Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market
1. India’s current account deficit increased to 1.1% of GDP.
- The current account deficit increased marginally to $9.8 billion in the Q1 of FY25 from $8.9 billion (1%) in the year-ago period.
- This increase was mainly because of increase in merchandise trade deficit.
- India recorded a current account surplus of $4.6 billion (0.5% of GDP) in the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY24.
- In the reporting quarter, merchandise trade deficit increased to $65.1 billion against $56.7 billion in the year-ago quarter.
- Oil and gold caused increased in merchandise trade deficit and increase in other non-oil imports.
- Net service receipts increased from $35.1 billion to $39.7 billion in Q1FY25.
- From $27.1 billion in Q1FY24 to $29.5 billion in Q1FY25, private transfer receipts grew.
- Remittances from Indians working abroad are mostly represented by private transfer receipts.
- The primary income account's net outflow increased from $10.2 billion in Q1FY24 to $10.7 billion in Q1FY25.
- Payments of investment income are shown in the primary income account's net outgo.
- Inflows of net foreign direct investment (FDI) rose from $4.7 billion in Q1FY24 to $6.3 billion in Q1FY25.
- In Q1FY25, net inflows to India under external commercial borrowings (ECBs) totalled $1.8 billion.
- A country experiences current account deficit (CAD) when the value of the goods and services it imports surpasses the value of the goods and services it exports.
Topic: Reports and Indices
2. India’s manufacturing gross value added (GVA) grew 7.3% in 2022-23 at ₹21.97 lakh crore, as per the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI).
- Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) and NITI Aayog released the ASI for 2022-23.
- Industrial output for 2022-23 increased by over 21%.
- Total employment in the manufacturing sector grew at 7.4% in 2022-23 over the previous year, as per ASI report.
- Growth was seen in the manufacturing sector in most of the key economic parameters in 2022-23.
- These parameters include invested capital, input, output, GVA, employment and wages.
- Industries like manufacture of basic metal, coke & refined petroleum products, food products, chemical and chemical products and motor vehicles were the main drivers of growth in 2022-23.
- Maharashtra was the top-ranked major state in terms of GVA in 2022–2023, followed by Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh.
- Together, the top five states accounted for more than 54% of the nation's manufacturing GVA in 2022–2023.
- According to ASI 2022–2023 data, the top five States with the greatest number of workers in the manufacturing sector were Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka.
- When combined, these states accounted for almost 55% of all manufacturing jobs in 2022–2023.
Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market
3. As of January–July 2024, the US remained India’s biggest trading partner.
- Bilateral goods trade have surpassed $72 billion and Indian exports have grown 9.3% to $48.2 billion.
- During this time, India's top exports to the US were mineral fuels, smartphones, precious and semi-precious stones, apparel and textiles, and pharmaceuticals.
- India’s imports from the US declined from $25.9 billion to $24.6 billion.
- During the first seven months of 2024, there was a 5% decrease.
- India's exports of goods to the US increased significantly between 2018 and 2023, from $54.3 billion to $83.8 billion.
- India's services exports to the United States had a rise of 25.6% during this period, from $28.9 billion in 2018 to $36.3 billion in 2023.
- India's overall exports to the United States increased to $120.1 billion in 2023 from $83.2 billion in 2018.
Topic: RBI
4. The reconstitution of the Monetary Policy Committee has been notified by the government.
- The Governor of the RBI is the ex-officio Chairperson of the Monetary Policy Committee.
- The Deputy Governor of RBI, in charge of monetary policy, is also the ex-officio member of the committee.
- One officer of the RBI to be nominated by the Central Board is also the ex-officio member of the committee.
- Professor Ram Singh, Economist Saugata Bhattacharya, and Dr Nagesh Kumar have been appointed as the members of the committee.
- Professor Ram Singh is Director of Delhi School of Economics.
- Dr Nagesh Kumar is Director and Chief Executive of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development.
- The members of committee (Professor Ram Singh, Economist Saugata Bhattacharya, and Dr Nagesh Kumar) shall hold office for four years, with immediate effect or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
- Professor Ram Singh, Economist Saugata Bhattacharya, and Dr Nagesh Kumar will replace Ashima Goyal, Shashanka Bhide, and Jayanth R Varma.
Topic: Banking System
5. Credit rating agency ICRA has downgraded long-term rating of Bandhan Bank.
- ICRA has revised the bank’s outlook to stable from negative and reaffirmed the lender’s short-term rating.
- ICRA has downgraded ₹75 crore of non-convertible debentures to AA- from AA.
- ICRA has reaffirmed A1+ for ₹3,000 crore certificates of deposit.
- The downgrade in the long-term ratings of Bandhan Bank reflected the sustained weakness in the emerging entrepreneur business (EEB) portfolio.
- Bandhan Bank is a private sector bank. It is headquartered in Kolkata. Dr. Anup Kumar Sinha is its current chairman. It was founded in 2015.
Topic: Reports and Indices
6. PMI Manufacturing declined to 56.5 in September.
- Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 57.5 in August.
- This is the third month in a row that industrial output and sales growth rates have decreased.
- September saw a decline in hiring growth as well, which was caused by a decline in the number of temporary and part-time employees at certain companies.
- The manufacturing sector contributes more than 17% of Gross Value Added (GVA).
- The manufacturing PMI is derived from the responses of 400 companies' purchasing managers.
- A value below 50 indicates contraction, whilst a value above 50 indicates expansion.
Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes
7. Cruise Bharat Mission has been launched by Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal from the Mumbai port.
- With the help of the Cruise Bharat Mission, India aims to realise its dream of being the world's premier cruise destination and a hub for cruise tourism.
- According to Union Minister Sonowal, the mission's goal is to double the number of passengers on cruise ships by 2029 in order to boost the nation's cruise tourism sector.
- He further said that the government is dedicated to maximising the enormous potential of India's Blue Economy.
- The launch event was also attended by the Union Minister of State, Shantanu Thakur.
- According to Mr. Shantanu Thakur, Cruise Bharat is a visionary initiative.
- It will open new horizons, and create unprecedented opportunities.
Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions
8. SEBI held its board meeting on 30 September 2024.
- It has approved important initiatives to streamline mutual fund industry standards and facilitate trading for regular investors.
- Asset management businesses can now offer riskier strategies, like long-short equities, to high-risk investors with a minimum investment of ₹10 lakh.
- "MF Lite" a relaxed framework with few requirements has been introduced by SEBI.
- It is intended for firms wanting to launch only passive mutual fund schemes.
- The MF Lite framework, often known as light-touch regulations, has relaxed rules on sponsors' eligibility requirements.
- The period for rights issues has been cut by SEBI to 23 days.
- In order to facilitate faster rights issues via the preferential allotment route, SEBI has adopted standards.
- Instead of the current timeline of 317 days, this alternative route can be completed in 23 days after the issuer's board meeting approving the rights issue.
- The 40 working days required to finish the preferential allotment can be accomplished more quickly by taking this new method.
- The present requirement of filing a draft letter of rights offer with SEBI of its observation has been discontinued by SEBI.
- Since the entity is already listed, it will instead be filed with stock exchanges for their in-principle approval.
- Under the guidelines pertaining to insider trading, SEBI broadened the definitions of "connected person" and "immediate relative."
- The definition of "relative" now includes the person's spouse, child, parent, and sibling.
- Investors will be required to have the opportunity to trade in the cash part of the secondary market through a UPI block method, provided by qualified stock brokers.
- Additionally, SEBI relaxed the requirements for registration eligibility and streamlined the compliance standards for Research Analysts (RAs) and Investment Advisers (IAs).
Topic: Taxation
9. Anti-dumping investigation initiated by India on some steel imports from China.
- According to a recent notification issued by the central government, the Government of India has officially initiated an anti-dumping investigation regarding the import of cold rolled non-oriented electrical steel from China.
- POSCO Maharashtra Steel Private Limited and CSCI Steel Corporation India Private Limited filed the application for investigation on behalf of the domestic steel industry.
- According to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, the applicants have reportedly claimed that the imported steel is being sold at dumping rates, causing serious injury to the domestic industry.
- The applicants have expressed concern over the imminent threat of material injury to domestic producers due to these dumped imports.
- Anti-dumping duty acts as a protective measure, designed to balance the price difference between imported goods sold at less than the normal market price and the domestic products of the importing country.
- The current investigation focuses on Cold Rolled Non-Oriented Electrical Steel (CRNO), a type of cold rolled flat steel product used in a variety of applications, including iron core materials for power generators and electric motors.
- According to notification, the parties involved in the application have to submit their comments within 15 days of the commencement of the investigation.
Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market
10. India’s core sector output declined by 1.8% in August 2024.
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