Banking Awareness of 25, 26 and 27 August 2024

Topic: RBI

1. RBI plans to introduce the Unified Lending Interface (ULI) nationally following the success of UPI.

• The platform would enable frictionless lending, particularly for MSMEs and farmers.
• It would provide lenders with digital access to both financial and non-financial customer data, including land records.
• Based on RBI's experience with the aforementioned technological platform's pilot, the platform's nationwide launch will take place in due time, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
• Das said that the new JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhar, Mobile)-UPI-ULI trinity will be a revolutionary step forward in India's march towards digital infrastructure.
• He was speaking at the RBI@90 Global Conference on Digital Public Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies.
• Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit (PTPFC) is developed by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH). In 2023, the PTPFC pilot program was started.
• It makes use of open APIs and standards to simplify data availability in a "plug and play" fashion, enabling the seamless disbursement of credit.
• It focused on products like entirely digital Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loans up to ₹1.6 lakh per borrower, home loans, dairy loans, MSME loans, personal loans, car loans, tractor loans, and digital gold loans through participating banks.

Topic: Taxation

2. RBI won't be required to pay GST on fines or penalties collected from its regulated institutions, according to a ruling by MAAR.

• In order to obtain advance rulings on two questions, RBI has moved to the Maharashtra Authority for Advance Rulings (MAAR).
• The first question was whether or not the fines, late fees, and penal interest assessed and collected for breaking the law are subject to the GST.
• The second question was whether the RBI's contractual obligations to third-party vendors regarding penalties for non-performance or underperformance would be subject to GST. 
• The RBI emphasised that the only goal of imposing penalties, late fees, penal interest, and fines is to instill discipline among the Regulatees as it acts as a deterrent for them.
• MAAR recently ruled that an RBI penalty would not be considered a supply of services.
• The RBI imposes liquidated damage penalties on third-party vendors that fail to fulfill their contractual obligations or perform them inadequately. Furthermore, these activities are not a supply.

Topic: RBI

3. The RBI has extended the e-mandate framework to incorporate FASTag and NCMC auto-replenishment.

• The RBI declared that the current e-mandate framework will now cover the auto-replenishment of balances in FASTag and NCMC.
• When a customer-defined threshold is reached, the auto replenishment of balances is initiated.
• The purpose of this is to simplify recurrent transactions that don't have a set periodicity.
• Pre-debit notification will not be required for payments made for auto-replenishment.
• Auto-replenishment payments are recurrent in nature, but they don't follow a set schedule.
• The e-mandate framework was launched in 2019. It was created to protect customers by making sure they are aware of impending account debits.
• NCMC stands for National Common Mobility Card. It was launched on 4 March 2019.
• It is an inter-operable transport card. It is conceived by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

4. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports into India reached a 4-year high level in May–July 2024.

• India's monthly LNG imports in May-July 2024, at an average of 2.57 million tonnes (MT), reached a four-year high level, as per energy analytics firm Vortexa.
• The nation has been experiencing record-breaking temperature since May, which has played a major role in this.
• In order to keep up with the rising demand for cooling, gas-fired power generation surged during the high temperatures.
• But with the monsoon season beginning in July and the weather cooling off, power demand has decreased.
• India's annual growth in power consumption has been between 7 and 9 percent.
• Between April and June of 2024, gas-based power plants generated the second-highest amount of electricity ever recorded and utilized their full capacity.
• Gas's share of India's power generation mix increased from 2% in June 2023 to 2.8% in June 2024 due to higher output from gas-based power plants.
• The US surpassed Qatar to become India's top supplier of LNG in June.

Topic: Miscellaneous

5. A new polymer plastic currency note will be tested later this year by Pakistan's central bank.

• Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmed announced that by December 2024, every paper currency note in circulation will have new security features included.
• He announced that in December, the freshly redesigned banknotes in the amounts of ₹10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, and 5000 would be released.
• The Senate committee members were also informed by the governor of the State Bank that a new banknote made of polymer plastic would be released in a single denomination for the general population.
• Other denominations of plastic money would follow if it is favorably received.
• Currently, polymer plastic banknotes are used in about 40 nations.
• These have more advanced security measures, including as holograms and see-through windows, and are difficult to counterfeit.
• In 1998, Australia became the first nation to use polymer banknotes.

Topic: Appointments

6. Sindhu Gangadharan has been appointed as the next chairperson of Nasscom, effective immediately.

• Rajesh Nambiar hands over the position of National Association of Software Services Companies (Nasscom) chairperson to Gangadharan.
• Last year, Gangadharan was chosen to serve as the Nasscom GCC Council Chair.
• On August 21, IT industry body Nasscom announced the appointment of Rajesh Nambiar as its president-designate.
• Nambiar, who resigned as chairman and managing director of Cognizant India, will replace Debjani Ghosh at Nasscom.
• Debjani Ghosh’s term at Nasscom will complete in November 2024.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

7. US emerged as India's top trading partner during this year’s January-June.

• Exports to the US increased from $37.7 billion in January-June 2023 to $41.6 billion in January-June 2024, a growth of 10.5%.
• India recorded the highest trade deficit of $41.6 billion with China during the period.
• India exports goods to 239 countries, of which 126 showed positive growth in exports.
• India’s merchandise exports increased 5.41% to $230.51 billion during the first half of 2024.
• India’s exports to Italy, Belgium, Nepal, and Hong Kong have declined.
• Imports from Russia grew to $34.4 billion from $30.8 billion, an 11.65% increase.
• China remained the largest import supplier as imports increased from $46.2 billion to $50.1 billion.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

8. On 24 August 2024, Union Cabinet approved the Unified Pension Scheme for government employees.

• For a minimum qualifying service of 25 years, the scheme guarantees 50% of average basic pay drawn over the final twelve months prior to superannuation.
• The scheme ensures that, in the case of the employee's death, their family will get 60% of their pension.
• After at least ten years of service, a basic pension of at least 10,000 rupees per month will be guaranteed upon superannuation.
• Assured pensions, guaranteed family pensions, and guaranteed minimum pensions are all subject to inflation indexation.
• As in case of serving personnel, there will be dearness relief based on the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers.
• In addition to the gratuity, there will be a lump sum payment at superannuation.
• The scheme will be effective from 1st April 2025. Additionally, the state governments will have the option to use the Unified Pension Scheme.
• Employees of the central government would be able to select between UPS and the National Pension Scheme (NPS).
• Current NPS subscribers of the central government will also have the choice to move to UPS.
• Employees of the government hired on or after April 1, 2004, are covered by the NPS.
• The NPS is based on a contribution model as opposed to the defined benefit plan that is accessible to workers hired prior to this date.
• A committee was formed led by Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan to address the issues around new pension scheme.

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