Banking Awareness of 28, 29 and 30 July 2024

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

1. India is going to be the biggest labour supplier in the world.

• Remittances will increase from $115 billion in 2023 to about $160 billion in 2029, as per the RBI's Report on Currency and Finance (RCF).
• With 13.5% of all remittance recipients worldwide, India is already the nation with the highest share in remittances.
• Remittances as a percentage of GDP for India grew steadily from 2.8% in 2000 to 3.2% in 2023.
• According to the report's authors, India's remittance to GDP ratio is currently higher than that of gross FDI inflows to GDP (1.9% in 2023).
• The report's theme is India’s Digital Revolution. India's population of working age is expected to grow until 2048.
• According to the report, remittances worldwide are estimated to reach US$ 857.3 billion by 2023.
• India (US$ 115.3 billion), Mexico, China (US$ 49.5 billion), and the Philippines are the top countries receiving remittances worldwide.
• The Gulf countries accounted for over half of India's inward remittances in 2021. North America made up 22% of the total.
• The cost of remitting money internationally has dropped over time, according to RCF.
• In Q1 (January-March) 2024, the average cost of receiving remittances for India was 5.01 percent.
• This was a little less than the 5.04 percent from Q4 of 2023 (October to December).
• This was more than the 3 percent Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for every $200 remittance sent home.
• According to the World Bank (2024), the average cost of remitting $200 USD globally was 6.35 percent in Q1 2024. This was slightly less than 6.39 percent in Q4 2023.

Topic: Reports and Indices

2. As per RBI report, India accounts for nearly half of the global digital payments.

• According to a report by the Reserve Bank of India, 48.5 percent of the global real-time payment volumes are performed in India.
• The digital economy currently makes up about a tenth of India’s GDP. It is likely to grow to a fifth of GDP by 2026.
• Digital payments in India have registered an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50 percent in volume and 10 percent in value terms over the last seven years (between 2017-18 and 2023-24).
• The report also highlighted that India led the global remittances in 2023 by receiving US$115.3 billion.
• The report also pointed out that cybersecurity is a significant challenge due to the diverse nature of cyber threats.
• Security incidents have increased from 53,117 in 2017 to 13,20,106 during January-October 2023.
• In value terms, NEFT transactions had maximum share (49.4%) in total retail payments in FY24. NEFT transactions were followed by UPI at 25.3% share.

Topic: Reports and Indices  

3. As per RBI’s latest Report on Currency and Finance (RCF), average cost of data breaches in India was $2.18 million in 2023.

• There was a 28% increase since 2020 according to the report.
• Average cost of data breaches in India was less than the global average cost of data breach of $4.45 million as per the report.
• As per the report, phishing (22%) was the most common attacks in India.
• Phishing was followed by stolen or compromised credentials (16 per cent).
• RCF said cybercrime costs will globally reach from $8.15 trillion in 2023 to $13.82 trillion by 2028.
• Cyber security investment budgets have been increased by most central banks by 5% since 2020.
• Security incidents handled by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERTIn) have grown from 53,117 in 2017 to 13,20,106 during January-October 2023.
• The share of unauthorised network scanning/probing/vulnerable services is over 80% of all security incidents in India.
• Automotive industry is the most vulnerable to cyber-attacks in India.
• In the report, RBI officials said the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector is relatively protected from such attacks.

Topic: Reports and Indices

4. 31 percent of rural families' total outstanding loans come from informal lenders.

• The penetration of informal loans is highest among households in the lowest economic strata.
• In 2018–19, consumption smoothing, social ceremonies and medical emergencies together stood for about 30% of total loans availed by rural households (NSO, 2021), said RBI report.
• This suggests that rather than being motivated by long-term investment, a sizable percentage of loans made by rural households are motivated by urgent and basic necessities.
• There were 7.4 crore Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) in operation as of the end of March 2023.
• Marginal farmers with less than one hectare of land have a less than 20% KCC penetration rate.
• Among the factors contributing to the low penetration rate of KCCs are the absence of online land and revenue records and a general lack of awareness about the scheme.

Topic: Miscellaneous

5. The Department of Commerce is currently assessing the B-READY framework's international trade indicators and questions.

• The Department of Commerce has requested comments on the issue from a range of industry sectors.
• World Bank’s flagship ‘Business Ready’ (B-READY) project will take place of its Doing Business survey.
• The B-READY project will compare the investment climate and business environment in different economies.
• Between 2024 and 2026, three B-READY pilot reports are expected to be published.
• The initial pilot project will cover 54 economies. The number will increase to 185 economies.
• The B-READY survey has 10 different indicators/topics on which countries will be rated by experts and company surveys.
• The topics are business entry, business location, utility services, labour, financial services, international trade, taxation, dispute resolution, market competition, and business insolvency.
• The World Bank decided to discontinue publishing its ‘Doing Business’ survey after data irregularities of 2018 and 2020 were reported internally in June 2020.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

6. Engineering exports in June 2024 have grown 10.27% (year-on-year) to $9.39 billion.

• This increase is due to rise in shipments of electrical machinery, motor vehicles, products of iron and steel, auto components and parts, and Industrial machinery.
• Cumulative exports in April-Jun 2024-25 increased 4.34% to $27.92 billion.
• India’s overall goods exports in June 2024 rose at 2.6% (year-on-year) to $35.2 billion.
• In the April-June 2024-25, goods exports increased 5.84% to $109.96 billion.
• North America (21% share) and the EU (17% share) were India’s topmost destinations for engineering exports. 
• In April-June 2024-25, the US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Singapore, the UK, and Mexico were the export destinations that have shown growth.
• Exports to Germany, Italy, Korea Rep, Nepal and Bangladesh have shown a decline during the same period. 
• In June 2024, exports of iron and steel, non-ferrous products, other products including industrial boilers and office equipment, declined.

Topic: Miscellaneous

7. Gujarat is to establish ‘GRIT’ based on the Niti Aayog model.

• Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel announced the establishment of Gujarat State Institution for Transformation (GRIT), a think-tank modelled after NITI Aayog.
• It will serve as a public policy think-tank for the state.
• Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel unveiled the 'Gujarat@2047 Dynamic Document-Roadmap'.
• It is focused on pillars of 'Earning Well' and 'Living Well' aimed to enhance the quality of life and economic prosperity in the state.
• It will help the state in achieving development goals.
• CM affirmed that the government is committed to adopting the Prime Minister's 'GYAN' mantra, focusing on the advancement of the Garib (Poor), Yuva (Youth), Annadata (Farmers), and Naari (Women).

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

8. 9^th governing council meeting of NITI Aayog was chaired by PM Modi.

• The meeting focused on making India a developed country. The theme of this year’s meeting was Viksit Bharat@2047.
• In the meeting, the Vision Document on Viksit Bharat wa discussed.
• The main aim of the Governing Council meeting was to foster participative governance and collaboration between the Centre and State Governments.
• In the meeting, detailed deliberations on the role of states in achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat were also discussed.
• The Prime Minister is the Chairperson of the NITI Aayog. Suman Bery is currently Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog.
• NITI Aayog was formed via a resolution of the Union Cabinet on 1 January 2015.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

9. India’s first Integrated Agri-Export facility has been approved for Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port.

• India’s first Integrated Agri-Export Facility will be set up at Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai.
• It will increase the agricultural export and import capabilities of India.
• The government has approved the project of the development of an export-import cum agricultural Agricultural processing and storage facility in a public-private partnership mode worth more than 284 crore rupees.
• This facility will cater to the export of prominent items like non-basmati rice, maize, spices, onions, and wheat.
• It will reduce waste and provide better prices for agricultural products.
• Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) is also developing one of the biggest ports in the country, the Vadhavan Port.
• JNPA is one of the leading container ports among the top 100 global ports.

Topic: Appointments

10. Manoj Mittal took charge as Chairman and Managing Director of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

• Mittal has taken over as CMD of SIDBI, replacing S Raman.
• He has extensive experience of over 33 years in the finance sector.
• It includes his previous tenures as Managing Director and CEO at Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) and Deputy Managing Director at SIDBI.
• Earlier, Mittal has worked as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of state-owned non-banking finance company, IFCI.
• On April 2, 1990, SIDBI was established under an act of the Indian Parliament.
• SIDBI is mandated to act as the principal financial institution for implementing the three-pronged agenda of promotion, financing and development of the MSME sector.

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