Banking Awareness of 16 and 17 August 2022

Topic: Banking System

1. SBI has launched its first start-up branch in Bengaluru.

• The bank will open more such branches in Gurugram and Hyderabad in six months.
• The branch will be a one-stop shop for all start-ups and corporates in Karnataka.
• SBI has signed an MoU with Karnataka government to undertake initiatives like Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) and Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM).
• SBI has initiated corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against BHSL before the Allahabad Bench of National Company Law Tribunal.
• A consortium of 12 banks had an aggregate exposure of ₹4,762.59 crore to Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Ltd (BHSL) as on July 30, 2022.
• State Bank of India (SBI):
  • It is a nationalized public sector bank. Dinesh Kumar Khara is its chairperson.
  • Its headquarters is in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Its tagline is The Banker to Every Indian.

Topic: Miscellaneous

2. LIC has launched a campaign for revival of individual lapsed policies.

• This campaign will be carried out from August 17 to October 21, 2022 for all non-ULIP policies.
• All policies except ULIP (Unit linked Insurance Plan) can be revived within 5 years from date of the first unpaid premium. However, this is subject to policy conditions.
• There is a 100% waiver of late fee for Micro Insurance Policies.
• LIC has launched the campaign to benefit those policy holders who were not able to pay premiums due to unavoidable circumstances and their policy lapsed.

Topic: Banking/Financial Schemes

3. Karnataka Bank has launched KBL Amrit Samriddhi scheme.

• It is a new term deposit scheme launched to celebrate 75 years of Independence (Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav).
• It is a 75-week (525 days) term deposit scheme. The interest rate for the scheme is 6.10% per annum.
• Karnataka Bank is a Scheduled Commercial Bank based in Mangaluru, Karnataka. It is a private sector bank.

Topic: Miscellaneous

4. Indian stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala passed away recently on 14 August 2022.

• He recently launched Akasa Air. The airline started commercial operations in August 2022 with first flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
• He was a stock market investor. He is known as India’s Warren Buffett. He is also referred to as the Big Bull of India.
• Warren Buffett is an American investor. He is known as Oracle of Omaha. He is also referred to as Sage of Omaha.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

5. Commerce Ministry wants to extend concessional corporate tax rate of 15% for 15 years to units in Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs (DESH).

• The concessional tax rate of 15% is at present available to all new manufacturing units in the country till March 2024.
• The commerce Ministry wants this rate should be extended for 15 years to units in DESH.
• However, this comes under the jurisdiction of Central Board of Direct Taxes. The matter is not cleared by CBDT yet.
• The centre had reduced corporate tax rates to 15% from 25% for new manufacturing companies in 2019.
• In this year’s budget, the Finance Ministry had proposed to replace the existing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Act with a new DESH Act.
• Commerce & Industry Ministry is working on the draft DESH Bill. The SEZ Act was notified in 2006.

Topic: Reports and Indices

6. India is about to be the second-largest market in the world for semiconductors as per a report.

• As per India Semiconductor Market Report 2019-2026, cumulative revenue of India’s semiconductor market is expected to increase to $300 billion during 2021-2026.
• India Semiconductor Market Report 2019-2026 is a joint research by the India Electronics & Semiconductor Association (IESA) and Counterpoint Research.
• As per the report in 2021, India’s end equipment market stood at $119 billion, in terms of revenue.
• It is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of (CAGR) of 19% from 2021 to 2026.
• The report said Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector in India will play a major role in the country’s overall growth.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

7. All-India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) number based annual inflation rate for July 2022 is 13.93% (Provisional) over July 2021.

• Main contributors to inflation in July 2022 are rise in prices of mineral oils, food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, basic metals, electricity, chemicals & chemical products, food products etc.
• WPI-based inflation was 15.18% in June 2022. WPI based inflation continues to be in double digits for 16 successive months.
• The WPI Food Index based inflation rate decreased from 12.41% in June 2022 to 9.41% in July 2022.
• The Food Index consists of 'Food Articles' from Primary Articles group and 'Food Product' from Manufactured Products group.
• Inflation in food articles in July 2022 decreased to 10.77% from 14.39% in June 2022.
• Inflation in vegetables declined from 56.75% in June 2022 to 18.25% in July 2022.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

8. MD Patra, Deputy Governor of RBI observed India will become the second largest economy in the world not by 2048, but by 2031.

• According to Patra, this would be possible if India achieves a growth rate of 11% in next decade.
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development-OECD’s 2021 calculations show that the Indian economy will overtake the US by 2048.
• According to Patra, Demographics, manufacturing, exports and internationalization, are the four engines that can power India to achieve escape velocity from the emerging economy orbit.
• India is currently third largest economy in the world in PPP terms, with a share of 7% of global GDP after China and the U.S.

Topic: Banking/Financial Schemes

9. State Bank of India has launched Utsav Deposit scheme on the occasion of 76^th year of Independence.

• Utsav Deposit is a term deposit scheme with an interest rate of 6.10% per annum on fixed deposits with a tenure of 1000 days.
• Senior citizens will get an additional interest rate of 0.50%.
• The rates are effective from 15 August 2022. The scheme is valid for a period of 75 days.

Topic: Reports and Indices

10. As per a survey by Ipsos India, Defence forces, RBI and Prime Minister of India are India’s three most trusted institutions.

• Supreme Court of India and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) came at fourth and fifth place, respectively.
• The survey said defence forces are ranked at first with at least 65% of respondents having trust in them.
• RBI is ranked at second place with 1 in 2 (50% of respondents) having trust in it.
• Parliament, media and Election Commission of India were ranked at 7^th, 8^th and 9^th place, respectively.
• The institutions at the bottom of the list were politicians (16%), political parties (17%), community leaders (19%) and religious leaders (21%). These have least credibility.
• Ipsos India is a market research and consulting firm. It conducted survey.
• The survey included respondents from four metros, tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 towns. The survey interviewed 2,950 adults including females.

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