usage of the fund, including its role in promoting depositors‘ interests and supporting specified purposes.
• Dr Karad stated that RBI has taken various steps to reduce the quantum of unclaimed deposits and return such deposits to rightful claimants.