Banking Awareness of 10, 11 and 12 September 2022

Topic: RBI

1. RBI has informed that two sandbox entities have been selected for Test Phase.

• The selected sandbox entities are HDFC Bank (in partnership with Sweden-based Crunchfish Aktiebolag) and Precision Biometric India Pvt. Ltd.
• The description of products of these entities is provided in the following table.

• The opening of the ‘On Tap’ application facility for the theme ‘Retail Payments’ under Regulatory Sandbox was announced by RBI in October 2021.
• RBI has also announced that fifth Cohort under Regulatory Sandbox will be theme neutral.
• Innovative products/services/technologies cutting across various functions in RBI’s regulatory domain can apply.
• Second Cohort on ‘Cross Border Payments’ is now also open for ‘On Tap’ application.
• The opening of Second Cohort under the Regulatory Sandbox was first announced by RBI on December 16, 2020.

Topic: Banking System  

2. Nearly 300 branches in unbanked areas of various states will be opened by public sector banks by December 2022.

• These branches are expected to cover all remaining unbanked villages with a population of more than 3,000.
• Maximum branches (95) will be opened in Rajasthan. This will be followed by 54 branches in Madhya Pradesh.
• 38 branches will be opened in Gujarat. 33 will be opened in Maharashtra, 32 in Jharkhand, and 31 in Uttar Pradesh.
• Respective State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) have asked the banks to open branches at allocated locations.
• Bank of Baroda will open 76 branches. State Bank of India will open 60 branches.
• Since August 28, 2014, banks opened over 46 crore bank accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

Topic: Banking System

3. HDFC Bank has launched its Bank on Wheels service in Gujarat.

• Rural banking division of the HDFC Bank has launched “Bank on Wheels” vans.
• These vans will go to areas that are 10 to 25 kilometers from the closest branch.
• 21 banking services and products are being offered to customers.
• These vans cover three towns in a day. They operate at each place for certain time. They will make two weekly trips to each area.   
• HDFC Bank:
  • It is headquartered in Mumbai. Its CEO is Sashidhar Jagdishan.
  • It is India's largest private sector bank by assets. It world's 10^th largest bank by market capitalisation as of April 2021.
  • It is the third largest company by market capitalisation on the Indian stock exchanges.

Topic: RBI

4. RBI has imposed penalties on Industrial Bank of Korea, Woori Bank and Indiabulls Commercial Credit Limited.

• RBI has imposed penalty of Rs 36 lakh on Industrial Bank of Korea for non-compliance with certain Know Your Customer (KYC) norms.
• It has imposed penalty of Rs 59.10 lakh on Woori Bank for non-compliance with RBI's directions on 'Creation of a Central Repository of Large Common Exposures - Across Banks'.
• RBI has imposed penalty of Rs 12.35 lakh on Indiabulls Commercial Credit Limited, New Delhi for non-compliance with certain provisions of KYC Directions.   

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

5. India’s merchandise exports are expected to increase by 11.4% to reach $114.4 billion in the second quarter of FY23 as per data from Exim Bank.

• However, increase in exports in July-September quarter of the current financial year could be affected by declining global commodity prices.
• Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) said in its quarterly data that slowdown in major trade partners could affect export gain.
• It also said that inflationary pressures and tight monetary policies all over the world could also affect export gain.
• Exim Bank releases export forecast during the first weeks of June, September, December and March for the corresponding quarters.
• It has an in-house model to generate an Export Leading Index (ELI) for the country.
• ELI tracks and forecasts the movement in India's exports on a quarterly basis. It gauges the outlook for country's exports.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

6. A 66% decline reported in India’s steel exports for August 2022.

• Indian steel exports for August declined to 0.45 million tonnes (mt).
• However, finished steel exports increased by 20% over July.
• Finished steel includes non-alloyed offerings and alloyed and stainless steel products.
• As per provisional data of Steel Ministry, exports declined by about 53% to 3.02 mt in the first five months of the fiscal (April to August).
• India’s steel exports have been decreasing since the beginning of this fiscal.
• Non-alloyed steel exports were down 91% year-on-year (YoY) in August to 0.11 mt.

Topic: Miscellaneous

7. India decided to stay out of the joint declaration on the trade pillar of the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

• The decision to stay out of the joint declaration on the trade pillar was taken at the IPEF Ministerial meeting in Los Angeles.
• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal represented India at the IPEF Ministerial meeting.
• India was the only one of the 14 IPEF countries not to join the declaration on trade.
• The 14 IPEF countries include 10 South East Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan.
• The trade pillar of the IPEF excludes tariff reduction commitments on goods.
• It includes areas such as digital trade, environment and labour.
• Government said India is comfortable with the outcome statements on the other three pillars.
• The other three pillars are supply chains, clean economy (clean energy) and fair economy (tax and anti-corruption).
• IPEF leaders had launched talks on the sidelines of the Quad Summit in Tokyo in May.
• The 14 IPEF partners represent 40% of global GDP. They represent 28% of global goods and services trade.
• Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) was launched by US President Joe Biden on May 23, 2022.

Topic: Miscellaneous

8. NAA has upheld that Tata Play profiteered over Rs 450 crore by not passing input tax credit (ITC) benefit to subscribers.

• National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) has directed the company shall deposit half each of the total profiteered amount in State Consumer Welfare Fund and Central Consumer Welfare Fund.
• As per the directions of NAA, the company shall deposit the total profiteered amount along with interest at the rate of 18% from the date the said amount profiteered till the amount is deposited.
• Section 171 of CGST Act deals with anti-profiteering measures.
• It prescribes any reduction in tax rate on any supply of goods or services or the benefit of input tax credit should be passed on to the recipients by reduction in prices.
• Tata Play (earlier known as Tata Sky) is a DTH (Direct to Home) service-provider.
• National Anti-profiteering Authority (NAA):
  • It is the statutory mechanism under GST law. It consists of a chairman and that of four technical members.
  • Amand Shah is its current chairman.
  • Its main function is to ensure that the registered suppliers under GST law are not profiteering by charging higher prices from recipients in the name of GST.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

9. Bharat Biotech was presented BusinessLine’s Changemaker of the Year award by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

• Bharat Biotech won the award for its work during the pandemic in producing a domestic vaccine in record time.
• Mithali Raj won the iconic changemaker of the year award.
• The awards were given in six categories. These categories were digital transformation, social transformation, financial transformation, young changemaker, iconic changemaker, and changemaker of the year.
• Ramesh Raliya (the inventor of nano urea) won Changemaker Social Transformation Award.
• Akash Singh (who upskills prisoners and also addresses river pollution) received the Young changemaker award.
• Prachi Shevgaonkar (a climate action warrior) also received the Young Changemaker award.
• The 2022 awards function was presented by Life Insurance Corporation of India.
• The 2022 awards function was powered by State Bank of India and Sastra University.

Topic: Banking System

10. IndusInd Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have entered into partnership to offer supply chain financing for MSMEs.

• IndusInd Bank has announced its partnership with ADB to create a partial guarantee programme to promote supply chain finance solutions in India.
• Initial outlay under the initiative will be $70 million (Rs 560 crore).
• IndusInd Bank already have a digital portal called ‘earlyCredit’ to enable supply chain financing for corporates, suppliers and dealers.
• IndusInd Bank:
  • It is a Pune-based bank. It was started in 1994 by Srichand P Hinduja.
  • Sumant Kathpalia is its CEO. Its tagline is we make you feel richer.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

11. World Dairy Summit was inaugurated by PM Modi on 12^th September.

• International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit (IDF WDS) 2022 is being organised at India Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida.
• The four-day long summit is a congregation of global and Indian dairy stakeholders centring on the theme of ‘Dairy for Nutrition and Livelihood’.
• India organized the World Dairy Summit after a gap of almost 48 years.
• Around 1500 people from all over the world attended this summit, including CEOs and employees of dairy processing companies, dairy farmers, and other stakeholders.
• 9 September was the death anniversary of Dr. Verghese Kurien, also known as the "Father of the White Revolution".
• India is now the largest milk producer in the world, producing 21 percent of all the milk in the world.
• The National Dairy Development Board was established in 1965 in Gujarat under the guidance of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, with Dr. Verghese Kurien as its first chairman.
• The Operation Flood program was implemented in various phases across the country to support the creation of the 'Anand Pattern' of dairy cooperatives.
• The country's average daily milk consumption increased from 107 grams per person in 1970 to 427 grams per person in 2020–21.

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