Banking Awareness of 23 and 24 February 2024

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

1. The National Livelihood Mission has been modified by Union Cabinet.

• There will now be additional activities under the National Livelihood Mission (NLM).
• There will be a 50% capital subsidy provision. To individuals, FPO, SHG, JLG, FCO, and Section 8 corporations, up to ₹50 lakhs would be given.
• They will receive this money in order to start their own horse, donkey, mule, and camel businesses.
• The state government will support camel, donkey, and horse breed conservation.
• The semen stations and nucleus breeding farms for horses, donkeys, and camels will be established from ₹10 crore to be provided by the Central Government.
• There would be a fifty percent capital subsidy up to ₹50 lakhs for setting up Fodder seed processing Infrastructure.
• Private businesses, startups, SHGs, FPOs, FCOs, JLGs, and Farmers Cooperative societies will all receive this subsidy.
• A decision has been made to streamline the Livestock Insurance scheme.
• The beneficiary share of the premium for the farmers was previously 20–50%. It has now been reduced to only 15%.
• Additionally, the quantity of animals to be covered by insurance has been raised from five cattle units to ten cattle units for cattle, sheep, and goats.
• The NLM was launched in 2014–15 and currently has three sub-missions: feed and fodder, innovation and extension, and breed development of livestock and poultry. There are ten tasks in the reorganized NLM.

Topic: Reports and Indices

2. In February, the flash composite PMI reached a seven-month high of 61.5.

• The HSBC Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased from 61.2 in January to 61.5 in February, a seven-month high.
• In February, the Flash Manufacturing PMI was 60.4, up from 59.7 in January.
• Concurrently, the Flash Services PMI increased from 60.4 to 62.
• PMI data is typically made available in the first week of the month.
• On the other hand, flash data is currently being prepared to determine the private business trends in India.
• S&P Global creates the flash PMI using data from survey panels consisting of about 400 manufacturing and 400 service providers, as well as answers to questionnaires.
• According to S&P Global, the services industry includes consumer (but not retail), transportation, information and communication, finance, insurance, real estate and business services.  

Topic: Awards and Prizes

3. Vellayan Subbiah has been awarded the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2023.

• He is Chairman of Cholamandalam Finance and Executive Vice Chairman of Tube Investments of India.
• He has been selected by jury led by K V Kamath, Former Chairman of ICICI Bank.
• He has been selected for his bold strategies to transform existing businesses and seizing opportunities by means of acquisitions and diversification.
• He will represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Monte Carlo from 4-7 June 2024.
• Natarajan Chandrasekaran was conferred the Special Jury Award.
• He is Chairman of Tata Sons. He has been conferred the award for outstanding leadership of the Tata Group.
• Venu Srinivasan is the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award winner.
• He is Chairman Emeritus of TVS Motor Company. He was selected for his entrepreneurial excellence in revolutionizing the India’s two-wheeler industry.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

4. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2024–2025, the Indian economy is projected to grow by 6.5%, according to India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).

• Its estimate is fifty basis points (bps) below than the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) 7% projection.
• Its estimate is equal to the 6.5% forecast made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• Growth in the current fiscal year is predicted to be 7.3%.
• The agency said that in 2022–2023, ₹3.53 lakh crore was raised to fund 982 major projects of above ₹1,000 crore.
• This is a substantial amount more than the ₹1.98-lakh crore that was raised in 2021–2022 to fund 791 projects of this kind.
• Capacity utilisation in the private sector ought to increase from its present aggregate level of 75% as demand picks up.
• The agency noted that demand for consumption remained biased towards households with the upper 50 per cent of incomes.

Topic: RBI

5. PPIs issued by approved banks and non-bank entities are now permitted by the RBI to be used to make payments on a variety of public transit systems.

• RBI has approved this, giving passengers access to digital payment methods for transit services that are quick, easy, affordable, and secure.
• Such Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) for Mass Transit Systems (PPI-MTS) can now be issued by issuers to facilitate payments across a range of public transport options.
• These consist of parking, tolls, metro, buses, trains, and waterways.
• According to RBI, PPIs must include the Automated Fare collecting application for parking, toll collecting, and transit services.
• These PPIs can be granted without the holders' KYC verification.
• PPI accounts could have a reloadable nature. At no point may the outstanding amount go above ₹3,000.
• There won't be any cash withdrawals, refunds, or financial transfers allowed. These PPIs will also remain valid indefinitely.

Topic: Appointments

6. Kotak Mahindra Bank has appointed KVS Manian as Joint MD.

• Shanti Ekambram has been appointed as Deputy MD by Kotak Mahindra Bank.
• The appointments of KVS Manian and Shanti Ekambram is effective from March 1, 2024.
• Devang Gheewalla will assume charge of Group Chief Financial Officer after Jaimin Bhatt’s term ends on March 31, 2024.
• The current MD and CEO of the bank, Ashok Vaswani, took charge with effect from January 1, 2024.
• The bank has also appointed Milind Nagnur as Chief Operating Officer, with effect from April 1. He will continue to be the Chief Technology Officer.
• Paul Parambi has been appointed as Group Chief Risk Officer effective March 1.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

7. The Rashtriya Udyamita Vikas Pariyojana launched as part of the Skill India Mission by Dharmendra Pradhan.

• In Sambalpur, Odisha, Union Minister of Education, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan launched the Rashtriya Udyamita Vikas Pariyojana.
• Nine cities saw a virtual launch of the campaign. Bhopal, Kanpur, Indore, Varanasi, Bharatpur, Shillong, Silchar, Dibrugarh, and Guwahati are these cities.
• This National Entrepreneurship Development Project is designed exclusively for PM SVANidhi scheme participants.
• It emphasizes the government's unwavering dedication to supporting employment providers all over the country.
• Its goal is to give them thorough training in entrepreneurship.
• The aim of this project is to improve the competitiveness and adaptability of workers in an era of disruptive technologies by reskilling and upskilling them.
• Over the course of 22 weeks, complete training in entrepreneurship will be provided under the National Entrepreneurship Development Project.
• The training will be provided through offline, online and hybrid modes.
• The PM SVANidhi Yojana participants will benefit from the National Entrepreneurship Development Project.
• It will enable street vendors and small business owners advance their skills.
• Flipkart and the Indian government are working together to train small business owners and street vendors.
• Ten major cities' street vendors will receive training and a stipend as part of the pilot program to help them grow their businesses.
• The project will initially focus on ensuring 40% participation by women.

Topic: Appointments

8. President has appointed A S Rajeev as Vigilance Commissioner.

• Former Bank of Maharashtra Chief Executive A S Rajeev has been appointed as Vigilance Commissioner.
• Under the CVC Act, the Central Vigilance Commission is a three-member body with a Central Vigilance Commissioner and two Vigilance Commissioners.
• Praveen Kumar Srivastava has been serving as Central Vigilance Commissioner since May 2023.
• Central Vigilance Commission:
  • It is an apex anti-corruption government body in India.
  • It was established in 1964 on the recommendation of the K. Santhanam Committee.
  • It was granted statutory status in 2003 under the Central Vigilance Commission Act 2003.

Topic: Miscellaneous

9. India contributed $1 million to the IBSA Fund for poverty and hunger alleviation.

• India announced to contribute $1 million to the Poverty and Hunger Alleviation Fund established by India, Brazil, and South Africa (IBSA).
• The IBSA countries - India, Brazil and South Africa - each contribute one million dollars annually to the Fund in a spirit of partnership and support for demand-driven, transformational projects in developing countries.
• Poverty and Hunger Alleviation Fund of IBSA was established in 2004 and became operational in 2006.
• The UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) acts as the Fund Manager and Secretariat of the IBSA Fund.
• Till now, the IBSA Fund has allocated $ 50.6 million to 45 projects across 37 countries of the global South.

Topic: Miscellaneous

10. The first private industry Commercial American spacecraft landed on the Moon.

• A Houston-based company has landed America's first spacecraft on the Moon in more than 50 years. Odysseus spacecraft is built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines.
• It is part of a new fleet of unmanned commercial robots, funded by NASA.
• Its purpose is to pave the way for astronaut missions later this decade.
• The aim of the mission is to explore the Moon's south pole, study environmental conditions, harvest ice for drinking water and rocket fuel, and contribute to the development of a broader lunar economy.
• Although flight controllers confirmed they had received a light signal, it is not clear whether the lander Odysseus is fully functional.
• The hexagon-shaped craft approached the moon's south pole at a slow speed of 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) per hour at 2323 GMT.
• Images from the external "EagleCam", which were to have been shot during the final seconds of the spacecraft's descent, may have been released.
• Odysseus was launched on February 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It has a new type of supercooled liquid oxygen, liquid methane propulsion system.

Read Banking Awareness PDF - 23 and 24 February 2024