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Awareness 2017
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Banking & Financial Awareness
Contents
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Banking & Financial Awareness
sum of Rs 2,914.038 crore through preferential allotment and permission given to raise Rs 200
crore by United Bank of India through QIP mode.
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Home loan rates for ICICI Bank will come down between 0.45% and 0.6%, depending
on quantum and category.
Oriental Bank of Commerce has reduced the one-year MCLR rate by 0.8% to 8.60%,
while Andhra Bank has brought it down by a similar percentage point to 8.65%,
effective January 3, 2017
Kotak Mahindra Bank, too reduced the MCLR rate by up to 0.45%. The bank has
reduced MCLR by 0.20% to 9% from 9.20% for one-year tenor. However, the MCLR for
the three-month period has been reduced by 0.45 percentage points to 8.40%, while
the lending rate for two and three years, has been brought down to 9% from 9.25%.
Bandhan Bank has cut its MCLR by 1.48%, to 10.52%, effective from January 3, 2017.
With this, the bank has cut its loan rate for small borrowers by almost 4 percentage
points, since it started operations in August 2015.
Dena bank has reduced the MCLR by 0.75%, to 8.55%, for 1 year tenor.
RBI Directs Banks to Supply 40 Percent Notes in Rural Areas
The Reserve Bank of India on January 3, 2017, directed all the banks to supply atleast 40
percent of the notes to the rural branches since currency notes in rural areas was not
adequate to meet the requirements of the population.
HDFC Ties with Niki.ai to Launch OnChat to make Payments via Facebooks Messenger
i. HDFC has tied-up with artificial intelligence firm Niki.ai to launch a chatbot
called OnChat on Facebooks Messenger platform, that will allow users to recharge phones,
pay utility bills, book cabs from Ola or Uber etc., through a chat.
ii. The chatbot is available for non-HDFC bank users as well. The chat opens a payment
gateway through which transactions can be made using any bank account.
Coca-Cola India partners the State Bank of India to enable digital transactions
i. Coca-Cola India and its largest bottling partner Hindustan Coca-Cola beverages have
partnered the SBI to enable over 2.6 million retailers and 5000 distributors in conducting
business transactions digitally.
ii. SBI will educate retailers on digital transactions and will be developed a customized payment
solution for retailers and distributors.
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Yes Bank ties-up with Bajaj Electricals for vendor financing using block chain
i. Yes Bank has entered into a tie-up with Bajaj Electricals for vendor financing using
blockchain solution.
ii. There is an over 70 per cent cost reduction because of blockchain and the payback for our
investments is 6-8 months.
Paytm Gets final approval from RBI to Start Operating as Payment Bank
i. Mobile commerce and payments company, Paytm received the final approval from the Reserve
Bank of India on January 3, 2017 to launch Paytm Payment Bank.
ii. Paytm Payments Bank Ltd is expected to start its operation in next 30-60days with its first
branch in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
iii. Paytm Payments Bank is held 51% by Sharma and 49% by One97 Communications Pvt. Ltd. It
has already received investments of Rs 220 crore from One97 Communication and its Vijay
Shekhar Sharma.
Karnataka Bank launches group Personal Accident Insurance Scheme named KBL
Suraksha
i. Karnataka Bank has launched has launched a group Personal Accident Insurance
Scheme for all its Saving Bank(SB) Account holders. The insurance scheme is named KBL
Suraksha and provides insurance cover for accidental death.
ii. All the SB Account holders within the age group of 18-70 years can register themselves for
the insurance scheme. The KBL Suraskha Scheme comes in two variants.
iii. Plan A provides an accidental insurance of Rs 5 lakh on payment of Annual premium of Rs
50(plus service charge). Plan B provides an accidental insurance of Rs 10 lakh on payment of
Annual premium of Rs 100(plus service charge). The maximum renewal age for the policy will
be 75 years.
iv. Karnataka Bank has launched the insurance scheme in association with Universal Sompo
General Insurance. The bank has launched a month-long campaign to promote its KBL
Suraksha scheme.
Corporation of India (LIC) to give a boost to the venture capital ecosystem for MSMEs.
ii. LIC and SIDBI signed Contribution Agreements with 7 Venture Capital Funds (VCFs) with an
aggregate commitment of Rs 99.50 crore from LIC on January 03 in New Delhi. This is over and
above commitment of Rs 162.75 crore already given to these funds by SIDBI.
16th Financial Stability and Development Council Meeting Held in New Delhi
The 16th edition of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) meeting was
held on January 5, 2017 in New Delhi under the Chairmanship of
the Union Finance Minister ArunJaitley.
Aim: The FSDC meeting was held to discuss about the obstacles faced by the economy and to
bring out the solution to tackle them. Besides, it also aimed at bringing new suggestions and
outcomes in order to benefit the upcoming Budget 2017-18.
Key Discussions Held During the Meeting
i.While chairing the meeting, the Union Finance Minister, ArunJaitley emphasized the significance
of demonetization decision saying that the governments measures to eliminate the shadow
economy and tax evasion are expected to have a positive impact both on GDP and on fiscal
consolidation in the long run.
ii.The Council, which has heads of all financial sector regulators as its members, reviewed the
major issues and challenges facing the economy and noted that India appears to be much better,
placed today on the back of improvement in its macroeconomic fundamentals.
iii.Financial regulators gave suggestions to promote financial stability and also discussed the
measures and initiatives to establish and promote the financial stability. Also, the regulators
offered their suggestions for the upcoming Budget for 2017-18, which were discussed by the
Council.
iv.In the meeting, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian made a presentation on the state
of the economy.
v.FSDC discussed about the various initiatives taken by the government and regulators for
promoting financial inclusion/ financial literacy efforts and discussed further measures for
promoting the same.
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Indias GDP growth estimated at 7.1% this year & Per capita net national income rises
by over 10%
i. According to the Central Statistical Office data Indias Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth
is estimated at 7.1 per cent in 2016-17 as compared to 7.6 per cent in 2015-16.
ii. The CSOs projection on the per capita net national income during 2016-17 is projected to be 1
lakh three thousand seven rupees displaying an increase of 10.4 per cent as compared to 93
thousand two hundred ninety three during 2015-16 with the growth rate of 7.4 percent.
iii. The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector and manufacturing sector are likely to show a
growth of 4.1 per cent and 7.4 percent respectively during 2016-17, as against the previous
years growth rate of 1.2 per cent and 9.3 percent in 2015-16.
iv. The wholesale price index (WPI), of food articles has risen by 6.9 per cent,and the consumer
price index has shown a rise of 5.0 per cent during April-November, 2016-17.
SEBI eases rules for foreign fund managers & Sebi relaxes rules for angel funds to boost
start-up funding
i.The Market Watchdog SEBI has released rules allowing foreign fund managers to act
as Portfolio Managers under a relaxed regulatory regime.
ii.This new rule will make it easier for foreign fund managers to enter India also provides
significance of taxation incentives for the offshore fund managers willing to relocate to India.
iii. In another development the market regulator also relaxed its rules for investment by angel
funds, including permitting them to invest in up to five-year old entities which will boost startup
funding.
iv.Consequently the lock-in condition has been cut down from 3 years to 1 year for angel funds
and their minimum investment threshold has been slashed from Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh.
v. Angel funds are permitted to invest in overseas venture capital undertakings up to 25 per
cent of their investible corpus in agreement with other Alternative Investment Funds.
SBI waives MDR charges for small merchants for one year
i. SBI has waived Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on debit card transactions for all small
merchants with annual turnover of up to Rs 20 lakh for one year.
ii. The bank has decided to waive completely, the MDR charges on debit card transactions for all
small merchants for a period of one year upto December 31, 2017.
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Indias GDP Growth Decelerates to 7 percent for fiscal 2016-17: World Bank
i. The World Bank on January 11, 2017 cut the Indias GDP growth for 2016-17 fiscal ending on
March 31, 2017 to 7 percent from its previous estimate of 7.6 percent due to demonetization.
ii. The bank cited the immediate withdrawal of a large volume of currency in circulation and
subsequent replacement with new notes as the main reason behind the deceleration of the GDP
growth rate.
iii. However, the bank also asserted that India is expected to regain its momentum with GDP
growth at 7.6 percent in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19 and strengthening to 7.8 per cent in FY
2019-20.
Airtels Payments Bank Starts Operation with Initial Investment of Rs. 3000
i. Airtel Payments Bank started its nationwide operations on January 12, 2017 with an initial
investment of Rs 3,000 crore and offering an interest rate of 7.25 per cent for savings
accounts. The bank was launched by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
ii. This is the first payments bank which will be opened across 29 states in India to provide
financial services to the millions who are outside the banking system.
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to make their regulatory payments in digital mode to help in speedy and easy transactions and
reduce failures due to payment gateway issues.
NPCI declares Rs 54.90 crore prize money for NITI Aayogs lucky draw schemes
i. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has declared Rs 54.90 crore prize money to
over 3.42 lakh winners for NITI Aayogs lucky draw schemes Lucky Grahak Yojna (LGY) and
Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojna (DVY).
ii. There are 15,000 daily winners qualifying for total prize money of Rs. 1.5 crore and
over 14,000 weekly winners qualifying for total prize money of over Rs. 8.3 crore every week.
It will run till April 14, 2017
iii. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka emerged as the top
five states with maximum number of winners under the age group of 21 to 30 years.
Market Regulator SEBI Tightens Mergers & Acquisitions Norms Among Unlisted Firms
The Capital market regulator of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on
January 14 tightened the norms associated to Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) of Indian
companies.
Aim: The main objective behind the move is to prevent large number of unlisted
company to get listed by merging with a very small company for personal motive and
protect the interest of the Public shareholders in the listed companies and give them a
greater say in the merger with unlisted subsidiaries.
Directives Rolled Out by SEBI
SEBI directed after the unlisted company merge with listed company and gets automatically
listed, the effective total public shareholding of the listed entity plus the qualified
institutional buyers (QIBs) of the newly listed company has to be at least 25%.
The public shareholding of the resultant entity created by the merger of an unlisted and
a listed company has to be more than 25 per cent.
The unlisted entity can only merge with those companies that are listed on exchanges such
as the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE.
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The market regulator also directed companies to follow the pricing formula specified under
the Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements (ICDR) regulations. This aims to
prevent companies to issue shares to select group of shareholders instead of all shareholders
during mergers and amalgamations between listed and unlisted entities.
Mysuru Printing Press Breaks Record by Printing Highest No. of Currency Notes in a
Month
i. As per the data released by the President of Note Mudran Limited Employees Union, A Ramdass,
the RBI Note Mudran printing press in Mysuru printing highest number of currency
notes in December breaking all its past record.
ii .It printed 10.9 million currency note in a day that even broke the world record made an
American currency printing press of printing 8.7 million notes in a day.
India Signs Financing Agreement with World Bank for US$ 48 Million for Nagaland
Health Project
The Joint Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs, Mr. Raj Kumar and Acting Country Director
of the World Bank Mrs. Genevieve Connors are signed s financing agreement for IDA credit of US$
48 million for the Nagaland Health Project on January 16, 2017.
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K S Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Aegon Religare Life Insurance, Sai Srinivas, Appointed Actuary, Bajaj
Allianz Life Insurance and Sandeep Bakshi, CEO, ICICI Prudential Life
i. As per a report titled An economy for the 99 per cent released by rights group Oxfam on
January 16, 2017, the richest 1 percent of the population in India holds 58 percent of the
countrys total wealth which is higher than the global figure of 50 percent.
ii. The report found that since 2015, the richest 1 percent population in India has continued
iii. Besides, it also discovered that 57 billionaires in India having collective wealth of USD 216
billion was equal to the wealth that lowest 70 percent population held. However, when taken
globally only 8 billionaires have the same amount of wealth as the poorest 50 percent of the world
population.
iv. The study stated that India has 84 billionaires with a collective wealth of USD 248
billion. The total Indian wealth in the country was calculated at USD 3.1 trillion. Top 3 billionaires
comprised of Mukesh Ambani (USD 19.3 billion), Dilip Shanghvi (USD 16.7 billion) and Azim
iv. In contrast, the total global wealth in 2016 was USD 255.7 trillion. Of this, the top three global
billionaires held about USD 6.5 trillion which comprised of Bill Gates (USD 75 billion), Amancio
IMF Lowers Indias GDP Growth Rate to 6.6% from 7.6% for FY17
i. According to the World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) on January 16, 2017 has lowered the Indias GDP growth rate for the current fiscal year
by one point to 6.6 percent from its previous estimate of 7.6 percent due to the effect of
ii. IMF also cut Indias GDP forecast for 2017-18 by 0.4 points to 7.2 percent as against previous
forecast of 7.6 percent. For the year 2018-19, the projected growth rate remained unchanged
at 7.7 percent.
iii. Besides, IMF estimated the growth rate of China at 6.7 percent for 2016-17, 6.5 percent for
iv. The global growth for 2016 was estimated at 3.1 percent that remained unchanged from
previous forecast while for 2017 the global forecast is estimated at 3.4 percent for advanced and
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i. Private sector lender YES BANK in collaboration with T-Hub, Anthill and Lets Talk
Payments launched a unique business accelerator program YES FINTECH to provide start-ups
a platform for creating sustainable and market ready products as well as provide innovative
ii. YES FINTECH has invited start-ups applications from across the global community, till February
3, 2017 on its website www.yesfintech.com. It would select top 12 start-ups for 15 week dual
i. YES Bank has launched a first of its kind unique Customizable Savings Account to enable the
ii. Mumbai based bank has become the first bank in India to launch such type of account that
enables the customer to choose various features of a savings accounts that suits ones own
lifestyle.
RBI Hikes Cash Withdrawal Limit from ATMs to Rs. 10,000 per Day
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from January 16, 2017 has increased the limit of cash
withdrawal from ATMs to Rs 10,000 per day from the current Rs 4,500 with immediate effect
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the fiscal 2017 because of being the fastest growing large developing economy.
ii. Besides, the growth estimate for 2018 has been projected at 7.6 percent. However, it also
stated that low capacity utilization and stressed balance sheets of banks and businesses will have
negative effect on strong investment revival in the short term.
iii. The report estimated the growth prospect of China to remain stable at 6.5 percent for fiscal
years 2017 and 2018 due to favourable domestic demand and accommodative fiscal measures.
iv. Earlier the International Monetary Fund cut Indias growth rate for the current fiscal year
to 6.6 percent from its previous estimate of 7.6 percent while the World Bank too lowered
Indias GDP growth for 2016-17 fiscal to 7 percent from its previous estimate of 7.6 percent.
CBDT Clarifies No TDS or Advance Tax Credit for Income under PMGKY
i. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on January 18, 2017 cleared that income
declared under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) would not be entitled to get any
credit by way of advance tax paid or the tax deducted at source (TDS) or tax collected at
source (TCS)
ii. This is in contrast to the earlier Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) under which these credits
were allowed.
Lloyds Gets Final Approval from IRDAI to Open First Branch in India
i. Londons insurance giant Lloyd has received the final approval from the Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) on January 19, 2017 to set up its first branch
in India.
ii. The specialist insurance and reinsurance company would open its first branch office in India
before April 2017 and will be located at Mumbai.
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ii. The GST Council has decided that tax evasion of upto than Rs. 2 crore would be bailable
offense to ensure that the trader gets immediate bail while the non-bailable offenses would be
limited to forgery and non- deposit of collected taxes with the exchequer within the
stipulated time frame.
Kwality Ltd Signs MoU with Bank of Baroda for Rs 4000 Cr Loan to Farmers
i. Mumbai based dairy firm Kwality Ltd has signed an MoU with Bank of Baroda on January
20, 2017 to provide Rs. 4000 crore loans to one lakh farmers out of the established networks
from whom the company procures milk.
ii. The MoU aims to provide financial assistance to improve socio-economic lives of farmers
and encourage them towards digitisation.
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Cabinet Permits NABARD to Raise Rs. 20,000 crore for on-lending to Co-Op Banks
i. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave its post-facto
approval on January 24, 2017 allowing National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development
(NABARD) to raise approx. Rs. 20,000 crore from the market for on-lending to Cooperative
Banks.
ii. It permitted the bank to make the short term borrowing at the prevailing market rate and lend
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to Co-op Banks at 4.5 Percent rate of interest. The move will support the famers by providing
them loans to boost agricultural production.
France Issues First Green Bonds With Record Sale of 7 Billion Euro
i. France on January 24, 2017 issued its first Green Bonds with a record sale of worth seven
billion euro (USD 7.5 billion) thus leading a significant way towards establishment of a genuine
market in renewable energy bonds.
ii. The proceeds from the bonds will be used by France to finance projects to address climate
change.
iii. The 22-year bonds coupon has been set at 1.75 percent which is same as the interest rate
on conventional borrowing for the same time frame. This will enable France to finance expenditure
on green projects at the same price as traditional borrowing.
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Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Presented Economic Survey 2016-17 in the
Parliament
The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley presented the Economic Survey 2016-17 in the
Parliament on January 31, 2017 that provides a base for the government to prepare the annual
Budget.
The survey has been authored by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian.The
Economic Survey depicts the state of the economy and is generally presented in
Parliament a day before the presentation of the annual Budget.
Important Highlights of the Economic Survey 2016-17
GDP Growth
The Economic Survey has estimated that the GDP growth rate for FY18 will be in the range
of 6.75 percent to 7.5 percent.
Demonetization and rising oil prices have been identified as the major risk to the growth
rate. However, remonetization and sufficient circulation of currency notes may return the
growth rate to normal position.
The growth rate for the current fiscal has been estimated at 7.1 percent from the previous
7.6 percent by the Central Statistics Office. This estimate does not take into account the
effect of demonetization.
Fixed investment (gross fixed capital formation) to GDP ratio (at current prices) is estimated
to be 26.6 per cent in 2016-17 as compared to previous 29.3 percent.
Government Revenues
The survey stated that the indirect taxes grew by 26.9 percent during April-November 2016.
Besides, the revenue expenditure experienced a boost in the same period due to
increase in the salaries of government employees by 23.2 percent with the Seventh Pay
Commission and 39.5 percent increase in the grants for creation of capital assets.
Inflation
As per the Consumer Price Index (CPI), inflation remained under control for the third successive
financial year. The average CPI inflation was 5.9 percent in 2014-15, 4.9 percent in 2015-16
and 4.8 percent during April-December 2016.
Based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI), inflation was 2.0 per cent in 2014-15 and lowered to
(-)2.5 percent in 2015-16. During April-December 2016 it averaged to 2.9 percent. As per
the report pulses contributed major risk to food inflation.
Trade Growth
The survey stated that the growth in export was increased by 0.7 percent during April-December
of 2016-17 amounting to USD 198.8 billion.
Similarly, during April-December of 2016-17, imports declined by 7.4 per cent
to USD 275.4 billion.
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India Post Payment Bank Begins Pilot Service in Ranchi & Raipur
i. India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) started its operations on January 30, 2017 with the pilot
services launched in Raipur and Ranchi.
ii .The total paid up capital of the bank is Rs. 800 crore and the government has already
infused Rs. 275 crore.
iii. IPPB will offer an interest rate of 4.5 percent on deposits up to Rs.25,000; 5 percent
on deposits of Rs.25,000-50,000 and 5.5 percent on Rs.50,000-1 lakh.
iv. The main of IPPB is to encourage financial inclusion rather than promoting commercial
interests. It would work jointly with the Department of Post to offer the benefits of the
government schemes and financial services which is not easily available to rural people and
marginal population of urban area.
v. IPPB would enable 3 lakh postmen to aid in bank functions. Besides, 1000 ATMs of India Post
will be transferred to IPPB. The bank has made plans to launch 650 branches across the country
by September 2017.
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collected responses from leading economists representing industry, banking and financial services
sectors.
iii. A slowdown in the estimate is due to the decrease in services and infrastructure sectors
post demonetization.
ICRA Estimates Banks Credit Growth to Remain Subdued at 5-6 percent in FY17
As per the report of the rating agency, ICRA, the bank credit growth rate is likely to float
between 5-6 percent in the current fiscal year.The reason cited includes weak loan demand as
the rate of return offered by debt market is better in comparison to banks.
Besides, the deposit rate was also projected to drop to 12 percent from the current 14.7
percent this fiscal ending March 2017 due to better cash flow in the system and cut in the deposit
rate by the banks.
NABARD Sanctions Rs 157 crore Loan to Haryana for Drinking Water Project
i. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on February 2, 2017
sanctioned a loan amount of Rs. 157 crore to the Government of Haryana to undertake drinking
water project.
ii. Under the project, the government would undertake drinking water supply scheme in 84
villages of districts Palwal and Faridabad.
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iii. As per the project, portable drinking water would be supplied in selected villages in blocks
Prithla, Palwal and Ballabhgarh from Yamuna flood plain by constructing ranney wells and deep
tubewells.
iv .The project is likely to benefit 3,06,814 persons. The loan amount has been sanctioned from
the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
v. Till date NABARD has provided Rs 5,794 crore assistance to Harayana government under
RIDF since its inception in 1995-96.
India and World Bank signs Financing Agreement Worth US$ 201.50 Million for TEQIP
III
i. The Government of India has signed a USD 201.50 million credit agreement with
the World Bank on February 1, 2017 to improve the quality and equity of engineering education
across several states in India.
ii. The agreement was signed by Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs,
Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India and Junaid Ahmad, Country
Director, World Bank India, on behalf of the World Bank.
iii. The agreement signed was for the third phase of the Technical Education Quality
Improvement Project (TEQIP III).
iv. The project aims to strengthen engineering education in low-income group, hill states and
states of the North East. TEQIP III will support nearly 200 engineering education institutes across
India to produce higher quality engineers.
Gross NPA of PSBs Strikes 9.83% in FY16 and 11.82% by September 2016
i. As per the data released by the Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar in the Lok
Sabha on February 3, 2017, Public Sector Banks (PSBs) witnessed a bad loan at 9.83percent of
the gross advances in the financial year (FY) 2015-16, while the bad loans for Private sector
banks were capped at 2.70 percent of the advances.
ii. For the FY16, PSBs had gross advances of Rs. 51,04,915 crore. Out of this Rs 5,02,068 crore
was categorized as gross non-performing assets (GNPA) which accounts for 9.83 percent
iii. In case of the Private sector bank of the total Rs 17,91,681 crore gross advances made in
FY16, only Rs 48,380 crore were gross NPA means only 2.70 percent.
iv. Further, till September 2016, PSBs gross NPA hiked to Rs 5,89,502 crore which is 11.82
percent of the total advances made till date. Besides, when the gross NPAs were combined with
the restructured advances, they rose to 15.88 percent as on September 30, 2016.
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RBI Directs Banks to Waive off Transactions Charges and Decrease Interest Rate for
Credit Cards
i. The Reserve Bank of India has directed banks on February 3, 2017 to waive off transaction
charges and lower interest rates on credit cards as a move to encourage digital transaction.
ii. RBI has decided that customers would not be levied any charges by banks and prepaid
payment instrument issuers for transactions up to Rs. 1,000 settled on Immediate Payment
Service (IMPS), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and Unified Payments Interface
(UPI) till March 3, 2017.
iii. It has also directed banks to lower the interest on credit card dues. Interest rates are
determined by banks with the approval of their respective Board of Directors subject to regulatory
guidelines on the interest rate on advances issued by RBI from time to time.
iv. Transaction settled on IMPS and UPI above Rs. 1000 would not be levied any fee charge
however the service tax will be charged at actual. For USSD transactions above Rs. 1,000 a
further 50 paise discount is provided.
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ii. Under the agreement, the bank will offer the all of Cigna TTKs superior health insurance
products to its 2 crore customers through its network of over 1,896 branches, its 14,000 bank
employees across the country as well as through its digital platforms.
PNB Housing Finance limited & CREDAI-West Bengal Signs MoU to train construction
workers in West Bengal
i. The PNB Housing Finance Limited (PNBHFL) and CREDAI West Bengal, has signed an MoU
on February 6, 2017, wherein CREDAI-Bengal would train 1000 construction workers in
Kolkata and nearby villages.
ii. The MoU aims to address the need to speed up the construction pace for quicker delivery
and hand-overs.
iii. For providing the training CREDAI-Bengal would set up permanent skill development centres in
Medinipur and Murshidabad. These places have huge concentration of construction workers.
iv. Half of the training cost would be borne by the West Bengal State Government and PNBHFL
while remaining half would be borne by the developer of the construction site from where workers
would be trained.
v. CREDAI would provide training that would include both Classroom and On the job
training. It will provide training in collaboration with National Skill Development council Bengal.
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ii. Loan requests by salaried applicants without credit history will now be processed on a real time
basis. The unique solution is being offered through a tie-up with IndiaLends, a financial technology
startup.
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Federal Bank Inks Pact with Commodity Online for Loans Against Warehouse Receipts
i. Private sector lender Federal Bank Limited has partnered with Commodity Online, a leading
online data and information portal for the distribution of loans against warehouse
receipts and collateral management services across the country.
ii. Commodity Online will launch an agri-commodity financing platform through its
portal www.commodityonline.com.
iii. The partnership will enable Federal Bank to digitally provide financing for agri-commodities
with collateral management across India.
iv .The farmers and traders with the help of the portal can track commodity markets and
warehouses online as per their convenience and eventually get financing for their commodities
quickly.
HDFC & Kotak Mahindra Bank Goes Live on Bharat Bill Payment System
i. The Private sector lenders HDFC Bank started operating its Bharat Bill Payment System
(BBPS) on February 7, 2017 to ease the bill payment service for the customers.
ii .Along with HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank also went live with the BBPS service.
iii. BBPS was introduced by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It is a
centralized payment platform that offers speed and convenience to pay all types of bills.
iv .A customer can pay multiple bills from a single platform without the need of visiting multiple
websites or issuing individual cheques, or also registering billers with her bank for standard
instructions for debit.
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v. The BBPS offers integrated and interoperable bill payment service with security, certainty and
reliability of transactions.
vi. The service is available in multiple payment modes, online and through a network of agents.
An instant confirmation is generated for the bill payments. The BBPS will transform the society
from cash to electronic payment system, making it less dependent on cash.
Bank of Baroda & IFFCO Signs Pact to Launch Co-Branded Debit Card
i. Fertiliser major IFFCO and Bank of Baroda have signed an MoU on February 7, 2017 to
launch co-branded debit cards for farmers in a bid to promote cashless transactions in the rural
area.
ii. The MoU was signed by Yogendra Kumar, General Manager (Marketing), IFFCO and GB Panda,
General Manager (government relationships), Bank of Baroda.
iii .Under the MoU, Bank of Baroda will open Aadhaar-enabled accounts of farmers and issue
co-branded debits card to the specified farmers with overdraft facility of Rs 2,500 per card.
iv. Besides, IFFCO would take the guarantee of the total outstanding amount of any of the
farmers default due to various reasons.
v. The MoU aims to issue 2 lakh co-branded debit cards to selected farmers on the basis of the
recommendation of its authorised representative. Initially, the co-branded cards will be given to
the farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh after which rest of the states
would be covered.
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Besides, the Cabinet has also approved the introduction of a Bill in Parliament
to abolish the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959 and the State Bank
of Hyderabad Act, 1956.
Centre Allocates Rs. 500 crore to India Post Payments Bank for FY18
i. Government has allocated an amount of Rs 500 crore to India Post Payments Bank for the
financial year 2017-18 to help it in setting up 650 branches across country by September 2017.
ii. As per Output-Outcome Framework for Schemes 2017-18 for the Department of Posts
released on February 13, 2017, out of the allocated amount, Rs. 125 crore has been allocated as
capital infusion into corporate entity for India Post Payments Bank and Rs 375 crore as grant in
aid to India Post Payments Bank (IPPB).
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RBI Doubles Gold Loan Limit for Regional Rural Banks to Rs. 2 lakhs
i. The Reserve Bank of India increased the gold loan limit for RRBs (Regional Rural
Banks) to Rs 2 lakh from the current Rs 1 lakh on February 16, 2017 to help the farmers and
artisans have access to credit who are willing to pledge gold as collateral.
ii. The limit has been doubled for the loans not exceeding 12 months from the date of sanction.
Name and Shame Campaign of Catholic Syrian Bank Starts Paying Dividends
i. The Name and Shame Campaign initiated by Catholic Syrian Bank Employees and Retirees
against willful Defaulters in Kerala have started paying dividends.
ii. As per the bank, of the 30 defaulters identified with dues of more than Rs. 50 lakh each,
about 10 borrowers have approached the bank with settlement proposals and the bank has also
received firm assurance for payments worth Rs. 25 crore from defaulters.
Canara Bank Inks MoU with HRD Ministry to Start Higher Education Financing Agency
i. Bangalore based Public sector Canara Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry on February 17, 2017 to
operationalize the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA).
ii. The establishment of the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) was approved by the
Union Cabinet in September 2016.
iii. Through this MoU, HRD Ministry and Canara Bank will jointly promote the HEFA with an
authorised capital of Rs. 2,000 crore.
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ii. MobiSwipe allows merchants to accept payments via Credit and Debit card by using the mobile
application. The acquisition will help MobiSwipe to be offered in countries outside India also.
iii. As per the announcement made by OMA Emirates on February 17, 2017, the company will
begins the Indian operations from Mumbai and eventually plans to open offices in other parts of
the country beginning with Metros and Tier 1 cities.
iv. Presently, OMA Emirates have presence in Middle East, Europe and select parts of Asia. In
India, the firm will begin with providing services like business development, sales and marketing.
v. The aim of OMA Emirates is to increase its sales and market share in by extending its
operations to neighboring countries. It will also help to increase the product line of the firm by
way of partnerships, alliances and investments.
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ii. Now bank.sbi is the highest domain protocol commonly known as generic top level
domain (gTLD).
iii. With this, SBI has become the first banking organization in India to adopt gTLD for its internet
presence.
iv .The adoption of gTLD will enable SBI to use its corporate name .sbi as their websites top-level
identifier instead of using .com or .co.in as domains.
ii. The objective of this initiative to help rural areas embrace cashless transactions. The loan
amount will be deposited directly to the loanees bank account.
iii. The loan facility based on a three-step verification process of Aadhar-based eKYC, credit
bureau authentication and eSign and non collateral loans up to Rs 60,000 for one year to rural
women.
iv. It will be rolled out by June 2017 in all microfinance companys nationwide network with
several being in Rajasthan, Bihar and Delhi.
SIDBI, Vijaya Bank combine to provide concessional loans to micro, small units
i. Lucknow based Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bengaluru based Vijaya Bank for providing
concessional finance to micro and small enterprises (MSEs).
ii. Aim: To promote and strengthen the units in the MSE segment
iii. The MoU also expect joint financing/co-financing of MSMEs for meeting capital expenditure
under the SIDBI Make in India Soft Loan Fund for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
scheme at concessional rate of 9.60 per cent, along with working capital from Vijaya Bank.
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it would bounce back to its expected growth of more than 8% in the next few years.
iii. The IMF said in its annual country report on India mentioned that growth is projected to slow
to 6.6 per cent in FY2016/17, then rebound to 7.2 per cent in FY2017/18, due to temporary
disruptions, primarily to private consumption as a result of cash shortage
India Signs $375 Mn Loan Pact with ADB for Industrial Corridor
i. The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a 375-million-
dollar loans and grants on February 23, 2017 in New Delhi to develop 800-km
Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor.
ii. The project is the first phase of a planned 2,500kilometer long East Coast Economic
Corridor (ECEC) having total cost of 846 million dollars.
iii. The MoU was signed between LB Sondjaja, Deputy Country Director of ADBs India Resident
Mission on behalf of ADB and Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions), in the Ministry
of Finance, on behalf of Government of India.
NCAER Lowers Indias GDP Growth Forecast to 6.9 per cent for FY17
i. An economic think-tank, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has
lowered Indias GDP growth to 6.9 percent for the fiscal 2016-17 compared to previous
estimation of 7.6 percent.
ii. The decline in the growth forecast is based on the demonetization effect.
iii. According to NCAER, the growth rate would rebound to 7.3 percent for 2017-18.
iv .Besides, it also predicted the Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic price would grow at 6.3
percent in 2016-17 and 7 percent in 2017-18.
v .Real Agriculture GVA is estimated to grow at 3.7 percent, Real Industry GVA at 5.5 percent and
Real Services GVA at 7.3 percent in 2016-17.
vi. Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation is projected at 3.6 percent for 2016-17. However, the
inflation is projected to accelerate in 2017-18 due to rising crude oil inflation.
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sanctioned Rs 300 crore to fund managers who would invest in startups, thus taking the total
sanctions in 2016-17 to over Rs 1,100 crore.
ii. In its 7th meeting on the February 11, VCIC examined requests from 11 fund managers and
cleared sanction requests from 9 Funds aggregating Rs 300 crores.
iii .SIDBIs VCIC comprises of former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, former Nasscom chief Kiran
Karnik, Indian Angel Network Founder Saurabh Srivastava, Founder ofInfo EdgeSanjeev
Bikhchandani, among others..
iv. During fiscal year 2014-15 sanctions were made to 11 funds (Rs 314 crores) while in 2015-16
sanctions were made to 16 funds (Rs 607 crores).
v. During the current financial year, till date Rs 1,112 crores has already been sanctioned to 30
funds
iii. Th MoU will envisages joint financing/co-financing of MSMEs for capital expenditure under
SIDBI Make in India Soft Loan Fund for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, popularly known
as SMILE at a concessional rate of 9.60 per cent by SIDBI
Lakshmi Vilas Bank Signs MoU with Centrum for its HNI Clients
i. Chennai-based private sector lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) has tied up with Centrum
Group on February 27, 2017 in which the bank will refer its High Net Worth Individuals
(HNI) to Centrum for wealth management and family office services.
ii. Centrum will conduct the business through its wealth management arm, Centrum Wealth
Management and will offer its existing portfolio of wealth management services to the banks HNI
clients.
iii. The agreement was signed between Parthasarathi Mukherjee, managing director & CEO, LVB
and Jaspal Bindra, executive chairman, Centrum Group.
iii. It will cover insured persons spouse as well as familys future income with an option to
automatically increase insurance coverage as per changing life stage needed
India & World Bank Signs USD 63 Million Financing Agreement for Tejaswini: Socio-
Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women Project
i. India has signed a financing agreement of USD 63 million(equivalent) with World Bank on
23rd February, 2017 in Jharkhand for its Socio-Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls
and Young Women Project named Tejaswini.
ii. The World Bank will finance the project through its arm International Development
Association (IDA).
iii. The Financing Agreement was signed between Mr. Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of
Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Junaid Kamal
Ahmad, Country Director, World Bank (India) on behalf of the World Bank.
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Govt Directs All Banks to Provide M-Banking Facility to all Customers by March 31
i. The Government of India has directed all the banks to provide mobile banking facility to all
customers by March 31, 2017.
ii. The decision is an effort of the government to boost the digital payment system.
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Beyond that, Rs. 50+ST would be levied on every transaction beyond that.
In case of current account, the levy could go as high as Rs. 20,000.
Cash Withdrawal
If the number of cash withdrawal from other banks ATMs in a month is more than three
times then a charge of Rs. 20 would be levied per transaction.
If the withdrawal is more than 5 times from SBI ATMs in a month then Rs. 10 would be
levied per transaction.
SBI will not levy any charge on withdrawals from its own ATMs if the balance
exceeds Rs.25,000.
In case of other banks ATM, no charge would be levied by SBI if the balance
exceeds Rs. 1 lakh.
Rs. 15 would be charged for SMS alerts per quarter from debit card holders who
maintain an average quarterly balance of up to Rs. 25,000 during the three-month
period.
Term Deposit
Among other things, SBI has reduced the interest rates on term deposits maturing between
180 days and 1year and between 456 days and 3 years with effect from March 1.
SBI will now pay an interest of 6.5% on deposits with maturities between 180 days and
less than one year and 6.75% on maturities between 456 days and less than three
years.
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ii. It can assimilate knowledge from thousands of sources and provide answers in simple language
in less than 0.4 seconds
HDFC Life brings countrys first life insurance Chatbot with Haptik
Mumbai based HDFC Life has launched Indias first life insurance chatbot to help users choose
the most suitable life insurance plans and solutions on March 7, 2017
The chatbot was launched in collaboration with Indias largest chatbot platform Haptik, Indias
largest chatbot platform.
Chatbot features :
i. This chatbot will assist the customers with insurance advice ranging from Health to Tax
Planning & Retirement, based on a simple 60-second quiz which enables it to compute their
Insurance Quotient.
ii. The chatbot not only works as a personal financial advisor but also brings to the forefront the
universal need for life insurance
EPFO extends Digital Life Certificate submission through Jeevan Pramaan Patra by
March 31
The the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has extended the last date of
submission of Digital Life Certificate through Jeevan Pramaan Patra up to 31st March
2017 from 28th February 2017.
SBI says minimum balance penalty needed to offset Jan Dhan account costs
i. SBI recently announced that penalty for non-maintenance of Minimum Average
Balance (MAB) from April 1, 2017. Government asked SBI to reconsider charges.
ii. Arundhati Bhattacharya, SBI chief clarify that the condition of maintaining minimum balance
will not be applicable to the Jan Dhan accounts
RBI Will Soon Introduce New Rs 10 Notes with More Security Features
The Reserve Bank of India on March 9, 2017 notified that it is soon going to issue Rs. 10
denomination notes with enhanced security features for circulation.
Salient Feature of the Note
i. The note will be in the Mahatma Gandhi series-2005 and carry inset letter L on both
number panels.
ii. It will have the signature of Governor Urjit Patel.
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iii. The year of printing, 2017, will be on the reverse of the note.
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SBI incorporates wholly owned subsidiary for premises and estate matters of SBI
i. The State Bank of India on March 11, 2017 has legally incorporated SBI Infra Management
Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (SBIIMS Pvt. Ltd.) as a wholly owned subsidiary of SBI. SBIIMS Pvt. Ltd. will
now manage the premises and estate related matters of SBI.
ii. The new subsidiary will save the time of bank employees who earlier performed these non-core
functions. Now these employees can handle the core functions of the bank and increase the
efficiency.
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Madhya Pradesh Rewa solar plant to receive loan from World Bank
i. An international financial institution, World Bank has agreed to provide loan to develop internal
transmission arrangements of the upcoming Rewa Ultra Mega Solar (RUMS) project in Madhya
Pradesh.
ii. RUMS become Indias first solar power project of the country to receive a loan under CTF
iii. It will provide 75% of the loan amount with an interest rate of only 0.25% and remaining 25
% of the loan amount under its Clean Technology Fund (CTF), money will be provided at an
interest rate of only 0.25 per cent, a state Public Relations Department official said
SBI Announces One Time Settlement Scheme Worth Rs 6,000 cr for Tractor Loan
i. The countrys largest lender, State Bank of India announced a One-Time Settlement
(OTS) scheme worth Rs 6,000 crore on March 14, 2017 for tractor and farm mechanization
loans to improve the loan recovery.
ii. Under the scheme, the loans disbursed before 2011 and falling in the doubtful or loss assets
category as of September 30, 2016 would be considered.
iii. Proposals submitted till March 31, 2017 will be considered under the scheme.
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SEBI Issues Guidelines for Celebrities to Endorse Mutual Fund Products At Industry
Level
i. The market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) reviewed
advertisement guidelines for mutual funds on March 15, 2017, with regard to disclosing
performance-related information about such products.
ii. SEBI also issued new advertising code that will require fund houses to communicate simply
and effectively with the public.
iii. As per the new guidelines, SEBI has permitted celebrities to endorse mutual fund products at
the industry level for the purpose of increasing awareness of mutual funds as a financial product
category.
State Bank of India and CREDAI sign MoU related to real estate sector
i. Indias public sector banking and financial services company State Bank of India(SBI) and
real estate developers body CREDAI have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which
is valid for a period of 3 years.
ii. Aim of MoU :
1.To jointly conduct various initiatives towards development of the realty sector.
2.To promote housing for all
World Bank Approves $175 million loan for Indias National Hydrology Project
i. The World Bank has approved a $175 million loan on March 15, 2017 to India for
the National Hydrology Project to improve Indias ability to forecast floods and reduce the
recurring chances of floods and droughts.
ii. The loan would be disbursed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (IBRD). The loan has a six-year grace period in which no interest payments will
be due and will mature in 23 years.
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India and ADB Sign $350 Million Loan for Upgrading 1,500 kms of District Roads in
State of Madhya Pradesh
i. Philippines headquartered Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s Deputy Country Director L. B.
Sondjaja and Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions), Department of Economic Affairs in the
Ministry of Finance, Raj Kumar have signed a $350 million loan agreement in New Delhi on
March 22, 2017.
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ii. This loan amount will be used to improve 1,500 kilometers of major district roads in India's
second-largest State Madhya Pradesh.
iii. The state government of Madhya pradesh also will allocate $150 million for this project
Assam govt, SBI sign MoU over housing, educational loan at subsidized interest rates
The state government of Assam has signed two MoUs with Mumbai based State Bank of
India(SBI) to provide housing loan and education loan for its employees on March 23, 2017
Devajyoti Hazarika, state additional secretary of finance and Om Prakash Mishra General
Manager of SBI of NE Circle have signed MoU for loan facility at subsidized interest rates.
Highlights :
i. Housing loan at the interest rates of 5% for women employees
ii. Housing loan at the interest rates of 5.5 % for men and
iii. Education loan for higher education for their children at 4% interest rate
iv. The maximum limit of the housing loan is Rs 15 lakh and Education loan is Rs.10 lakh
World Bank Signs USD 100 million Credit Agreement with Centre & Uttarakhand
i .The World Bank signed US dollar 100 million credit agreement with the Centre and the
state government of Uttarakhand on March 23, 2017 in New Delhi to improve quality of health
care services in all 13 districts of the state.
ii .The aim of the agreement is to make available affordable, quality health care to all citizens
and also reduce the financial risk for its citizens.
iii. The agreement was signed between Joint Secretary in Ministry of Finance Raj Kumar on behalf
of the Centre, Additional Secretary Health and Project Director for the Uttarakhand Health
Systems Development Project Neeraj Kharwal on behalf of Uttarakhand and World Bank India
Operations Manager and Acting Country Director Hisham Abdo Kahin on behalf of the World Bank.
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Office of the Insurance Ombudsman, Delhi Receives ISO 9001:2015 (QMS) Certification
The Office of the Insurance Ombudsman, Delhi was awarded ISO 9001:2015
certification by Standardisation, Testing and Quality Certification (STOC), under Ministry
of Electronics and Information Technology, for Quality Management Standard (QMS) on March
24, 2017 in New Delhi.
Repco Inks Pact with NHB for Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme for Middle Income Groups
i. On December 31, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an interest subsidy scheme
named as Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme for Middle Income Groups, CLSS-(MIG) for the
tax-paying middle class population, aspiring to have their own pucca house.
ii. The scheme has been made operational from January 1, 2017 for which the effective
guidelines were released by Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri M.Venkaiah
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Odisha becomes first state to bring banking to remote rural areas through SHG
In what can be considered as a path breaking development on financial inclusion
front, Odisha became the first Indian state to extend banking facilities to masses in unbanked
areas through Self- Help Groups (SHGs).
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Use of Bitcoin, other virtual currencies not authorised by RBI, says Govt.
i. In backdrop of demontisation, a question was raised in Rajya Sabha asking the Govt. to clear its
stand on status of virtual currencies including Bitcoin in India. Written reply to this question was
provided by Arjun Ram Meghwal - Minister of State for Finance.
ii. As on 30th March 2017, approximate value of 1 Bitcoin = INR 67300/-
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application form.
iv. The annual fee of Rs.499 is waived off for the first 4 years.(i.e., no charges are to be paid)
India Inks $350 mn loan agreement with NDB for Roads Projects in MP
The Government of India has signed USD 350 million loan agreement with the New
Development Bank (NDB) on March 30, 2017.
Aim: Development and up gradation of road project in Madhya Pradesh to improve transport
connectivity in the interior regions of the state and boost economic activity.
The loan agreement was signed between Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic
Affairs on behalf of GOI and Xian Zhu, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of NDB.
Key Features of the Agreement
i. The MP road development project is the first NDB assisted project in India.
ii.The project is to be implemented over a period of 5 years.
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Govt lowers interest rates on small saving schemes like PPF, KVP and Sukanya
Samriddhi Yojana by 0.1 per cent for April-June quarter
Finance Ministry has notified the reduction in interest rates on Small Saving Schemes for April-
June 2017 quarter by 10 basis points (0.1%) as compared to Jan-Mar 2017 quarter. This move
is in line with the Govt.s practice of recalibrating the rates on quarterly basis, which is being
followed since April 2016.
Post this decision, the applicable interest rate on investment in various Small Savings
Schemes is as under:
Small Saving Scheme Interest Rate
Public Provident Fund (PPF) 7.9%
5-year National Savings Certificate (NSC) 7.9%
Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) 7.6% - Maturity period will be 113 months as
against 112 months previously
Sukanya Samriddhi Account 8.4%
5-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme 8.4% (Unchanged)
Savings Deposit 4.0% (Unchanged)
Term Deposits (1-5 year maturity) 6.9% to 7.7%
5-year Recurring Deposit 7.2%
SBI merged with all its subsidiaries and entered in the league of top 50 Global Banks
On April 1, 2017, State Bank of India (SBI) successfully merged with its five associate banks
and Bharatiya Mahila Bank. By this merger, SBI entered the league of Top 50 Global
Banks which ranks 44th and a balance sheet size of Rs 41 lakh crore along with the new logo.
The associate banks of SBI are
1.State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur,
2.State Bank of Hyderabad,
3.State Bank of Mysore,
4.State Bank of Patiala and
5.State Bank of Travancore.
NDB invests USD 1.5 billion in 7 projects in past 2 years of operation: Kamath
The New Development Bank (NDB) backed by BRICS has invested a total of USD 1.5 billion
through 7 projects in the year 2015 and 2016. The information was shared by NDB president K V
Kamath during the second annual meeting of the bank on April 1, 2017.
Out of the seven projects, six of the projects were from renewable sectors and one
in transport financing sector. The first ever project signed by NDB is with China in December,
2016. The second loan was signed with projects in India.
Plans by New Development Bank (NDB)
i. The NDB is planning to raise up-to $500 million through masala bonds and increase its
exposure to infrastructure projects in India.
ii. The NDB has begun its work for opening a regional centre in Africa which is to be completed by
May, 2017.
iii .Bank has an approval to raise 10 billion renminbi from China, out of which it has raised 3
billion renminbi.
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ICICI Bank and Axis Bank sold Rs 1800 crore of loans of Ballarpur to Edelweiss Asset
Re-Company
i. Market leaders ICICI Bank and Axis Bank sold Rs 1800 crore worth loans of paper
maker Ballarpur Industries to Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company.
ii. This is the first time, a potential bad loan being sold off to an Asset Reconstruction Company
at book value.
iii. Axis Bank sold loans of Rs.1200 crore and ICICI Bank sold loans of Rs.600 crore.
iv. The loan sold is under 15:85 structure where 15 per cent is paid in cash and the balance 85%
is paid in securities receipts.
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RBI Monetary Policy Review: RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6.25%, raises reverse
repo rate to 6%
On 6th April 2017, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced First Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy
Statement for financial year 2017-18. This is the third straight meeting wherein the Policy Repo
Rate has been kept unchanged.
Post the First Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement announcement, the policy rates
and reserve ratios are as follows:
Policy Repo Rate 6.25% Unchanged - since 4th October 2016
Reverse Repo Rate 6.00% Hiked by 25 basis points. Earlier it was 5.75%
Marginal Standing Facility Rate 6.50% Reduced by 25 basis points. Earlier it was 6.75%
Bank Rate 6.50% Reduced by 25 basis points. Earlier it was 6.75%
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) 4.00% Unchanged - since 9th February 2013
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) 20.50% Effective from 1st January 2017
India and ADB Sign $175 Million Loan Agreement to help improve Solar Transmission
System
The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $175 million loan
agreement to support construction of high voltage transmission systems.
i. The project will improve the capacity and efficiency of interstate transmission networks,
particularly in transmitting the electricity generated from the new solar parks to the national grid.
ii. The loan will be given to the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID).
iii. Apart from the mass departure of 2,500 megawatts(MW) of power from solar parks in Bhadla,
Rajasthan, and 700 MW from Banaskantha, Gujarat, POWERGRID is also including two additional
subprojects that will increase solar power generation by 4.2 gigawatt and lessen carbon emissions
by over 7 million tons every year.
RBI allow banks to invest in REITs And InvITs and enables faster money transfer by
finetuning NEFT Network
i. Banks will be allowed to invest in Real estate investment trusts (REITs)and Infrastructure
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investment trusts (InvITs) by RBI. These trusts are a structured business model for
entrepreneurs and corporates to convert their capital locked in assets through issue of units to
investors.
ii. Banks which are currently allowed to invest 20% of their Net-owned funds in equity,
mutual funds, venture capital funds, and stocks may invest in these trusts within this limit.
iii. RBI enables faster money transfer by finetuning NEFT (National electronic Funds
Transfer)network by increasing the number of cycle to 23 from current 12 to allow faster
settlement of funds and more funds to settle in a day.
HDFC Bank launches its UPI on Indias first multi bank payment app, Chillr
Private Sector Lender. HDFC Bank Ltd., announced the launch of its Unified Payments Interface
(UPI) on Chillr. Henceforth the HDFC Bank UPI will be available on Chillr, in addition to the banks
Mobile Banking app.
i. Nitin Chugh, Country Head- Digital Banking, HDFC Bank launched its UPI on Chillr
with Mr. Sony Joy, Co-Founder and CEO, Chillr, in the presence of senior officials of HDFC
Bank in Mumbai.
ii. Functionalities of the UPI like linking a mobile number on contacts list to a bank account,
sending money out, collect requests etc.
iii. Chillr will be allowed to link bank accounts from 44 banks which are on the payments platform
due to this deal.
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iii. Through this system RBL will raise foreign currency funds to meet its requirements in IBU and
fund offshore subsidiaries of Indian companies.
South Indian Bank & Flyworld Money in pact for transfer of funds
South Indian Bank made an agreement with Flyworld Money Exchange to facilitate
remittances by Indian migrants in Australia.
i. NRIs in Australia could enjoy quick and cost-effective remittances to India using the SIB
Express facility. Using this facility, NRIs can now remit funds with ease to any commercial bank
in India.
ii. SIB marks the first remittance arrangement with an exchange house in Australia by this
agreement. SIB also has a correspondent banking arrangement with National Australia Bank for
remittances to India.
iii. Customers as well as non-customers can use this facility through the Flyworld Money
Exchange across Australia or use the online platform provided by the exchange house to make
remittances to India.
FINO Paytech inks deal with ICICI group companies to distribute insurance products
FINO Paytecha primarily a business correspondent received a license to launch a Payments Bank
by RBI. It inked a deal with ICICI group companies to distribute Insurance products and also tied
up with Exide Life Insurance to sell products through distribution channel.
i. FINO Payments Bank will sell Life and General insurance products of ICICI Prudential and ICICI
Lombard.
ii. The Payments Bank will launch its operations with 3-4 products which include current and
saving account, Business correspondent lending, remittances and insurance.
ESAF Small Finance Bank launches social deposit scheme Hrudaya deposit
ESAF Small Finance Bank has launched a social deposit scheme called Hrudaya Deposit.
i. The deposit scheme is related with social cause through which ESAF bank provides the
customers an opportunity to be a part in social welfare projects.
ii. In this scheme whosoever customer deposit in it will become a part in national building.
iii. Their deposits are used for the welfare and infrastructure developments of the underdeveloped
sections of the society.
iv. An individual or a legal entity can join the Hrudaya deposit scheme with a minimum deposit
amount of Rs 15 lakh and for a minimum period of 2 years.
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World Bank approves $375-mn loan for Indias first waterway project
World Bank has approved a $375 million loan to India for developing its first waterway project
- The National Waterway 1. Under this project, a navigable stretch of 1360 km will be
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developed on River Ganga from Varanasi (in Uttar Pradesh) to Haldia (in West Bengal). The loan
has maturity of 17 years and grace period of 7 years.
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana tops target for 2016-17 loans cross target of Rs 1.8 lakh
Crore
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the
Union Budget for financial year 2016.
Loans extended under the PMMY during 2016-17 have crossed the target of Rs 1.8 lakh
crore.
It is an institution that would support the small entrepreneurs of India in the biggest
possible way to help the Indian economy grow and prosper
Estimated numbers of borrowers were more than 4 crore.
Income Tax department launches 'Operation Clean Money-II to probe 60,000 people
On April 14, 2017, the Income Tax department launched second phase of Operation Clean
Money under which it will probe over 60000 individuals including 1300 high risk individuals.The
Income Tax Department had carried out first phase of Operation Clean Money from January 31,
2017 to February 15, 2017, under which it conducted e-verification of large cash deposits made
during the demonetisation window from November 9, 2016 to December 30, 2016.
The threshold for e-verification was cash transactions of Rs. 5 lakh and above. As a
result, nearly 18 lakh individuals were identified who undertook cash transactions which
were not in line with their Income Tax Returns.
Such individuals were asked to provide justification for their transactions through an
online portal enabled by Income Tax Department (ITD) within 10 days.
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On April 14, 2017, the RBI has come out with a revised Prompt Corrective Action (PCA)
framework for banks which will be effective from April 1, 2017. This framework is based on
certain risk thresholds, the breach of which could result into serious consequences such as
merger with another bank or even closure of the bank.
Financial reports of banks as on March 31, 2017 will be considered as reference to
evaluate banks condition vis-a-vis the thresholds. This new framework will be reviewed after
three years.
Triggers for breach of Risk Threshold 1:
Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) falls below 10.25% or common equity tier I (CET1)
capital ratio falls below 6.75%
Net Non-Performing Assets (NPA) rises above 6%
Leverage Ratio falls below 4%
Two consecutive years of negative Return on Assets (RoA)
Triggers for breach of Risk Threshold 2:
Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) falls below 7.75% or common equity tier I (CET1)
capital ratio falls below 5.125%
Net Non-Performing Assets (NPA) rises above 12%
Leverage Ratio falls below 3.5%
Three consecutive years of negative Return on Assets (RoA)
Triggers for breach of Risk Threshold 1:
Common Equity Tier I (CET1) capital ratio falls below 3.625% in combination with
NPA above 12%
Four consecutive years of negative Return on Assets (RoA)
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IMF trims India's growth forecast to 7.2 per cent for 2017
In the latest World Economic Outlook (WEO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut
down Indias growth forecast for year 2017 by 0.4 percentage points to 7.2 %.
i. For Fiscal Year 2016-17, it has pegged Indias growth at 6.8%. The report states that
demonetisation drive by the Govt., affected the cash flow in the system and disrupted the
consumption pattern in India.
ii. However, as per the report, Indias growth prospects in medium term are favourable. If
reforms are carried out as per the plans and supply-side concerns are addressed, Indias growth
rate is expected to be 8% in the medium term.
ICICI Bank data centre becomes countrys first CII-IGBC platinum rated project
ICICI Bank Data Centre has become countrys first Platinum rated project under IGBC Green Data
Centre Rating System.
i. Main objective of becoming partner with IGBC is to bring the Green Building movement in
the country.
ii. IGBC Green Data Centre Rating System would provide tangible and intangible benefits.
iii. Tangible benefits include 20 to 25 per cent reduction in Power Usage Effectiveness and 25 to
30 per cent reduction in water consumption.
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Govt extends date for filing tax declarations under PMGKY till May 10
Filing of declarations about tax payment and deposits under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan
Yojna (PMGKY ) has been extended up to May 10 for black money holders.
i. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended to May 10,2017 about filing of
declaration where tax, surcharge and penalty under PMGKY has been paid on or before the 31st
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March and deposit under the Deposit Scheme has been made on or before April 30.
ii. The deposits can be made in the form of cash or in an account with bank or post office or
specified entity, with a tax, surcharge and penalty totaling up to 49.90 per cent.
Sovereign gold bonds priced at Rs 2,901 per gm, issue opens on April 24, 2017
First tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme for the year 2017-18 has opened for
subscription from April 24, 2017.
Details about Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme 2017-18--Series I:
1. Subscription Date: 24 -28 April, 2017
2. Bonds Issue Date: May 12, 2017
3. Issue Price: Rs. 2901 per gram of gold - includes a discount of Rs. 50/gram on nominal
value.
4. Tenure: 8 years
5. Interest Rate: 2.75% per annum, payable every 6 months on initial investment.
6. Exit Option: From 5th year onwards, to be exercised on interest payment dates
7. Denomination and Limits: Minimum Unit of 1 gm and maximum of 500 gm per person
per fiscal
8. Sold By: Banks, Post Offices, Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL), National Stock
Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)
SBI, CREDAI ink MoU for concessional loan for housing projects
SBI and CREDAI have signed an agreement to provide loans at a concessional rate to builders
as well as customers for affordable housing projects.
i. SBI and CREDAI have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate and work
towards the development of the real estate sector.
ii. The duration of the agreement is for a period of three years.
iii. SBI is a major player in home loans segment with 25 per cent market share.
iv. Memorandum of understanding has signed for the affordable housing and green housing
projects.
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v. SBI will provide 10 basis points concession to home buyers and 10-35 basis points to
CREDAIs developer members.
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gram).
v. Using Paytm mobile wallets, consumers can purchase 24K 999.9 purity gold online.
Need to file your FATCA compliance to banks by April 30 to avoid an account freeze
As per a new financial norm, all bank accounts opened between July 1, 2014 and August 31,
2015, as well as investments made during this period in mutual funds and Insurance schemes will
freeze if FATCA compliance has been not filed by April 30, 2017.
i. FATCA compliance is basically a self-declaration to provide details about account holders tax
residency to the financial entity.
ii. It is mandatory for individual as well as non-individual account holders and investors.
RBI says ARCs must have minimum NOF of Rs100 crore by 2019
On April 28, 2017, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that all the existing asset
reconstruction companies (ARCs) must have a minimum Net Owned Fund (NOF) of Rs100
crore by March 2019.
i. As per amended SARFAESI Act, 2016, no ARC can commence or carry on the business of
securitisation or asset reconstruction without having Net Owned Fund of not less than Rs 2
crore or such other higher amount as the Reserve Bank may, by notification, specify.
ii. Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) buy out non-performing assets (NPAs) and manages it
to make it profitable. In the current scenario, Central Govt. and RBI are envisaging an important
role for ARCs in dealing with stressed assets in the system.
iii. Minimum NOF of Rs 100 crore for ARCs was proposed by RBI in the first bi-monthly monetary
policy review for FY 2017-18.
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$770 billion Worth of Black Money entered into India during 2005-2014: GFI
As per a latest report titled Illicit Financial Flows to and from Developing Countries: 2005-
2014 compiled by US-based think tank Global Financial Integrity (GFI), an estimated $770
billion in black money entered India while $165 billion exited the country during 2005-2014.
i. The report stated that during 2014 alone, the inflow of black money was about $101 billion
while the outflow was $ 23 billion.
ii. The inflow of $ 770 billion was 14% and outflow of $165 billion was 3% of Indias
total trade of $ 5,500 billion during the 10-year period.
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ADB Predicts 7.4 percent growth for Indian Economy this Fiscal
Asian Development Bank predicts 7.4% in the current fiscal year 2017-18 and 7.1% in the
fiscal year.
Key Points:
i. It is projected by ADB that India market is more deregulated and have open the paths to
welcoming to FDIs.
ii. One of the reasons of Asian economies growth is that they have enjoyed from open free trade
system.
iii. The overall export performance of India is also become positive day by day.
iv. ADB forecast 7.6% growth for next year.
17 states in India.
ii. These include 16 in Gujarat, 14 each in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, 12 each
in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and 11 in Rajasthan among others.
iii. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the 100 ICICI digital villages and said
"The ICICI initiative should be followed by other banks in rural areas."
Edelweiss Tokio launches India's first insurance that can be bought at PoS
Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance has launched Indias first insurance product that can be bought
at a point of sale (PoS). The product has been named PoS Saral Nivesh. It is the first product
to be approved by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of
India's guidelines on point of sale-life insurance products.
i. In November 2016, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India had
issued Guidelines on Point of Sales Life Insurance Products in order to facilitate access
to insurance products for general public and increase the overall penetration of insurance.
ii. In the guidelines, it has been directed that for all PoS products, the benefits have to be
predefined and disclosed upfront at the time of sale itself. Moreover it should be very simple to
understand.
voucher.
iv. MFs/ AMCs can offer IAF only in liquid schemes of the MF.
v. The monetary limit under IAF shall be Rs 50,000 or 90 per cent of latest value of investment
in the scheme, whichever is lower.
Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari launches NHAI's first masala bond in UK
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has raised Rs. 3000 crore through
Masala Bonds at London Stock Exchange. Funds raised through these Masala Bonds will be
used for constructing roads and transport infrastructure in India.
i. The NHAI Masala Bonds issue was launched by Union Road Transport Minister Nitin
Gadkari on May 11, 2017, in London.
ii. Initially, issue size of NHAI Masala Bonds was Rs. 1500 crore. Owing to positive response from
investors, the issue size was raised to Rs. 3000 crore.These bonds will give 3% annual
returns to investors.
iii. It is the largest ever 5-year issuance and also the largest inaugural transaction so far in the
masala bond market.
LIC Housing Finance Launches New Home Loan Product Griha Siddhi'
LIC Housing Finance launches new home loan product Griha Siddhi
Key Notes:
i. Griha Siddhi will offer loans for construction, purchase of house or flat and repairs or renovation
to the existing properties.
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RBI restricts loss making IDBI Bank from hiring, opening branches
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated an action on IDBI Bank that will restrict bank
from hiring, opening branches and giving big ticket loans.
Key Notes:
i. The directions from the RBI is aimed at ensuring that the bank takes measures to cut down its
losses by reducing expenses and recovering problem loans from hiring, opening branches.
ii. IDBI Bank is the first bank against which the revised PCA has been implored..
IFSC at GIFT inks pact with GNLU to start course on IFSC regulations
India's first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and International Finance-Tec
City (GIFT) signed an agreement with Gujarat National Law University (GNLU).
i. It aims to collaborate on efforts for Skill Development in the field of International Financial
Services & Regulations.
ii. Under this new pact the GNLU will introduce a new course on International Financial Services
Centre.It will start from June 2017.
Disha Microfin gets final nod from RBI for Small Finance Bank
Disha Microfin has received the final license from Reserve Bank on 12th of May to operate
as a small finance bank.
i. The Bank will start operations from July this year. The bank will be called Fincare Small Finance
Bank.
ii. Its main focus will be on the priority sector and retail segments, and will additionally
offer products such as gold loans and affordable housing loans.
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ii. All categories require Rs 5,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 minimum balance to be
maintained to avoid suspension of the accounts.
Banks.
ii. According to RBI norms banks need to open atleast 25 per cent of their banking outlets in
a year in unbanked rural centres.
iii. The RBI also clarified that ATM kiosks, cash depositing counters and mobile branches will not
be treated as banking outlets.
iv. RBI also mentioned that the first branch opened in a tier five or tier six city will be counted as
a banking outlet.
i. The RBI will now reconstitute the Oversight Committee (OC) under its aegis and the two current
members will continue in the revamped panel.
ii. The RBI is now developing a framework for an objective and consistent decision-making
process.
iii. It is framing the process for resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016
(IBC).
iv. The central bank will expand the panel to include more members.
v. The existing OC, which has two members, was constituted by the Indian Banks Association.
vi. The RBI will also expand the scope of cases to be referred to the OC beyond those under S4A
(Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets) as required currently.
IFFCO launches debit card for farmers in collaboration with Bank of Baroda
Bank of Baroda (BoB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IFFCO.
Key Highlights:
i. The MOU has signed to launch theirfirst set of co-branded debit cards for the farmers.
ii. This step has been taken to promote more digitalization and cashless economy.
iii. The debit cards has a facility of overdraft of Rs 2,500 in special savings bank account.
iv. It is used for purchase of various agri-products at IFFCO sale counters.
iv. World Economic Forum has also predict the world's six largest pension saving systems the US,
UK, Japan, Netherlands, Canada and Australia are expected to reach a $224 trillion gap
by 2050.
v. The savings gap will grow fastest in China and India at growth rates of 7 per cent and
10 per cent respectively.
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Asian Development Bank (ADB) & Punjab National Bank (PNB) sign $100 million loan to
finance Solar Rooftop projects
On May 30, 2017, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Punjab National Bank
(PNB) signed a $100 million loan agreement to finance large solar rooftop systems on
industrial and commercial buildings throughout India.
Details about ADBs Solar Rooftop Investment Program (SRIP):
i. This is the first tranche loan of the $500 million multi tranche finance facility Solar Rooftop
Investment Program (SRIP) approved by ADB in 2016.
ii. This agreement has been guaranteed by the Government of India
iii. PNB will use the ADB funds to make further loans to various developers and end users to
install rooftop solar systems.
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ii. The Q4 GDP growth was lower than the general expectation. Analysts believe that
demonetisation drive of Government, weighed down on the Q4 GDP numbers, as it was the first
full quarter post demonetisation.
India signs Loan Agreement with the World Bank for USD 36 Million for Himachal
Pradesh Public Financial Management Capacity Building Program
On June 1, 2017, Indian Government signed USD 36 million loan agreement with World
Bank for Himachal Pradesh Public Financial Management Capacity Building
Program in New Delhi.
i. The objective of the project is to improve the efficiency of Public Expenditure Management and
Tax Administration in Himachal Pradesh.
ii. The programme has been planned for 5 years duration with a total outlay of $45 million.
USD 36 million will be procured through this agreement, whereas remaining amount will be drawn
from state budget.
Economy expected to grow by 7.5 per cent in current fiscal: NITI Aayog
Arvind Panagariya, an economic adviser has said India's economic growth is expected to
grow by 7.5 percent in this fiscal year.
i.Asia's third-largest economy grew by 7.1 percent year-on-year in 2016-17, slower than 8
percent growth a year ago.
ii.Panagariya,a vice-chairman of the government's main economic advisory body said on a
conference that economic growth would accelerate further to above 8 percent by 2019.
ii.SBI has availed loan of USD 625 million from the World Bank for on-lending to viable
Grid-Connected Rooftop Solar PV (GRPV) projects.
i. Besides
commissioning solar
powered ATMs, ICICI Bank has reduced its overall energy consumption in large offices and
branches from 198 million units in 2013-14 to 164 million units in 2016-17, saving 34 million
units in last three years.
ii. On account of these initiatives, there has been reduction in the banks overall carbon emission
by nearly 40,000 tonnes.
India Signs Loan Agreement with the World Bank for USD 39.2 Million for the project
Assam Citizen Centric Service Delivery
An agreement for IBRD Credit of USD 39.2 Million from World Bank for the project Assam
Citizen Centric Service Delivery has been signed on 6th of June.
i. The programme cost is 49-million dollar out of which 39.2-million dollar will be financed by
the Bank, and the remaining amount will be funded-out of State Budget.
ii. The programme duration is five years.
iii. The main objective of the project is to improve access in the delivery of selected public
services in Assam.
Post the Second Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement announcement, the policy rates
and reserve ratios are as follows:
Policy Repo Rate 6.25% Unchanged since 4th October 2016
Reverse Repo Rate 6.00% Unchanged since 6th April 217
Marginal Standing Facility 6.50% Unchanged since 6th April 217
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Rate
Bank Rate 6.50% Unchanged since 6th April 217
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) 4.00% Unchanged since 9th February 2013
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) 20.00% Cut by 0.50%. Earlier it was 20.50%
RBI lowers growth forecast to 7.3% for FY18
The RBI has lowered the economic growth projection to 7.3% for the current financial
year from 7.4% earlier.
It is to be noted that as per Government data released on May 31, 2017, India's Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) grew at 6.1% year-on-year in fourth quarter of financial
year 2016-17 i.e. during January 2017 to March 2017. Owing to this lower number; India
lost the fastest growing economy tag to Chinese economy, which grew at 6.9% during
January 2017 to March 2017.
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i. The pact allows Canara Bank to offer non-life insurance products to its customers across
metros and tier II and III cities through the banks extensive network of over 6,000 branches.
ii. New India Assurance will offer a bouquet of products such as motor, home, health,travel,
fire, marine, and engineering insurance policies through branches of Canara Bank.
iii. The PCA is triggered so that it allows the regulator to engage closely with the bank's
management in order to improve their financial health.
iv. The PCA was initiated on the Central Bank of India has reported losses for two consecutive
years.
RBI selects 12 accounts, accounting for 25% NPAs, for Insolvency and Bankruptcy code
On June 13, 2017, Reserve Bank of India identified 12 non-performing accounts
representing 25% of gross NPAs in Indian banking system, which will be immediately
taken up under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
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Background Information:
The Indian banking sector has accumulated gross non-performing assets (NPAs) worth over
Rs 8 lakh crore, of which Rs. 6 lakh crore is with public sector banks.
On June 12, 2017, an Internal Advisory Committee (IAC) of RBI comprising majorly
of central bank's independent board members held its first meeting to consider cases
under the new IBC.
The IAC followed an objective and non-discretionary criterion that all accounts with
total outstanding loans greater than Rs 5,000 crore, with at least three-fifths
(60%) classified as non-performing by banks as on March 31, 2016, should be
referred under IBC.
IDBI Bank only PSB to get high rating for code compliance
According to the Code Compliance Rating of banks done by the Banking Codes and Standards
Board of India (BCSBI) 2017, out of 26 public sector banks and 8 out of 17 private sector banks
got high rating for their adherence to code compliance.
i. IDBI Bank was the only public sector bank that got high (H)(85 and above score out of
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DCB bank launches Aadhaar based iris eye scan customer verification service
DCB Bank, a private sector bank has launched new services - Indias first Aadhaar based iris
eye scan customer verification and fingerprint operated ATM in Telangana on 16th of
June.
i. These services will include a customers Aadhaar number, eye scan and fingerprint
impression.
ii. It has been inaugurated in 3 new branches in Mancherial, Mothe and Narsapur in the state.
World Bank approves $500 million grant package for Afghanistan projects
On June 13, 2017, World Bank approved financing worth more than $500
million for Afghanistan to support a various projects to boost the economy, help improve
service delivery in five cities and support Afghan refugees sent back from Pakistan.
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India's current account deficit narrowed in fiscal year 2016-2017, says RBI
On June 15, 2017, Reserve Bank of India said India's current account deficit (CAD) narrowed
during the last fiscal due to a contraction in the country's trade deficit.
i. CAD for fiscal year 2016-17 narrowed to 0.7% of the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) from 1.1 per cent in 2015-16 on the back of the contraction in trade deficit.
ii. India's trade deficit for the same period narrowed to $112.4 billion in 2016-17 from
$130.1 billion in 2015-16.
IBBI notifies fast track Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons
Regulations
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has notified the Fast Track Insolvency
Resolution Process for Corporate Persons Regulations on 16th of June 2017.
i. These regulations will provide the process from initiation of insolvency resolution of eligible
corporate debtors.
ii. The process in these cases shall be completed within a period of 90 days, as against 180
days in other cases.
iii. The Adjudicating Authority if satisfied, extend the period of 90 days by a further
period up to 45 days for completion of the process.
iv. A creditor or a corporate debtor may file an application, along with the proof of existence of
default, to the Adjudicating Authority for initiating fast track resolution process.
v. After the application is admitted and the interim resolution professional (IRP) is appointed.
SBI, Tirumala Milk Products tie up for providing loans to dairy farmers
State Bank of India has entered into a tie-up with Tirumala Milk Products on 17th of June
2017.
i. It is a South- based company which was acquired by GroupeLactalis in 2014.
ii. Its main aim is to provide loans to dairy farmers who supply milk to the latter.
RBI initiates Prompt Corrective Action against Bank of Maharashtra as NPA mounts
The Reserve Bank has initiated Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) against Bank of
Maharashtra (BoM) in view of high level of bad loans and negative return on assets
i. BoM has become the sixth bank to be put under the PCA.
ii. For the year ended March 2017, the net non-performing assets (NPAs) of the bank rose to
11.76% while return on assets declined to (-) 1.09%.
iii. Bank has reported a loss of Rs 455.4 crore for the fourth quarter, while for entire fiscal 2016-
17 booked loss of Rs 1,372 crore.
iv. It is to be noted that IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Dena Bank and
Central Bank of India have already come under the PCA initiated by the RBI.
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Conversely for Bihar (on account of rising investments following better law and order
situation) and West Bengal (despite having high debt levels), the deficit for FY17 is
projected to improve as compared to FY16.
World Bank, AIIB to granted $380 loan to Andhra Pradesh power project
The World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have granted loan
to Andhra Pradesh for Power Project.
i. It aims towards helping the southern state and will build a reliable, quality and affordable power
supply to citizens.
ii. Total Cost of the project is USD 570 million, out of which USD 240 million is from World Bank
(IBRD) and USD 160 million from AIIB. The rest will be counterpart funding from GoAP.
iii. The World Bank and AIIB will provide loans in a 60:40 ratio for all the components of
the project.
IDBI initiated insolvency proceeding against Lanco, first among 12 accounts identified
by RBI
Lanco Infratech said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed its lead lender IDBI Bank
to initiate insolvency proceedings for the company under the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
i. The company is among 12 firms identified by the central bank with a combined debt of over Rs
1,50,000 crore, a quarter of the total NPAs, for proceedings under the newly enacted Insolvency
and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
IDBI Federal Life partners with SunTec for GST roll out
IDBI Federal Life Insurance has announced that it has partnered with SunTec.
i. It will help facilitate in computing and invoicing of debit tax and credit tax that will be GST
compliant.
ii. Under the agreement, for the debit tax mandate SunTec will help in analysing data from
India and ADB Sign $275 Million Loan for Upgrading Urban Services in 64 Small Towns
in Madhya Pradesh
The GOI and Asian Development Bank has signed USD 275 million loan for a piped water
supply project for rapidly urbanising small towns. It will cover 3 lakh households in 64 small
towns in Madhya Pradesh.
i. The state government will provide a USD 124 million counterpart support for the project.
ii. As per ADB it will be completed by June 2022.
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iii. It will develop sustainable, inclusive and climate resilient water supply in 64 small
and mid-sized towns.
period of fiscal 2016, whereas bank deposits grew at 11.19% to Rs 105,77,947 crore from Rs
95,13,148 crore in the fortnight ended June 10, 2016.
i. Credit growth was slightly higher than the previous fortnight ended on May 26, 2017.
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ii. In the fortnight ended May 26, 2017, credit growth grew by 5.08% with an outstanding
loans at Rs 75,93,546 crore.
Axis Bank, Kochi Metro launches India's first single-wallet contactless, Open Loop Metro
Card
Axis Bank in association with Kochi Metro Rail Corporation (KMRL) has
launched KMRL Axis Bank 'Kochi1' Card, India's first open loop EMV contactless metro
card that would make travel a convenient and hassle free experience for commuters in Kochi.
Salient Features of KMRL Axis Bank 'Kochi1' Card:
i. Axis Bank has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in developing
this transit EMV contactless specification on interoperable open standards.
ii. The prepaid card has integrated benefits and offers a plethora of services to commuters such
as shopping at merchant outlets.
iii. The commuter will receive a completely personalized (with name) KMRL Axis Bank 'Kochi1'
Card across the counter in a matter of minutes.
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India Signs Loan Agreement with the World Bank for USD 35 Million for Assam State
Public Financial Institutional Reforms Project
India has signed aLoan Agreement with the World Bank for USD 35 Million for Assam State
Public Financial Institutional Reforms Project.
i. An agreement for IBRD Credit of USD 35 Million from World Bank for Assam State Public
Financial Institutional Reforms Project was signed on 28th of June at New Delhi.
ii. The programme size is USD 44 million, of which USD 35 million will be financed by the
Bank, and the remaining amount will be funded out of State Budget.
iii. The programme duration is 5 years.
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by the bank to create six cash dispensers. They were based on vending machines.
iii. There now are an estimated 3 million plus cash machines in the world.
India becomes 1st country to give to UN Tax Fund with $100000 contribution
India has contributed $100,000 to UN Trust Fund for International Cooperation in Tax
Matters (UN Tax Fund) and has thereby become the first country to make the contribution.
i. The UN Tax Trust Fund aims to support the work of the Committee of Experts on International
Cooperation in Tax Matters (the UN Tax Committee).
ii. Voluntary contributions for the fund have been called for by theUN and the committee since its
establishment in 2006.
iii. The call for contributions was also emphasised in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda adopted
at the third International Conference on Financing for Development in 2015.
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In order to facilitate smooth switchover to GST, Government has asked tax offices to
convert into GST Seva-Kendras for providing all assistance to tax payers.
In addition to this, name board of the field offices will be re-named as Central GST
Zone/ Commissionrate/ Division/ Range and the logo One Nation, One Tax, One
Market will be displayed prominently on the name boards/banners/office letterheads.
Govt lowers interest rate by 0.1 % on small saving schemes for July-Sep quarter
The government has lowered interest rate on small saving schemes like PPF, Kisan Vikas Patra
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i. The notes are the first time Syria will depict President Bashar al-Assad on its currency since he
took office 17 years ago.
ii. Assad's face appears on the new banknotes at a time when his government is boasting military
successes against the armed rebellion across the country.
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i. The foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) will be allowed to raise their investment in state
development loans (SDLs) by Rs 6,100 crore (Rs 61 billion) to Rs 33,100 crore (Rs 331
billion) for September quarter of the current fiscal.
ii. The overall limit of FPI investment in government securities goes up to Rs 2.75 lakh crore (
Rs 2,751 billion) from Rs 2.58 lakh crore (Rs 2,580 billion).
iii. There will be future increases in the limit for FPI investment in g-secs will be allocated in
the ratio of 75% for long term category of FPIs and 25% for general category.
China-backed AIIB approves USD 329 million loan for Gujarat rural roads
China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has said its board has approved USD
329 million loan to build access roads to 4,000 villages in Gujarat on 5th of July 2017.
i. The AIIB has approved to build access roads to approximately 4,000 villages in all 33
districts of Gujarat, India.
iv. The project will also better integrate rural population, tribal villages, business and
industries with the national and state economy through better transport connectivity.
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India likely to clock 6.9% GDP growth this fiscal - BMI Research
According to a report by BMI Research, Indian economy is expected to clock a real Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 6.9% in this financial year.
Highlights of Report by BMI Research:
According to a report by BMI Research, India's growth is expected to pick up in coming quarters
by overriding the negative effects from the demonetisation drive in November 2016.
The report noted that the negative effects from demonetisation is already wearing off,
and the Indian economy is likely benefit from positive demographic trends, greater
external stability (due to improved terms of trade from low oil prices), and continued
reforms.
However it noted that public banking sector is still weak on account of mounting
non-performing assets and it is likely to cap the recovery.==
Elaborating this situation, the report mentioned that despite Reserve Bank of
India's efforts to clean up these bad loans, it will still weigh on the economy for some
more time and will thereby negatively affect credit allocation to the productive sectors.
The report outlined that Real GDP growth slowed substantially to 6.1% year-on-
year in the fourth quarter of 2016-17.
Owing to structural slowdown in China, poor policy mix in Japan, and policy
uncertainty in South Korea, the report has forecasted slow economic growth in
North Asia over the course of 2017 and 2018.
The study has warned of a continued slowdown in global growth over the coming decade.
Growth in emerging markets is predicted to continue to outpace that of
advanced economies, though not uniformly.
The projections are optimistic about new growth hubs in East
Africa and new segments of South-East Asia, led by Indonesia and Vietnam.
The growth projections are based on measures of each countrys economic complexity,
which captures the diversity and sophistication of the productive capabilities embedded
in its exports and the ease with which it could further diversify by expanding those
capabilities.
Chinas economic complexity ranking has fallen for the first time since the global
financial crisis.
The growth projections still have China growing above the world average, at 4%
annually for the coming decade.
Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance ties up with Dhanlaxmi Bank
for marketing bancassurance
Private life insurance company Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance,
has tied up with Dhanlaxmi Bank for marketing bancassurance on 7th July 2017.
i. All the life insurance products of Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance would
be made available to customers of Dhanlaxmi Bank and would be sold by the licensed staff of the
bank.
ii. As part of the agreement, the bank will be a corporate agent for 3 years.
i. The Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body for global financial system, in a
progress report on reducing misconduct risks in the financial sector.
ii. The committee was set up in London during a meeting in May 2017 of public and private
sector representatives from the foreign exchange committees of 16 international forex trading
centres.
MobiKwik, Samsung Pay to enable one-tap payment solution for e-wallet users
MobiKwik and Samsung Pay enable one-tap payment solution for e-wallet users.
i. According to the digital payments firm MobiKwik wallet is now integrated with Samsung
Pay Mini to enable one-tap payments at more than 1.4 million MobiKwik-powered merchants
across the country.
ii. The government has also introduced a number of schemes to promote adoption of e-payment
methods like mobile wallets, debit/credit cards and Unified Payment Interface (UPI).
iii. It allows users to just tap and pay using the debit/credit cards and wallets stored on
their mobile devices.
Govt launches next gold bond tranche from July 10, 2017
The next tranche of sovereign gold bond (SGB) scheme will be launched by Government on July
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10, 2017. This time is providing a 2.5 per cent annual interest to investors.
i. In previous this was launched in November 2015 to rectify the demand for physical gold and
shift a part of the domestic savings, used for the purchase of gold, into financial savings.
ii. The bonds will be available in banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL),
designated post offices and recognized stock exchanges namely National Stock Exchange of
India Limited(NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange(BSE) and bond applications will be accepted
from July 10 to July 14 ,2017.
iii. Reserve Bank India will be issued the gold bonds to eligible applicants on July 28.The Bonds
will not be eligible for sale to resident Indian entities including individuals, HUFs, Trusts,
Universities and Charitable Institutions.
iv. The minimum investment will be 1 gram of gold. The maximum limit can be subscribed up
to 500 grams per person per fiscal year (April-March). A self-declaration to this effect will be
obtained.
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Business houses get time till August 16 to opt for GST composition scheme under GST
till August 16
The government has extended the deadline till 16th August for businesses to opt for
composition scheme under the GST regime. It has been announced on 22nd of July 2017.
i. Small businesses with turnover of up to Rs 75 lakh were earlier given time till July 21 to opt for
the scheme in the Goods and Services Tax regime.
ii. To opt for composition scheme, the taxpayer needs to log into his account at the GST
Portal http://www.gst.gov.in
iii. They have to select Application to opt for the Composition Scheme under Services menu and
then fill up the Form GST CMP-01 to opt for the scheme.
iv. Under composition scheme, traders, manufacturers and restaurants can pay tax at 1%, 2%
and 5%, respectively.
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iii. These projects are spread across 13 states and Union Territories covering 30 cities
including metros, semi metro and towns.
India on track to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2017: Asian Development Bank report
According to ADB India is expected to achieve the projected growth rate of 7.4% in 2017
and further up 7.6% on 2018.
i. According to the report, South Asia will be the fastest growing of all sub-regions in Asia
and the Pacific, with growth on track to meet original projections of 7% in 2017 and 7.2% in
2018.
ii. ADB has upgraded its growth outlook in the Asian region to 5.9% in 2017 from 5.7% and to
5.8% for 2018 from 5.7%.
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procedure.
iv. Customers can also avail personal loans from the Banks website, iMobile.
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(IMF) on July 24, 2017, economic growth outlook for India has been kept unchanged at
7.2% in 2017-18 and 7.7% in 2018-19.
Highlights of IMFs World Economic Outlook Update:
For Indian economy, the report remarked that despite of slowdown following the demonetisation
initiative; growth for 2016 at 7.1% was higher than anticipated due to strong government
spending in the first part of the year.
India however remains the fastest growing major economy in the region and
the world and will continue to grow faster than China in 2017 as well as in 2018.
Economic activity in advanced, emerging and developing economies is forecasted
to accelerate in 2017 to 2% and 4.6%, respectively.
IMF has kept its outlook for global growth unchanged at 3.5% in 2017 and 3.6%
in 2018.
IMF lowered forecasts for US, UK economic growth this year
IMF has cut its growth forecast for the UK economy this year after a weak performance in the first
three months of 2017.
In its first downgrade for the United Kingdom (UK) since the EU referendum in June
2016, the IMF said it expected the British economy to expand by 1.7% this year,
0.3 points lower than the previous forecast in April 2017.
IMF has also lowered its growth forecast for US to 2.1% in 2017 as well as in
2018
Aurionpro launches a Bank in a Box to reduce branch expansion cost for banks
Aurionpro Solutions has launched its Branch-in-a-Box product, the Virtual Teller
Machine (VTM) a fully integrated self-service kiosk for automating 90% of banking
transactions at the branch level.
i. Aurionpro Solutions is a global leader in digital innovation, enterprise security and banking
solutions.
ii. The VTM helps in migrating routine transactions like KYC, account opening, passbook
and statement printing, video assistance, bill payment, cash and cheques.
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Punjab National Bank ties up with Bajaj Allianz General for distribution
Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance have signed an
agreement for the distribution of insurance products through the branches on 26th July
2017.
i. Under this agreement, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance will offer Personal lines of
insurance and Commercial line of insurance products to the banks customers.
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Personal Line of Insurance includes health, personal accident, home motor and travel insurance.
Commercial Line of Insurance includes Property, marine and engineering insurance.
ii. The insurance company will also offer wide range of rural insurance products.
RBI sets up Supervisory Colleges for six Scheduled Commercial Banks which have
sizeable international presence
RBI has set up Supervisory Colleges for six Scheduled Commercial Banks which have sizeable
international presence.
i. The objectives of the colleges are to enhance information exchange and cooperation
among supervisors, to improve understanding of the risk profile of the banking group.
ii. It helps in facilitating more effective supervision of internationally active banks.
iii. The Banks which are included are State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd., Bank of India,
Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank Ltd. and Punjab National Bank.
NPCI receives final nod from RBI to function as Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit
The RBI has given a final nod to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the
umbrella organisation for all retail payment to function as the Bharat Bill Payment Central
Unit (BBPCU) and operate the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).
i. Total number of Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) certified by NPCI now stands
at 24.
ii. The certified units include three public sector banks (Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India
and Indian Overseas Bank), 10 private banks, 5 Cooperative Banks and 6 non-bank biller
aggregators.
Indian Overseas Bank goes live with Bharat Bill Payment system
Indian Overseas Bank has offered the Bharat Bill Payment System(BBPS) which is
introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India, for its customers.
i. Indian Overseas Bank is one of the three public sector banks (apart from Bank of Baroda and
Union Bank of India) to get the approval from RBI for providing the service.
ii. BBPS is an integrated bill payment system that offers inter-operable online bill payments to
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customers.
iii. The services include online payments of electricity, telecommunication, DTH, water
and gas bills.
India among top nations with potential for digital payments - Digital Evolution Index
India has featured among 60 nations on Digital Evolution Index 2017, exhibiting a high
potential in terms of digital payments.
Digital Payments potential in India:
On the Digital Evolution Index 2017, India has been categorised under the break out
segment which refers to countries that have relatively lower absolute levels of digital
advancement, yet remain poised for growth and are attractive to investors by virtue of their
potential.
The report outlined that India has been experiencing rapid strides of progress with an
evolving payments landscape, catalysed by the governments demonetisation decision.
Indian governments endeavour to boost the acceptance infrastructure coupled with
a host of other economic reforms has further hastened the momentum for the countrys
journey towards a cashless society.
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In the second half (H2) of 2017, growth recovery is expected to accelerate to 7.4%
The pick-up growth numbers in the second half is likely to be led by a
recommencement of production after GST, ongoing remonetisation, normal
monsoons, stronger rural consumption and easier financial conditions (lower
lending rates, liquidity).
In the March quarter India lost the tag of the fastest growing economy to China with a
GDP growth of 6.1% which fallen down the 2016-17 expansion to 7.1%.
Pay hikes for state government employees and a pick-up in external demand could also
be one of the factors.
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RBI skips releasing balance sheet for the week ended June 30 for first time ever
i. RBI has for the first time skipped releasing the balance sheet for the week ended June 30.
ii. The central bank is still working to make the final estimate of the currency in circulation a
prominent item of liabilities on its balance sheet.
iii. The currency in circulation is a major liability on the central bank's balance sheet.
iv. They are mandated to be put in public domain as these are part of the public account.
sector.
ii. He has asked the officials to form farmers associations at various levels from
villages to the state to organise the cultivators.
Reserve Bank announces its third bi-monthly policy review of current fiscal
On August 2, 2017, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced Third Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy
Statement for financial year 2017-18. This time, RBI has cut the policy repo rate by 25
basis points (bps) to 6 percent.
Post the Third Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement announcement, the policy rates
and reserve ratios are as follows:
Policy Repo Rate 6.00% Reduced by 25 basis points. Earlier it was 6.25%
Reverse Repo Rate 5.75% Reduced by 25 basis points. Earlier it was 6.00%
Marginal Standing Facility Rate 6.25% Reduced by 25 basis points. Earlier it was 6.50%
Bank Rate 6.25% Reduced by 25 basis points. Earlier it was 6.50%
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) 4.00% Unchanged since 9th February 2013
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) 20.00% Unchanged since 7th June 2017
India on track to meet 3.2% fiscal deficit target UBS Report
As per a report by global financial services major UBS, Indian government is on track to
achieving the fiscal deficit target of 3.2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the current
fiscal year.
i. Indian Governments fiscal deficit narrowed from a peak of 6.5 per cent of GDP in 2009-
10 (after the global financial meltdown) to 5 per cent of GDP in 2016-17 and is estimated to
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India signs loan agreement with AIIB for Financing of US$ 329 million for Gujarat Rural
Roads Project
On August 4, 2017, Government of India/ Government of Gujarat signed US$ 329 million
Loan and Project Agreements with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for
or Gujarat Rural Roads Project. The loan agreement was signed in New Delhi.
i. The objective of Gujarat Rural Roads Project is to improve the rural road connectivity and
accessibility by providing all weather road connectivity to 1,060 villages in all the 33 districts
in Gujarat.
ii. This project will benefit nearly 8 million people in Gujarat.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announces new ETF-Bharat-22; Sectoral cap set at 20%
On August 4, 2017, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched a new Exchange Traded Fund
(ETF) under the name Bharat 22, comprising shares of 22 companies from 6 sectors of
the economy. This decision comes on the basis of past experiments with CPSE-ETF which
proved to be successful.
i. The ETF will feature four banking stocks SBI, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda and Indian
Bank other than CPSEs such as Nalco, ONGC, IOC, BPCL and Coal India.
ii. Besides, there will be nine other PSUs as well as REC and PFC.
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ii .It offers a completely paperless process that will be helpful to users to register online using
Aadhaar and PAN numbers, and initiate remittances instantly.
i. PayPal will add Mastercard as a payment method to their e-wallet and consumers can make it
their default payment option.
ii. Card Company will provide tokenization services and will enable mobile payments using
PayPals digital wallet at more than 6.5 million contactless-enabled merchant
locations across the globe.
iii. The partnership will also add Master pass as a payment option for merchants that
process payments via Braintree.
ICICI bank launches instant credit card with the limit upto 4 lakhs
ICICI Bank has announced the launch of Instant Credit Card Service that will enable its
savings account customers to get a credit card instantly, in a completely digital and
paperless manner.
i. Using the Instant Credit Card Service, pre-qualified customers can apply and get credit
card number and other important details online.
ii. Under which, he/she can immediately start shopping online, without having to wait for the
physical card to arrive.
iii .There is a credit limit of up to Rs 4 lakh based on pre-checked bureau scores.
iv. The application procedure also incorporates an additional level of authentication in order to
make the security of the offering robust.
v. Currently, this facility to apply for a credit card is available through the Banks internet banking
platform.
vi. It will also be available shortly on iMobile, the Banks mobile banking application soon.
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ii. The biometric attendance device will capture the attendance along with the time of
marking the attendance.
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offer 4% per interest per annum for incremental balance over Rs 50 lakh and 3.50% per
annum for balance up to Rs 50 lakh.
i.The new interest rate will be effective from 16th August 2017.
ii.Recently SBI had bring down interest rate on savings account deposits by 50 basis points to 3.5
per on balance of Rs 1 crore and below.
iii.SBI continues to offer 4% interest on savings account balance of Rs 1 crore and above.
Flipkart has become the third most funded private company globally
Flipkart has taken over the rein of the market by becoming the third most funded private
company in the world.
i.Flipkarts total raised capital is now almost $7 billion which is higher than that raised by
global giants like online house rental aggregator Airbnb ($3.3 billion) and mobile phone maker
Xiaomi ($1.4 billion).
ii.In valuation, Flipkart stands at the 9th position with about $15 billion.
iii.Uber is the most valued company at $68 billion, followed by DidiChuxing at $50 billion, and
Xiaomi at $46 billion.
iv.The top two are both ridehailing platforms China-based Didi Chuxing and US-based
Uber.
iv.The customer will be allowed a credit limit of up to 80% of the deposit or a maximum of 3 lakh.
v.The physical delivery of the card will take a day or two. In the meantime, the card-holder can
use it for online purchases.CUB has tied-up with MasterCard for the instant credit card.
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Axis Bank to waive 12 EMIs on home loans under Shubh Aarambh scheme
Under the new scheme Shubh Aarambh Home Loans Axis Bank will waive 12 equated
monthly installments (EMIs) on regular repayments of loans of up to Rs 30 lakh.
i.The lender has introduced ShubhAarambh Home Loans, in which 12 EMIs are waived 4 EMIs
each after the fourth, eighth and 12th year from the date of the first disbursement.
ii.Customers also have the option to transfer existing home loans to Axis Bank without
additional cost.
SBI waives off up to 100% processing fee on car, gold, personal loans
State Bank of India (SBI) has announced waiver of up to 100% of processing fee on car
loans, personal gold loans and personal loans for the festive season.
i.SBI had previously waived off processing fee on the takeover of home loans.
ii.The bank has waived the entire processing fee on car loans till 31st December
2017 and half of the processing fee on personal gold loans till 31st October 2017.
iii.Customers can also avail 50% waiver on processing fee on Xpress Credit, a personal loan
offering by the bank, till 30th September 2017.
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iii.DigiPoS integrates all popular digital payment methods in merchant payment machines offering
greater convenience to both customers and merchants.
iv.The software for DigiPoS has been developed in-house by the banks engineers.
v.The upgraded device will also allow merchants to offer equated monthly instalment
(EMI)-based payments using HDFC Bank credit and debit cards.
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Canara HSBC Oriental Life Insurance Company (CHOICE) launches PoS-Easy Bima Plan
Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company
(CHOICE) has launched with a Point-of-Sale Easy Bima Plan targeted at the mass-
market segment.
i.The product PoS Easy Bima Plan is the first PoS product for the company. It will provide life
cover and also returns all premiums paid during the payment term on survival till
maturity.
ii.It is specially designed to provide an affordable and hassle free protection, to take care of the
needs of your loved ones.
iii.The affordable premiums start from Rs.1,000 annually and there is inbuilt double life
cover in case of accidental death.
SEBI bans Orion Capital, Orion Broking from markets for 10 yrs
Markets regulator SEBI has barred Orion Capital as well as Orion Broking and their
partners from the securities markets for 10 years announced on 29th of Aug 2017.
i.They have been barred for failing to redress several investor grievances related to non-
settlement of funds due to the clients.
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ii.The claim amount is more than Rs 6 crore against Orion Capital and over Rs 4 crore
against Orion Broking.
than Rs 1 crore.
The bank has also slashed interest rate on savings accounts to 6.25 per cent from existing 6.5 per
cent for deposits over Rs 1 crore.
UBS lowers India growth forecast to 6.6% for Financial Year 2018
On September 3,2017, Global brokerage firm UBS has lowered Indias GDP growth forecast to 6.6
per cent from 7.2 per cent. The brokerage said that the growth is expected to rise in coming
quarters as the economy is getting normalised post implementation of the GST.
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i. According to official data, Indias economic growth slipped to a three-year low of 5.7 per cent in
April-June as disruptions caused by demonetisation spilled to the third straight quarter amid
slowdown in manufacturing activities
ii. Tanvee Gupta Jain, an economist with UBS, said that though the implementation of GST has
resulted in temporary disruption in economic growth, it is a significant structural reform that could
add 0.6-0.9 percentage point to Indias GDP growth in the medium term.
DBS becomes second bank to get in-principle nod to operate as wholly-owned unit
On September 4,2017, Singapore based bank DBS has got final approval to operate as a wholly-
owned subsidiary (WOS) in India.Diesel
DBS was the first foreign lender to apply for the new operating WOS model two years ago and
its approval was delayed due to lack of precedent. The application has been pending with the
finance ministry. Now as the problems got sorted out DBS is the second bank after State
Bank of Mauritius to receive the nod for its operation in India .
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SBI Launches SBI Intelligent Assistant (SIA) Chatbot For Customer Care
i.State Bank of India (SBI) is the latest to get smitten by the Artificial Intelligence and
Automation. They have launched their first ever chatbot called SBI Intelligent Assistant or
SIA, which would be powered by AI, and designed to assist customers.
ii.After ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank adopted automation in banking, SBIs move towards AI is seen
as a major leap for Indian banking.
Banks without Aadhaar enrolment centres face Rs.20,000 fine from October
On 5th September 2017, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO Mr.Ajay
Bhushan Pandey said that the UIDAI has given banks one more month to open Aadhaar
enrolment centres in a stipulated 10 per cent of branches and will impose Rs.20,000 as fine per
uncovered branch after 30th September 2017.
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United Bank of India waives retail loan processing fees up to 100 per cent
On 8th September 2017, United Bank of India announced that is has removed processing fee for
retail home loans, car loans and two-wheeler loans, in Kolkata
About the processing fee waiver:
The processing fee waiver will be available till December, 2017.
100% processing fee waiver for:Home loans, Car loans and Two-wheeler loans
50% processing fee waiver for:Mortgage loans, Personal loans and Gold loans
PACL, 4 directors fined Rs 2423 crore, highest ever Sebi penalty on a defaulter
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had imposed Rs 2,423 crore fine on PACL
Ltd and its four directors for illegal fund mobilisation through various schemes.
i.PACL group, which had collected money in the name of real estate projects among other
schemes, was asked by SEBI nearly three years ago to refund Rs. 49,100 crore to the investors.
ii.According to the SEBI Rs 49,100 crore was mobilised by PACL over 15 years through
unregistered collective investment schemes in violation of the Securities and Exchange
Board of India Act, 1992, and SEBI (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 1992.
Exide Life Insurance partners with PMC Bank to offer protection, savings products
Exide Life Insurance has announced a partnership with Punjab & Maharashtra Co-
operative Bank (PMC Bank) to offer its protection and savings products to the existing
customers.
i.Exide Life Insurance works with around 50 banks.
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ii.PMC Bank is a multi-State scheduled urban co-operative bank with 127 branches spread across
Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
ICICI Lombard, SBI life Insurance gets SEBI approval for IPO
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company and SBI Life Insurance gets SEBI approval for Initial
Public Offering.
i.SBI Life Insurance has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India
for an IPO of up to Rs 8,400 crore ($1.3 billion), with launch targeted for the September 20-22
period.
ii.The IPO will involve 120 million secondary shares, or 12% of the insurers equity capital.
Bharat Financial Inclusion signs pact with IndusInd Bank to explore merger
On 11th September 2017, the board of directors of IndusInd Bank signed an agreement with
Bharat Financial Inclusion to analyse a potential merger between the two companies.
About the agreement:
1. IndusInd Bank and Bharat Financial Inclusion have signed an exclusive agreement.
2. The agreement is about discussion of merger between both the companies.
3. The agreement states that the information of the discussion would be confidential and
terms conditions would be finalized for the proposed merger.
Banks need $65 billion additional capital to meet Basel III norms: Fitch
On 12th September 2017, Fitch Ratings declared that Indian banks will need an additional capital
of $65 billion in order to satisfy all the banking rules of global Basel III norms, by March 2019.
About the requirement of additional capital:
1. Indian banks will need an additional capital of $65 billion by March 2019.
2. State-run banks account for 95% of the capital.
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3. Fitch warns that Indian lenders have limited options to raise the capital.
Paytm Payments Bank partners with NPCI for RuPay digital card
Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of
India (NPCI) tolaunch a RuPay-powered digital debit card announced on 12th of Sept. 2017.
i.Through the PPB Digital debit card customers will now be able to transact at all merchants
who accept credit and debit cards.
ii.The debit card will have the facility to come with a free insurance cover of up to Rs. 2 lakh
in the case of death or permanent total disability.
Indias GDP growth for Fiscal Year 2018 is likely at 7.1%: Nomura
On 13th September 2017, a report by Japanese financial services company Nomurasaid that
Indias GDP growth is expected to be around 7.1 % this fiscal year (2017 2018).
Details of the report:
i. India is predicted to have a 7.1 % GDP growth this fiscal year (2017 2018) and that would be
followed by a pickup in industrial production.
ii. This has been predicted since firms would start restocking after GST (Goods & Services Tax)
and festive season is also ahead.
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Indias GDP growth likely to slip below 7 % this fiscal year: DBS
On 15th September 2017, a report by DBS, a multinational banking and financial services
corporation, said that Indias GDP growth is likely to reduce below 7 % this financial year.
Predicted fall in Indias GDP:
i. According to DBS, two main reasons for the downfall are demonetisation in November 2016 and
GST implementation in July 2017. These added to the already slow growth in manufacturing and
investment sectors.
ii. Also note ban reduced cash availability, affecting heavily the cash sensitive businesses like
construction, logistics, and small and medium size enterprises.
HSBC in tie-up with Sa-Dhan to develop digital ecosystem for Indias unbanked segment
HSBC Bank has entered into an agreement with Sa-Dhan to develop ecosystem for the unbanked
segment in the country.
i.HSBC Bank is providing technology expertise to train and educate micro-finance consumers
at grass-root level and introduce digital banking.
ii.It has to be undertaken in West Bengal, Punjab, Karnataka and Maharashtra and it is expected
to benefit 1,200 consumers.
iii.The pilot will be creating digital hubs with POS machines and internet connectivity.
Indias Forex Reserve crosses $400 billion for the first time
Indias foreign exchange reserve has crossed the $400 billion mark for the first time to hit an
all-time high of $400.726 billion on 8th September.
i. There is a sharp rise in foreign currency assets, mainly huge inflows through foreign direct
investments in projects and portfolio investment.
ii. It took the country over nine years to cross the $400 billion level after hitting the $300
billion mark in 2008.
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ii. The Insurance Company would sell multiple insurance products through online channel.
iii. The operations of the company would be completely digital.
Interest Subsidy Scheme on home loans for MIG extended to March 2019
Under the Centres affordable housing scheme, the interest subsidy of up to Rs 2.60 lakh on
home loans will now be available to middle income group (MIG) beneficiaries for 15 more
months till March 2019.
i.By this decision MIG beneficiaries will get more time to avail interest subsidy under the Pradhan
Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).
ii.Under CLSS, MIG beneficiaries with annual income of above Rs 6 lakh and up to Rs 12
lakh would get an interest subsidy of 4% on a 20-year loan component of Rs 9 lakh.
iii.Those with annual income exceeding Rs 12 lakh and up to Rs 18 lakh would get
interest subsidy of 3%.
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iii.The pay later facility will be available to even those who have not availed of any loan
in the past and for small amounts of up to Rs 20,000.
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Indias GDP growth to fall to 6.7 % in the financial year 2017-18: India Ratings
On 27th September 2017, India Ratings lowered the growth forecast for the current financial year
to 6.7 % from 7.4 % estimated earlier.
i. India Ratings has pointed out the reasons for this downfall as demonetisation and GST (Goods &
Services Tax) implementation.
ii. It said that, reaching the earlier predicted GDP of 7.4 % will not be possible for India in this
financial year 2017-2018.
Karnataka Bank opened its first Aadhaar centre at Sanjaynagar branch in Bengaluru
Karnataka Bank has opened its first Aadhar Enrollment and Updation Centre at
Sanjaynagar Branch Bengaluru announced on 26th Sept. 2017.The Bank will be coming out
with eighty such Aadhar Enrollment cum modification centres across India in a phased manner.
SEBI allows FPIs to buy corporate debt up to Rs.9,500 crore in infrastructure sector
On 29th September 2017, The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) allowed Sovereign
Wealth Funds and other long term Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) to buy up to Rs.9,500 crore
worth corporate debt in infrastructure sector.
FPIs allowed to buy corporate debt up to Rs.9500 crore in infrastructure:
i. This has been done, following the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBIs) decision to exclude masala
bonds (foreign investment in rupee denominated bonds) from the Combined Corporate Debt Limit
(CCDL).
ii. Sub-limit for long term FPIs would be Rs.9,500 crore from 3rd October, 2017.
iii. This would be increased to Rs.19,000 crore from 1st January, 2018.
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