Banking Awareness of 18, 19 and 20 June 2024

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

1. ₹1.56 lakh crore worth assets under the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) have been monetised by the government in FY24.

• Government has fallen short of its ₹1.8 lakh crore target.
• According to the official statement, government’s monetized assets achievement in FY24 is about 159% of 2021-22.
• As part of the NMP, over a four-year period from FY22 to FY25, the estimated aggregated monetisation potential of the central government's brownfield infrastructure assets has been at ₹6 lakh crore.
• Under the NMP, the total target for FY22 and FY23 was around ₹2.5 lakh crore. Against this target, about ₹2.30 lakh crore was achieved.
• The target of ₹1.8 lakh crore for the financial year 2023-24 is the highest among all the four years.
• Assets worth ₹40,314 crore were monetised by the ministries of road transport, and highways in FY24.
• Ministries of road transport, and highways, coal ministry, power, mines, petroleum and natural gas, urban and shipping achieved 70% of their monetisation targets.
• The aim of asset monetization is to tap private sector investment to create new infrastructure.
• NHAI has identified and published a list of 33 assets, which are to be monetised during 2024-25. This list is indicative.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

2. India’s imports of gold and silver from UAE has grown by 210% to $10.7 billion during 2023-24.

• India’s imports of gold and silver from UAE increased to $10.7 billion.
• However, overall imports declined 9.8% to $48 billion during 2023-24.
• Earlier, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) imposed restrictions on imports of gold jewellery from all countries, except UAE.
• This is one of the causes for rise in its imports from the UAE.
• India’s allowing of private firms to import gold and silver from the UAE through the India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) in Gift City has also added to the growth in imports.
• Earlier, only authorized agencies were allowed to handle such imports.
• Concessional customs duty under the India-UAE CEPA must be revised. India-UAE CEPA came into force in May 2022.
• Under the India-UAE CEPA, India agreed to import 200 tonnes of gold annually from the UAE with a tariff concession of 1%.
• As a result, the duty was revised to 14% under CEPA compared to a 15% MFN tariff.
• Gold imports from the UAE increased by 147.6% from $3 billion in FY2023 to $7.6 billion in FY2024.
• India’s jewellery imports have grown 187.6% to $3.3 billion in FY2024.
• Imports from UAE have grown by 290% to $1.35 billion in FY2024.

Topic: Agriculture

3. On 18 June 2024, 17th installment of PM-KISAN was released.

• The installment amounting to over Rs 20,000 crore to around 9.26 crore beneficiary farmers was released by PM Modi.
• The installment was released under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) through Direct Benefit Transfer.
• The release was done during the PM Kisan Samman Sammelan in Varanasi.
• On the occasion, PM Modi gave certificates to more than 30,000 self-help groups known as Krishi Sakhis.
• Krishi Sakhi initiative is a step towards creating 3 crore ‘Lakhpati Didis’.
• It will ensure dignity and source of income for the beneficiary women.
• PM Modi emphasized that PM Kisan Samman Nidhi has emerged as the world’s largest direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme.
• He said over ₹3.25 lakh crore have been transferred into farmers’ bank accounts since its launch in 2019.
• Union Cabinet approved the increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for 14 Kharif crops.
• Farmers will receive around Rs 2 lakh crore as MSP. Farmers will get Rs 35,000 crore more than the previous season.

Topic: Banking System  

4. RuPay Wave credit card has been launched by Federal Bank.

• Federal Bank has launched this card in collaboration with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• The card has been launched to offer customers UPI-powered transactions on RuPay network.
• The bank’s cardholders are able to link their RuPay Wave credit card to their preferred UPI applications.
• This would enable them secure transactions with a few clicks on their mobile devices.
• The customers are offered following benefits no AMC or joining fees and 10 per cent cash back on the first five UPI transactions made using the Wave credit card.
• Other benefits include 1000 bonus reward points upon quarterly spends of ₹50,000.
• Federal Bank:
  • It is an Indian private sector bank with headquarters in Aluva, Kochi.
  • Shyam Srinivasan is the CEO of Federal Bank. Its tagline is your perfect banking partner.

Topic: Appointments

5. One 97 Communications has appointed R.K. Agarwal to the board as non-executive independent director.

• One 97 Communications owns brand Paytm. Rajeev Krishnamuralilal Agarwal is a former IRS officer.
• He replaces Neeraj Arora. Neeraj Arora had resigned over personal commitments.
• On 17 June 2024, the board has approved R.K. Agarwal’s appointment with immediate effect for a term of 5 consecutive years.
• R.K. Agarwal is a former SEBI whole-time member. He had played key role in policy reforms in mutual funds in 2012.
• He had also played major role in the merger of Forward Markets Commission with SEBI in 2015.
• Private sector Dhanlaxmi Bank has appointed Ajith Kumar KK as Managing Director (MD). He has taken the place of JK Shivan.
• He assumed the charge on 20 June. His appointment has been approved for three years.
• Dhanlaxmi Bank is an Indian private-sector bank based in Thrissur, Kerala.

Topic: Reports and Indices

6. In the Environmental Performance Index 2024, India ranked 176th in the list of 180 countries.

• India, the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has been ranked among the lowest countries in the 2024 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) in terms of air quality, projected emissions and biodiversity and habitat.
• In the composite index released on June 5 by the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and the Columbia Center for International Earth Science Information Network, India is ranked 176th among 180 countries, just above Pakistan, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.
• Under the three main heads of ecosystem vitality, environmental health, and climate change, the 2024 EPI comprises 58 indicators, such as biodiversity, air pollution, air and water quality, waste management, emission growth rate, anticipated emissions, etc.
• In these three items, India is not among the last ten countries only in the matter of climate change.
• In 2024, EPI introduced a Biodiversity and Habitats category to measure how well countries are protecting their existing biodiversity and ecosystems, and found that many of the countries’ protected areas are being encroached upon by buildings or agricultural land.
• India lags behind in several indicators, primarily due to its heavy dependence on coal, which not only contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but also to high levels of air pollution.
• India ranks 177th in terms of air quality, above only Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, and 172nd in terms of projected emissions by 2025.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

7. A MoU has been signed between Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and State Bank of India (SBI).

• The MoU is for digital payment aggregation services by integration of SBIePay with eMigrate portal.
• Under the MoU, additional digital payment services of the SBI through payment gateway called SBIePay will be provided to Indian migrant workers, Recruiting Agents (RAs) and other users of the eMigrate portal.
• The MoU will be operational soon after successful integration of SBIePay with eMigrate portal.
• This MoU will enable the payment of various emigration-related fees with no transaction fees when using UPI, credit/debit cards, or NEFT through all Indian banks' net banking.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

8. RBI has bagged the ‘Risk Manager of the Year Award 2024’ by London’s Central Banking publication.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been awarded the "Risk Manager of the Year Award 2024".
• It is presented by Central Banking, London, United Kingdom.
• RBI has received this award for improving its risk culture and awareness.
• Executive Director Shri Manoranjan Mishra received the award on behalf of the RBI.
• RBI established a regulatory sandbox to facilitate controlled experimentation with new financial technology products and services.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

9. The scheme for digitizing patients' health records and linking them with ABHA ID has been extended by the centre by one year.

• Under the scheme, every hospital receives ₹20 per patient for digitizing their health record and linking them with Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Account (ABHA).
• The union government has also asked states and union territories to submit details on the utilization of funds received through the scheme.
• The scheme is focused on boosting adoption of digital healthcare services.
• It is also focused on encouraging public adoption of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
• The scheme was to end on 30 June 2024. Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS) has been extended till 30th June 2025 or till funds for DHIS are available, unless discontinued earlier.
• National Health Authority (NHA) monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of the scheme.
• It also makes changes with regard to its continuation, modification, and budget.
• About 633 million ABHA IDs have been created across the country.
• The aim is to develop ABHA IDs (digital health IDs) for every individual. ABHA ID is voluntary in nature.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

10. Nvidia has become the world’s most valuable company on 18 June 2024.

• Nvidia replaced Microsoft as world’s most valuable company.
• Its market capitalization increased to $3.335 trillion. Microsoft’s stock market value was $3.317 trillion.
• Earlier, it overtook iPhone maker Apple and became the second most valuable company. Apple’s stock market value was $3.286 trillion.
• Furthermore, Nvidia has emerged as Wall Street's most traded company.
• According to LSEG data, the average daily turnover was $50 billion recently.
• The average daily turnover for Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla was roughly $10 billion each.
• Currently, 16% of all trades in S&P 500 companies are made by Nvidia.
• In just nine months, the company's market worth increased from $1 trillion to $2 trillion in February, and it took slightly more than three months to reach $3 trillion in June.
• Nvidia is an American multinational corporation and technology company.

Read Banking Awareness PDF - 18, 19 and 20 June 2024