Banking Awareness of 23, 24 and 25 March 2025

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

1. ONDC has surpassed 200 million transactions.

• Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) took 20 months (January 2023 to August 2024), to surpass 100 million transactions.
• However, it added next 100 million transactions in just six months.
• This rapid growth shows ONDC is driving wide adoption across various sectors.
• The 200 million transactions shows a significant shift in digital commerce.
• ONDC is designed to offer equal opportunities to businesses of all sizes.
• Its aim is to disrupt monopolies and promote innovation.
• ONDC initiative is backed by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.
• Its goal is to make digital commerce accessible to all.

Topic: Reports and Indices

2. HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI increased to 57.6 in March.

• It stood at 56.3 in February. The growth was seen across three key sub-components of manufacturing (output, new orders, and inventory).
• Manufacturing growth reached at a level that is it’s highest since July 2024.
• There was slowdown in growth of new export orders. This was in part because of recent tariff changes.
• HSBC Flash India Services PMI declined to 57.7 in March. It stood at 59 in February.
• Composite Output Index declined to 58.6 in March. It stood at 58.8 in February.
• The export growth slowed to a three-month low.
• More increase in overseas business was seen by manufacturers than service providers.
• Job creation slowed. Companies hired additional staff so that they are able to meet growing demand.
• A faster pace of job creation was seen by manufacturers than service providers for the first time in seven months.
• Business confidence was positive. Overall sentiment declined to a seven-month low in March.

Topic: Taxation

3. India has decided to remove the equalisation levy on digital advertising.

• The decision will be effective starting from April 1. This decision is part of the Finance Bill 2025.
• The decision aims to prevent retaliatory tariffs from the US. The US is planning to impose tariffs on April 2.
• The equalisation levy is presently 6%. Equalisation levy is applicable to payments made to non-residents for online advertising services.
• In 2020, government extended the levy to non-resident e-commerce businesses.
• In 2024, government removed the 2% levy on them.
• The reduction in the levy is intended to prevent tariff conflicts with the US.
• As a result of the removal of the levy, costs for digital ad consumers will be lowered.
• Tax obligations for platforms such as Google and Meta will also be reduced.
• With withdrawal of levy, earlier exempt income will be taxed under regular income tax laws.
• This is due to the facts that the exemption under Section 10 (50) has been repealed.

Topic: Appointments

4. Ajay Seth has been appointed as the new Finance Secretary.

• Ajay Seth replaces Tuhin K Pandey. Seth is a 1987 batch IAS officer from the Karnataka cadre.
• Tuhin K Pandey is now Chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Seth's designation as the Finance Secretary.
• Following established practice, the senior-most secretary in the Union Finance Ministry is selected for this role.
• Seth will lead the Finance Ministry's functioning.

Topic: Appointments

5. S K Majumdar has been named by Canara Bank as its new Executive Director.

• Before this promotion, Majumdar was the CFO at Canara Bank.
• Majumdar has been with the bank since January 2000.
• He has held various roles during his tenure.
• Earlier this year, Madhavankutty G was appointed as the Chief Economist of Canara Bank.

Topic: Reports and Indices

6. India's bio-economy reached $165B in 2024.

• Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh announced that India's bio-economy has witnessed a 16-fold rise over the past decade, growing from $10 billion in 2014 to $165.7 billion in 2024.
• He made this announcement while releasing the "India Bioeconomy Report 2025" (IBER 2025) at the BIRAC Foundation Day ceremony at the National Media Centre on 21 March.
• The report highlights the progress made by the bioeconomy sector and, the sector is contributing 4.25% to the overall GDP.
• The sector has shown a CAGR of 17.9% in the last four years, indicating India's potential as a global biotechnology superpower.
• BioSaarthi, a pioneering global mentorship initiative aimed at nurturing biotech startups, has been unveiled by the Minister.
• Designed as a six-month cohort, Biosaarathi will facilitate structured mentor-mentee engagement, providing personalised guidance to budding entrepreneurs in the biotech sector.
• The India Bioeconomy Report is an annual publication by the Department of Biotechnology and BIRAC.
• It tracks the growth and performance of India's bioeconomy, maps its size, structure, and key trends, and provides insights for policy and investment decisions.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

7. DPIIT inked a pact with Yes Bank to strengthen India's startup ecosystem.

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with YES BANK.
• Its main aim is to foster innovation and provide crucial support to product startups, innovators, and entrepreneurs across the country.
• The partnership will leverage DPIITs Startup India initiative and YES BANKs financial expertise.
• It will facilitate market linkages, funding access, mentorship, and infrastructure support for early-stage ventures.
• Startups will benefit from YES BANK's Head Startup program.
• It will offer tailored banking and financial solutions, including working capital, credit access, and cash flow management.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

8. Revised criteria for classifying MSMEs notified by the government.

• Significant revisions to turnover and investment criteria for classifying MSMEs have been notified by the government and will take effect from April 1.
• The government will now classify MSMEs with investments up to 2.5 crore rupees as micro-enterprises, raising the threshold from the previous 1 crore rupees.
• The government has revised the turnover limit from 5 crore rupees to 10 crore rupees.
• The government will classify units with investments up to 25 crore rupees as small enterprises, increasing the limit from the earlier 10 crore rupees.
• The turnover limit for such enterprises has been increased from Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore.
• The government will now classify MSMEs with investments up to 125 crore rupees as medium enterprises, raising the limit from the earlier 50 crore rupees.
• The turnover limit for medium enterprises has been doubled to Rs 500 crore.
• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced new classification norms for MSMEs during her budget speech.
• It proposed to increase the investment and turnover limits by 2.5 times and 2 times, respectively.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

9. East Coast Railway has become India’s first railway zone, reaching 250 million tons of freight handling in 2024-25 financial year.

• East Coast Railway achieved the historic milestone 11 days ahead of the plan.
• The historic milestone was reached by March 21, 2024, well before the financial year concluded.
• East Coast Railway has surpassed 250 million tons threshold in second consecutive year.
• East Coast Railway surpassed 200 million tons in freight loading for sixth year in a row during 2024-25.
• East Coast Railway handled 228.3 million tons of freight in 2024-25.
• This is a growth of 2.6% from the previous year.
• Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) at Talcher and five important ports contributed to this achievement of East Coast Railway.
• Paradeep, Dhamara, Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram, and Gopalpur are five major ports under jurisdiction of East Coast Railway.
• Iron ore mines in Bailadila (Chhattisgarh) and Keonjhar (Odisha) also contributed to the freight operations of East Coast Railway.
• East Coast Railway is headquartered at Bhubaneswar. It is one of the 19 railway zones of Indian Railways. It is operational since 1 April 2003.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

10. Hindi writer Vinod Kumar Shukla won the 59th Jnanpith Award for 2024.

• Famous Hindi poet and writer of Chhattisgarh, Vinod Kumar Shukla, has been selected for the Jnanpith Award.
• This award, considered the country’s highest literary honour, was announced in New Delhi on 22 March.
• Mr. Shukla, who lives in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, was born on January 1, 1947, in Rajnandgaon.
• His first collection of poems, 'Labhaag Jai Hind,' was published in the year 1971.
• His novels "Naukar ki Kameez," "Khilega to Dekhenge," and "Deewar Mein Ek Khidki" are considered to be the best novels in Hindi.
• Earlier, Vinod Kumar Shukla received awards like the Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh Fellowship, the Raza Award, and the Sahitya Akademi Award.

Read Banking Awareness PDF - 23, 24 and 25 March 2025