Banking Awareness of 17, 18 and 19 July 2024

Topic: Committees/Commissions/Taskforces

1. Expert committee recommended setting up of an IFSC International Court.

• On July 16, 2024, the Expert Committee on establishing institutional arbitral rules for the GIFT IFSC International Arbitration Centre submitted its report.
• The former IBBI Chairperson Dr. M. S. Sahoo chaired the Expert Committee, which was formed to draft the institutional arbitral rules for the proposed International Arbitration Centre at GIFT IFSC.
• The committee has suggested emulating global best practices from major jurisdictions, including the use of technology, third party funding, representation by foreign lawyers, etc.
• A number of recommendations and guidelines are laid down by the committee for the establishment of an "autonomous" Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre (ADRC) in Gift City.
• The panel recommended that, as soon as an ADRC is constituted, a bench of the Gujarat High Court be assigned to handle cases arising from the ADRC in Gift City in Phase 1.
• The committee's report recommends that an IFSC International Court be established to handle all cases involving alternative dispute resolution that arise from the nation's international financial services centres.
• The IFSC International Court should have authority similar to that of a high court.
• Phase II will see the establishment of distinct High Courts for each of India's IFSCs.
• With the exception of writ and criminal jurisdiction, this High Court will be known as the IFSC International Court and will have all the authority of a High Court.
• For all ADR cases originating from IFSCs, this court will serve as both the trial court and the court of appeals.
• International judges might be permitted to sit on the IFSC International Court during Phase-III.
• Phases II and III might call for changes to the Indian Constitution.
• The Committee suggests that the ADRC be formed under the Companies Act of 2013 as a section 8 company (not-for-profit).
• The following will be the ADRC's governance structure, according to the report:
  • A Board of Directors in charge of regulatory compliance and corporate governance
  • A group of ten to fifteen international professionals serving as an advisory council that offers strategic direction
  • An Executive Council providing the Secretariat with procedural advice
  • A CEO-led Secretariat overseeing daily activities

Topic: Miscellaneous

2. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $240.5 million in loans for financing rooftop solar systems in India.

• The financing will support tranches 2 and 3 of the Multi-tranche Financing Facility (MFF) Solar Rooftop Investment Programme.
• This programme was approved by ADB in 2016 and restructured in 2023.
• The financing will be made available to the State Bank of India (SBI) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
• This will be made available to them to provide loans to developers and end-users throughout India.
• SBI with get $90.5 million from its ADB’s Clean Technology Fund (CTF).
• NABARD will receive $150 million. This will comprise of $80 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and $70 million from CTF.
• ADB was established in 1966. It has 68 members, 49 of whom are from Asia and the Pacific region.

Topic: Reports and Indices

3. India should aim to reach $500 billion in electronics manufacturing by 2030, according to a report by the NITI Aayog.

• This would help India create 6 million jobs in the country. The report is titled ‘Electronics: Powering India’s Participation in Global Value Chains’.
• According to a report by NITI Aayog, the $4.3 trillion global electronics market is dominated by the US, South Korea, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, and Malaysia.
• India presently exports about $25 billion a year, according to NITI Aayog.
• Despite accounting for 4% of worldwide demand, this represents less than 1% of the global share.
• In FY23, India produced $101 billion worth of electronics items.
• This includes the manufacture of $86 billion of finished goods and $15 billion in components manufacturing.
• According to NITI Aayog, estimates suggest that by FY30, India's electronics industry could reach $278 billion.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

4. Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA) has streamlined IEPFA-related reporting.

• Under the system established by the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA), MCA has simplified the reporting of payments or transfers of securities.
• This has enhanced the companies' overall filing experience.
• Additionally, MCA has eliminated the earlier mandate that money be deposited into a particular Punjab National Bank account.
• There is now a set deadline of thirty days for crediting the money to the IEPF.
• Two versions that were already in existence, IEPF 3 and IEPF 7, have been combined into IEPF 4 and IEPF 1, respectively.
• The MCA has also released an updated set of forms (IEPF 1, IEPF 1A, and IEPF 2).
• A new MCA rule permits directors to alter their official email addresses and mobile numbers as well as other KYC information at any time of the year.
• Earlier, updates could only be made during the annual KYC filing.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

5. LIC entered into tie-up with IDFC First Bank.

• LIC has partnered with IDFC First Bank under corporate agency agreement.
• LIC has entered into the partnership to offer online life insurance policies and provide wide product choice for customers.
• This partnership will allow over 1 crore customers of IDFC First Bank to buy LIC policies online by visiting the website of IDFC First Bank.
• This partnership will provide the bank customers to have end-to-end solution for their varied life insurance needs.
• IDFC First Bank is an Indian private-sector bank. It was founded in 2015. It is headquartered in Mumbai. V. Vaidyanathan is its MD & CEO.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

6. SBI has launched a 444-day term deposit scheme with an interest rate of 7.25%.

• The scheme is named Amrit Vrishti. It is available to domestic and non-resident Indian customers.
• It became effective from July 15, 2024. SBI will offer an additional 0.50% to senior citizens on the scheme.
• The scheme is available for investment until March 31, 2025.
• Depositors can make investment in the scheme through various channels.
• These channels include SBI branches, YONO SBI and YONO Lite (mobile banking apps), and SBI internet banking.
• SBI’s earlier term deposit scheme was named Amrit Kalash. It had a tenor of 400 days. It offered 7.10% interest.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

7. India's growth projections for 2024 have been raised to 7% from the earlier 6.8% by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest forecast.

• This will keep India as the fastest growing country among emerging markets and developing economies.
• The growth rate for 2024 was earlier estimated by the IMF at 6.5%, which has been revised to 6.8% and now to 7%. 
• IMF has estimated India's growth rate to be 6.5% for the year 2025.
• It attributed growth forecast to strong and robust domestic demand and a growing working population.
• India and China's growth will account for nearly half of global growth in 2024.
• For China, the growth forecast has been revised upward to 5 percent in 2024, mainly due to a surge in private consumption in the first quarter and strong exports.
• During the financial year 2023-24, the country's GDP grew at an impressive rate of 8.2%, as per the official data from the Government of India.
• India's economy grew by 7.2% in 2022–23 and 8.7% in 2021–22 respectively.

Topic: Committees/Commissions/Taskforces

8. The composition of NITI Aayog has been revised by the government.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will remain the chairperson of NITI Aayog.

• Suman Bery will continue to hold the post of Vice President, NITI Aayog.
• There is no change in Full-Time Members. The Full Time Members are V K Saraswat, Prof. Ramesh Chand, Dr V K Paul, and Anand Virmani.
• Along with Home Minister Amit Shah, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has been added as an Ex-Officio Member.
• The reconstituted NITI Aayog has four full-time members and 15 Union Ministers, as either ex-officio members or special invitees.

Topic: Miscellaneous

9. India’s first overseas Jan Aushadi Kendra has been inaugurated by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Mauritius.

• During the inauguration, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth joined him.
• Earlier, the Mediclinic project at Grand Bois in Mauritius with Indian grant assistance was inaugurated by Dr. Jaishankar.
• Dr. Jaishankar said this will provide secondary health care for 16,000 people in the Grand Bois area.
• India has close relations with Mauritius, an island nation in the Western Indian Ocean.

Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions

10. Between mutual funds (MFs) and portfolio management services (PMS), SEBI is planning a new asset class.

• The gap between MFs and PMS will be bridged by the new asset class.
• This will be provided under the MF framework, with updated branding and relevant MF norm relaxations.
• It is proposed that the minimum ticket size be ₹10 lakh, which is equivalent to one-tenth of alternative investment products and one-fifth of PMS schemes.
• Retail investors will be discouraged from investing in the product by this threshold.
• This threshold will draw in investors having between ₹10 and ₹50 lakh in investible capital.
• The asset class will be available from MFs that have been in existence for three years and have an AUM of ₹10,000 crore.
• The minimum investment under this class has been decided at ₹10 lakh per investor.
• The asset class may also be offered by new or existing MFs that do not meet these requirements.
• They shall appoint a chief investment officer with ten years of experience who manages more than ₹5,000 crore in AUM.
• The asset class may be exposed to derivatives for reasons other than portfolio rebalancing and hedging. However, this would be subject to certain conditions.
• Services like systematic investment plan and systematic withdrawal plan will be available.

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