Banking Awareness of 24, 25 and 26 June 2023

Topic: RBI

1. RBI has imposed monetary penalties on Axis Bank, J&K Bank and Bank of Maharashtra.

• It has imposed monetary penalty of ₹30 Lakh on Axis Bank for non-compliance with provisions of its directions.
• The bank failed to comply with RBI directions on ‘Prudential Norms on Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provisioning pertaining to Advances – Credit Card Accounts’.
• RBI has imposed a penalty of ₹2.5 crore on Jammu and Kashmir Bank.
• It did not comply with RBI directions on ‘Creation of a Central Repository of Large Common Exposures-Across Banks’, read with ‘Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) – Revision in Reporting’.
• J&K Bank also did not comply with RBI directions on ‘Loans and Advances – Statutory and other Restrictions’ and ‘Time-bound implementation and strengthening of SWIFT-related operational controls’.
• A monetary penalty of ₹1.45 crore has been imposed on Bank of Maharashtra for non-compliance with RBI directions on ‘Loans and Advances – Statutory and Other Restrictions’ and Advisory on ‘Man in the Middle (MiTM) Attacks in ATMs’.

Topic: Reports and Indices

2. India’s venture capital funding recorded a 46.1% year-on-year decline in deal volume in the first five months of 2023.

• As per data and analytics company GlobalData, India’s venture capital funding reported a 74.6% decline in funding value in the first five months of 2023.
• Data shows that 459 venture capital funding deals worth $3.4 billion were announced in India during January-May 2023.
• From January-May 2022, 851 VC deals worth $13.3 billion were announced.
• However, India is still a key market in Asia-Pacific for VC funding activity.
• It is ranked second after China in terms of deal volume and value.
• As per the report, India held a 16.4% share of the total number of Venture Capital deals announced in Asia Pacific region from January to May 2023.
• India held a 5% share of the total Venture Capital deals announced globally during the same period. It is also among the top five markets globally.

Topic: Banking/Financial Schemes

3. Government will extend extended cover under ECIB scheme with enhanced cover of 90% to accounts with limits up to Rs. 50 crore.

• Last year, cover under ECIB scheme was extended by ECGC Ltd. for the accounts with export credit working capital limits up to Rs. 20 crore sanctioned by the banks (excluding Traders and GJD Exporters) with enhanced cover of 90%.
• Four banks have so far opted for enhanced cover under Export Credit Insurance for banks (ECIB).
• The names of four banks are SBI, Central Bank of India (CBI), Bank of Maharashtra and Saraswat Bank.
• The benefit of the enhanced cover will be extended to the accounts with limits up to Rs. 50 crore for above four banks.
• This is expected to benefit around 3,000 exporter-borrower accounts.
• In July 2022, ECGC has introduced new scheme to provide enhanced export credit risk insurance cover up to 90% for small exporters.
• ECGC Ltd.:
  • It was set up in 1957 under the Companies Act. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.  
  • It was set up to promote exports from India through providing export credit insurance services to exporters and banks.
  • It works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Topic: Reports and Indices

4. India’s refining capacity will increase from 5.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2022 to 6.2 mb/d in 2028.

• This is according to the latest refining capacity numbers by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
• It is expected that India will add one mb/d of refining capacity in the next five years.
• India is currently the world’s fourth largest crude oil refiner.
• According to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), India’s cumulative crude oil processing was 4.85 mb/d in FY22. This increased to 5.02 mb/d in FY23.
• Production from the planned 1.2 mb/d Ratnagiri refinery is not expected to start production during the IEA’s forecast period (2022-2028).
• The expansion of Panipat refinery to 25 MTPA is likely to be completed by September 2024.
• The expansion of Gujarat refinery to 18 MTPA is likely to be completed in 2023.
• The expansion of Baruni refinery to nine MTPA are likely to be completed in 2023.
• Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) is expanding capacity at Bina (Madhya Pradesh) from 7.8 MTPA to 11 MTPA.
• Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) is also expanding its refineries at Bhatinda and Vizag and the Greenfield refinery at Barmer, which are likely to be completed in FY24.
• Globally, over 6 mb/d of new crude distillation capacity is likely to be added from 2022 to 2028.
• China is likely to be the single largest contributor to the six mb/d of new capacity. India and the Middle East are likely to be in 2nd place.  
• International Energy Agency:
  • It was founded in November 1974. It is headquartered in Paris, France. It has 31 member countries.
  • It is an intergovernmental organisation. It provides analysis and data on the entire global energy sector.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

5. Power Ministry has amended the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020.

• Time of Day (ToD) tariff has been introduced and smart metering provisions has been rationalised.
• The ToD tariff includes separate tariff for peak hours, solar hours and normal hours.
• Under the ToD tariff, consumers are not charged for electricity at the same rate at all times of the day.
• The price they pay for electricity varies according to the time of day. 
• The tariffs during solar hours of the day shall be 10-20% less than the normal tariff. The tariff during peak hours will be 10-20% higher.
• Solar hours will be the duration of eight hours in a day as specified by State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
• The ToD tariff would apply for commercial and industrial consumers having maximum demand of 10 KW and above from April 1, 2024.
• The ToD tariff would apply for all other consumers except agricultural consumers from April 1, 2025.
• The ToD tariff would become immediately effective after installation of smart meters.
• The rules for smart metering have also been simplified by the Ministry.
• As per the amendment, there will be no penal charges on a consumer based on maximum demand recorded by the smart meter for the period before installation date.
• Load revision procedure has also been rationalized.
• Maximum demand will be revised only when sanctioned load has been more at least three times in a financial year.
• Smart meters will be read remotely minimum once a day.
• The data will shared with consumers to allow them to make informed decisions about electricity consumption.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

6. Russia has emerged as the third largest supplier of the coking coal in April-May 2023.

• Steel mills imported about 1.1 million tonnes (mt) of coking coal from Russia in April-May 2023.
• Coking coal shipments from Russia in April-May 2022 was just 0.13 mt.
• This consisted of 0.022 mt of supplies in May and 0.11 mt in April of 2022.
• The reasons for rise in imports are favourable prices and offers from Russia.
• Russia was included among the top 10 coking coal suppliers. It reached in top five suppliers last fiscal.
• Traditionally, coking coal imports from Australia formed 75-80% of annual shipments.
• But Australia’s share declined due to higher imports from the United States and Russia.
• India is the world’s second largest crude steel producer. It imports almost 90% of its coking coal requirements.

Topic: Reports and Indices

7. Austria's capital Vienna is the most livable city in the world: Global livability index 2023.

• According to the global livability index 2023, Vienna has been named the world's "most livable city" for 2023.
• The Global livability index 2023 has been released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
• It has ranked 173 cities around the world on different factors including health care, education, stability, infrastructure and the environment.
• In this ranking, Denmark's Copenhagen is in second place while Australia's Melbourne and Sydney are in third and fourth positions.
• India’s five cities- Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai, New Delhi and Mumbai - are also on the list of most livable cities.
• New Delhi and Mumbai secured141st position. Chennai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru are ranked 144th, 147th and 148th, respectively.
• The average index score across 172 cities (eliminating Kyiv in Ukraine) has now reached 76.2 out of 100. It is the highest in the last 15 years.
• UK capital London and Sweden's capital Stockholm have reached 46th and 43rd positions.
• As per the report, the health care scores have improved the most.
• Canada has the highest number of livable cities in the top 10. These cities are Calgary (7th), Vancouver (5th) and Toronto (9th).
• Damascus is the least livable city in the world. Kyiv is also in the bottom 10.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

8. NTPC gets the prestigious "Most Preferred Workplace of 2023-24" title.

• NTPC Ltd has been honoured with the prestigious title of "Most Preferred Workplace of 2023-24" by Team Marksmen.
• Sital Kumar along with other officials received the award on behalf of NTPC.
• This award reflects NTPC’s commitment to achieve excellence in the development and management of its human resources through continuous improvement, engagement and learning opportunities.
• NTPC’s progressive and "People before PLF" (Plant Load Factor) approach has made it a preferred workplace.
• Team Marksmen in association with India Today and Business Standard has conducted the award.
• NTPC Limited:
  • It is India’s largest power generation company. It is under the ownership of the Ministry of Power.
  • It was founded in 1975. Gurdeep Singh is its Chairman and MD.

Topic: Appointments

9. Federal Bank’s wholesale banking head Harsh Dugar has been elevated as its executive director.

• RBI has approved his appointment for 3 years with effect from June 23.
• He will continue to oversee the wholesale banking division of Federal Bank.
• Kamal Kishore Chatiwal has been appointed as new managing director of Indraprastha Gas Limited.
• He has succeeded Sanjay Kumar, who has taken over as Director (Marketing) in GAIL (India) Limited.
• Ruby Sinha has been appointed as President of the BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BRICS CCI) women vertical for three years.
• She takes over from Shabana Nasim. Shabana Nasim has become the Executive Director of BRICS CCI and Chief Patron of BRICS CCI WE.
• Federal Bank:
  • It is an Indian private sector bank with headquarters in Aluva, Kochi.
  • Shyam Srinivasan is the CEO of Federal Bank. Its tagline is your perfect banking partner.
• Indraprastha Gas Limited:
  • It is a joint venture between GAIL and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), in which the Delhi government holds a 5% stake.
  • It was established in 1998. It is headquartered in New Delhi.

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