Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 4, 5 and 6 March 2021

Topic: Corporates/Companies

1. WEF’s ‘Partnering for Racial justice in Business’ initiative joined by Wipro.

• ‘Partnering for Racial justice in Business’ initiative of World Economic Forum (WEF) has been joined by Wipro.
• The initiative aims to promote the culture of diversity and justice for people of all racial backgrounds in the workplace.
• It also aims to promote a culture of inclusion and equity for people of all racial backgrounds in workplace.
• Further, it aims to drive action for companies to confront racism at a systemic level and establish global standards for racial justice in business.
• World Economic Forum (WEF) is a non-governmental organization that was founded in 1971. Its headquarters is located in Cologny, Switzerland.
• Wipro Limited is an Indian company based in Bengaluru and owned by Azim Premji. Its CEO is Thierry Delaporte.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

2. SBI Mutual Fund launches its first ever-international feeder fund.

• SBI Mutual Fund has launched its first ever-international feeder fund.
• International feeder fund is a new scheme. It will be investing in Amundi Funds - US Pioneer Fund, which is domiciled in Luxembourg.
• Rupee depreciation enhances the returns of international funds. SBI Focused Equity is a domestic scheme of SBI Mutual Fund. It also invests in international stocks.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

3. AI-based face recognition system introduced by NHAI.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based face recognition system has been introduced by NHAI for monitoring of field staff’s attendance.
• With the help of this technology, NHAI personnel can track the presence of personnel at the project site.
• The system of monitoring attendance is linked with Data Lake. Data Lake is NHAI’s unique cloud-based, and artificial intelligence powered Big Data Analytics platform.
• The term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ refers to intelligence shown by machines. John McCarthy, Alan Turing, Marvin Minsky, Allen Newell, and Herbert A Simon are founding fathers of AI.
• Herbert Simon and Allen Newell developed the first AI program in 1955. Alan Turing is widely known as the father of artificial intelligence.

Topic: Agriculture

4. First consignments of ‘red rice’ flagged off from Assam to the USA.

• The first consignment of ‘red rice’ has been flagged off from Assam to the USA to promote the export of rice.
• Iron rich ‘red rice’ is mainly produced in the area of Brahmaputra valley in Assam. It is produced without using any chemical fertilizer.
• It is known as ‘Bao-dhaan’ in Assam. The export of ‘red rice’ will increase the income of farmers in Assam.
• The government has set up the Rice Export Promotion Forum (REPF) to promote the export of rice. It works under the APEDA.
• APEDA: It is a government organization established in 1985. It is responsible for the promotion of the export of agro products.
• India also exports Basmati rice to Saudi Arabia, Iran, UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, UK, the USA, etc. India produces 70% of the world’s basmati rice.
• Rice is mainly grown in tropical and subtropical regions. It requires alluvial clayey soil. It is a Kharif crop.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

5. External Affairs Minister said that India welcomes Afghanistan and Uzbekistan’s interest to join INSTC.

• In his address on Chabahar Day , External Affairs Minister said that India welcomes interest of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan to join International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
• As per External Affairs Minister, India has also proposed that Chabahar should be included in International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) route.
• In his address on Chabahar Day at the virtual Maritime India Summit 2021, the Minister said that India is collaborating with 12 countries to develop economic corridor as part of INSTC.
• Shipping Minister Mansukhlal Mandaviya said that the meeting of INSTC Coordination Council Meeting might be held through video-conferencing at the earliest.
• INSTC is a multi-modal transport network between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, other land-locked countries in the region and Europe.
• Shipping Minister Mansukhlal Mandaviya said that the port had handled total 13,752 TEUs (twenty feet equivalent unit) containers since the operations were started at Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar in December 2018.
• A subsidiary of India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) started operations at Shahid Beheshti Port in 2018. Chabahar Port is a joint initiative of Governments of India, Iran and Afghanistan. 

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

6. Kotak Mahindra Bank and Indian Army sign MoU for salary account.

• Kotak Mahindra Bank and Indian Army have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for salary account.
• As part of MoU, Kotak Mahindra Bank will provide its salary account and exclusive benefits to active and retired Indian Army personnel.
• Kotak Mahindra Bank is an Indian private sector bank. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Its CEO is Uday Kotak.

Topic: Banking System

7. WhatsApp banking launched by Axis Bank.

• Axis Bank launched WhatsApp banking and entered into a partnership with WhatsApp to offer basic banking services to its customers.
• Now, customers will be able to block their credit or debit cards using end-to-end encrypted messages.
• They will also be able to use WhatsApp banking and chat with Axis Bank on queries about banking transactions.
• They can also chat on queries related to nearest branch, ATM, or loan centre location. They can also apply for banking products as well.
• Axis Bank is the third-largest private bank in India that is headquartered in Mumbai. Its MD & CEO is Amitabh Chaudhry.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Rankings

8. Elon Musk ranked first in the 10^th edition of Hurun Global Rich List.

• 10^th edition of Hurun Global Rich List has been released and as per the list, China has maximum number of billionaires.
• As per the Hurun Global Rich List 2021, US and India follow China in number of billionaires. The list has been released by Hurun Report on 2 March.
• As per the list, Elon Musk has become world’s richest man for the first time. He was ranked second in December 2020 Hurun global rich list.    
• Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is ranked second in 2021 list. Bernard Arnault is ranked at third place. Bernard Arnault is chief executive of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE. It is the largest luxury-goods company in the world.
• As per the 2021 list, Alice Walton of Walmart is world’s richest woman. Youngest Indians in the list are Apoorva Mehta of Instacart and Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha.
• In the 2021 list, Mukesh Ambani is the richest in India, second richest in Asia and the eighth richest in the World. Zhong Shanshan overtook Mukesh Ambani and became richest Asian.  Tiktok founder Zhang Yiming entered into the top 30 in the 2021 list.

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