Banking Awareness of 15, 16 and 17 August 2023

Topic: Appointments

1. R Doraiswamy has been appointed as MD of LIC.

• The government has appointed R Doraiswamy as the managing director of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
• Doraiswamy is currently the executive director at the central office in Mumbai.
• His appointment will come into effect from 1 September 2023. His tenure will be till the date of superannuation (i.e.31.08.2026), or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• The Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) had recommended the name of Doraiswamy as MD. The FSIB was headed by Bhanu Pratap Sharma.
• In July 2023, Sat Pal Bhanoo was appointed as Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation.
• Doraiswamy will replace Ipe Mini. Ipe Mini is due to superannuate at the end of August 2023.
• Currently, LIC has four Managing Directors — Mini Ipe, M Jagannath, Tablesh Pandey, and Sat Pal Bhanoo.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market  

2. Andhra Pradesh has become the top performing state in capex spending in the Q1 of the current fiscal.

• According to the data from Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), it has spent ₹12,669 crore in capital expenditure during April-June period.
• This amount is 41% of the State’s capex budget of ₹31,061 crore for FY24.
• The capex of Andhra Pradesh was only 7% of its annual target in the Q1 of previous year.
• It was worst performer in FY23 spending. It spent only ₹6,917 crore or 23% of its budgeted capex in FY23.
• Capital expenditure of Telangana also increased to 27% of its FY24 budget. It was 8% in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.
• Other States that have achieved more than 20% of its annual target in Q1 are Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
• India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) analysed the capex spends of 20 States.
• It said Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh jointly accounted for 56.4% of the aggregate capex in Q1.
• The main reasons for capex growth appear to be robust tax collections, contraction in expenditure, particularly towards subsidies and salary payments during the Q1.
• For example, Andhra Pradesh achieved 22% of its budgeted revenue receipts in Q1 against 18% in the year-ago quarter.
• Major State economies such as Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh have achieved less than 10% of their annual capex target till Q1.
• Karnataka was at the top among all States and Union Territories in FY23. It achieved 130% of its annual target in the last fiscal.

Topic: Reports and Indices

3. Current situation index stood at 88.1 in July, as per the July 2023 round of RBI’s Forward Looking Surveys.

• Current Situations Index (CSI) declined to 88.1 from 88.5 in May 2023.
• Consumer confidence is reflected in current situation index.
• Household perception of current inflation increased 10 basis points to 8.9%.
• Expectations of both three months and one year ahead inflation moderated by 10 basis points each to 10.0% and 10.3%, respectively.
• Sentiments on current income improved. They moved to optimistic zone for the first time in four years.
• The future expectation index (FEI) recorded a marginal increase from 116.3 to 116.6.
• Capacity utilization (CU) in the manufacturing sector has grown for the 3rd successive quarter to 76.3% in Q4 FY23 from 74.3% in Q3 FY23.
• Seasonally adjusted Capacity utilization (CU) for Q4 FY23 remained stable at 74.1%.
• The business expectations index (BEI) improved from 126.4 in Q1 FY24 to 132.5 for Q2 FY24.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

4. Retail inflation hits a 15-month high of 7.44%.

• Retail inflation shot up again to 7.44% in July, up from 4.87% in June. Consumers faced a sharp rise in food prices to 11.5%.
• This is the highest pace of retail inflation since April 2022 and the first time since September 2022 that the price rise has crossed 7%.
• Prices of vegetables rose by 37.3%, mainly due to tomatoes, while cereals and pulses became costlier by over 13%, increasing food bills by over 12.3% for urban consumers and 11% for rural consumers.
• According to the National Statistical Office, rural residents faced a higher overall inflation rate of 7.63% in July.
• The consumer price index was up 2.9% from June's level. Food prices rose 6.7% month-on-month.
• A slight softening of tomato prices in August may help ease the inflationary trend, but higher prices of pulses, spices (up 21.6%), milk (up 8.34%), and cereals remain a cause for concern.
• Wholesale prices remained in deflationary mode for the fourth consecutive month in July.
• The prices of food and primary articles rose by over 7.5%, causing overall prices to fall sharply to -1.36% from the 92-month low of -4.1% recorded in June.
• Inflation in primary food articles at the wholesale level stood at 14.3%.
• Meanwhile, goods exports fell 15.9% to $32.25 billion in July, while imports fell 17% to $52.9 billion.
• This is the eighth time in ten months that merchandise exports have declined.
• However, the decline in the value of exports, excluding petroleum and gems and jewelry, was only 5.7%.

Topic: Miscellaneous

5. India made the first crude oil payment in local currency to the UAE.

• India and UAE started their bilateral trade settlements in their respective local currencies.
• Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) made a payment in rupees for a million barrels of oil purchased from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).
• India and UAE trade in local currencies is part of the enhanced bilateral cooperation.
• The main objective of this step is to streamline transactions and reduce costs by removing the need for dollar conversions.
• Both countries also agreed to establish a real-time payment link for simplifying cross-border money transfers.
• The bilateral trade between India and the UAE reached $84.5 billion.
• India is planning to replicate similar local currency arrangements with other countries to reduce the cost of imports and foster export.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

6. Youth 20 Summit will be organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports in Varanasi.

• Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will organize Youth 20 Summit-2023 from 17th to 20th August.
• More than 100 delegates from G20 countries, Guest countries and International Organizations will discuss on five themes of Y20.
• The themes are: Future of Work: Industry 4.0, Innovation and 21st Century Skills, Peacebuilding and Reconciliation: Ushering in an Era of No War, and Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction.
• Youth experts, decision-makers and youth representatives from G20 countries will participate in the meeting.
• They will negotiate, finalize and sign the Y20 Communiqué created from the conclusions of the meetings held in the past few months.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

7. Union Cabinet approved PM Vishwakarma scheme.

• It is a new Central Sector Scheme to support traditional artisans and craftspeople of rural and urban India.
• It has a financial outlay of Rs.13,000 crore for five years (FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28).
• It aims to strengthen and nurture the Guru-Shishya parampara or family-based practice of traditional skills by artisans and craftspeople.
• It also aims at improving the quality and reach of products and services of artisans and craftspeople.
• It aims to ensure that the Vishwakarmas are integrated with the domestic and global value chains.
• Under this scheme, the artisans and craftspeople will be provided recognition through PM Vishwakarma certificate and ID card.
• They will also be provided Credit Support upto Rs.1 lakh (First Tranche) and Rs.2 lakh (Second Tranche) with a concessional interest rate of 5%.
• Further, they will be provided Skill Upgradation, Toolkit Incentive, and Incentive for Digital Transactions and Marketing Support.
• Eighteen traditional trades will be covered in the first instance under the scheme. These trades are given in the following table.

Topic: Miscellaneous

8. Bindeshwar Pathak passed away recently.

• He was a social activist, social entrepreneur and founder of 'Sulabh International'.
• He established the Sulabh International Social Service in 1970.
• He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1991.
• He campaigned extensively against manual scavenging.
• He was the Brand Ambassador for Swachh Rail Mission of Indian Railways.
• He has written the book titled “The Road to Freedom”.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

9. The first-ever Global Summit on Traditional Medicine will be hosted by WHO and the Ministry of Ayush.

• The first-of-its-kind global summit on traditional medicine by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of AYUSH is scheduled to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on August 17-18, 2023.
• This much-awaited summit will act as a platform for experts and practitioners to access the latest scientific advances and evidence-based knowledge in the field.
• Its main goal is to ensure health and well-being for all.
• Honorable Director General of WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will inaugurate the summit.
• G20 health ministers, WHO regional directors, and distinguished invitees from countries across six WHO regions are expected to attend the event.
• A declaration will be adopted during the summit, which will assist WHO in shaping the future of the WHO Global Center for Traditional Medicine.
• In 2022, WHO established the Global Center for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) with the support of the Government of India.
• This center is a collaborative project of the Ministry of AYUSH and the WHO and is the first and only global center for traditional medicine worldwide.

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