Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 28 and 29 April 2020

1. TRAI gives recommendation for examining and making necessary changes in governance of BARC India

• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has given the recommendation for reviewing and making necessary changes in the governance of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India. 
• Stakeholders have raised concerns about neutrality and reliability of BARC India. So, TRAI reviewed India’s system for measurement and ratings of Television audience.
• TRAI has recommended that there is a need for maintaining the distance between BARC and Meteorology Data Pvt. Ltd.
• Meteorology Data Pvt. Ltd. is a subsidiary of BARC. It is also the only agency for data collection.  
• TRAI recommends that there should be many data collections agencies and BARC should only publish TV ratings.  As per TRAI, BARC should also develop audit mechanisms for rating agencies.
• The board of BARC India should also be restructured. It should have 50 % independent members. Two independent members should be government’s representatives. The tenure of Chairman and Board members should be two years.
• TRAI has suggested that an oversight committee should be formed.
• BARC India was formed in 2010 by various stakeholders’ bodies such as Indian Broadcasting Federation (IBF), The Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI).  It is headquartered in Mumbai. Its Chairman Is Punit Goenka.

2. Joint venture agreement sign between Axis Bank and MFSL

• Axis bank and Max Financial Services Ltd. (MFSL) have signed a joint venture agreement for becoming partners in Max Life Insurance Company Limited (Max Life).
• Axis bank will get a 30% stake in Max Life after completion of the agreement in six to nine months.
• The agreement was approved by Axis bank’s board of directors on 27^th April.
• Axis bank is currently India’s third largest private sector bank and Max Life is 4^th biggest private life Insurance brand in India.
• Amitabh Chaudhry is current MD and CEO of Axis bank and Max group was founded by Analjit Singh. He is the current chairman of Max group.

3. Karnataka’s total installed renewable energy capacity highest in India

• As per the Crisil Research Report, Karnataka has the highest total installed renewable energy capacity in India.
• The report says that Gujarat and Rajasthan have done maximum addition to their renewable energy capacities in FY20.
• As per the report, three states having installed capacity over 10 GW are Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
• While Gujarat added 1934 MW capacity, Rajasthan added 1911 MW capacity.
• Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka added maximum solar energy capacities in FY20.
• Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra added maximum wind energy capacities in FY20.

4. Union Bank may create the posts of Chief General Managers

• India’s fifth largest public sector bank, Union Bank of India may create 14 posts of Chief General Managers.
• On 1 April 2020, the merger of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank with Union Bank of India was completed.
• The Bank will promote 14 of the total four Executive Directors (EDs) and 55 General Managers (GM) to the post of CGMs.
• Currently, State Bank of India is also having the post of CGMs. In addition to CGMs, SBI also has Deputy Managing Directors and Managing Directors.

5. ADB to give loan to India

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) has sanctioned 1.5 billion dollars loan to India.
• The loan has been approved to support India in its fight against Coronavirus.
• The loan will be used to contain COVID-19 pandemic and to provide social protection to poor and vulnerable.
• ADB was formed in 1966. Its headquarters are located in Mandaluyong City in Manila in Philippines.

Read Banking Awareness PDF - 28 and 29 April 2020