Banking Awareness of 1 and 2 July 2024

Topic: Taxation

1. Goods & Services Tax (GST) collection reached ₹1.74 lakh crore in June 2024.

• June 2024 GST collection increased by almost 8% over June of the previous fiscal year.
• In spite of this increase, collections remained unchanged on month-on-month basis from May’s ₹1.73 lakh crore.
• On the first of every month, the Finance Ministry will no longer release comprehensive data on GST collection. This practice continued for 74 months.
• The decision to withhold monthly data release coincided with the GST's seventh anniversary.
• The Ministry emphasized how the GST has increased ease of living and lowered the tax rates on household goods.
• Collection has improved due to increased consumption and compliance.
• From 1.05 crore in April 2018 to 1.46 crore in April 2024, the GST taxpayer base has grown.

Topic: RBI

2. In order to facilitate instant cross-border retail payments, RBI has joined "Project Nexus."

• The Bank for International Settlements' (BIS) Innovation Hub has conceptualised "Project Nexus."
• By 2026, the Fast Payments Systems (FPSs) of India and four ASEAN nations are to be connected for efficiency.
• A multilateral worldwide initiative called Project Nexus will connect domestic FPSs to enable instant cross-border retail payments.
• Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand are the four nations.
• These nations would join the platform as its initial members. A special observer is Indonesia.
• By 2026, the platform should be operational. Additional countries can be added to the platform.
• When it becomes operational, Nexus will be crucial in improving the effectiveness, speed, and affordability of retail cross-border payments.

Topic: Appointments

3. Challa Sreenivasulu Setty has been recommended by the FSIB to be the Chairman of the State Bank of India.

• Setty is currently the most senior Managing Director, overseeing Global Markets & Technology at SBI.
• Dinesh Kumar Khara, the chairman of SBI, will step down in August 2024.
• Setty, who joined SBI on July 1, 1955, will serve as its 27th chairman.
• On June 30, 2024, Alok Kumar Choudhary, Managing Director (Risk, Compliance & SARG), retired from the Bank.
• Rana Ashutosh Kumar Singh was recommended by the Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) in April 2024 for the MD job at SBI.
• He is the Deputy Managing Director for Retail, Personal Banking, and Real Estate at the moment.
• Central government constituted FSIB with effect from July 01, 2022.
• It was constituted for recommending persons for appointment as whole-time directors and non-executive chairpersons on the Boards of financial services institutions.
• SBI has also launched web-based digital business loans solution for invoice financing of MSMEs. It is named MSME –Sahaj. 
• This new web-based solution would allow SBI’s customers in availing finance against GST registered sales invoices of up to ₹1 lakh in less than 15 minutes.
• MSME –Sahaj will be made available through digital mode on Yono to existing customers of SBI.

Topic: RBI

4. Charulatha S Kar and Arnab Kumar Chowdhury have been promoted as Executive Directors (EDs) by RBI.

• They have been promoted as EDs with effect from July 1 and July 3, respectively.
• Kar was serving as Chief General Manager-in-Charge in the Human Resource Management Department.
• Chowdhury was serving as Chief General Manager-in-Charge in the Department of Supervision.
• As ED, Kar will look after following departments:
  • Department of Communication
  • Human Resource Management Department
  • Right to Information (First Appellate Authority).
• As ED, Chowdhury will look after departments given below. 
  • Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation
  • Foreign Exchange Department
  • International Department

Topic: Reports and Indices

5. The HSBC final India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased to 58.3 in June.

• HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index stood at 57.5 in May.
• The headline manufacturing PMI rose by 0.8 percentage points in June.
• Firms increased their hiring at the fastest pace in over 19 years.
• The rate of job creation was strongest seen since data collection started in March 2005.
• The index is based on survey conducted by S&P Global among purchasing executives of 400 companies.
• The index above 50 means expansion. The index below 50 refers to contraction.

Topic: Miscellaneous

6. GST Day 2024: 1 July

• Goods and Services Tax (GST) Day is observed every year on 1 July.
• This day was first observed on July 1, 2018, marking the first anniversary of the GST tax system’s adoption.
• The theme of 7th GST Day is Sashakt Vyapar Samagra Vikas (Empowered Trade, Overall Growth).
• The Goods and Services Tax was first implemented on July 1, 2017.
• Parliament enacted the Constitution (101st Amendment) Act in 2016, which authorized the central government to charge and collect GST.
• The GST Council, comprising finance ministers from the central and state governments, supervises the implementation of the GST.
• GST is a destination-based tax structure that has replaced many indirect taxes levied by both the central and state governments, including excise duty, service tax, and value-added tax (VAT).
• In India, the GST system has five tax slabs: 0%, 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%.
• The idea of adopting GST was first suggested by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 2000.
• The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) was set up as a private company in 2013 by the government.

Topic: Reports and Indices

7. Vienna is the world's best city to live as per the Global Liveability Index 2024.

• Vienna, Austria, has secured first place in the Global Liveability Index for the third year in a row.
• The city has secured a 98.4 score on the Global Index.
• The Global Liveability Index gives ranking to 173 cities across five categories, including stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
• The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the Global Liveability Index 2024.
• Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, Osaka in Japan, and Auckland in New Zealand are among the top ten most livable cities globally.
• Pakistan’s Karachi and Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka are amongst the least liveable cities in the world.
• The UK capital, London, was ranked as the 45th most liveable city in the world.

2024’s Global Liveability Index:

Topic: Appointments

8. Ravi Agrawal has been appointed as the new CBDT chief.

• Ravi Agrawal became the new chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
• He has taken the place of Nitin Gupta, whose tenure ended on June 30.
• In June 2022, Nitin Gupta was appointed as the Central Board of Direct Taxes chairman.
• Earlier, Ravi Agrawal was working as a member (administration) in the CBDT board.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has said that Ravi Agrawal will be CBDT chief till June 2025.
• Pragya Sahay Saksena, HBS Gill, Pravin Kumar, Sanjay Kumar and Sanjay Kumar Verma are the other members of the CBDT board.
• The CBDT is headed by a chairman and could have six members. It is responsible for administering the direct tax laws in India.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

9. Employees' Pension Scheme has been amended by the government.

• The Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995 was amended by the Government of India to ensure that withdrawal benefits are also available to Employees' Pension Scheme members with less than 6 months of contributory service.
• This amendment will benefit more than 7 lakh Employees' Pension Scheme members every year who leave the scheme after less than 6 months of contributory service.
• Further, the Central Government has revised Table D and ensured that every full month of service is taken into account for granting proportionate withdrawal benefit to the members.
• The amount of withdrawal benefit will now depend on the number of completed months of service rendered by the member and the salary on which the Employees' Pension Scheme contributions were received.
• It is estimated that over 23 lakh members will benefit from this amendment in Table D every year.
• More than 30 lakh withdrawal benefit claims were settled in the financial year 2023-24.
• During the financial year 2023-24, about 7 lakh claims for withdrawal benefits were rejected due to less than 6 months of contributory service.
• After this amendment, all such Employees' Pension Scheme members who have not attained the age of 58 years by 14 June 2024 will become eligible for withdrawal benefits.

Topic: Miscellaneous

10. Turkiye has been removed from the FATF money laundering gray list.

• On June 28, Turkiye was removed from its “grey list” of countries requiring special scrutiny by the international crime watchdog Financial Action Task Force, giving a boost to the country's economic recovery plan.
• Since 2021, Turkiye has been placed on the grey list due to its inability to combat money laundering and terrorism financing to groups such as Daesh and al-Qaeda.
• The decision was taken during the closing plenary session of FATF in Singapore.
• The decision by the FATF- which was set up by the G7 group - is expected to have a profound impact on Turkiye's economic outlook, boosting confidence in the Turkiye economy, lira (currency) and assets.
• Recently, Turkiye enacted legislation to increase oversight over cryptocurrencies and bring them in line with international standards.

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