Banking Awareness of 21, 22 and 23 January 2023

Topic: Miscellaneous

1. Three-day B20 (Business 20) India meet is being held from 22-24 January 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

• Top business executives from India and other G20 member countries will discuss inclusive growth and global economic priorities at B20 India meet.
• Other 14 meetings will be held in cities including Ahmedabad, Surat, Statue of Unity at Kevadiya, and Dhordo in Kutch.
• The theme for B20 India is RAISE, which is an acronym for Responsible, Accelerated, Innovative, Sustainable and Equitable Businesses.
• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has been designated the B20 Secretariat by the government.
• The mandate of B20 is to represent the voice of the international business community on global economic issues.
• Senior representatives and CEOs from the companies including Tata Sons, MasterCard, Bajaj Finserv, Citigroup, Volkswagen, TVS, Amazon Web, HCL and ITC will attend B20 India Inception meeting on January 22-24 hosted by CII.
• Few union ministers, Gujarat CM and India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant will also take part in the meeting.
• India is holding the rotating G20 presidency for 2023. India will host 18th G20 Summit in September, 2023.
• G-20:
  • It is the global forum for the governments and central bank governors that was founded in 1999.
  • G20 includes 19 countries and the European Union. There is no permanent secretariat of G20.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

2. Point-to-point inflation rate based on CPI-AL and CPI-RL stood at 6.38% and 6.6%, respectively, in December 2022.

• In November 2022, it stood at 6.87% and 6.99% respectively. In December 2021, it stood at 4.78% and 5.03%, respectively.
• Retail inflation for farm and rural workers eased mainly due to lower prices of certain food items.
• Food inflation stood at 5.89% and 5.76% in December 2022 as against 6.19% and 6.05%, respectively, in November 2022.
• The all-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers for December 2022 was stationary at 1,167 points.
• The all-India Consumer Price Index Number for Rural Labourers increased by 1 point and stood at 1,179.
• In November 2022, CPI-AL was 1,167 points and CPI-RL was 1,178 points.
• Maximum upward pressure on both indices came from miscellaneous group, primarily because of increase in prices of medicine, barber charges, bus fare, etc.
• The rise/fall in the index varied from state to state. In case of both indices, Tamil Nadu remained at the top whereas Himachal Pradesh stood at the bottom.
• Amongst the states, Rajasthan experienced maximum increase in the CPI-AL. Kerala experienced maximum increase in CPI-RL.
• Manipur experienced maximum decrease in CPI-AL and CPI-RL.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

3. SBI General Insurance has entered into partnership with Doers NGO.

• The partnership aims to support the Himachal Pradesh police in lowering the number of road accidents.
• Under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, SBI General Insurance has provided a well–equipped ambulance for urgent medical care for road accident victims in Mandi district.
• SBI General has also collaborated with Himachal Pradesh Police to provide road signages to increase awareness in accident prone areas on the highway.
• SBI General Insurance is India’s leading private general insurance company. It is headquartered in Mumbai. Its MD and CEO is Kishore Kumar Poludasu.

Topic: Banking System

4. Bombay High Court has declared RBI order to write off ₹8,300 crore AT-1 bonds of YES Bank as invalid.

• Earlier, administrator of YES Bank has directed write-off of ₹8,300 crore additional tier-I (AT-1) bonds of the bank as part of its reconstruction.
• The Bombay HC has given YES Bank six weeks for the implementation of this order.
• The bank will need to arrange the required funds in this period to make the payments after six weeks.
• Under plan to revive YES Bank, a State Bank of India led consortium of 10 institutional investors has invested ₹10,000 crore in YES Bank.
• RBI had suggested writing off the bonds citing Basel-III norms. The Basel-III norms say that AT1 bonds have no guarantee.
• 63 moons technologies is one of the major bondholders. It had filed a petition against YES Bank, RBI and the administrator.
• Additional Tier-1 (AT-1) bonds:
  • They are a type of unsecured bonds.
  • AT-1 bonds can be written down or changed into equity if the bank issuing them faces financial difficulty.
  • Banks issue AT-1 bonds to support their minimum capital requirements to fulfill Basel-III norms.         

Topic: Reports and Indices

5.  According to analysis by SBI’s Economic Research Department (ERD), incentives provided by ECLGS has helped in boosting credit flow to MSMEs.

• As per ERD’s analysis, MSME loan account worth ₹2.2 lakh crore improved since launch of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the entire banking industry.
• Nearly 12% of the outstanding MSME credit has been saved from slipping into NPA (non-performing asset) because of the ECLGS.
• According to the report, outstanding loans to MSMEs increased from ₹16 lakh crore in FY20 to ₹18 lakh crore in FY21 and ₹20 lakh crore in FY22.
• The report said that the scheme has saved the livelihoods of about 6.6 crore people (assuming four family members per worker including herself/himself).
• The report says that there is clear evidence that MSME units are becoming larger.
• It notes that several MSME units are crossing the threshold of ₹250 crore turnover.
• It further notes that they are turning mid-sized corporates by the new definition of MSME units.
• In the report, it is estimated that the Udyam Assist Platform (UAP) would provide benefit to up to 5 crore informal micro enterprises (IMEs). 
• SIDBI has developed UAP to make it possible for IMEs that are not registered under GST to get a registration certificate from government on the basis of information available with banks/NBFCs.
• Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS):
  • Government launched ECLGS in view of Covid-19 crisis. Under it, 100% guarantee is provided to banks and NBFCs to enable them to extend emergency credit facilities to MSMEs/ Business Enterprises to meet their additional term loan/ working capital requirements.
  • The MSMEs/ Business Enterprises should be having outstanding loan up to ₹50 crore as on February 29, 2020, and turnover up to ₹250 crore in FY20.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

6. Annual investment of ₹50,000 crore is needed in the Indian insurance sector to double insurance penetration in five years.

• IRDAI Chairman Debashish Panda said this recently at an event organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
• He talked about recently announced Bima Sugam platform, which is proposed to be an insurance marketplace.
• He said India is expected to become the sixth largest insurance market by 2032. It is the 10th largest market at present.
• IRDAI has set target to achieve insurance for all by 2047.
• Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI):
  • IRDAI is an autonomous statutory body. It was formed under the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999.
  • It regulates and promotes both insurances as well as reinsurance industries in India.
  • Chairman of IRDAI: Debashish Panda
  • Headquarters: Hyderabad, Telangana

Topic: Banking System

7. Canara Bank has transferred to SBI its entire 40% stake in Commercial Indo Bank LLC (CIBL), Moscow.

• This has come after the bank has entered into a share sale agreement with State Bank of India (SBI) in relation to sale of equity shares held by it in CIBL.
• The entire 40% stake held by Canara Bank was transferred to SBI on November 30, 2022 based on the share sale agreement and with the consent of the Central Bank of Russia.
• The transaction is expected to be completed on or before March-end 2023.
• Commercial Indo Bank LLC (CIBL) is a Joint Venture in Russia between SBI (60%) and Canara Bank (40%).

Topic: Miscellaneous

8. One-time relaxation announced for maintaining average export obligation under EPCG scheme.

• Ministry of Commerce and Industry has announced one-time relaxation from maintaining average export obligation for some sectors under the EPCG scheme.
• These sectors are – Hotel, Healthcare and Educational sectors.
• These sectors are exempted from maintaining average export obligation for the years 2020-21 and 2021-22.
• As per the Ministry’s statement, these sectors will have the option to extend the export obligation period for a longer duration without paying any additional fees.
• With this relaxation, these sectors will be able to cope up with the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The export obligation time can be extended from the date of expiry for the duration equivalent to the number of days the existing export obligation period falls within 1 February 2020 and 31 July 2021, for the EPCG authorizations issued for sectors other than the above mentioned sectors.
• A 5% additional export obligation in value terms on the balance export obligation as on 31 March 2022 has to be paid for this extension.
• Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme:
  • The scheme was launched in 1990s.
  • The objective of the scheme is to promote import of capital goods for producing quality goods and services and increase manufacturing competitiveness of India.
  • The scheme enables import of capital goods for pre-production, production and post-production with zero customs duty.
  • These goods are exempted from IGST and Compensation cess upto 31 March 2020.
  • It covers manufacturer exporters with or without supporting manufacturers, merchant exporters tied to supporting manufacturers and service providers including Common Service Providers (CSP).

Topic: Miscellaneous

9. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has selected Hyderabad, Telangana to set up a Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR).

• It will be the first thematic centre in India to focus on life sciences and healthcare.
• Telangana government and World Economic Forum (WEF) have entered into a collaboration agreement at the Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
• WEF managing director and Telangana Life Sciences Foundation CEO Shakthi Nagappan signed the agreement in the presence of Telangana Industries and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao.
• The centre will be an autonomous, non-profit organisation. It will focus on policy and governance for healthcare and life sciences.
• C4IR Telangana is the 18th centre to join the World Economic Forum’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Network.   
• C4IR Telangana is the only such centre in India with a thematic focus on healthcare and life sciences.
• Telangana accounts for one-third of global vaccine output. It is considered a leading life sciences hotspot in Asia.
• Telangana contributes about 35% of India’s pharmaceutical production.
• Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, India:
  • It was announced on January 23, 2018. It was officially launched in India on October 11, 2018.
  • It is located in Mumbai. It serves as a platform for technology governance in the Indian context.

Topic: Miscellaneous

10. Wayanad district in Kerala has become the first district in India to provide basic documents to all tribal people.

• Wayanad district administration has provided 1,42,563 services to as many as 64,670 tribal beneficiaries under the Akshaya Big Campaign for Document Digitisation (ABCD).
• The services include ration cards, Aadhar cards, birth certificates, voters’ identity cards and digital locker facilities.
• The campaign was introduced in November 2021 at Thondarnadu grama panchayat.
• The aim of the campaign is to ensure basic documents to all citizens belonging to the Scheduled Tribes communities.
• These basic documents are digitalised and saved in DigiLocker accounts opened for them.
• In addition to the basic documents, other services such as income certificates, ownership certificates, age certificates, and applications for new pensions are also provided.

Read Banking Awareness PDF - 21, 22 and 23 January 2023