Banking Awareness of 3, 4 and 5 July 2022

Topic: RBI

1. RBI has imposed penalties four co-operative banks and on Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank.

• RBI has imposed penalties of Rs 1.05 crore on Kotak Mahindra Bank for violation of norms related to ‘The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014’ and for non-compliance with certain directions.
• RBI has imposed the penalty of Rs 1 crore on IndusInd Bank for non-compliance with certain Know Your Customer (KYC) norms.
• RBI has also imposed penalties on four co-operative banks. These co-operative banks are given below.
  • Nav Jeevan Co-operative Bank
  • Balangir District Central Cooperative Bank Limited, Balangir
  • Dhakuria Cooperative Bank Ltd, Kolkata
  • The Palani Co-operative Urban Bank Limited, Palani
• IndusInd Bank is a private sector bank founded in 1994. It is headquartered in Mumbai. Sumant Kathpalia is its MD & CEO.  
• Kotak Mahindra Bank:
  • It was India’s 3^rd largest private sector bank in terms of assets and by market capitalisation as of November 2021.
  • It was founded in 2003. It is headquartered in Mumbai. Uday Kotak is its MD & CEO.

Topic: Appointments

2. Indian origin T Raja Kumar became the new President of the FATF.

• He succeeded Dr Marcus Pleyer and will serve for a two-year term.
• Prior to this, he was serving as the Senior Advisor (International) in the Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore.
• Financial Action Task Force (FATF):
  • It is a global watchdog for money laundering and terrorist financing.
  • It was established in 1989 to create policies to deal with money laundering. The financing of terrorism was also included in 2001.
  • It is headquartered in Paris, France.
  • India became an observer at FATF in 2006 and became a full-time member in 2010.

Topic: Reports and Indices

3. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has released states' Startup ranking 2021.

• The ranking has been given to states and UTs under five categories - best performers, top performers, leaders, aspiring leaders and emerging startup ecosystems.
• In the ‘Best performers’ category, Gujarat and Karnataka were adjudged as the best performers in ‘category A’ while Meghalaya is selected in ‘category B’.
• Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha and Telangana have been kept in ‘category A’ of ‘Top performers’ while Jammu & Kashmir is the top performer in ‘category B’.
• In the ‘Leader’ category, Assam, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are the top performer's states in ‘category A’.
• Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Goa were ranked ‘leaders’ in ‘category B’.
• Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are in the ‘Aspiring leaders’ category.
• Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Ladakh are kept in the ‘Emerging startup ecosystems’ category.
• A total of 24 states and 7 Union territories (UTs) participated in this ranking exercise. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal released the ranking.
• This ranking is based on the States’ performance across seven reform areas divided into 26 action points.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

4. Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) increased to 59.2 in June 2022.

• This is highest level since April 2011. PMI is based on survey and data compiled by S&P Global.
• Services sector has a share of over 53 % in gross value added (GVA).
• According to S&P Global, services employment increased marginally, following a decline in May.
• Among different areas of the service economy, sharpest increase in charges was recorded in Transport, Information & Communication.
• PMI is prepared on the basis of responses to questionnaires sent to a panel of around 400 service sector companies.

Topic: Taxation

5. E-invoice will soon be made mandatory for businesses with an annual turnover of over Rs 10 crore.

• E-invoice is presently (as on 05 July 2022) mandatory for businesses with an annual turnover of over Rs 20 crore.
• The introduction of an electronic invoice (e-invoice) in GST in a phased manner was recommended by GST Council in its 37^th meeting on September 20, 2019.
• E-invoicing started with businesses having annual turnover of Rs 500 crore. It was then brought down to Rs 100 crore and to Rs 20 crore.

Topic: RBI

6. RBI has reviewed operations of non-bank Payment System Operators (PSOs), which are authorised to operate any Payment System.

• RBI said that non-bank PSOs shall require prior approval of RBI in case of takeover/acquisition of control, which may/ may not result in change of management.
• RBI further said that non-bank PSOs shall also require prior approval of RBI in case of sale/transfer of payment activity to an entity not authorised for undertaking similar activity.
• RBI has directed non-bank PSOs to inform RBI within 15 calendar days in case of change in management/directors or in case of sale/transfer of payment activity to an entity authorised for undertaking similar activity.
• RBI has issued this directive under Section 10 (2) read with Section 18 of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. The directive has come into effect immediately on 04 July 2022.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

7. India’s goods exports increased 16.78% in June (year-on-year) to $37.94 billion.

• Increase in goods exports in June is led by petroleum products, electronic goods, gems and jewellery and ready-made garments as per preliminary trade data released by the Commerce & Industry Ministry.
• During June 2022, trade deficit increased to $25.63 billion. Imports increased by a steep 51.02% to $63.58 billion.
• Engineering exports declined 1.57% year-on-year in June 2022 to $ 9.14 billion.
• Non-petroleum exports in June 2022 increased 5.53% to $ 30.12 billion.
• Import of non-petroleum products recorded increase of 36.36% to $ 42.84 billion in June 2022.
• Goods export during the first quarter of FY23 increased 22.22% to $ 116.77 billion.
• Imports of goods in April-June in this fiscal increased 47.31% to $ 187.02 billion. Trade deficit in the first quarter of this fiscal was $70.25 billion.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

8. NTPC Renewable Energy Limited (NTPC REL) has signed MoU with Rajasthan government.

• The MoU is for the development of 10 gigawatts (GW) Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Park in the State.
• This comes under NTPC Group’s target of 60 GW renewable energy (RE) capacity by 2032.
• NTPC REL is a subsidiary of NTPC. It is developing one UMREPP (Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Park) of 4.75 GW capacity in Rann of Kutch, Gujarat.
• Recently, NTPC declared that 100 MW Ramagundam floating solar PV project in Telangana is in commercial operation with effect from July 1, 2022.
• It announced the commercial operations of the final 20 MW of the 100 MW Ramagundam floating solar PV project with effect from July 1, 2022. This is the largest such project in India.

Topic: Banking System

9. Government has authorized SBI to issue and encash Electoral Bonds.

• SBI can issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 authorized branches from 1 July 2022 to 10 July 2022.
• The Electoral Bonds will be valid for fifteen calendar days from the date of issue.
• No payment will be made to any payee Political Party, if the Electoral Bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period.
• The Electoral Bond deposited by an eligible Political Party in its account will be credited on the same day.
• The government approved the issuing of 21st phase of sale of electoral bonds through authorised SBI branches from July 1, 2022.
• Electoral Bonds:
  • The Electoral Bond Scheme was notified by the Government of India in 2018.
  • These are financial instruments through which donations can be made to political parties.
  • Electoral Bonds can be purchased by a citizen of India individually or jointly with other individuals.

Topic: Miscellaneous

10. Union Home Ministry amended FCRA rules to allow to receive up to Rs 10 lakhs from relatives residing abroad.

• With the new rule, relatives can send up to 10 lakh rupees in a year without informing the government. Earlier limit was 1 lakh rupees.
• If the amount exceeds 10 lakhs, individuals will now have three months to notify the government instead of the previous 30-day limit.
• Additionally, the amended rule offers organisations more time to inform the government about the opening of bank accounts for the use of funds obtained under the "registration" or "prior permission" category.
• A provision that required organizations or individuals receiving foreign funds to disclose their contributions on their official website every three months has also been eliminated.
• Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA):
  • It is an act of Parliament that was passed in 2010.
  • It was formed to regulate the individuals or associations or companies receiving foreign contributions and to ban the receipt and use of these funds for any activity that can cause a threat to national security.
  • No political organization, other than a political party, is permitted to accept foreign contributions without the prior consent of the Central Government, according to Section 5 of the aforementioned Act.    

Read Banking Awareness PDF - 3, 4 and 5 July 2022