Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market
1. India recorded current account deficit (CAD) of 1.2% of GDP in 2021-22 due to a wider trade deficit as per RBI.
- A surplus of 0.9% was recorded in FY2020-21. India’s current account deficit for January-March 2022 quarter declined to USD 13.4 billion or 1.5% of GDP.
- In the December 2021 quarter, current account deficit was USD 22.2 billion or 2.6% of GDP.
- The trade deficit increased to USD 189.5 billion in FY22 from USD 102.2 billion a year ago.
- Goods imports stood at USD 618.6 billion in FY22 as against USD 398.5 billion in the year-ago period.
- Private transfer receipts increased to US$ 23.7 billion, up by 13.4 % from their level a year ago.
- Net foreign direct investment (FDI) in Q4:2021-22 at US$ 13.8 billion was higher than US$ 2.7 billion in Q4:2020-21.
- Net FDI inflows at US$ 38.6 billion in 2021-22 were lower than US$ 44.0 billion in 2020-21.
- Current account deficit occurs when the value of a country’s imported goods and services and other payments is more than the value of its export of goods and services and other receipts.
Topic: Appointments
2. Parameswaran Iyer has been appointed as the new CEO of NITI Aayog for a period of 2 years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
- He will replace Amitabh Kant, whose term ends on June 30. Amitabh Kant was appointed as NITI Aayog’s CEO on February 17, 2016.
- Iyer is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.
- He took voluntary retirement from IAS in 2009 to join water and sanitation initiatives at the World Bank.
- He led government’s Swachh Bharat Mission between 2016 and 2020.
- He earlier worked as Senior Rural Water Sanitation Specialist at the United Nations.
- Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog is appointed by the Prime Minister for a fixed tenure. He is appointed in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
Topic: Taxation
3. Government has extended levying of GST compensation cess till March 2026.
- Levying of GST compensation cess was to end on June 30. Finance Ministry has now notified extension.
- The notification said that the period for levy and collection of cess under sub-section (1) of Section 8 of the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017 shall be up to the 31st March, 2026.
- However, this does not mean States will continue to get compensation till the extended period.
- On May 31, the Centre said it released the entire GST compensation payable to States by releasing ₹86,912 cr.
Topic: Appointments
4. RBI has appointed Venkat Nageswar Chalasani as a member of Srei’s advisory committee.
- Venkat Nageswar Chalasani is a former Deputy Managing Director of State Bank of India.
- He has now been appointed as member of the Advisory Committee of Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited and Srei Equipment Finance Limited (SEFL).
- RBI had constituted an Advisory panel under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Rules, 2019.
- This panel was constituted to advise the Administrator of Srei.
Topic: RBI
5. Card tokenisation deadline has been extended by RBI by another three months to September 30, 2022.
- Previous deadline was June 30. Initially, the RBI had set a deadline of December 31, 2021, to implement card on file tokenisation.
- Card on File Tokenisation is a method that allows cardholders to generate tokens, or a unique alternate code, in place of card details.
- Merchants can store these tokens for processing transactions in future.
Topic: Miscellaneous
6. MSME growth conclave will be hosted by The Hindu BusinessLine in Bengaluru on June 27.
- The conclave will be hosted on June 27 to commemorate International MSME Day (27 June).
- MSME growth conclave is powered by Dell Technologies in association with Canara Bank.
- State Bank of India, Government of Karnataka Department of Industries & Commerce & SSVM Institutions Coimbatore are the associate sponsors for the conclave.
- C N Ashwath Narayan, Minister for IT/BT, Higher Education, Skilling, Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka will deliver the inaugural address.
- MSMEs provide employment opportunities to nearly 12 crore workers, contribute 30% of India’s GDP and 45% of India’s exports.
Topic: RBI
7. The deadline for implementation of provisions regarding credit and debit card issuance has been extended by RBI.
- The deadline for implementation of few provisions regarding Master Direction- issuance and conduct of credit and debit cards was July 1, 2022.
- New deadline for implementation of the provisions regarding Master Direction- issuance and conduct of credit and debit cards is now October 1, 2022. These provisions are given next.
- Card-issuers shall seek One Time Password (OTP) based consent from the cardholder for activating a credit card.
- No breaching of sanctioned credit limit by the card-issuer without seeking explicit consent from the cardholder.
- No capitalization of unpaid charges/levies/taxes for charging/ compounding of interest.
- Timeline for implementation of other provisions under Master Direction- issuance and conduct of credit and debit cards remains same.
Topic: Banking System
8. Centre's Department of Pension & Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW) will collaborate with State Bank of India (SBI).
- They will collaborate to create an integrated pension portal to enhance ease of living of pensioners.
- Sessions on pension policy reforms and digitisation regarding the disbursement of pensions to central government pensioners were organized.
- These sessions were organized with the objective of updating SBI field functionaries during the two-day bankers' awareness programme in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
- Four such awareness programmes will be conducted in collaboration with the State Bank of India to cover the entire country.
Topic: Banking System
9. ICICI Bank has launched Campus Power.
- Campus Power caters to the needs of the students, parents and institutes.
- It is a digital platform to address the needs of the students aspiring to pursue higher education in India and abroad.
- It offers both banking and value-added solutions at one place. It is available for anyone including customers of other banks.
- ICICI Bank (ICICI Bank Limited) is a private sector bank. Girish Chandra Chaturvedi is chairman of its board of directors. Its MD & CEO is Sandeep Bakhshi.
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