Banking Awareness of 21, 22 and 23 December 2021

Topic: RBI

1. RBI conducted 4-day VRRR auction on 23 December 2021.

• RBI conducted 4-day variable rate reverse repo (VRRR) auction worth ₹2-lakh crore on 23 December 2021.
• This was RBI’s seventh VRRR auction in December. RBI conducted it to absorb ₹2 lakh crore from the banking system.
• As per RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, RBI has been rebalancing liquidity surplus by shifting it out of the fixed rate overnight reverse repo window into the variable rate reverse repo (VRRR) auctions of longer maturity.
• RBI auctioned three Treasury Bills (T-Bills) at higher cut-off yields. RBI accepted a cut-off yield of 3.70% at the auction of the 91-day T-Bills.
• RBI accepted a cut-off yield of about 3.98% at the auction of the 182-day T-Bills. At the auction of the 364-day T-Bill, RBI accepted a cut-off yield of about 4.26 %.

Topic: Banking/Financial Schemes

2. Total number of beneficiaries under PMJDY crosses 44 crore mark.

• Total number of beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) have crossed 44 crore mark.
• According to the latest government data, the number of accounts opened under PMJDY was 44.05 crore as on December 8. In December 2020, total number of accounts was 41.43 crore.
• Uttar Pradesh tops the list with highest number of accounts followed by Bihar.
• Out of 44.05 crore accounts, 24.51 crore have been opened by women beneficiaries.
• Public sector banks (excluding regional rural banks) have over 21.70 crore accounts.

Topic: Banking System

3. Equitas Small Finance Bank empaneled as a banking partner to Government of Maharashtra.

• Equitas Small Finance Bank has been empaneled as a banking partner to Government of Maharashtra to offer its services to state government employees.
• Equitas Small Finance Bank will distribute salaries and allowances to the employees and make provision of pension to pensioners.
• Bandhan Bank, Karur Vysya Bank and The South Indian Bank are other three banks assigned the role of distributing salaries and allowances to government employees.

Topic: Miscellaneous

4. Government makes Aadhaar authentication of registration mandatory for being eligible for filing refund claim.

• Government has made Aadhaar authentication of registration mandatory for being eligible for filing refund claim from January 1.
• Government has also made Aadhaar authentication mandatory for application for revocation of cancellation of registration by GST assesses from January 1.
• The decision to make Aadhar authentication mandatory was taken by GST Council, in its meeting on September 17.
• Authentication will be done with the proprietor’s Aadhaar number in case of proprietorship firm.
• Authentication will be done with Aadhaar number of any partner in case of partnership firm and of Karta in the case of a Hindu undivided family.
• Authentication will be done with Aadhaar number of the managing director or any whole time director in the case of a company.
• Authentication will be done with Aadhaar number of any of the members of the managing committee of an Association of persons or body of individuals or a Society.

Topic: Reports and Indices

5. India has total 54 unicorns and is ranked third in the world according to Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2021.

• India has total 54 unicorns and is ranked third in the world according to Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2021.
• As per the report, India has more than doubled the number of unicorns from last year.
• As per the report, out of 122 unicorns in e-commerce globally, 15 are in India.
• In the e-commerce sector, India is the third-largest, only behind the US and China.
• As per Hurun India, India’s list of unicorns is led by edtech platform BYJU’s. It is valued at $21 billion.
• BYJU’s is followed by mobile ad-tech platform InMobi valued at $12 billion and hospitality major OYO Rooms valued at $9.5 billion.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

6. SBI acquires minority stake in JSW Cement for Rs 100 crore.

• State Bank of India (SBI) has acquired minority stake in JSW Cement for Rs 100 crore.
• SBI has invested Rs 100 crore in the company via compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS).
• The capital infusion will support JSW Cement's capacity expansion. JSW Cement is part of USD 13 billion JSW Group.
• Compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) are corporate fixed income securities. They convert into equity shares on conditions pre-defined at the time of their issuance. 

Topic: Indian Economy

7. SEBI bans derivative trade of 7 agriculture commodities on future’s platform of NCDEX.

• SEBI has banned derivative trade of 7 agriculture commodities on future’s platform of National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) for a year.
• The seven agriculture commodities are chana, wheat, paddy (non-basmati), soyabean and its derivatives, mustard seed and its derivatives, crude palm oil and moong.
• According to the traders, the decision has been taken to control food inflation before the upcoming elections to the five states.
• Government has banned future’s trade as it is trying to insulate market from the price shock in case the production is not as per the expectations.