Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market
1. An initiative has been launched by CII to promote micro-entrepreneurship in Kerala.
- CII Kerala Entrepreneurs Development Forum has been created to strengthen the micro-entrepreneurial ecosystem in Kerala.
- The CII Centre of Excellence on Employment & Livelihood created the forum to assist in converting job searchers into job creators.
- It seeks to offer microbusinesses comprehensive help.
- For micro-entrepreneurs, the forum will offer networking opportunities, capacity-building initiatives, and mentorship.
- With the help of V-Guard Industries, the first 50 micro-entrepreneurs will be provided with training and tools.
- Small businesses empowerment, job creation, and sustainable economic growth in Kerala are the objectives of the initiative.
- A Vision paper 2047, "Kerala - Road to $Trillion Economy," was also released by CII Kerala to guide Kerala toward a $1 trillion economy.
Topic: Banking System
2. Karnataka Bank has launched two financial products to support students.
- These newly launched products are KBL Peak and KBL Genius.
- KBL Peak is an education loan. It offers financial support of up to Rs 2 crore.
- This education loan covers academic expenses like tuition fees, accommodation, travel, books, and laptops.
- KBL Peak offers a flexible interest rates. The rates are decided according to ranking of the applicant’s educational institution and the credit score of the co-applicant.
- This loan is available for students wishing to pursue higher education in both Indian and international institutions.
- KBL Peak also includes credit life insurance. It ensures financial security for both students and their parents.
- Additionally, female students enrolling in STEM courses are eligible for interest rate concession.
- KBL Genius is a student-focused savings account. It has added benefit of free cyber insurance.
- KBL Genius Savings Account has two different variants, namely KBL GENIUS Signature and KBL GENIUS Advantage.
- A feature of the KBL Genius account is that it includes cyber insurance providing financial protection in digital space.
Topic: Reserve Bank of India
3. A three-year USD/INR Buy/Sell swap auction of $10 billion will be carried out by RBI on February 28.
- With this, RBI aims to attract dollar inflows and infuse rupee liquidity.
- The aim of RBI is also to support banks in mobilizing longer-tenor FCNR deposits.
- RBI aims to encourage banks to deploy them with RBI. This may bring Rs 87,000 crore into the banking system.
- A similar six-month swap auction of $5 billion was carried out by RBI on January 31 to manage liquidity deficit.
- As of February 20, the banking system is facing a liquidity deficit of Rs 1.90 lakh crore.
- This liquidity deficit is due to RBI’s forex interventions and tax outflows.
- Other steps being taken by RBI to address liquidity concerns include daily variable rate repo (VRR) auctions, longer-tenor VRRs, open market G-sec purchases, and USD/INR swap.
- Three-year USD/INR swap of $5 billion each was carried out last time after IL&FS crisis and before general elections of 2019.
Topic: Appointments
4. Shahrukh Todiwala has been appointed by Kotak Mahindra Prime as MD & CEO.
- He has replaced Vyomesh Kapasi who will head product-consumer bank vertical at Kotak Mahindra Bank.
- Ambuj Chandna was previous consumer bank head of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Ambuj resigned a month ago.
- Ashok Vaswani is Kotak Mahindra Bank’s MD & CEO.
- Todiwala is having expertise in vehicle financing.
- Kotak Mahindra Prime is a subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market
5. India will become a high-income country with GDP of $23–$35 trillion by 2047.
- According to a report by Bain & Company and Nasscom, India is projected to become high-income country with a projected GDP of $23–$35 trillion by 2047.
- Growth will be driven by India's demographic dividend, technological innovation and regional transformation.
- Nearly 200 million individuals expected to enter the workforce in the coming decades.
- Electronics, energy, chemicals, automotive, and services are the key sectors which will be drivers of growth.
- Advances in AI-driven chip design, touchless manufacturing, and backward integration into component manufacturing and design could enhance cost competitiveness and innovation.
- India’s share of renewables in overall energy generation has the potential to rise from 24 percent in 2023 to 70 percent in 2047.
- Auto-components exports sector is likely to reach $200–$250 billion by 2047. It will be driven by longer-term shift to EVs.
Topic: Appointments
6. The tenure of CEA Anantha Nageswaran extended by the government till March 2027.
- On February 20, 2025, the tenure of Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V. Anantha Nageswaran was extended by the government for two years till March 2027.
- The tenure of Mr. Nageswaran on a contract basis up to March 31, 2027, was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by PM Narendra Modi.
- On January 28, 2022, Mr. Nageswaran assumed charge as CEA for a three-year term, succeeding Krishnamurthy Subramanian, who had served in the role for three years.
- The Office of the Chief Economic Adviser is responsible for advising the government on various economic policies and preparing the draft Economic Survey, which is tabled in Parliament a day before the Union Budget.
Topic: Appointments
7. Salila Pande has been appointed as the MD & CEO of SBI Card from April 1.
- The board of SBI Cards and Payment Services has appointed Salila Pandey as Managing Director and CEO with effect from April 1, 2025.
- Pandey's appointment will be for a term of two years. He has been nominated by the State Bank of India.
- The board has approved the appointment of Pandey following the retirement of Abhijit Chakraborty from the services of State Bank of India with effect from March 31, 2025.
- Pandey is the Chief General Manager at State Bank of India.
- She joined SBI as a Probationary Officer in 1995 and has been associated with the country's largest banking group since then.
- SBI Cards & Payment Services Limited is a leading credit card company and payment service provider in India.
- In May 1998, it was established as a joint venture between the State Bank of India and GE Capital. It is headquartered in Gurgaon.
Topic: Miscellaneous
8. Nita Ambani received a Governor’s Citation in Massachusetts for philanthropic contributions.
- Nita Ambani, founder and chairperson of Reliance Foundation, received the distinguished governor's citation from Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey.
- She has received the honour for her visionary leadership and exceptional contributions to society.
- The citation honours Ambani's lifelong dedication to transformative impact across education, healthcare, sports, arts, culture, and women's empowerment.
Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings
9. 9th Asia Economic Dialogue was organized in Pune, Maharashtra.
- Union Minister Piyush Goyal addressed the 9th Asia Economic Dialogue.
- The three-day Dialogue is being co-hosted in collaboration with Pune International Centre.
- “Economic Resilience and Resurgence in an Era of Fragmentation” was the theme of the Dialogue.
- Many key contemporary topics in geo-economics, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation, economic imperatives of Cyber Security, etc. were discussed in the meeting.
- Asia Economic Dialogue 2025 brought together political leaders and senior government officials, academicians, policymakers, and industry experts from India and abroad.
- It also aims to resolve issues of economic fragmentation and identify actionable pathways for resilience and resurgence.
- It is the External Affairs Ministry’s annual flagship ‘Track 1.5 Dialogue’ on Geoeconomics.
Topic: Reserve Bank of India
10. A monetary penalty of Rs 39 lakh imposed on Citibank by the RBI.
- This penalty was imposed for non-compliance with certain directions related to the Large Exposures Framework and the Furnishing of Credit Information to Credit Information Companies.
- On February 22, a fine of Rs 620,000 had also been imposed on Ashirvad Micro Finance Ltd by the apex bank for failing to provide household income information of certain borrowers to credit information companies.
- It also failed to provide factsheets to certain gold loan customers.
- Besides this, it failed to establish a system of auto-escalation of all complaints that were partly or wholly rejected by its internal grievance redressal mechanism to the Internal Ombudsman for a final decision.
- Additionally, the RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of one lakh fifty thousand rupees on JM Financial Home Loans Limited.
- The penalty was imposed as the company failed to disclose the approach for gradation of risk and the rationale for charging different rates of interest to different categories of borrowers.
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