Banking Awareness of 20, 21 and 22 May 2023

Topic: RBI

1. Centre will get ₹87,416 crore as dividend from RBI for FY23.

• RBI’s Central Board of Directors has given approval to the transfer of ₹87,416 crore in the form of surplus to the Centre for the accounting year 2022-23.
• This is 188% higher than last financial year’s surplus transfer of ₹30,307 crore.
• The board has taken a decision to keep the contingency risk buffer (CRB) at 6%. CRB was kept at 5.50% in FY22.
• According to the expert committee to review the extant capital framework, CRB should be kept within 6.5% to 5.5% of the balance sheet of RBI.
• This should comprise of 5.5% to 4.5 % for monetary and financial stability risks and 1% for credit and operational risks.
• As per the experts, major driver of bumper surplus would be gains from record gross foreign exchange sales in FY23.
• The dividend will possibly bring in extra revenue of about 0.2% of GDP.
• In its meeting, RBI board also approved the annual report and accounts for the accounting year 2022-23.

Topic: Banking System

2. Canara Bank emerged as the largest buyer on the GeM portal in 2022-23.

• It made purchases of ₹592.82 crore from the GeM portal, according to the government data.
• The data showed SBI was slow in procuring goods and services from the portal in 2022-23.
• Punjab National Bank was the second largest with purchase of ₹164.57 crore.
• It was followed by Indian Overseas Bank (₹159.82 crore), State Bank of India (₹158.22 crore), and Indian Bank (₹111.59 crore).
• Other banks and their purchases are given in the following table.
• Government e Marketplace (GeM) portal:
  • It was launched on 09 August 2016. It was launched for online purchasing of goods and services by all the ministries and departments of the central government.
  • It has over 63,000 government buyer organisations, over 6 crore sellers and service providers.
  • Presently, government departments, ministries, public sector units, state governments, and central armed police forces are permitted to conduct transactions through this portal.

Topic: Banking/Financial Schemes

3. Payments through international debit or credit cards upto ₹7 lakh will not come under Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).

• Finance Ministry clarified such payments will not attract Tax Collected at Source (TCS).
• Transactions through UPI and of more than ₹7 lakh by Indians abroad will attract TCS.
• They will be treated at par with international credit or debit cards.
• Under LRS, all resident individuals, including minors, are permitted to freely remit up to $2,50,000 per fiscal year for any permissible current or capital account transaction or a combination of two.
• Resident individuals are allowed to use foreign exchange facility up to the limit of $2,50,000 only.
• Corporates, partnership firms, HUF, Trusts etc. are not eligible for the scheme.

Topic: Banking System

4. Cumulative profit of public sector bank reached beyond ₹1 lakh-crore in financial year 2022-23.

• State Bank of India (SBI) accounted for nearly half of the total profit.
• In 2017-18, Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have shown a total net loss of ₹85,390 crore.
• In 2022-23, the profit of PSBs reached ₹1,04,649 crore. The 12 PSBs have seen 57% increase in total profit.
• In percentage terms, Bank of Maharashtra has shown the highest net profit growth of 126% to ₹2,602 crore.
• It was followed by UCO Bank with 100% increase to ₹1,862 crore and Bank of Baroda with 94% increase to ₹14,110 crore.
• In absolute terms, SBI has shown an increase of 59% over the preceding financial year. It has shown an annual profit of ₹50,232 crore in 2022-23.
• Except PNB, other PSBs have shown increase in their profits. PNB has shown 27% decline in annual net profit from ₹3,457 crore in 2021-22 to ₹2,507 crore in 2022-2023.
• Bank of Baroda (₹14,110 crore) and Canara Bank (₹10,604 crore) recorded annual profit higher than ₹10,000 crore.
• In Q4 of FY23, cumulative profit of PSBs increased more than 95% to ₹34,483 crore. It was ₹17,666 crore in the year-ago period.
• Government infused ₹3,10,997 crore to recapitalise PSBs during the last five financial years (from 2016-17 to 2020-21).
• Government’s 4R strategy includes Recognising NPAs transparently, Resolution and recovery, Recapitalising PSBs, and Reforms in the financial ecosystem.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

5. IDBI Capital, BOB Capital and SBI Capital has been appointed to manage the IPO of IREDA.

• IDBI Capital is the lead banker for the initial public offer (IPO) of the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).
• Saraf and Partners has been selected as the legal adviser for the IPO.
• IPO is likely to come up in current financial year. It will include 10% stake sale by the government and 15% fresh equity issuance by the IREDA.
• Government has also invited applications for employing an advertising agency and a registrar for the IREDA IPO.
• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given approval to the IREDA IPO on 17 March.
• IREDA:
  • Presently, IREDA is wholly owned by Government of India. It is a Mini-ratna (Category-I) Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE).
  • It is involved in financing of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency projects in India. It was incorporated in 1987.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

6. N. Chandrasekaran received France's highest civilian award Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur.

• N. Chandrasekaran (Natarajan Chandrasekaran) is Tata Group Chairman.
• He has received the award for his contribution to strengthen the trade relationship between India and France.
• French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna gave him the award on behalf of the French President on May 16.
• Earlier this year, Air India had signed a deal with Airbus to buy 250 aircraft from Airbus.
• Air India is owned by Tata Group. Airbus is headquartered in France.
• In December 2022, Tata Technologies inaugurated its innovation centre in Toulouse, France.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

7. Central government has reformed the merger approval process for start-ups under the ‘fast track merger’ scheme.

• Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA) has amended the Corporate (Compromises, arrangements and amalgamations) Rules.
• It has introduced the concept of deemed approval. This has been done to deal with the problem of bureaucratic delays in corporate restructuring.
• The ‘fast track merger’ scheme was introduced in 2016. The new mechanism will be effective from 15 June.
• Under the deemed approval concept, confirmation order should be issued by the central government within 60 days of receiving proposal in the fast track scheme.
• If central government fails to do so, it will be deemed that there are no objections. In such a case, the confirmation order will be issued.
• If Registrar of Companies and Official Liquidator does not raise objections to a fast – track merger proposal within 30 days of filing of scheme, centre shall issue the confirmation order within 15 days after the expiration of the 30 days.
• Earlier, 60 days was time prescribed only for referring the matter to NCLT in case any objection was received.
• Section 233 of the Companies Act, 2013 provides simple procedure for merger and amalgamation of certain companies.
• This procedure is called Fast Track Merger. MCA notified Section 233 on 7 December 2016.
• These companies include startups, small companies and holding and subsidiary companies.

Topic: Reports and Indices

8. India’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals with a net worth of over $30 million may rise 58.4% from 2022 to 2027.

• The number of India’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals is estimated to increase from 12,069 in 2022 to 19,119 individuals in 2027 according to a report.
• India’s billionaire population is likely to increase from 161 in 2022 to 195 in 2027.
• As per recent report of Knight Frank, the Indian high-net-worth individual (HNI) population will increase to 1.65 million till 2027.
• In 2022, global population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) has fallen by 3.8% after a record increase of 9.3% in 2021.
• India’s UHNWI have shown a fall of 7.5% year-on-year in 2022 over 2021.
• In 2022, Asia’s dominance in the new wealth creation declined.
• By 2027, Asia will take over Europe and stand only second to the Americas. By 2027, Asia will be home to 2,10,175 UHNWI.
• Knight Frank has released its latest issue of the Wealth Report 2023.

Topic: RBI

9. RBI withdraws Rs 2000 note from circulation, but notes to remain legal tender.

• Under the “Clean Note Policy”, the Reserve Bank of India has decided to withdraw 2,000 Rupees denomination banknotes from circulation.
• In a statement issued on 19 May, RBI has clarified that Rs 2,000 notes will continue to be a legal tender after 30 September.
• Public can deposit these notes in their bank accounts or exchange them till September 30, 2023.
• To ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, Rs 2,000 banknotes can be exchanged for banknotes of other denominations with effect from May 23 at any bank.
• In addition, from May 23, the facility of exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time will be provided at 19 regional offices of the RBI.
• The RBI official said the reason for the move was the issue of soiled Rs 2,000 notes lying with the RBI.
• The second was that the Rs 2,000 notes are not popular and are just lying around.
• RBI also said, the printing of Rs 2,000 notes was also discontinued in 2018-19.
• In November 2016, the Rs 2,000 note was introduced under section 24(1) of the RBI Act, 1934.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

10. India’s coal supply has reached 877.74 Million tonnes in the last nine years.

• It has recorded 45.37% growth in the last nine years. India’s coal production has achieved 47% growth in the last nine years.
• Overall coal production has increased up to 893.08 Million tonnes in Financial Year 2023. This is the highest in the history of the country.
• The Coal Ministry said that according to the Action Plan for 2023-24, the coal production target for the financial year 2023-24 is 1,012 Million tonnes.
• The coal Ministry has signed agreements for 23 coal mines having a cumulative peak-rated capacity of 33.224 MT per annum during the Financial Year 2022-23.
• The Ministry said it is expected that 25 coal mines will be allocated during Financial Year 2023-24 for commercial mining.
• The focus of the Ministry is on enhancing coking coal production from 52 Million tonnes (MT) in Financial Year 2022 to 140 MT in Financial Year 2030.
• The government launched Mission Coking Coal in August 2021.
• It was launched with a roadmap suggesting ways to augment the production and utilization of domestic coking coal in India by 2030.
• Mission Coking Coal has the following objectives:
  • Enhancing coking coal production from 52 Million Tonne (MT) in FY 2022 to 140 MT in FY 2030.
  • Enhancing coking coal washing capacity from 23 MT in FY 2022 to 61 MT in FY 2023.
• The main use of coking coal is in the manufacturing of steel via the blast furnace route.

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