Banking Awareness of 27, 28 and 29 August 2022

Topic: Corporates/Companies

1. Government will launch first set of nine forms on Version 3 of MCA 21 portal on 31 August.

• This is the next step in the rollout of Version 3.0 of MCA21.
• Company e-filings on the version 2.0 portal have been disabled from August 15 for these nine forms.
• Based on feedback and corrections, MCA is implementing version 3.0 in phases.
• MCA21 Version 3.0 has additional modules for e-scrutiny, e-adjudication, e-consultation, and compliance management.
• L&T Infotech has signed a contract for the operation and maintenance of MCA21 V3.0.
• First phase of MCA21 Version 3.0 was launched in May 2021.
• MCA21:
  • It is India’s first mission-mode e-governance project.
  • It is the online portal of the Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA).
  • It provides company-related information to stakeholders and the general public.
  • It was initially launched in 2006.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

2. India’s steel imports in July are greater than exports for the first time since January 2021.

• This is for the first time since January 2021 that India became a net importer of steel in July.
• Steel exports stood at 1,56,000 tonnes. This is the lowest level since June 2019.
• A levy of 15% export duty (introduced May 22 onwards) on steel products has hit export orders. Weakening of global demand has also hit orders.
• Around 444,000 tonnes of finished steel was imported.
• This is an 8% increase on year-on year (y-o-y) basis as per data compiled by the Steel Ministry.
• Volume wise, non-alloy hot rolled coil/trip was the most imported item between April and July.
• Volume-wise, Korea was the largest import market in the April to July period. This was followed by China and Indonesia.
• Imports from Japan and Taiwan fell 30 and 25% respectively.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

3. According to the MoSPI, 386 infrastructure projects reported cost overruns.

• Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) monitors infrastructure projects of ₹150 crore and above.
• As per MoSPI, out of 1,505 projects, 661 projects were delayed and 386 reported cost overruns.
• 386 infrastructure projects have been hit by cost overruns of more than ₹4.7 lakh crore.
• The average time overrun in these 661 delayed projects is 41.83 months.

• Reasons for time overruns are delay in land acquisition, delay in obtaining forest and environment clearances, lack of infrastructure support, etc.

Topic: Taxation

4. India’s diesel exports declined by 11% in July after government levied windfall profit tax.

• Overseas shipment of petrol declined by 4.5% after government levied windfall profit tax.
• Diesel exports declined from 2.45 mt in June to 2.18 million tonnes (mt) in July.
• Petrol exports declined from 1.16 mt in June to 1.1 mt in July.
• India imposed windfall profit taxes on July 1. Export duties of ₹6 per liter were levied on petrol and aviation turbine fuel.
• Export duty of ₹13 a liter was levied on diesel. The duties have now been removed for petrol. They are remaining for diesel and ATF as on 29 August 2022.

Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions

5. Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022 vests the power of appointment of Director General, CCI in the Competition Commission of India (CCI) itself.

• Director General, investigation arm of CCI, is presently appointed by the Central Government.
• The bill says CCI will appoint the DG with prior approval of the Centre.
• Currently, Central Government may appoint the DG under Section 16 of the Competition Act of 2002 in order to assist the CCI in conducting an investigation into any violations of the Act's provisions.
• As per the experts, this provision of the Competition (amendment) Bill 2022 may compromise the independence of investigation as it is unlikely DG (appointed by CCI) would differ from the view taken by CCI on any matter.

Topic: Banking/Financial Schemes

6. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) completed eight years of its implementation on 28 August 2022.

• Compared to one in four accounts five years ago, only one out of five Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts is inoperative now.
• Deposit per account has increased by over 71% during the same period. 56% of the account holders are women.
• In August 2022, out of total of 46.25 crore PMJDY accounts, about 37.57 crore (81.2% are operative) as against 23.15 crore accounts (76%) in August 2017.
• According to RBI guidelines, a PMJDY account is considered as inoperative if there are no customer-induced transactions in the account for over a period of two years.
• Only 8.2% of PMJDY accounts are presently zero balance accounts.
• Deposits have increased 7.60 times between August 2015 and August 2022. The average deposit per account is ₹3,761.
• PM Modi announced Jan Dhan Yojana on 15 August 2014. It was launched on 28 August 2014.
• PMJDY is also known as National Mission for Financial Inclusion. It aims at providing a basic savings bank account to the unbanked population with different banking services including a RuPay card.

Topic: Banking System

7. Bank of Maharashtra aims to become eighth largest Public Sector Bank (PSB).

• AS Rajeev, MD & CEO of the bank said it plans to have at least one branch in every district of the country to achieve this goal.
• He also said the bank also plans to increase the number of specialised housing finance branches, set up mid-corporate branches, and maintain 18-20 percent loan growth.
• Currently, Bank of Maharashtra is ranked at 11^th among 12 PSBs in terms of total business. Punjab & Sind Bank is ranked at 12^th.
• Bank of Maharashtra is headquartered in Pune. Its CEO is A. S. Rajeev. It is a nationalized bank.

Topic: Reports and Indices

8. State Bank of India dominates the market share of debit cards according to the data collected by PGA Labs.

• As on June 2022, SBI’s market share is 30%. Bank of Baroda secured second place with 8% market share.
• Bank of Baroda is followed by Bank of India, Canara Bank, Union Bank, and Punjab National Bank with a share of 5% each.
• SBI witnessed a 6% drop in year-on-year growth. HDFC Bank and Axis Bank saw highest YoY growth in debit card segment.
• HDFC Bank dominates credit card segment with a market share of 22%. It is followed by SBI (18% market share), ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, RBL Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
• Kotak Mahindra Bank saw highest YoY growth in June 2022.
• As per RBI data, credit card spending crossed Rs 1.09 trillion in June, down 4.34% MoM (Month on Month).
• PGA Labs is a New Delhi-based business research & intelligence services firm.

Topic: Banking System

9. BOB Financial Solutions has launched Yoddha co-branded RuPay credit card for Indian Army personnel.

• BOB Financial Solutions have launched the card in partnership with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• Yoddha co-branded RuPay credit card has contactless features. It will be offered on the RuPay platform.
• It will be offered Life Time Free to all Indian Army personnel.
• It has features like spend-based gifts, complimentary domestic airport lounge access, golf games/lessons, reward points, personal accidental insurance, 1% Fuel Surcharge waiver, EMI Offers and periodic merchant offers.     
• BOB Financial Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of Baroda.

Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions

10. SEBI auctioned the properties of Sumangal Industries and GSHP Realtech on 25 August 2022 to recover money that was illegally raised from investors.

• The properties worth a total of Rs 9.8 crores include land parcels, multi-storied buildings and a flat.     
• The auction was conducted online. eProcurement Technologies was appointed as the e-auction service provider.
• SEBI probe has found that, without complying with the regulatory norms, GSHP Realtech raised money from 535 persons in 2012-13 by issuing Non-Convertible Redeemable Debentures.
• Sumangal Industries has raised Rs 85 crore from investors through illegal collective investment schemes (CIS).
• Sumangal Industries was running illegal ‘potato purchase’ investment schemes promising 100 percent gain in just 15 months.
• Between 2013 to 2016, SEBI had ordered Sumangal and GSHP Realtech to return money to their investors, but they failed to return the money.
• As a result, SEBI started recovery proceedings against them.
• SEBI is a regulator of the securities market in India and aims to protect the interests of investors in securities.

Read Banking Awareness PDF of 27, 28 and 29 August 2022