Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 30 and 31 December 2020

Topic: Regulatory Bodies/ Financial Institutions

1. SEBI’s new norms for mutual funds to become effective from tomorrow.

• SEBI’s new norms for mutual funds will become effective from tomorrow. The new norms were announced by SEBI in September 2020.
• The new norms will make the applicability of Net Asset value across various mutual fund schemes upon realization of funds uniform.
• As per the current rules, closing NAV of the same day is applicable for the purchasing of less than Rs 2 lakh.
• Under the new norms, closing NAV of the day of availability of funds for utilization regardless of size and time of receipt of application will be applied in the purchase of units of mutual fund schemes. This norm will not apply to liquid and overnight schemes.
• SEBI’s new risk-o-meter tool will also become effective from 1 January 2021. It will have a new category of ‘very high’ risk. Risk-o-meter shows the risk in a scheme.
• Monthly evaluation of risk-o-meter will be done. Asset management companies (AMCs) will disclose risk-o-meter and portfolio disclosure on their website.
• They will also disclose risk-o-meter on the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) website in ten days after the close of each month. Mutual Funds will also be required to publish a history of risk-o-meter changes every year.
• The time limit for transfer of debt papers from one MF scheme to another or inter scheme transfers in close-ended funds will be three business days of the allotment of the scheme’s units to investors.
• Inter scheme transfer will not be done in case of negative market news or rumours about security in the mainstream media.
• If a fund’s internal risk assessment issues an alert about security in the previous four months, inter scheme transfer will not be done.
• A mutual fund is an open-ended professionally managed investment fund. It pools money from many investors to buy securities. These investors may be retail or institutional in nature. SEBI grants registration to mutual funds. 

Topic: Corporates/Companies

2. Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd becomes India’s biggest ship owner by fleet size.

• Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd has become India’s biggest ship owner by fleet size.
• Shipping Corporation of India Ltd (SCI) has remained India’s biggest ship owner for many years.
• Although Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd has now become bigger than SCI in terms of fleet size, SCI continues to be the biggest ship owner in terms of market capitalization.
• Higher market capitalization (market cap) means the market value of SCI’s outstanding shares is more than that of Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd.’s outstanding shares.
• Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd now owns 69 ships (10 more than the 59 ships owned by SCI).
• Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd.’s ships have 3.86 million dead weight tonnes (DWT). DWT shows cargo carrying capacity of ships.
• On 22 December, expression of interest was invited by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) to privatise the Shipping Corporation of India. The government wants to sell its 63.75% stake in Shipping Corporation of India Ltd.
• Shipping Corporation of India was founded in 1961. It is headquartered in Mumbai. It is a Public Sector Enterprise owned by the government.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

3. The construction of industrial corridor nodes at Krishnapatnam and Tumakuru industrial areas approved.

• The construction of industrial corridor nodes at Krishnapatnam and Tumakuru industrial areas has been approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
• Krishnapatnam industrial area is located in Andhra Pradesh and Tumakuru industrial area is located in Karnataka. They are part of the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC).
• Additionally, CCEA has approved Multi Modal Logistics Hub and Multi Modal Transport Hub at Greater Noida, UP.
• In addition to two hubs and two industrial corridor nodes, the opening of three Indian Missions in 2021 has been approved by Union Cabinet.
• The three Indian Missions would be opened in Estonia, Paraguay and Dominican Republic in 2021.
• Furthermore, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bhutan has been approved. The MoU is on cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. It was signed in November.
• Government has approved five industrial corridor projects as given below:

Topic: Indian Economy

4. FIEO estimates show decline in India’s exports in 2020-21.

• FIEO estimates have shown that India’s exports may decline by 7.3% to $290 billion in 2020-21.
• FIEO President S K Saraf said that our efforts should be to take exports to $350 billion in 2021-22.
• He said that the order booking position for food including processed food, pharma, medical and diagnostic products, technical textiles, chemical, plastics, and electronics and networking products, is extremely good.
• FIEO President has also said that a V- shaped recovery will be seen in world trade. 
• He talked about WTO’s recent forecast projecting a 9.2% decline in world merchandise trade volume in 2020 and a 7.2% rise in 2021.
• He said that the four sectors are major contributors to global trade. They account for 40% of global imports. These sectors are Electronics & Electricals, Machinery, Automobile, Pharma and Medical equipment.
• India’s share in global imports is currently less than 0.9%.
• Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO):
  • It was formed in 1965 under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
  • It is registered under Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860.

Topic: Banking System

5. Strategic partnership between AU Small Finance Bank and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance announced.

• Strategic partnership between AU Small Finance Bank and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has been announced.
• The partnership aims to offer life insurance solutions to customers of AU Small Finance Bank.
• Due to the partnership, the customers of AU Small Finance Bank will have access to long-term savings products of ICICI Prudential Life.
• AU Small Finance Bank (SFB):
  • It was founded in 1996 as AU Financiers (India) Ltd.
  • In 2017, AU Financiers (India) Ltd became a small finance bank.
  • It is headquartered in Jaipur.
  • Its chairman is Mannil Venugopalan.

Topic: Reports and Indices

6. Mukesh Ambani’s rank in Hurun global rich list drops from 4th place in August to 8th place in December.

• Mukesh Ambani’s rank in the Hurun global rich list has dropped from 4th place in August to 8th place in December.
• However, Mukesh Ambani continues to be the richest Asian as per the data gathered by Hurun Research. 
• Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is ranked at one and Elon Musk is ranked at second place. Elon Musk is the founder of SpaceX.
• In August, Elon Musk did not appear in Hurun’s Top 10 rich list. Bernard Arnault is ranked third. He is Louis Vuitton SE group head.
• Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg are ranked at fourth and fifth slot, respectively.
• Mukesh Ambani’s net worth dropped from $90 billion in August to $82 billion in December.

Topic: Miscellaneous

7. A modified scheme to improve ethanol distillation capacity approved by government.

• A modified scheme to improve ethanol distillation capacity has been approved by government.
• Under the scheme, the government will provide interest subvention to set up a new grain based, molasses based, dual feed, and to expand existing distilleries.
• Government will also provide interest subvention to install a Molecular Sieve Dehydration column for the conversion of rectified spirit to ethanol in the existing distilleries.
• Interest subvention will be provided for a period of five years. Distilleries supplying at least 75% of ethanol from newly added distillation capacity to Oil Marketing Companies would be eligible for interest subvention.
• Government aims to achieve 10% ethanol blending in petrol by 2022, 15% by 2025 and 20% by 2030.
• Ethanol distillation capacity of molasses based distilleries has been more than doubled from 200 crore litres in 2014 to 426 crore litres in 2020.

Read Banking Awareness PDF - 30 and 31 December 2020