Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 10 and 11 August 2021

Topic: Taxation

1. Anti-dumping duty on imports of Phthalic Anhydride (PAN) from four countries imposed by Finance Ministry.

• Finance Ministry imposed Anti-dumping duty on imports of Phthalic Anhydride (PAN) from China, Indonesia, Thailand, and South Korea.
• The duty will be applicable for five years. It ranges from $40.08-140.17 per tonne depending on the producer and country of export.
• In May this year, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) in its final findings recommended the imposition of anti-dumping duty on PAN imports from these countries.
• Phthalic Anhydride (PAN) is an important chemical intermediate in the plastics industry. It is mainly used in the production of phthalate esters, which functions as plasticizers.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

2. Indian Bank and NSRCEL sign MoU for extending exclusive credit to startups.

• Indian Bank and NSRCEL, the incubation arm of IIM Bangalore, have signed MoU for extending exclusive credit to startups.   
• Under the MOU, startups and MSMEs will be identified by NSRCEL based on their credentials and past experience. They will be referred for financial assistance from the Bank.
• The initiative comes under Bank’s scheme ‘Ind Spring Board’ which is exclusively tailored to finance startups.
• The Bank will give loans of up to Rs 50 crore to the identified startups for their working capital requirements or purchase of machinery, equipment, etc.
• Indian Bank was founded in 1907. Its headquarters are in Chennai. From 1 April 2020, Allahabad bank has been merged with Indian Bank.

Topic: Miscellaneous

3. India is on path to achieve WHO recommended doctor-population ratio.

• NITI Aayog member Vinod Paul said that India is on the path to achieve WHO recommended doctor-population ratio of one doctor per thousand population by 2024.
• He also said that India is increasing the number of hospital beds from 11 lakh to 22 lakh.
• He further said that the average life in India has increased from 28 years at the time of independence to 70 years.
• At the online ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ discourse series of Department of Science and Technology (DST), New India @ 75, he pointed out that many steps have been taking to address the problems in health sector in the last six-seven years.
• The discourse series of DST was organized by the National Council for Science and Technology Communication and Vigyan Prasar.

Topic: Agriculture

4. Government announced a National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP).
• The main objective of this mission is to boost domestic oilseed production and to make India self-sufficient in cooking oils.
• The government will invest ₹11,000 crores to create an edible oil ecosystem. The government will provide quality seeds and technology to promote the farming of palm oil and other oil seeds.
• India has already become self-sufficient in the production of rice, wheat, and sugar.
• India is dependent on the import for its consumption of edible oil. Of the total imports, palm oil constitutes about 55%.
• India produces less than half of the edible oil that it consumes annually.

Topic: Banking System

5. ‘Digital Prayaas’ has been launched by SIDBI.

• ‘Digital Prayaas’ has been launched by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for providing loans.
• ‘Digital Prayaas’ is an App-based end-to-end digital lending platform, for providing loans.
• It facilitates the speedy onboarding of loan applicants in a digital and integrated process with better risk management.
• SIDBI has partnered with BigBasket to onboard its delivery partners all over India and provide loans at an affordable interest rate for the purchase of environment-friendly e-Bikes and e-Vans.
• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI):
  • It is a development financial institution in India. It is the principal financial institution in the MSME sector.
  • It works under the Department of Financial Services. It is regulated and supervised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
  • It was established in 1990. It is headquartered in Lucknow, UP. Sivasubramanian Ramann is Chairman and Managing Director of SIDBI.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

6. CoinDCX became India’s first cryptocurrency unicorn.

• CoinDCX became India’s first cryptocurrency exchange to achieve unicorn status.
• It raised $90 million in a Series C funding round at a valuation of $1.1 billion.
• It raised 6.70 billion rupees ($90 million) from investors led by Facebook Inc.
• Existing partners Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Block. one, and Jump Capital were other investors.
• Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Sumit Gupta said that he wants to use funds to double his team in the next six months to about 400 people in India.
• He is an IITian. He set up CoinDCX in 2018. It is registered in Singapore as Primestack Pte.
• A unicorn is a startup company that is privately held and is valued at over $1 billion.

Topic: RBI

7. RBI introduces “Scheme of Penalty for non-replenishment of ATMs”.

• RBI has introduced the “Scheme of Penalty for non-replenishment of ATMs”. The scheme will come into effect from October 1, 2021.
• Under the scheme, cash out of over ten hours in a month will lead to a penalty of ₹10,000 per ATM.
• Cash-out means when the customer is not able to withdraw cash due to the non-availability of cash in a particular ATM.
• The penalty would be charged to the bank which is meeting the cash requirement of a White Label ATM.
• The bank may, at its discretion, recover the penalty from the White Label ATM (WLA) operator.
• White Label ATMs (WLAs) are ATMs that are established and operated by non-banks.

Read Banking Awareness PDF -10 and 11 August 2021