Topic: Banking System
1. UCO Bank has become the first bank to get approval for settling trade in Indian rupees.
- RBI has given approval to the UCO bank to open a special Vostro account with Gazprombank of Russia for trade settlement in Indian rupees.
- UCO bank has become the first bank to receive such approval after RBI decided to allow Indian banks to settle trade in Indian rupee in July 2022.
- After the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the trade between India and Russia has increased.
- During the April-June quarter, India’s imports from Russia were valued at $9.27 billion, up 369% on year.
- Major items imported from Russia include crude oil, coal, soybean, fertilisers, etc.
- Earlier in 2012, UCO bank was selected as the payment bank for oil imports from Iran after US tightened the sanctions.
- In 2021, UCO bank was taken out of the PCA framework.
- UCO Bank is Kolkata-headquartered public sector bank. It was put under the PCA framework in May 2017 due to high net non-performing assets and a negative return on assets.
- Gazprombank is one of the largest multi-faceted financial institutions in Russia.
Topic: Companies/ Corporates
2. TerraPay and NPCI International collaborated to drive seamless merchant payments via UPI enabled QR codes.
- TerraPay is a leading global payments infrastructure group headquartered in UK.
- TerraPay partnered with NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) to strengthen its cross-border payment solutions.
- This partnership will allow Indian merchants and customers with an active UPI Id to accept or make cross-border payments hassle free by utilising TerraPay’s infrastructure and UPI network.
- NIP is the International arm of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It was formed on 3 April 2020 as a wholly owned subsidiary of NPCI.
- UPI is an instant real time payment (RTP) system developed by NPCI.
Topic: Appointments
3. Dilip Asbe has been re-appointed as CEO and MD of NPCI.
- NPCI has approved the re-appointment of Dilip Asbe as CEO and MD for five years wef 8 January 2023.
- In January 2018, he was appointed as MD and CEO of NPCI.
- Before this, he served as Chief Operating Officer of NPCI for 5 years.
- NPCI is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. It is an initiative of RBI and IBA formed in 2008.
Topic: Appointments
4. RailTel appointed Sanjai Kumar as Chairman and MD.
- Sanjai Kumar has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of RailTel.
- Prior to this, he was acting as the Director (Network Planning & Marketing/NPM) with additional charge of Director (Project, Operations & Maintenance/ POM) in RailTel.
- RailTel Corporation of India Limited is an Indian public sector enterprise that was found in September 2000. It is a Mini Ratna (Category-I) PSU.
Topic: Miscellaneous
5. IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich list 2022 has been released by IIFL Wealth and Hurun India.
- As per the list, Gautam Adani has bagged the richest Indian title with INR 10,94,400 crore wealth. He has overtaken Mukesh Ambani.
- Two new names have appeared in India top ten- Dilip Sanghvi of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank.
- Founder of Nykaa - Falguni Nayar overtakes ‘Biotech Queen’ Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw to become the richest self-made Indian woman.
- Mumbai topped the India Rich list followed by New Delhi and Bengaluru.
- Ratan Tata is the most-followed entrepreneur from IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2022 on Indian social media, followed by Anand Mahindra.
- India’s rich cumulatively constitute INR 100 lakh crore of wealth in 2022.
Topic: Corporates/Companies
6. BiofuelCircle, a Pune-based startup, launched its platform for biomass supply.
- India’s first e-marketplace for fuels and biomass supply has been launched.
- It took one year for BiofuelCircle to build its platform. During January-June 2021, it launched a pilot before launching its services.
- The aim of the company is to address the challenges related to bioenergy supply chain.
- A start-up under the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) has developed e-trading platforms to introduce online auction in the Indian fisheries sector.
Topic: Infrastructure and Energy
7. FlyBlade has signed an MoU for introducing electric flying vehicles in India.
- Embrear’s Eve Air Mobility has signed an MoU with FlyBlade India to bring at least 200 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOLs) to India by 2026.
- eVTOL aircraft is a type of VTOL aircraft that uses electric power to hover, take off, and land vertically.
- They are designed to pick up passengers from rooftops of their apartment blocks to ferry them across the city to their respective offices or entertainment centres.
- FlyBlade India was incorporated on 26 October 2018. BLADE India is a facilitator which provides a common platform to members who wish to avail the helicopter carriage services. It is a joint venture between BLADE USA and Hunch Ventures.
Topic: Corporates/Companies
8. REC Limited becomes the 12th Maharatna Company in India.
- The Department of Public Enterprises issued an order to grant ‘Maharatna’ status to REC Limited.
- The grant of ‘Maharatna’ status to REC (formerly Rural Electrification Corporation limited) will enhance the power of the company’s Board to take financial decisions.
- The Board of a ‘Maharatna’ CPSE can now make equity investments to start a joint venture company and can undertake mergers and acquisitions in India and abroad.
- REC can now invest up to ₹5,000 crores, or 15% of its net worth, in a single project after gaining Maharatna status.
- REC Limited:
- It was established in 1969 to provide financial assistance to state electricity boards, state governments, and central and state power utilities.
- It is the nodal agency for the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS).
Topic: Agriculture and allied sectors
9. Five South Asian countries, including India, have formed the Palm Oil Alliance.
- The edible oil trade associations of the five-palm oil-importing countries of South Asia have announced the establishment of the Asian Palm Oil Alliance (APOA).
- The alliance is between industry bodies from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
- The objective of the alliance is to gain bargaining power and make imports sustainable.
- The alliance is committed to changing the negative image of palm oil by recognising palm oil as a high-quality, economical and healthy vegetable oil.
- The Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA) of India would initially manage the secretariat of the newly formed alliance.
- In the first general assembly of the alliance, SEA President Atul Chaturvedi was elected as the first President.
- Early next year, the APOA is expected to hold its next meeting in Indonesia.
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