Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market
1. The minimum public float requirement has been lowered from 25% to 10% by the finance ministry.
- The Finance Ministry has taken this step in an attempt to attract domestic and international businesses to list on the international stock exchanges located at GIFT City, Gandhinagar (Gujarat).
- To enable the lower norm, the ministry modified the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules.
- With this step, Indian startups and unicorns can access larger foreign capital pool, said the experts.
- Experts say that startups in the technology and other growing areas can now aim for direct listing in the GIFT City bourses.
- In January, the finance ministry gave domestic public businesses permission to issue and list their shares immediately on international stock exchanges that are located in GIFT City.
- Presently, the only people who can trade shares on the IFSC exchanges are non-resident Indians and foreign investors.
Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market
2. Fitch Ratings continues to keep India’s sovereign rating at BBB Minus (BBB-) with stable outlook.
- Foreign investors use the sovereign rating as one of the parameters for investment decisions.
- ‘BBB Minus’ is the last/lowest investment grade rating.
- A stable outlook means that the rating agency may not revise the rating downwards soon.
- If the outlook is positive, then the possibility is the ratings may be revised upwards, possibly in the coming two years.
- The agency said that as we forecast a 4.4% deficit, the central government will meet its FY26 deficit target of 4.5% of GDP or less, which was set in the FY22 budget.
- According to Moody's, India's GDP would grow by 7.2% in 2024, up from 6.8% in the previous year.
- The services PMI has continuously been above 60 since the year's beginning, according to the Moody's, which highlighted the robust performance of both the industrial and services sectors.
- S&P Global Ratings changed its assessment of India's economy from "stable" to "positive" earlier in May.
- It did, however, keep its sovereign rating of "BBB Minus." S&P was the first to update the outlook following a ten-year gap.
Topic: Reports and Indices
3. According to a report, 57% of women micro-business owners had no idea that UPI-based solutions existed.
- 16 to 20 million customers are among the neglected group, according to the report by Women's World Banking and National Payments Corporation of India.
- According to the report presented at the Global Fintech Fest 2024, out of 2,500 women entrepreneurs surveyed for a pilot project, 57% were unaware of UPI-based solutions.
- According to the report, women's micro businesses, which operate in semi-urban and rural areas, are mainly unexplored by merchant aggregators despite being mature businesses.
- At the Global Fintech Fest, Women's World Banking (WWB) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) released the report.
- The report includes a survey of 2,500 women merchants that was carried out as part of a pilot program for MobiKwik and PhonePe's UPI merchant products.
- Roughly 15% of the women respondents indicated they were unsure of the fees and charges levied by the merchant aggregator.
- According to the report, women influencers in the community had greater success in onboarding women merchants.
Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes
4. Scheme for trading and settlement of sovereign green bonds (SGrBs) in IFSC has been introduced by RBI.
- The scheme covers investments in sovereign green bonds issued by the Government of India to eligible investors in the IFSC in India.
- Investors can take part in the primary auctions of securities carried out by the Reserve Bank.
- Investors can transact in the secondary market for securities in the IFSC.
- As part of the scheme, investors are not allowed to repackage or write any derivative instrument on underlying securities they hold.
- They also are not allowed to undertake repo transactions in such securities.
- Eligible IBUs are not allowed to take part in the primary auctions under the scheme.
- However, they are allowed to take part in the secondary market.
- IBUs (IFSC Banking Units) are banking units set up in the IFSC.
- Investors are allowed to conduct trade in the secondary market in the IFSC with other investors and eligible IBUs.
- However, transactions between two eligible IBUs are not allowed.
- Eligible IBUs are allowed to trade with investors such that the transactions will be carried out on a ‘back-to-back’ arrangement.
- As per the RBI, the scheme will come into force with immediate effect.
- IFSC Authority will issue the operational guidelines for participation in the scheme by entities in the IFSC.
Topic: Banking System
5. Inori RuPay Platinum Credit Card has been launched by ESAF Small Finance Bank.
- Inori RuPay Platinum Credit Card has been designed in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
- It has been designed to offer cardholders exclusive benefits and privileges.
- The name of the card “Inori” is derived from the Japanese word for “wish”.
- This symbolizes the aspiration to fulfil the desires and expectations of customers.
- Cardholders can enjoy comprehensive insurance coverage of up to ₹2 lakh. It also offers other rewards and benefits.
Topic: Appointments
6. Subhasri has been appointed MD & CEO of Shriram Capital, effective September 1, 2024.
- Paytm Money has appointed NV Srinivasan as Non-Executive Independent Director.
- Previously, he was Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).
- Paytm Money Ltd (PML) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of One97 Communications Ltd (OCL).
- Satish Kumar has been appointed as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Railway Board.
- He has become 1st Dalit chairman and CEO of Railway Board.
- He will succeed Jaya Varma Sinha. His tenure will begin from 1 September.
- Jaya Varma Sinha is the first woman to be appointed as the CEO of the board. Jaya Varma Sinha is superannuating on August 31.
- In an order on July 29, Jaya Varma Sinha was appointed as an administrative member in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions
7. SEBI banned Rana Sugars' promoters and others from the securities market for two years.
- 14 entities including, Rana Sugars promoters and other related entities have been debarred by the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for two years.
- A ₹63-crore fine was also imposed on charges of diversion of funds.
- The regulator also prohibited Inder Pratap Singh Rana (promoter), Ranjit Singh Rana (chairman), Veer Pratap Singh Rana (MD), and Gurjeet Singh Rana from holding any position as director or key managerial person of any other listed company for two years.
- SEBI imposed penalties of ₹3 crore to 7 crore on Rana Sugars, its promoters, and other related entities.
- SEBI also directed Rana Sugars to recover ₹607 crore from related entities including ₹339 crore in receivables and ₹268 crore in interest dues.
- The regulator directed Rana Sugars to take all necessary steps to recover dues from these entities and advised them to appoint an independent law firm to take effective steps to recover.
Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes
8. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana completed 10 years.
- The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched on 28th August 2014 by Narendra Modi.
- PMJDY is the largest financial inclusion initiative in the world.
- It provides support to the marginalised and economically backward sections through its financial inclusion interventions.
- The total number of PMJDY accounts reached 53.13 crore as of 14th August 2024.
- 55.6% (29.56 crore) of Jan-Dhan account holders are women.
- 66.6% (35.37 crore) of Jan Dhan accounts have been opened in rural and semi-urban areas.
- Total deposit balances under PMJDY Accounts stand at Rs. 2,31,236 crore.
- The average deposit per account is Rs 4,352 as of 14th August 2024.
- 36.14 crore RuPay cards have been issued to PMJDY account holders.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government aims to open over 3 crore accounts under PMJDY.
Topic: Awards and Prizes
9. Jana Small Finance Bank won four awards at 2nd ICC Emerging Asia Banking Conclave.
- It won the awards of Best Small Finance Bank, India, Best Performance on Profitability (Runners-up), Best Performance on Asset Quality, and Best Performance on Risk Management.
- Gopal Tripathi, Head - Treasury and Capital Markets, attended the awards ceremony.
- In 2024, the bank was awarded with Regional Winners: Asia by IBS Intelligence.
- Jana Small Finance Bank is the 4th largest Small Finance Bank in India. It is a scheduled commercial bank. It was launched in March 2018.
- J&K Bank has won “Best Performance on Profitability” award in the category of Private Sector Bank (Mid-Size) at the 2nd ICC Emerging Asia Banking Conclave & Awards 2024.
- Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) organised 2nd ICC Emerging Asia Banking Conclave on 22nd and 23rd August 2024 in New Delhi.
- The theme of the conclave was Leading in the Digital Paradigm.
- The conclave involved participation from thought leaders, regulators, and banking professionals from the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) region.
- 1st ICC Emerging Asia Banking Conclave was held in Goa in May 2023.
Topic: Miscellaneous
10. Union Cabinet approved the expansion of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
- The expansion of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) has been approved by the Union Cabinet.
- The main aim of this step is to boost agricultural infrastructure across India and to make it more attractive, impactful, and inclusive.
- The scheme, worth ₹1 lakh crore, would be redesigned to include financial support for Farmers’ Producers Organisations (FPOs).
- Rs 47,575 crore has been sanctioned for 74,508 projects under AIF till date.
- These sanctioned projects have mobilised an investment of ₹ 78,596 crore in the agriculture sector.
- The infrastructure projects sanctioned under AIF have helped in generating more than 8.19 lakh rural employment opportunities in the agriculture sector.
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