Banking Awareness of 15, 16 and 17 February 2023

Topic: Appointments

1. YouTube has appointed Neal Mohan as its CEO.

• After the resignation of the Susan Wojcicki, Indian-American Neal Mohan has been appointed as the next Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of YouTube.
• Neal Mohan is currently the Chief Product Officer of YouTube.
• YouTube is headquartered in San Bruno, California. In 2005, it was launched by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim.
• It is owned by Google, and is the second most visited website after Google Search.
• The board of directors of AU Small Finance Bank (SFB) has given approval to the appointment of Kavita Venugopal as Non-Executive Independent Director (Additional Director).
• Kavita Venugopal will be Non-Executive Independent Director on SFB’s board with effect from March 29, 2023 for a period of 3 years.
• AU Small Finance Bank is headquartered in Jaipur. Its chairman is Raj Vikash Verma.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

2. EbixCash Limited has become the first company to enable Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services for foreign delegates attending the G-20 summit.

• It will carry out a pilot launch shortly in Bangalore at the G-20 summit.
• This launch would enable passengers to visit airport counters across India and convert their foreign currency into digital Indian currency, with a UPI interface to make purchases for goods and services across the country.
• RBI has recently allowed non-resident Indians to use the UPI network when in India.
• Only those who have international mobile numbers linked to their NRE/NRO (non-resident external/ non-resident ordinary) accounts were allowed.
• EbixCash Limited is a subsidiary of US-based Ebix Inc. EbixCash World Money is the foreign exchange division of EbixCash.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

3. Karnataka Bank has won Prathista Puraskar under Digidhan Awards 2021-22.

• The bank has won the award for highest percentage in BHIM-UPI transactions in private sector bank category.
• The bank has won Prathista Puraskar under Digidhan Awards 2021-22 by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• The bank is carrying out an accelerated digital drive under ‘KBL VIKAAS 2.0’. It is labelled as KBL-NxT.
• Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology gave the award to Gokuldas Pai, Chief Business Officer of the bank, and Jagadeesh KS, Deputy General Manager - Delhi region, Karnataka Bank.
• Karnataka Bank is a Scheduled Commercial Bank based in Mangaluru, Karnataka. It is a private sector bank. Mahabaleshwara M. S is its MD and CEO.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

4. Muthoot FinCorp has introduced ‘Vyapar Mitra Business Loans’.

• Vyapar Mitra Business Loans have been launched to provide working capital and business loans to micro and small businesses, which include traders, business owners and self-employed individuals.
• One can avail Vyapar Mitra Business Loans based on daily cash flows.
• These loans can be availed without any additional collateral, Income Tax Return papers or prior CIBIL score records.
• No pre-payment charges, loan renewals up to three times a year, simple and fast documentation, and quick disbursal of loans are the benefits of Vyapar Mitra Business Loans.
• Vyapar Mitra Business Loans can benefit shop owners who earn a daily income through the daily repayment option.
• Vyapar Mitra Business Loans will be available in over 3,600 Muthoot FinCorp branches across India.
• Muthoot FinCorp Ltd. is the flagship company of the Muthoot Pappachan Group. It is a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC).

Topic: Miscellaneous

5. Union Cabinet has approved a scheme for comprehensive development of villages located along the northern border.

• The scheme is named as Vibrant Villages Programme. ₹4,800 crore has been allocated for this scheme. This include ₹2,500 crore for roads.
• It is a centrally sponsored scheme for 2022-23 to 2025-26.
• Under the scheme, funds will be provided for creation of livelihood opportunities and development of essential infrastructure in 19 districts and 46 border blocks in 4 states and 1 UT along the northern land border.
• In the 1st phase, 663 villages will be taken up in the programme.
• The aim of the scheme is to identify and develop economic drivers based on resources of the northern border villages and the development of growth centres on ‘Hub and Spoke Model’.
• The scheme will help in retaining the population in the border areas and improving the security of the border areas.
• District administration will create the vibrant village action plans with the help of gram panchayats.
• The major objectives sought to be achieved through the scheme include connectivity with all-weather road, drinking water, and 24x7 electricity – Solar and wind energy to be given focused attention, mobile and internet connectivity.

Topic: Reports and Indices

6. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance released Bajaj Allianz Life India’s Life Goals Preparedness Survey 2023.

• This is the second edition of the Bajaj Allianz Life India’s Life Goals Preparedness Survey. It identifies aspirations and life goals of Indians.
• Providing financial security for the family is the top life goal for Indians post-pandemic. 71% Indians prioritized it over other goals.
• 2023 survey found that retirement planning, providing for children’s education and leading a balanced life style continue to feature among the top life goals. 
• The survey said that the average number of life goals for Indians increased from 5 in 2019 to 11 in 2023.
• In 2019, 51% Indians have the desire for living a balanced life. Post-covid, 84% Indians have the desire for living a balanced life.
• Being physically and mentally fit has found a place among top five life goals.
• A sharp increase (33 percent points) have been seen in health goals in non-metro regions.
• 8 in 10 Indians across salaried or business segment have career related Life Goals.
• 1 in 4 Indians has pursuing higher education as a life goal.
• Life Goals Preparedness Index stood at 47. This is lower than 53 in 2019.
• Social media is one of the top 3 influencers of life goals for Indians. The survey revealed that the average number of influencers risen from 3 to 4 in 2023.
• Bajaj Allianz Life India’s Life Goals Preparedness Survey 2023:
  • The survey was done in association with Kantar IMRB. It maps over 40 Life Goals.
  • It evaluates how Indians are preparing themselves to achieve these goals.
  • It covered 1,936 people (through face-to-face interviews) across 13 cities including metros, tier-1 and emerging tier-2 cities.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

7. India’s goods exports declined 6.58% to $32.91 billion in January 2023 from $35.23 billion in January 2022.

• Imports declined 3.53% to $50.66 billion from $52.57 billion in January 2022.
• Trade deficit stood at $17.75 billion. It was almost at the same level as in January 2022.
• India’s overall exports from April to January in the current financial year are estimated to show a positive growth of 17.33% over the same period last year.
• According to the Commerce and Industry Ministry, the merchandise exports for April-January 2022-23 were over 369 Billion dollars.
• Merchandise exports during the April-January period of the last financial year stood at 340 Billion dollars.
• Commerce and Industry Ministry said that India’s overall exports in January this year are estimated to be over 65 billion dollars.
• All agricultural commodities exports except coffee have shown positive growth.
• Electronic goods exports have increased by over 50% during January this year.
• It is estimated that overall imports from April to January 2022-23 will show a growth of more than 22% over the same period last year.
• Commerce and Industry Ministry said the global growth is projected to decline from an estimated 3.4% in 2022 to 2.9% in 2023.
• The Ministry said that India continues to grow with a growth rate of 6.8% in 2022 and 6.1% in 2023.
• Services exports was projected to increase at 31.86% during April-January 2023 to $272 billion over the same period last year.

Topic: RBI

8. RBI has decided to restore market hours in respect of government securities to 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

• Earlier, market hours in respect of government securities were fixed at 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM.
• Due to COVID-19, RBI had amended trading hours for various markets regulated by it. The trading hours were amended by RBI with effect from April 7, 2020.
• RBI commenced restoration of market hours in a phased manner with effect from November 09, 2020.
• The revised trading hours for markets regulated by RBI are given below.

• National Stock Exchange (NSE) has agreed to increase trading hours in equity and derivative segments.
• It has sent a proposal to SEBI for its approval. If SEBI approves, trading time will be increased from 9 AM to 5 PM.
• Indian Stock Market (NSE & BSE) start at 09:15 AM and close at 03:30 PM. Trading in currency segment takes place from 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM.

Topic: Banking System

9. Paytm Payments Bank becomes first payments bank to launch the UPI LITE feature.

• Paytm Payments Banks Limited has launched UPI LITE. It will enable multiple small-value UPI transactions.
• The UPI LITE will help in performing faster real-time transactions with a single click through Paytm.
• The NPCI designed this feature and it was launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in September 2022.
• UPI LITE wallet will allow users to do instant transactions of up to ₹200. ₹2,000 can be added twice in a day to the UPI LITE wallet.
• UPI LITE will give users a faster, secure, and seamless low-value transaction experience.
• More than 50 per cent of transactions through UPI are of below rs 200.
• Unified Payments Interface (UPI): It is an instant real-time payment system which has been developed by NPCI. It allows users to make fund transfers from their bank account.

Topic: RBI

10. RBI has announced its second global hackathon, HARBINGER 2023 - Innovation for Transformation.

• Its theme is 'Inclusive Digital Services'. The winner will get Rs 40 lakh.
• The runner-up will get a prize of Rs 20 lakh each.
• Registration for the hackathon will start from 22 February, 2023.
• RBI has invited innovative ideas in four segments.
• RBI has invited fintechs to develop solutions that have the potential to make digital financial services accessible to the differently-abled and facilitate efficient compliance.
• Fintechs have been invited to develop solutions that have the potential to extend the reach of Central Bank Digital Currencies and enhance the scalability of blockchains.
• RBI announced its first hackathon in November 2021. Its results were declared in June 2022.
• It had received 363 proposals from teams within India and from 22 other countries.

Topic: RBI

11. RBI gave approval to 32 entities to act as payment aggregators.

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has authorized 32 existing payment aggregators (PAs) to operate as online payment aggregators.
• These entities include Amazon (Pay) India Pvt Ltd, Computer Age Management Services Ltd, Google India Digital Services Pvt Ltd, etc.
• Applications of 18 existing entities are under process for obtaining licenses for online payment aggregators.
• The applications of entities including PhonePe, Adyen India Technology Services, Bhartipay Services Pvt Ltd, Global Payments Asia-Pacific (India), etc. are under process.
• RBI advised stakeholders to transact with only those existing PAs- who have been granted in-principle authorisation or whose application is currently under process.
• RBI has returned the applications of four existing entities including Freecharge Payment Technologies and Paytm Payments Services.
• Other two entities are PayU Payments and Tapits Technologies.
• These four entities can apply afresh within 120 days from the date of return of application.
• Payment aggregators: A payment aggregator is a service provider that integrates various online payment options and brings them into one place for merchants.
• Online payment aggregators: Online payment aggregators can onboard digital merchants and accept payments on behalf of merchants after getting a licence from the RBI.

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