Topic: Appointment
1. Ratan Kumar Kesh has been appointed as executive director (ED) by Bandhan Bank.
- His appointment will be effective from March 31, 2023 for a period of three years.
- However, his appointment is subject to the approval of stakeholders.
- RBI has granted approval for the appointment of Ratan Kumar Kesh as ED.
- Bandhan Bank is a private sector bank. It is headquartered in Kolkata.
- Dr. Anup Kumar Sinha is its current chairman. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh is its MD and CEO.
Topic: RBI
2. RBI will set up new Data Centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute.
- Foundation stone for setting up of a ‘Greenfield Data Centre’ and ‘Enterprise Computing & Cybersecurity Training Institute’ has been laid by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
- ‘Greenfield Data Centre’ and ‘Enterprise Computing & Cybersecurity Training Institute’ will be set up in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
- The institute will cater to the emerging requirements of the RBI and the financial sector.
- The Governor highlighted the need for augmenting the existing computing infrastructure of the RBI.
Topic: Banking System
3. Amazon Pay has partnered with Bharat BillPay to strengthen its loan repayment facility.
- More than 200 lenders have enrolled in the facility.
- These lenders include Bajaj Finance, Cholamandalam Investment & Finance, HDB Financial Services, Home Credit, and IIFL Finance.
- Loan repayment is one of the top categories in terms of bill payment.
- Customers are allowed to select their bank or NBFC from the list and enter their loan account number to pay their EMI.
- Bharat BillPay is the biller platform of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It was founded in 2013.
- Amazon Pay is an online payments processing service owned by Amazon. It was launched in 2007.
Topic: Banking System
4. Axis Bank has signed co-lending agreement with Autotrac Finance through Yubi platform.
- The partnership aims to provide new tractor loans for agricultural and allied activities in rural areas.
- Axis Bank has also enabled UPI LITE for transactions up to Rs 200.
- With this feature, customers will be able to make instant payments with just one tap for transactions up to Rs 200 without using a UPI PIN.
- National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched UPI LITE in September 2022.
- It was launched to facilitate multiple uninterrupted small value transactions during peak hours.
- Axis Bank is the third-largest private sector bank in India. It is headquartered in Mumbai. Its MD & CEO is Amitabh Chaudhary.
Topic: Banking System
5. Gross NPAs of PSU Banks’ declined from 14.6% in March 2018 to 5.53% in December 2022.
- PSU banks’ earned total profit of ₹70,167 crore in April-December FY23.
- Aggregate profit of all PSBs was ₹66,543 crore in 2021-22.
- PSU banks’ capital adequacy ratio improved from 11.5% in March 2015 to 14.5% in December 2022.
- Provision coverage ratio of PSBs has risen from 46% to 89.9% in December 2022.
- Total market cap of PSBs grew from ₹4.52 lakh crore in March 2018 to ₹10.63 lakh crore in December 2022.
- This excludes IDBI Bank, which was categorized as private sector bank in January 2019.
- Government implemented 4R strategy of Recognising NPAs transparently, Resolution and recovery, Recapitalising PSBs, and Reforms in the financial ecosystem.
- Since 2016, government has given ‘in-principle’ approval for strategic disinvestment of 36 cases of public sector enterprises (PSEs) and/or subsidiaries/ units/ joint ventures of PSEs/ banks.
Topic: Miscellaneous
6. CoinDCX has become a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)-registered reporting entity under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) norms.
- This would lead to increased accountability and implementation of best practices by the Virtual Digital Assets (VDA) industry.
- The government had mandated that Virtual Digital Assets (VDA) service providers must comply with several regulatory requirements.
- These requirements include Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, record-keeping, reporting of suspicious transactions, and appointment of a compliance officer.
- CoinDCX was also the first exchange to publish proof of reserves.
- It has recently started offering Decentralized finance (DeFi) services through Okto wallet app for users worldwide.
Topic: Infrastructure and Energy
7. Government has identified 156 critical infrastructure gap projects for intervention under the PM Gati Shakti initiative.
- These projects are for movement of bulk commodities such as coal, cement, fertilizers and foodgrains.
- 66 major infrastructure projects costing 5 lakh crore have been evaluated thus far.
- 44 Network Planning Group meetings were held at the central level.
- The Network Planning Group (NPG) is constituted under the PM Gati Shakti initiative.
- Government launched the PM Gati Shakti programme on 13 October, 2021. It was launched with a vision to enable a mechanism for coordinated planning.
Topic: Miscellaneous
8. IMF’s executive board has approved Sri Lanka’s bailout program under an Extended Fund Facility.
- 2.286 billion special drawing rights package will be available over 4 years. It will be equivalent to about 3 billion dollars.
- The decision of the executive board will allow an immediate disbursal of 333 million dollars.
- This is Sri Lanka’s 17th credit programme with the IMF.
- Sri Lanka is going through its worst-ever economic crisis since its independence in 1948.
- India had provided assistance of 4 billion dollars to Sri Lanka.
- Under Extended Fund Facility, financial assistance is provided to countries facing medium-term balance of payments problems due to structural weaknesses.
- International Monetary Fund (IMF):
- IMF is an international organization. It is designed to promote global monetary cooperation.
- Its headquarters is located in Washington DC. It was established in 1945.
- The Managing Director of IMF is Kristalina Georgieva.
Topic: Appointment
9. Manmeet K Nanda has been made MD & CEO of Invest India until a full time regular appointment.
- Manmeet K Nanda has been given additional charge of MD & CEO of Invest India.
- Manmeet K Nanda is an IAS officer of West Bengal Cadre (2000 Batch).
- Manmeet K Nanda takes over after the resignation of Mr Deepak Bagla.
- Invest India has received the Great Place To Work Certification, which is a rare achievement for any government funded organization.
- The Board of Invest India is chaired by Mr. Anurag Jain, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
- Invest India:
- It is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India.
- It was established in 2009 as a non-profit venture.
- It works under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Topic: World Economy
10. Switzerland's largest bank, UBS agreed to acquire troubled Credit Suisse bank.
- The Swiss National Bank has said that Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) has decided to acquire the Swiss bank Credit Suisse which is heading towards financial crisis.
- The announcement has been made followed by a weekend of emergency negotiations between Switzerland's two banks and the country's financial regulators.
- Swiss President Alain Berset said the acquisition was the best solution to restore and strengthen market confidence in the Credit Suisse and the Swiss financial centre.
- The Swiss government and banking authorities had to negotiate urgently to rescue Swiss bank Credit Suisse, which was this week given a $54 billion bailout package by the country's central bank.
- The government in Bern agreed to provide guarantees of up to 9 billion Swiss francs to underwrite the acquisition.
- To increase liquidity in the banking sector, the US Federal Reserve and other central banks also sought to ease fears through a coordinated effort.
- Credit Suisse is a global investment bank and financial services firm. It is based in Switzerland. It is headquartered in Zurich.
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