Banking Awareness of 30 and 31 August 2022

Topic: RBI

1. Bank credit increased 15.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) in July 2022 according to RBI.

• As per RBI data on Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit, credit growth to agriculture and allied activities increased to 13.2% in July 2022 from 11.1% a year ago.
• Credit growth to the industry increased to 10.5% in July 2022 from 0.4% in July 2021.
• Size-wise, credit to large industries increased by 5.2%. It showed a contraction of 3.8% a year ago.
• Medium industries recorded credit growth of 36.8% in July 2022.
• Credit growth to micro and small industries increased to 28.3%.
• Services sector credit increased to 16.5% in July 2022 from 3.8% a year ago.
• This is mainly due to improved credit growth to ‘NBFCs’ and ‘transport operators'.
• Credit growth in the personal loans sector was 18.8% in July 2022. It was 11.9% in July 2021.

Topic: Appointments

2. Ananth Narayan Gopalakrishnan has been appointed as SEBI’s whole-time Member.

• Gopalakrishnan has become the fourth whole-time member of SEBI.
• S. K. Mohanty, Ananta Barua and Ashwani Bhatia are the other three whole-time members of SEBI.
• He is an associate professor at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR).
• He will hold office for a period of 3 years from the date of assuming charge or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• He has served as the RBI-nominated additional director on the YES Bank board.
• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI):
  • SEBI was set up in 1988 and given statutory status in 1992. Its headquarters is located in Mumbai.
  • It is a regulator of the securities market in India and aims to protect the interests of investors in securities.
  • Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch is the current chairperson of SEBI.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

3. Global investment firm KKR has launched Highways Infrastructure Trust (HIT).

• HIT is a roads infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) in India.
• HIT will be KKR’s third InvIT, in addition to the Virescent Renewable Energy and India Grid Trust.
• Virescent Renewable Energy is India’s first renewable energy InvIT. India Grid Trust is a transmission InvIT.
• HIT’s initial portfolio comprises six road assets over 450 kilometers across six states.

Topic: Miscellaneous

4. India became second largest market of smartwatches in second quarter of 2022.

• India surpassed China to become the second largest smartwatch market in Q2 of 2022.
• India’s smartwatch market grew by over 347% year-over-year (y-o-y). North America continues to be the largest smartwatch market.
• As per Counterpoint Research Report, Indian homegrown brands like Fire-Boltt and Noise have also taken top positions in the global market share.
• China was pushed from second place to third place and Europe was pushed from third place to fourth place.
• India’s growth as the second-largest smartwatch market is led by homegrown brands.   
• Apple retained its top spot in the global smartwatch market. Samsung maintained its second place.

Topic: Reports and Indices

5. National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data shows seizure of fake Indian currency in 2021 dropped to one-third of that in 2020.

• However, the seizure of fake Indian currency in 2021 was still higher than that in 2018 and 2019.
• As per the NCRB report, the seizure of fake currency declined from 8.34 lakh in 2020 to 3.10 lakh in 2021.
• In value terms, it declined from Rs 92.17 lakh crore to Rs 20.39 lakh crore.
• The year of the pandemic, 2020, saw a record 190.5% increase in the seizure of Fake Indian Currency Notes as compared to 2019.
• The maximum seizure of original or fake currency was of currency notes in the denomination of Rs 500.
• ‘Utkarsh 2022’, the Reserve Bank of India’s Medium-term Strategy Framework, was launched in July 2019.

Topic: Reports and Indices

6. National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data showed about 48% economic offences in 2021 are yet to see charge sheet filed.

• The number of economic offences increased by about 20% in 2021.
• Telangana (55 per lakh) leads the list of states based on the rate of economic offences per lakh of the population. Nagaland scores the lowest with 3.1.
• As per the NCRB report, more than 1.74 lakh cases were registered under economic offences in 2021. This showed an increase of 19.4% in registration over 2020 (1.46 lakh).
• Criminal breach of trust, FCF (forgery, cheating and fraud) and counterfeiting are three categories of economic offences.
• Out of these categories, FCF (forgery, cheating and fraud) accounted for the maximum cases in 2021.
• FCF was followed by criminal breach of trust and counterfeiting in 2021.
• In economic offence cases, the national average of filing a charge sheet is around 52%.
• Data shows the national average of conviction rate is 29.4%. Uttar Pradesh recorded a very high rate of conviction in 2021.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

7. ICAI’s central council has given approval to the formation of a Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO) for the Social Stock Exchange.

• The formation of SRO has been approved to oversee the functioning of social auditors under the SEBI-notified framework for social stock exchanges.
• SRO will be named “Institute of Social Auditors of India”.
• It will be set up as a Section 8 company under the Companies Act 2013 under the aegis of ICAI.
• On 25 July, SEBI notified a framework for social stock exchanges.
• According to the recent SEBI notification, a social auditor is defined as an individual registered with an SRO under ICAI.
• To be a social auditor, an individual must qualify a certification program by the National Institute of Securities Market (NISM).

Topic: Miscellaneous

8. The ‘Competitiveness Roadmap for India@100’ framework for making India a higher-income economy by 2047 has been released.

• The ‘Competitiveness Roadmap for India@100’ framework is based on the ‘4 S’ guiding principles.
• The ‘4 S’ guiding principles are based on the need to align prosperity growth with social progress, be shared across all regions within India, and be environmentally sustainable and resilient to external shocks.
• The recommendations in the roadmap are based on new guiding principles, policy goals and implementation structure.
• It provides an in-depth analytical assessment of India's current competitiveness level, key challenges being faced and opportunities for growth.
• It proposes essential areas of action in improving labour productivity and enhancing labour mobilization, boosting the creation of competitive job opportunities, etc.
• It is a renewed approach of India’s growth and development strategy.
• The Competitiveness Roadmap for India@100 is based on the framework developed by Professor Michael E. Porter.
• The Competitiveness Roadmap is a collaborative endeavor between EAC-PM, The Institute for Competitiveness, and Professor Michael E. Porter and Dr. Christian Ketels from Harvard Business School.
• India@100 is a roadmap for our country’s journey towards its centennial year.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

9. Foreign exchange reserves declined to $564 billion as of August 19.

• Foreign exchange reserves reached to the lowest level since October 2020.
• The main reason for this decline is a decrease in foreign currency assets which the RBI has been using in the forex market to cushion the fall in the rupee.
• Foreign exchange reserves were lower by $6.7 billion on the week, largely due to a $5.8 billion decrease in foreign currency assets and a decrease in gold reserves by $704 million.
• Foreign exchange reserves declined by $43.3 billion since the beginning of the financial year.
• Foreign currency assets have steadily declined by $71.8 billion and reached at $501 billion as of August 19.
• Foreign exchange reserves had reached a high level of $642 billion for the week ended September 3, 2021.
• Foreign exchange reserves include three items; gold, SDRs and foreign currency assets.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

10. Telangana, West Bengal and Sikkim reported inflation rates above the national average of 6.8%.

• Consumer Price Index-measured headline inflation has averaged 6.8% in the first seven months of 2022.
• Retail prices in certain states have risen at less than 6%. These states are Kerala (4.8%), Tamil Nadu (5.01%), Punjab (5.35%), Delhi (5.56%), and Karnataka (5.84%).
• In the first seven months of 2022, average inflation has been less than 4% in Manipur, Goa, and Meghalaya at 1.07%, 3.66%, and 3.84%, respectively.
• The price rise has been higher than the national average in 14 states.
• Combined retail inflation for rural and urban areas in Telangana, West Bengal, and Sikkim averaged 8.32%, 8.06%, and 8.01%, respectively.
• States that have more rural areas than urban areas face higher inflation.
• This is because the rural segment of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has a higher weightage for food costs.
• Only a rural consumer price index is calculated by the National Statistical Office in the case of Arunachal Pradesh.
• Among the Union Territories, Dadra Nagar and Haveli have recorded the highest inflation in 2022 at 7.74%. It is followed by Andaman & Nicobar Islands at 7.16%.
• Lakshadweep had the lowest average inflation among Union Territories in 2022.
• Telangana had the highest inflation during a month so far this year (10.05% in June).

Topic: Reports and Indices

11. India became the 10^th largest life insurance market globally.

• The life insurance sector has expanded at a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11% from 2017-2022.
• It is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9% in the next 5 years.
• The finding of the report tracking the performance of the industry by Benori Knowledge shows that life insurance penetration in India has grown from 2.8% in December 2019 to 3.2% in December 2021.
• India is ahead of China (at 2.4%) and the UK (3%). The penetration is expected to further increase.
• The report highlighted that HDFC Life is the leader in the online distribution space.
• IRDAI Chairman Debasish Panda recently said that India’s health insurance market needs to grow at 35-40 percent CAGR.
• India’s health insurance market grew at a CAGR of 19% in the last five years.

Read Banking Awareness PDF of 30 and 31 August 2022