Banking Awareness of 1 and 2 August 2024

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

1. India's April-June fiscal deficit stood at Rs 1.36 lakh crore.

• For the first quarter of this fiscal, India's fiscal deficit stood at 1.36 lakh crore rupees, or 8.1% of annual estimates.
• The total receipts stood at 8.34 lakh crore rupees, while overall expenditure in April to June was at 9.70 lakh crore rupees.
• Total receipts in the year-earlier period was at 22.1% of the estimate while expenditure narrowed from 23.3% a year earlier.
• The Revenue receipts stood at about 8.30 lakh crore rupees, which tax revenue was nearly 5.50 lakh crore rupees and non-tax revenue was 2.80 lakh crore rupees.
• Tax and non-tax revenues were 21.1% and 70.1% of the budgeted estimate.
• In the last fiscal year, tax revenue was wider than 18.6% of the budget.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

2. The combined ICI recorded an increase by 4.0% (provisional) in June, 2024 as compared to the Index in June, 2023.

• Positive growth was recorded in the production of Coal, Electricity, Natural Gas, Steel, Fertilizers and Cement in June 2024.
• The final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for March 2024 is 6.3%.
• The cumulative growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) during April to June, 2024-25 was 5.7% (provisional) as compared to the same period of 2023-24.
• Cement production (weight: 5.37 per cent) and Coal production (weight: 10.33 per cent) increased by 1.9 per cent and 14.8 per cent, respectively in June, 2024 over June, 2023.
• Electricity generation (weight: 19.85 per cent) and Steel production (weight: 17.92 per cent) increased by 7.7 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively in June, 2024 over June, 2023.
• Fertilizer production (weight: 2.63 per cent) and natural gas production (weight: 6.88 per cent) increased by 2.4 per cent and 3.3 per cent, respectively in June, 2024 over June, 2023.
• Crude Oil production (weight: 8.98 per cent) and Petroleum Refinery production (weight: 28.04 per cent) declined by 2.6 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively in June, 2024 over June, 2023.
• ICI for July, 2024 will be released on 30th August, 2024.
• The combined and individual performance of production of eight core industries are measured by the ICI.
• The eight core industries are Cement, Coal, Crude Oil, Electricity, Fertilizers, Natural Gas, Refinery Products and Steel.
• These industries make up 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Topic: Agriculture

3. In 2023, India remained the eighth largest exporter of agricultural products in the world.

• Figures compiled by the WTO show that seven out of the 10 leading exporting countries experienced a decrease.
• Despite a decline in agricultural exports to $51 billion in 2023 from $55 billion in 2022, India still maintained its position as eighth-largest exporter of agricultural products.
• According to WTO's Trade Statistics 2023 report, only Brazil, the EU, and Thailand had shown a rise in exports among the top 10 agriculture exporters in 2023.
• In 2023, exports from Thailand, the European Union, and Brazil risen by 0.2%, 5%, and 6%, respectively.
• The exports of agricultural products fell for the other seven economies in the top ten.
• In 2023, the top ten exporters together accounted for 71.9% of world exports.
• In May 2022, India banned the export of wheat. In July 2023, it banned export of non-basmati rice, and of sugar starting from October 2023.
• In 2023, the EU remained at the top. Despite a decline in agricultural exports in 2023, the US also maintained its second-place.
• Brazil retained its third place. In terms of agricultural exports, China ranked fourth in 2023.
• Other nations included in the top 10 exporters of agricultural products were Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Indonesia.

Topic: Reports and Indices

4. HSBC final India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index stood at 58.1 in July 2024.

• It stood at 58.3 in June, 57.5 in May, and 58.8 in April.
• Although manufacturing sector slowed down marginally in July, it did not impact job creation.
• However, manufacturing sector faces inflation, the strongest in about 11 years.
• The index is prepared based on the responses from purchasing executives of 400 companies.
• Index above 50 shows expansion, while a sub-50 index indicates contraction.

Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions

5. ₹1 crore penalty has been imposed by IRDAI on HDFC Life Insurance.

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has imposed this penalty for violation of various norms.
• The norms pertaining to insurance web aggregators, insurance brokers, insurance intermediaries (payment of commissions) and outsourcing activities were violated.
• IRDAI also directed HDFC Life Insurance to review its vendor regulating policy as well as review all existing vendor agreements.
• IRDAI directed it to make necessary changes to the policy in line with existing norms.
• HDFC Life Insurance is a life insurance provider headquartered in Mumbai.

Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions

6. Chatbot ‘Seva’ for investors unveiled by SEBI.

• In order to protect investors, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based conversation platform – Virtual Assistant (Seva) for investors.
• The Beta version of the chatbot includes features such as citations for generated response, speech-to-text and text-to-speech functionality for accessibility and follow-up questions.
• Currently, the chatbot is capable of answering queries related to general information on securities market, latest master circulars and grievance redressal procedure.
• SEBI said in a statement that additional areas will be added to the chatbot based on the feedback received from users.
• The beta version of the chatbot is available on SEBI's investor website and Sarathi mobile app.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

7. With $120 million in new funding from WestBridge, Rapido became a unicorn.

• Rapido has become a unicorn after raising approximately $120 million (₹1,000 crores) in its most recent Series E investment round from its existing investor WestBridge Capital.
• This is because Rapido can expand its auto and cab services to new cities across India.
• Unicorn means a privately owned startup valued at more than $1 billion and Rapido competes strongly with players like Ola, Uber and Namma Traveller.
• Now, Rapido wants to use the fresh funding to develop its tech stack and expand into new markets, which were previously dominated by Ola and Uber.
• In 2015, Rapido was founded by Arvind Sanka, Pawan Guntupalli and Rishikesh SR.
• Rapido is the third company to become a unicorn this year, after Perfeos and Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal's Krutrim AI.
• In 2023, there were only two new unicorns—Zepto and InCred Wealth.

Topic: RBI

8. Shriram Group has received RBI's approval to enter the asset reconstruction business.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given the Chennai-based conglomerate Shriram Group approval to enter the asset reconstruction (ARC) market for the current fiscal year.
• The group had announced in November 2023 that it plans to enter the ARC and wealth management businesses.
• Shriram Capital's subsidiary Shriram Credit will take charge of the wealth management business, and Shriram Capital will manage the asset reconstruction division.
• Shriram Capital Pvt Ltd is the holding company of the Shriram group’s financial services business.

Topic: Appointments

9. On July 30, 2024, Sanjay Shukla officially assumed the position of managing director (MD) at the National Housing Bank.

• Shukla is a Chartered Accountant with over three decades of experience in housing and retail asset finance.
• Prior to joining NHB, Shukla was the founder, managing director, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Centrum Housing Finance Limited (CHFL).
• National Housing Bank comes under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
• It was set up on 9 July 1988. It is headquartered in New Delhi.
• It is the apex regulatory body for overall regulation and licensing of housing finance companies in India.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

10. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and his wife Anjali Pichai receive top honours from IIT Kharagpur.

• Google CEO Sundar Pichai and his wife Anjali Pichai were awarded honorary doctorate degrees by their alma mater, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, at a ceremony in San Francisco.
• Sundar Pichai was honoured with the Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) award.
• His wife Anjali Pichai was honoured with the Distinguished Alumnus Award.
• Sundar Pichai has been awarded an honorary doctorate for his "contribution towards digital transformation, affordable technology and pioneering innovations".
• Pichai was appointed CEO of Google in August 2015.

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