Banking Awareness of 21 and 22 October 2022

Topic: Awards and Prizes

1. Karnataka Bank has won digital transformation award.

• It has won Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) award for best practice in digital transformation.
• The bank has been awarded the National Digital Transformation Awards — DX 2022 Awards — by CII for best practice in digital transformation under the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) segment.
• The awards recognise ‘innovative excellence’ in three categories.
• These categories are employee engagement, operational excellence, and customer experience.
• The bank had launched ‘KBL Vikaas’ programme in 2017 and ‘KBL NxT’ in 2021.
• Karnataka Bank is a Scheduled Commercial Bank based in Mangaluru, Karnataka. It is a private sector bank.
• Mahabaleshwara M. S is its MD and CEO. P. Pradeep Kumar is its Part-Time Non-Executive Chairman.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

2. India’s import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) stood at 7,305 Million Standard Cubic Meters (MSCM) during Q2 FY23.

• Imports stood at 2,365 MSCM for the month of September.
• India’s import of LNG in the July-September quarter was the lowest since FY18.
• LNG imports during Q2 FY23 were the second-lowest in the last two years.
• LNG imports during September 2022 were the lowest in the last seven months.
• India’s natural gas consumption in September stood at 5,157 MSCM.
• LNG is a colorless, non-toxic natural gas in liquid state formed after cooling the gas to -162ºC. In liquid state, natural gas will not ignite. LNG is mainly used by fertiliser manufacturers and city gas distribution (CGD) companies.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

3. Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL) increased to 7.69% in September 2022 compared to 6.94% in August 2022.

• Consumer Price Index Number for Rural Labourers (CPI-RL) increased to 7.9% in September 2022 compared to 7.26% in August 2022.
• CPI-AL and CPI-RL were at 2.89% and 3.16%, respectively in September 2021.
• Food inflation was at 7.47% for farm workers in September 2022 as compared to 6.16% in August 2022 and 0.5% in September 2021.
• Food inflation for rural labour increased to 7.52% in September 2022 from 6.21% in August 2022 and 0.7% in September 2021.
• As per the data released by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, All-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers for September 2022 increased by nine points to stand at 1,149.
• All-India Consumer Price Index Number for Rural Labourers for September 2022 increased by nine points 1,161 points.
• Major contribution towards the rise in general index of agricultural labourer and rural labourer came from food group.
• The maximum rise in the CPI- AL and CPI- RL was recorded by Haryana.
• The maximum fall in the CPI- AL and CPI- RL was recorded by Assam.

Topic: Appointments

4. Narayana Rao Battu has been appointed as Whole-Time Member (Law) in the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA).

• Prior to this appointment, Battu was an Additional Secretary in Law Ministry.
• His posting will be effective from the date of the assuming charge of the post till he attains the age of 62 years or until further order, whichever is earlier.
• The position of Member (Economics) is yet vacant. Both the posts fell vacant in end-May this year.
• Manoj Anand is holding the post of Whole Time Member (Finance).
• The members can hold office for five years and would be eligible for re-appointment.
• Before Battu, Pramod Kumar Singh was the whole-time member (Law) at PFRDA.
• Pradeep Singh Kharola has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of India Trade Promotion Organization.
• PFRDA board includes a chairperson and not more than six members. Out of these members, at least three should be whole-time members, to be appointed by the Central Government.

Topic: Banking System

5. CCI has given its approval for CA Basque Investments and Verventa Holdings to acquire up to 10% each of the total paid-up share capital of YES Bank.

• CA Basque Investments is a part of the Carlyle Group. It is a newly formed special purpose vehicle. It is fully owned by CA Marans Investments.
• Verventa Holdings is an affiliate of funds managed by Advent. It is an investment holding company. It does not have any operations in India.
• In July 2022, Yes Bank Board had decided to issue over 369.61 crore equity shares and 256.75 crore warrants.
• CCI has also approved the acquisition of certain businesses of Shubhalakshmi Polyesters Limited and Shubhlaxmi Polytex Limited by Reliance Polyester Limited.

Topic: Miscellaneous

6. HDFC Securities has opened first-ever women-only Digital Centre (DC) in Bengaluru in India.

• The centre will serve both male and female investors. It is staffed with a team of women.
• The centre will cater to customers from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• With the DCs, customers will be able to access support as and when they need it.
• HDFC Securities is a stock brokerage firm. It is a financial services intermediary and a subsidiary of HDFC Bank.

Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions

7. A fine of over 1,337 crore rupees has been imposed on Google by Competition Commission of India (CCI).

• The commission has directed Google to modify its conduct within a defined timeline.
• Google has been found guilty of abusing its strong position in multilateral markets.
• In its order, the commission has said that Google has maintained its strong position in the online search market by obstructing the market access of competitive search apps.
• Google has made mandatory pre-installation of the entire Google Mobile Suite (GMS) under Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA), with no option to uninstall the same.
• According to CCI, this is an unfair condition on the device manufacturers and thereby contravenes competition law.
• In April 2019, the CCI ordered a detailed inquiry into the matter following complaints from consumers of Android-based smartphones in the country.
• Android is an open-source, mobile operating system installed by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of smartphones and tablets.
• Google was accused of engaging in wrongful business practices in two agreements, — the Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA) and the Anti Fragmentation Agreement (AFA), which were between the OEMs and Google.

Topic: Reports and Indices

8. UIDAI topped the Grievance Redressal Index for the second consecutive month.

• For September 2022, UIDAI has topped once again amongst all Group A Ministries, Departments and Autonomous Bodies for resolving public grievances.
• UIDAI is a top performer in resolving Public Grievances received through Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).
• Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) releases the Grievance Redressal Index.
• UIDAI has a strong grievance redressal ecosystem. UIDAI is gradually rolling out state-of-the-art Open-Source CRM solutions.
• UIDAI’s strong grievance redressal ecosystem enables it to resolve around 92% of CRM Grievances within a week.
• Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI):
  • It was established as a statutory authority under the Aadhaar Act 2016.
  • It works under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
  • Dr. Saurabh Garg is the Chief Executive Officer of the Unique Identification Authority of India.

Topic: Reports and Indices

9. The Mercer CFS Global Pension Index survey showed that India has been ranked 41 out of 44 countries in 2022.

• The index value in 2022 is 44.4. India showed a marginal improvement in its index value, which was 40 out of 43 countries assessed on the Global Pension Index in 2021.
• Mercer CFS Global Pension Index has studied 44 countries that account for 65 percent of the world's population.
• In 2020, India was ranked 34th out of 39 countries, with a value of 45.7.
• Adequacy, sustainability, and integrity are the three subheads under which the index measures the country's pension system.
• India scored 33.5, 41.8, and 61 in these three subheads, respectively.
• Denmark, Iceland, and the Netherlands topped the survey. Thailand received the lowest score of 41.7.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

10. Uttar Pradesh (1^st), Madhya Pradesh (2^nd) and Tamil Nadu (3^rd) have achieved the top three positions in PMAY-U awards.

• Madhya Pradesh has been ranked at second place in the country under the 'Best Performing State' category in PMAY-U scheme.
• Gujarat has got 5 ‘Special Category’ awards. J&K has been adjudged ‘Best performing UT’.
• Madhya Pradesh has received awards in eight categories in the 'PMAY Awards-2021: 150 Days Challenge’.
• State Urban Development and Housing Minister Bhupendra received the award on behalf of the state from PM Modi at the 'Indian Urban Housing Conclave ' in Rajkot in Gujarat.
• Madhya Pradesh shared the special category award with Gujarat in Best State for Convergence.
• It shared the award with Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh in Best State for Conducting Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Activity.
• It shared the award with Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat in Best Performing State Level Technical Cell (SLTC).
• PMAY-U Awards are scheduled annually to recognise the contribution of States, Union Territories and urban local bodies with regard to the implementation of PMAY-U.

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