Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 23, 24 and 25 June 2021

Topic: RBI

1. Dividend declaration by NBFCs linked to their meeting minimum prudential norms on capital and bad loans.

• Dividend declaration by NBFCs has been linked by RBI to their meeting minimum prudential norms on capital and bad loans.
• RBI has also released guidelines on the declaration of dividends by NBFCs. It has also provided maximum dividend payout ratio.
• The guidelines will be effective for the declaration of dividends from the profits of the financial year that will end on March 31, 2022 and onwards.
• While considering proposals for dividends, the Board of Directors shall take into account supervisory findings of RBI on divergence in classification and provisioning for NPAs.
• Additionally, Qualifications in the Auditors’ Report to the financial statements and long-term growth plans of the NBFCs should also be taken into account as per the guidelines.
• NBFCs (other than Standalone Primary Dealers) shall have met the applicable regulatory capital requirement for each of the last three financial years including the financial year for which the dividend is proposed.
• The net NPA ratio shall be less than 6 per cent in each of the last three years. Net NPA and capital adequacy are parameters for minimum prudential requirements for declaration of dividend.
• The RBI guidelines provide ceilings on dividend payout ratio. No ceiling is specified on NBFCs that do not accept public funds and do not have any customer interface.
• Maximum Dividend Payout Ratio in case of Core Investment Company and Standalone Primary Dealers are 60.
• The ratio between the amount of the dividend payable in a year and the net profit for the financial year for which the dividend is proposed is called Dividend Payout Ratio.

Topic: Committees/Commissions/Taskforces

2. Committee to examine best practices in ship financing and leasing formed by IFSCA.

• Committee to examine best practices in ship financing and leasing formed by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
• Along with examining best practices in ship financing and leasing, the committee will identify opportunities and devise a roadmap to enable such activities from GIFT IFSC.
• The committee will be chaired by Vandana Aggarwal. It includes representatives from the central government, Gujarat Maritime Board and industry experts.
• As per data from Ministry of Shipping, 95% of India’s trading by volume and 70 % by value is done via maritime transport.
• The committee would give its recommendations to IFSCA in three months.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

3. Gujarat government says that it will develop a Greenfield port at Nargol in South Gujarat.

• Gujarat government has said that it will develop a Greenfield port at Nargol in South Gujarat under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
• Government will invite global bids for private partners to construct a multi-cargo greenfield port at Nargol in the Valsad district.
• The port will have an initial handling capacity of 40-million tonnes per annum. It is strategically located close to the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).
• Vapi and Pardi are the two major industrialised centres in the Valsad district.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

4. NSDC and WhatsApp announce partnership to launch Digital Skill Champions Program.

• National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and WhatsApp have announced a partnership to launch Digital Skill Champions Program.
• Digital Skill Champions Program aims to train India’s youth on digital skills, in order to make them employment ready.
• Under this program, school and university students would be coached to imbibe digital and online skills.
• At the end of program, WhatsApp and NSDC would award ‘Digital Skill Champions’ certificates.
• There are two broad areas of collaboration under the partnership. They are given next.
  • WhatsApp Digital Skills Academy
  • Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) and WhatsApp Business App Training sessions
• Under Digital Skill Academies, young adults from tier 3 and 4 cities will be trained on digital safety and online privacy.
• Digital Skill Academies initiative will start with a pilot across 50 campuses in five states, namely Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
• The program will be imparted through WhatsApp’s project implementation partner- InfiSpark.
• WhatsApp will provide training sessions to familiarize Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra trainers with the WhatsApp Business app.
• The trained PMKK community cadres will further provide WhatsApp Business app training to youth aspiring to become small business entrepreneurs.

Topic: Indian Economy

5. S&P Global Ratings lowered India’s growth forecast for the current fiscal to 9.5% earlier.

• S&P Global Ratings lowered India’s growth forecast for the current fiscal to 9.5% from 11% earlier.
• Moody’s Investor Services had earlier said that the overall economic effect of the second wave was milder than of the first wave of the pandemic.
• Moody’s Investor Services lowered baseline forecasts for India’s real GDP growth to 9.6% in 2021 from 13.9%.
• In its report, titled ‘Asia-Pacific's Recovery Regains Its Footing’, S&P Global Ratings expects growth to come at 7.8 % in the fiscal year 2022-23.

Topic: Indian Economy

6. FDI inflow into India increased 38% to $6.24 billion in April 2021.

• FDI inflow into India increased 38% from $4.53 billion in April last year to $6.24 billion in April 2021.
• During April 2021, FDI equity inflows increased 60 % to $4.44 billion. Mauritius was the top investing country with 24 % of the FDI equity inflows.
• Singapore (21%) and Japan (11%) followed Mauritius. Computer software & hardware sector was the top sector with around 24 % share of the total FDI equity inflow.
• Computer software & hardware sector was followed by services sector (23%) and education sector (8 %).
• Karnataka was the top recipient State during April 2021 with 31 % share of the total FDI equity inflows. Maharashtra and Delhi followed Karnataka.

Topic: Banking System

7. ‘Pay Your Contact’ service launched by Kotak Mahindra Bank.

• ‘Pay Your Contact’ service has been launched by Kotak Mahindra Bank.
• ‘Pay Your Contact’ service enables banks’ customers to send money or make payments to any of their contacts across all payment apps by beneficiary’s mobile number.
• The service is available on the bank’s mobile banking app and uses the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform.
• Kotak Mahindra Bank:
  • It is an Indian private sector bank.
  • Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
  • CEO: Uday Kotak

Topic: Banking System

8. SBI Card and Fabindia enter into partnership to launch Fabindia SBI Card.

• SBI Card and Fabindia have entered into a partnership to launch an exclusive co-branded contactless credit card, Fabindia SBI Card.
• The card comes in two variants — Fabindia SBI Card SELECT and Fabindia SBI Card.
• The card will offer a rewarding shopping experience to premium customers of Fabindia.
• Fabindia, a retail platform for a wide range of handcrafted products.
• SBI Card is the country’s second-largest credit card issuer. Rama Mohan Rao Amara is its MD and CEO.

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