Banking Awareness of 20, 21 and 22 October 2021

Topic: RBI

1. ₹1 crore monetary penalty imposed on Paytm Payments Bank Limited.

• RBI has imposed ₹1 crore monetary penalty on Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) for an offence under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act).
• It has also imposed a monetary penalty of ₹27.78 lakh on Western Union Financial Services Inc (WUFSI).
• The penalty on WUFSI has been imposed for non-compliance with certain provisions of RBI’s directions contained in its Master Direction on Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS Directions).
• As per RBI, WUFSI had reported instances of breach of the ceiling of 30 remittances per beneficiary during the calendar years 2019 and 2020.

Topic: Banking System

2. CoinDCX launches its OTC Desk facility aimed at allowing institutional investors to trade in cryptocurrencies.   

• Crypto exchange CoinDCX has launched its over-the-counter (OTC) Desk facility aimed at allowing institutional investors to trade in cryptocurrencies.
• With the help of OTC Desk facility, institutional clients can execute bulk orders for crypto assets like Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies.
• Through the facility, institutional clients can purchase or sell their holdings at a particular price without worrying about price volatility due to market fluctuations.
• CoinDCX was co-founded by Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal in 2018. It is India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Topic: Agriculture

3. India becomes top source of Chinese rice imports during January-August 2021.

• India has become the top source of Chinese rice imports during January-August 2021 and shipments in August alone accounted for 45% of the total imports.
• Indian rice accounted for 23% of total imports by Beijing during January-August 2021. 
• Beijing bought more broken rice. Broken rice accounted for 97% of total rice imported from India.
• The increased volume of imports is based on cheap prices for Indian-origin rice which averaged at $345 per tonne compared with world average prices of $454.
• During January-August 2021, China’s top 5 import sources were India, Vietnam, Pakistan, Myanmar and Thailand.
• As per APEDA, China was the second-highest buyer of rice from India after Bangladesh.

Topic: Miscellaneous

4. BSNL gets licenses to deliver Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) mobile broadband services in India.

• BSNL has received licenses to deliver Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) mobile broadband services in India.
• As part of BSNL’s Inflight and Maritime Connectivity (IFMC) licence from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), GX will be available to Indian customers across government, aviation and maritime.
• India’s airlines will be able to deploy GX for in-flight connectivity within India and throughout the world.
• GX is the first and only high-speed broadband network. It is designed for mobility. GX gateway for India is located in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
• BSNL is a strategic partner of Inmarsat. Inmarsat is a mobile satellite communications provider company headquartered in the United Kingdom.

Topic: Reports and Indices

5. Indian pension system ranked at 40th in a comparative index of 43 systems.

• As per a global study by Mercer Consulting, Indian pension system is ranked at 40th in a comparative index of 43 systems.
• The annual study aims to benchmark each retirement income system using more than 50 indicators.
• Iceland, Taiwan, the UAE and Uruguay were newly added in this year’s index edition.
• Iceland overtook the Netherlands to achieve the highest overall index value of 84.2.
• India had an overall index value of 43.3. Thailand had the lowest overall index value at 40.6.
• The index comprises of three sub-indices — adequacy, sustainability and integrity.
• The report said that with over 90 per cent of the total workforce being in the unorganised sector, measures should be taken to get a larger workforce under pension savings.

Topic: Agriculture

6. ₹1,31,000 cr infused to boost agriculture and allied sectors.

• Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje said that centre has infused ₹1,31,000 crore to boost agriculture and allied sectors.
• Karandlaje was in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district as part of the Centre’s public outreach programme.
• She inaugurated a pasteurised compost unit under the Trikuta mushroom corridor project at Burmal.
• The Minister said the agriculture sector is now contributing over 20 % in India’s GDP.
• She said in terms of exporting agriculture-based products, India now stands at the ninth position globally.

Topic: Miscellaneous

7. Kerala Startup Mission sets up Digital Hub at Kochi.

• Kerala Startup Mission has set up Digital Hub occupying 2 lakh sq ft of built-up space at Kalamassery at Kochi.
• The Hub is conceived to emerge as one of South Asia’s largest product development centres for technology start-ups.
• Initially, the Hub will accommodate 200 start-ups. It aims at hosting a vibrant ecosystem comprising incubators, accelerators and Centres of Excellence in emerging technologies.

Topic: Appointments

8. Elevation of seven chief general managers and general managers as EDs in various PSBs approved by ACC.

• Elevation of seven chief general managers and general managers as Executive Directors (EDs) in various Public Sector Banks (PSBs) has been approved by Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC).
• All seven appointees are eligible for extension of their term of office, after a review of their performance, by two years.
• Rajneesh Karnatak has been appointed as Executive Director in Union Bank of India for a period of three years. Ashwani Kumar has been appointed as Executive Director in Indian Bank for a period of three years.
• Both Rajneesh Karnatak and Ashwani Kumar have been elevated from current posts of Chief General Manager of Punjab National Bank.
• Kalyan Kumar has been appointed as Executive Director in Punjab National Bank for a period of three years.
• Asheesh Pandey has been appointed as Executive Director in Bank of Maharashtra for a period of three years with effect from the date of assumption of office on or after December 31, 2021.
• Both Kalyan Kumar and Asheesh Pandey have been elevated from current posts of Chief General Managers of Union Bank of India. All seven appointees are given in next table.

Topic: Banking System

9. HDFC Bank, Mastercard, US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and USAID launch $100 million credit facility.

• HDFC Bank, Mastercard, US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and US Agency for International Development (USAID) have launched $100 million credit facility.
• The credit facility is aimed at promoting and encouraging small businesses in the country to digitize and help them recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic.
• HDFC Bank will make at least 50 % of the credit facility available to new small business borrowers. It will aim to use at least 50 % of the facility for lending to women entrepreneurs.
• Mastercard will provide skills training and education to small business owners on their digitisation options.
• DFC and USAID are facilitating the extension of the credit facility by de-risking lending by HDFC Bank to small business owners.

Topic: Banking System

10. Bharti AXA Life Insurance enters into a bancassurance partnership with Utkarsh SFB.

• Bharti AXA Life Insurance has entered into a bancassurance partnership with Utkarsh Small Finance Bank.
• Under the partnership, Bharti AXA’s suite of life insurance plans will be available for purchase to Utkarsh Small Finance Bank’s customers.
• Parag Raja, MD & CEO, Bharti AXA Life Insurance said that partnership will help Bharti AXA Life Insurance reach the tier-II and -III markets with insurance solutions.

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