Banking Awareness of 15, 16 and 17 August 2024

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

1. Wholesale price inflation declined from a 16-month high level of 3.4% in June to 2.04% in July.

• The rise in food prices eased to 3.55% in July from 8.7% in June.
• In July, overall prices increased by 0.84% over June. Prices for primary goods increased by 3.13% from June.
• Vegetable prices, which decreased 8.9% year over year in July, were the main cause of the food index's fall in price increase.
• The price of fish, pork, and eggs dropped 1.6% from July of previous year.
• Wholesale prices showed deflation of -1.23% as of July 2023.
• Food prices increased at their fastest rate in at least six months, up from 2.1% in June to 2.7% this month.
• Prices for potatoes and onions increased by a 76.2% and 88.8%, respectively.
• In July, fuel and power inflation increased to 1.7% on an annual basis.
• The annual inflation rate for manufactured products group of WPI has grown to 1.58% in July, from 1.43% in June.

Topic: Reports and Indices

2. National Coal Index (NCI) has declined to 3.48% in June 2024.

• NCI has declined at 142.13 points on a provisional basis compared to 147.25 points in June 2023.
• India’s cumulative coal production increased 14.58% Y-o-Y to 84.71 MT from 73.93 MT in June 2024.
• The growth of 14.58% during June 2024 ensures a stable supply to various sectors reliant on coal.
• Coal prices from all sales channels are combined to create the NCI, which is a price index.
• Notified Prices, Auction Prices, and Import Prices are all combined.
• It takes into account the pricing of different grades of coking and non-coking coal that are traded in the regulated (fertiliser and electricity) and unregulated markets.
• NCI was established with the base year as FY18.
• NCI serves as a reliable indicator of market dynamics that offers insights on price fluctuations.

Topic: Banking System

3. ICICI Lombard has entered into seven new bancassurance partnerships with seven various financial institutions.

• These financial institutions include Aye Finance, Bandhan Bank, Karnataka Bank, Muthoot Mini, Nivara Home Finance Pvt Ltd, NSDL Payment Bank and The Andhra Pradesh State Co-operative Bank.
• ICICI Lombard aims to expand its products reach across the four thousand branches of these seven institutions.
• Bancassurance is an insurance distribution model in which insurance companies partner with banks to sell policies.
• This model benefits both the bank and the insurance company.
• The bank gets a commission from the insurance company. The insurer benefits from the distribution network of the bank.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

4. India’s CAG and Uzbekistan’s Chamber of Accounts have signed MoU in Tashkent.

• The MoU aims to enhance collaboration and exchange of expertise in auditing between India and Uzbekistan.
• An important step towards fostering cooperation between the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of Uzbekistan and India has been taken with the signing of MoU.
• By signing this agreement, auditing professionals will have a forum for collaboration where they may share information and experience.
• Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is an independent authority established under Article 148 of the Indian Constitution.
• He is appointed by the President of India. He is the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department. G. C. Murmu is the current CAG of India.

Topic: Appointments

5. The appointment of Salee Sukumaran Nair as the MD of the TMB has been announced.

• Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has announced his appointment as its MD & CEO for a period of 3 years, from the date of assuming charge.
• His appointment is subject to the approval of the Shareholders.
• Earlier, Nair worked as the Deputy Managing Director & Chief Credit Officer of SBI (till May 2024).
• Tamilnad Mercantile Bank is a Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu)-based private sector bank. Its MD & CEO is K V Rama Moorthy.

Topic: World Economy

6. Malaysia has launched anti-dumping prove on imports of iron, steel from four countries.

• These countries include India, China, Japan and South Korea.
• The probe was started after a petition by a domestic producer which the Trade Ministry of Malaysia received on July 15.
• The petitioner alleged that the dumped imports from four countries had increased and caused injury to the domestic industry.
• A preliminary finding will be come within 120 days from the launch of the investigation.
• Then, the anti-dumping duty will be imposed if the investigation upholds the complaint.

Topic: Appointments

7. Rahul Navin has been appointed as Director of Enforcement Directorate.

• A 1993 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, Rahul Navin, has been appointed as the new director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Navin’s appointment for a period of two years.
• Before this appointment, Navin was serving as the Special Director of the Enforcement Directorate.
• Rahul Navin joined the ED in November 2019 as a Special Director (OSD).
• He was appointed acting director of the ED after the tenure of Sanjay Kumar Mishra ended in September 2023.
• Directorate of Enforcement:
  • It investigates offences of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws.
  • It is responsible for the enforcement of the Foreign Exchange Management Act 2019 (FEMA), Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, and certain provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
  • It works under the Union Finance Ministry.
  • Its headquarters is located in New Delhi and is headed by the Director of Enforcement.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

8. 28th Central & State Statistical Organizations Conference Concluded in New Delhi.

• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (has organized the 28th conference of central and state statistical organizations.
• The theme of this conference was the ‘Use of Data for Decision Making- Strengthening State Statistical System.’
• A wide range of subjects of common interest between Central and State Government departments were discussed during the conference.
• Representatives of more than 30 Central Ministries and departments with State and Union Territories attended the conference.
• Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh had inaugurated the conference.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

9. In July, India's merchandise imports rose to $57.48 billion.

• In July this year, India's merchandise imports rose 7.4% to $57.48 billion compared to $53.49 billion in July last year.
• India’s goods exports declined 1.5% to $33.98 billion in July. Trade deficit widened to $23.5 billion in July.
• According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on August 14, imports of merchandise goods have increased due to surge in imports of crude oil, silver and electronic goods.
• India's merchandise export growth fell to an eight-month low in July, with exports declining 1.47% to $33.98 billion due to sluggish global demand, geopolitical challenges and falling crude oil, commodities and metal prices.
• On the services front, services exports are estimated at $28.4 billion in July this year, up 8% from $26.2 billion in the same month last year.
• Petroleum products, which account for over 15% of India's exports, fell 22% to $5.23 billion in July.
• Imports of petroleum and crude products rose 17.4% to $13.87 billion.
• In addition, Gold imports declined 10.65% to $3.13 billion in July.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

10.  A MoU has been signed by India & US to promote cooperation on Small & Medium Enterprises.

• A MoU has been signed between the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises and the Small Business Administration (SBA) of the Government of the United States of America to promote cooperation on Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs).
• The MoU provides a framework for both parties to discuss MSME-related issues and explore possibilities of cooperation.
• It envisages an exchange of expertise between the two sides on issues related to improving the participation of MSMEs in the global markets.
• It also provides for organizing joint programmes to empower women entrepreneurs and facilitate business partnerships between women-owned small businesses of two countries.

Read Banking Awareness PDF -15, 16 and 17 August 2024