Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 13, 14 and 15 June 2020

1. Mining at Bacheli mine restarted

• Mining at Bacheli mine in Chhattisgarh has been started by National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC).
• The mining at Bacheli was stopped by NMDC on June 11 as state government intervened and said that storing area did not fall inside the mining area.
• NMDC has also started loading activities at Kirandul mine.
• The Bacheli mine is very important as it contributes 40% to total output of NMDC.
• NMDC has two mining complexes in Chhattisgarh.
• NMDC:
  • It was formed in 1958.
  • It is headquartered in Hyderabad.
  • It comes under Ministry of Steel.
  • In February 2020, Government of India owned 69.65 % equity in NMDC.
  • It is the largest iron ore producer of India.
  • It is also largest iron ore exporter of India.

2. Kaizar Bharucha to be reappointed as HDFC Bank's executive director

• Kaizar Bharucha will be reappointed as HDFC Bank's executive director as per the approval given by RBI.
• His appointment will be effective from 13 June, 2020 and he will be reappointed for three years.
• However, he will be reappointed only if shareholders approve his name at coming Annual General meeting of HDFC Bank.

3. T-Block Accelerator to provide technical support to 30 start-ups

• In partnership with three other global block chain firms, T-Block Accelerator will provide technical support to 30 start-ups.
• The names of partner firms are Tezos India, R3 Corda and SettleMint.
• The support to start-ups will include three-week training, financial grant to some of the selected start-ups and support for technology implementation.
• T-Block Accelerator:
  • It is controlled by Tech Mahindra, the Telangana government and IBC Media.
  • It is an innovation management company launched in February 2020 for start-ups with strong possibility of use of block chain.

4. Machine Learning Scholarship program launched

• Machine Learning Scholarship program has been launched by Microsoft and Udacity, an online learning platform.
• Microsoft and Udacity have collaborated to give scholarships for Microsoft's Machine Learning Nanodegree program in Microsoft Azure.
• The scholarship will be given in two phases. First phase will involve selection of 10,000 candidates, who will go through a foundation course.
• 300 performers at the top will be given scholarship for Machine Learning Nanodegree program.
• Microsoft Azure:
  • It is a cloud computing service.
  • It was developed by Microsoft Corporation in 2010.
• Udacity:
  • It provides massive open online courses.
  • It was founded in June 2010.
  • Its CEO is Gabe Dalporto.

5. RBI forms PK Mohanty panel

• RBI has formed PK Mohanty panel to review guidelines for ownership of private sector banks.
• PK Mohanty is the executive director of RBI and will head this internal working group of RBI.
• The group will also review guidelines for corporate structure of private sector banks. 
• The eligibility criteria, which enable individuals or entities to apply for banking licence will be examined and reviewed by the group.
• As per the current regulations, financial subsidiaries can be held through non-operative financial holding company. RBI's group will examine these regulations also.
• Earlier, shareholders of private banks such as Indusind Bank have requested RBI to allow them to increase their holding beyond 15%.

6. India's forex increase to 501.70 billion dollars for the first time

• On 5 June, India's forex has increased to 501.70 billion dollars for the first time.
• The record increase in forex is due to increase in foreign currency assets.
• The foreign currency assets increased by 8.42 billion dollars to and reached at 463.63 billion dollars.
• However, India's gold reserves are continuing to decline. The gold reserves declined by 329 million dollars and reached at 32.352 billion dollars.
• India's SDR and its reserve position with IMF have increased by 10 million dollars and 120 million dollars, respectively.

Read Banking Awareness PDF - 13, 14 and 15 June 2020