Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 23 and 24 June 2020

1. Noel Tata may become director on board of Tata Sons

• As part of the board restructuring of Tata Sons, Noel Tata may become a director on board of Tata Sons.
• He became a trustee of Sir Ratan Tata Trust in 2019.
• Currently, Noel Tata is chairman of Trent (Tata Retail Enterprise).
• Trent operates Westside retail chain and Landmark bookstore chain.
• He is also MD of Tata International and vice-chairman of Titan Company.

2. Special liquidity window for YES Bank extended

• Special liquidity window for YES Bank has been extended RBI for three more months after June 16.
• YES Bank has requested for a one-year-long extension.
• When YES Bank was kept under the moratorium, it was also given Rs 60,000 crore as emergency credit to pay depositors money.
• As of March 31, YES Banka's Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio has stood at 6.3%.
• As of March 31, YES Banka's Tier 1 capital ratio stood at 6.5%.
• Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio and Tier 1 capital ratio were below regulatory requirements. 
• Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) includes reserves of the bank and its equities. It excludes preference shares. Tier 1 capital includes preference shares. It excludes equities. 

3. US suspends non-immigrant H-1B visas and other visas

• US has suspended non-immigrant H-1B, L-1, J-1, J-2 and H-2B visas, with effect from 24 June.
• The visas will remain suspended till the end of the year.
• The suspension of visas will benefit Americans as they were jobless due to COVID-19 pandemic.
• Trump has also directed officials to reform H-1B visa system and shift towards merit based-immigration in which highest-skilled job seekers will go to US.
• Different types of visas and the people who get these are given in the following table.

4. GeM portal makes mentioning of the country of origin mandatory

• The mentioning of the country of origin has been made mandatory by Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal, the portal through which government departments procure goods and services.
• Only sellers who mention the country of origin will be able to register a new product.
• GeM portal will also help buyers in choosing products meeting at least 50% local content criterion.
• Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPITT) may also make the country of origin tag mandatory for products available on e-commerce platforms.
• Currently, the government is promoting local products under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign.
• The government has categorised suppliers into categories on the basis of local content in the supplied goods.
• The goods from Class I suppliers are available for any bid. But goods from Class II will be eligible for bids below Rs 200 crore.
• Class I suppliers supply goods having over 50% local content. Class II suppliers supply goods having over 20% local content.   
• GeM portal was started in August 2016. It comes under Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

5. Preferential allotment norms for stressed companies made easier

• Preferential allotment norms for stressed companies have been made easier by SEBI.
• As per the new norms, the pricing of preferential allotments can be determined by stressed companies on the basis of average of weekly high and low of volume-weighted average prices of related equity shares.
• SEBI has also exempted the allottees of the preferential issue from making an open offer in case the acquisition continues after the prescribed threshold or here in takeover regulations.

6. Government to impose basic customs duty on solar equipments

• The government has decided to impose basic customs duty on solar equipments such as solar modules, cells and inverters.
• The basic customs duty will be effective from August.
• Import of equipments from countries having conflicting relations with India will be possible only after approval from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
• In July 2018, the government has imposed 25% safeguard duty on solar cell imports from China and Malaysia.

Read Banking Awareness PDF - 23 and 24 June 2020