Banking Awareness of 14 and 15 April 2023

Topic: Corporates/Companies

1. Yes Bank has become 1st Indian company to have over 50 lakh shareholders as per its shareholding pattern on March-end.

• Tata Power has 38.5 lakh shareholders. It was followed by Reliance Industries with 33.6 lakh shareholders as per December 2022 shareholding disclosures.
• As of 31 March 2023, Yes Bank had 50.6 lakh shareholders.
• The number of shareholders increased from 48.1 lakh shareholders as of December 2022.  
• Since the implementation of the YES Bank reconstruction scheme, the total number of shares held has more than doubled.
• YES Bank was founded in 2004. It is headquartered in Mumbai. Prashant Kumar is its MD and CEO.
• YES Bank was put under the YES Bank Reconstruction Scheme in March 2020.

Topic: Banking/Financial Schemes

2. CGTMSE has increased the coverage ceiling under its Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme.

• CGTMSE has increased the ceiling from ₹2 crore to ₹5 crore per borrower for credit facilities extended by lending institutions to MSEs.
• It has reduced guarantee fee for loans up to ₹1 crore to bring down the cost of credit.
• It has doubled the threshold limit for waiver of legal action by lenders.
• Threshold for waiver of legal action has been increased to ₹10 lakhs from the existing ₹5 lakhs.
• The changes are effective from April 1. The annual guarantee fee for loans upto ₹10 lakh has been cut to 0.37% from 0.75%.
• The annual guarantee fee for loans above ₹10 lakh up to ₹50 lakh has been reduced from 1.10% to 0.55%.
• The annual guarantee fee (AGF) for loans above ₹50 lakhs up to ₹1 crore is 0.60%. 1.20% is AGF for loans above ₹1 crore up to ₹2 crore.
• AGF for loans above ₹2 crore up to ₹5 crore is 1.35%.
• Before this, there was single slab of ₹50 lakh up to ₹2 crore. AGF for this slab was 1.20 %.
• Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) was set up by the Government of India and SIDBI in August 2000 to catalyse flow of institutional credit to Micro & Small Enterprises (MSEs).
• Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGMSE):
  • Government of India launched it to make available collateral-free credit to the micro and small enterprise sector.
  • The CGMSE was formally launched on August 30, 2000 and is operational with effect from 1 January 2000.

Topic: Taxation

3. Direct tax buoyancy has increased to 2.52 in FY22.

• This is the highest level in 15 years and second highest level in 22 years.
• Total tax collection increased by more than 1.5 times between 2013-14 and 2022-23.
• The highest tax buoyancy of 2.59 was registered in FY03 as per Time Series data for 22 years.
• The tax buoyancy was negative (-1.21) in FY20 mainly because of the pandemic.
• The tax buoyancy has not been computed for FY21 because both GDP growth and tax growth rate were negative in FY21.
• The tax buoyancy increased in FY22 because of high growth of both nominal GDP and tax collection in FY22.
• Maharashtra was at the top among the states and Union Territories in overall tax collection. Delhi and Karnataka were ranked at second and third place, respectively.
• Net Direct Tax Collections have grown by 160% from Rs 6.39 lakh crore to Rs 16.61 lakh crore in FY23.
• Tax Buoyancy is the ratio between percentage change in gross tax revenue and percentage change in Gross Domestic Product over the previous year.
• Tax buoyancy is a measure of how responsive tax collections are to nominal GDP growth and discretionary changes in tax policies.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

4. Russia has risen 16 places to become India's fourth largest import source in fiscal year 2022-23.

• Russia’s share in India’s imports increased from 1.6% in the previous fiscal to 6.5%.
• China’s share in India’s exports in FY2022-23 contracted to 13.79% from 15.43% in the previous fiscal.
• However, China retained its position as the top imports source for the country. India’s imports from China grew 4.16% to $98.51 billion.
• The second largest imports source for India during FY2022-23 was UAE at $53.24 billion. It was followed by the US.
• The top destinations for Indian exports in FY2022-23 were the US with exports valued at $78.31 billion and the UAE at $31.33 billion.
• Other top destinations were the Netherlands with exports valued at $20.90 billion, China at $15.32 billion and Singapore at $11.95 billion.
• Petroleum, crude & products, coal, coke & briquettes, machinery, transport equipment and iron & steel were the top five items showing import growth in FY 2022-23.
• Petroleum products, electronic goods, rice, chemicals and drugs were the top five export items showing growth in FY 2022-23.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

5. India’s overall exports have registered a growth of 13.84% in the financial year 2022-23 over 2021-22.

• India’s overall exports are estimated to have reached 770.18 US billion dollars in the last financial year.
• India's overall exports were more than 676 US billion dollars in the fiscal year 2021-22.
• Merchandise exports have reached an annual high level of over 447 billion US dollars, with a 6% increase in the fiscal year 2022-23.      
• As per the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, services exports lead the overall export growth.
• For the previous fiscal year, services exports are expected to set a new record worth 322.72 billion US dollars, with a growth rate of 26.79%.
• China's share in the country's merchandise imports has declined from 15.43% in 2021-22 to 13.79% in the financial year 2022-23.
• Imports of electronic goods from China have also declined from 48.1% in 2021-22 to 41.9% in 2022-23.
• In March 2023, India’s goods exports declined 13.9% (year-on-year) to $38.38 billion. Trade deficit increased to a three-month high level of $19.73 billion.
• In March 2023, exports declined at 7.9% (year-on-year) to $58.11 billion as per quick estimates on exports and imports released by the Commerce Department.
• In FY23, goods exports recorded 6.03% growth to $447.46 billion. Imports increased 16.51% to $714.24 billion.

Topic: Taxation

6. Supreme Court ruled that only delay in remittance of tax deducted at source (TDS) will not attract penalty under Section 271C of Income Tax Act 1961.

• The Apex Court ruled that no penalty will be levied under Section 271C of IT Act 1961 on merely delay in remittance of TDS after it has been deducted by the assesse.
• The Apex Court said that under Sections 201(1A) and 276B of the Act, Parliament has specifically provided the consequences of non-payment/belated remittance of the TDS.
• The bench of Justices M.R. Shah and C.T. Ravikumar set aside the order of Kerala High Court.
• Kerala High Court earlier upheld the levy of penalty under Section 271C for belated remittance of TDS by the assessee.
• The appellant, US Technologies moved Supreme Court after the Kerala High Court’s ruling.

Topic: Reports and Indices

7. India’s rank improved by six spots in the global Business Environment Rankings.

• The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the latest Business Environment Rankings (BER).
• In the latest Business Environment Rankings (BER), India’s rank has improved from 52nd to 46th position.
• India’s rank has improved due to improved scores in parameters like technological readiness, political environment, and foreign investment.
• Out of the 17 economies in the Asian region, India has been ranked 10th for the 2023-27 forecast period. India was in 14th position in 2018-22.
• According to the EIU’s latest business environment Rankings, Singapore, Canada and Denmark will be the three countries with the best business environment over the next five years.
• The United States and Switzerland are in the fourth and fifth spot respectively.
• Business Environment Rankings measure the attractiveness of the business environment in 82 countries based on 91 indicators.
• As per the forecast, India’s working-age population will reach to 100 million by 2030.
• India’s regional BER ranking for infrastructure has improved to 10th for the 2023-27 period.
• India is in the top 10 in technological readiness due to a more conducive environment for e-commerce and the enhancement of information technology-ready government services.

Topic: Reports and Indices

8. India is ranked 5^th in the list of countries with the most AI investment as per Stanford University’s annual AI Index report.

• The total amount of investments in AI startups in India was $3.24 billion in 2022.
• US, China, UK and Israel are placed ahead of India. India is placed ahead of South Korea, Germany, Canada and Australia.
• As per the report, AI startups in India received a total funding of $7.73 billion during 2013-2022.
• India is ranked 6th in the list of countries with the most AI investments during 2013-2022.
• As per the Stanford report, 54% of researchers working on large language models were from American institutions.
• Researchers from Canada, Germany and India made contributions to the development of large language models for the first time last year.
• According to Tracxn, investments in AI startups in India increased from $1.7 billion in 2020 to $5.2 billion in 2022. 

Topic: Reports and Indices

9. India's economy is projected to grow at 6% in 2023: UNCTAD

• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released its latest Trade and Development Report.
• UNCTAD projected India’s growth will decline to 6% in 2023 from 6.6% in 2022.
• It projected that global growth in 2023 will decline to 2.1% from its earlier projection of 2.2%.
• South Asia registered a growth of 5.7 % in 2022. It will grow at a pace of 5.3% in 2023.
• As per the report, South Asian countries such as Sri Lanka or Bangladesh will face pressures from external creditors to cut public spending.
• In 2022, 81 developing countries (excluding China) have lost USD 241 billion international reserves. More than 20 countries lost more than 10% of their Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).
• The annual growth of most of the global economy will be less than the performance registered before the pandemic.
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD):
  • It is an intergovernmental body under the United Nations formed in 1964.
  • Its primary objective is to formulate policies related to development like trade, transport, finance, etc.
  • Its headquarters is in Geneva. It is composed of 195 member states.
  • It reports to United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Topic: World Economy

10. A common platform announced by India, Japan and France for Sri Lanka creditors.

• Japan, India and France have announced a common platform for dialogue between bilateral creditors to coordinate debt restructuring of Sri Lanka.
• This will help in solving the debt crisis of middle-income economies.
• It is historic to start the negotiation process with such a broad-based group of lenders. The committee is open to all the lenders.
• As soon as possible, the group is ready to hold the first round of talks.
• Sri Lanka last month took a 2.9-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund to deal with the huge debt burden.
• Only low-income countries can apply for debt relief under the G-20's general framework.
• Countries with middle income economies cannot take advantage of this arrangement.
• This has put pressure on major economies to come up with an alternative plan, leading to the creation of new platform.
• Sri Lanka owes 7.1 billion dollars in debt to bilateral creditors.
• This includes $3 billion from China, $2.4 billion from the Paris Club and $1.6 billion from India.

Topic: Miscellaneous

11. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) have collaborated to promote innovation in the agricultural sector.

• AIM, NITI Aayog and MoA&FW have come together to encourage innovation in the agricultural sector among school students across India.
• Under the initiative, they have agreed to link Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) with Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs) and Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMAs).
• KVKs, in partnership with ATMA, will work with nearby ATLs to encourage agricultural-related innovation.
• During the first phase, one KVK under each of the 11 Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes (ATARIs) will be involved.
• After assessing the positive outcomes after two years, the pilot project will be extended.
• Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) Scheme was launched during 2005-06.
• It aims at making extension system farmer driven and farmer accountable by way of new institutional arrangements for technology dissemination in the form of an Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) at district level.
• Atal Tinkering Labs is a major initiative under Atal Innovation Mission to promote a creative, innovative mindset in schools.

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