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

Topic: RBI

1. RBI decides to introduce a new 10-year Government Security (G-Sec).

• RBI has decided to introduce a new 10-year Government Security (G-Sec).
• New 10-year G-Sec will become benchmark paper. Through this, the government will borrow ₹14,000 crores at the upcoming auction on 09 July.
• If the outstanding amount reaches about Rs 1.20 lakh crore, a new 10-year G-Sec is issued. Outstanding limit in the current 10-year G-Sec has reached about ₹1.20-lakh crore.
• RBI has used nearly three-fourth of 5.85% G-Sec/GS via its G-Sec Acquisition Programme and special open market operations.5.85 percent 2030 GS was first issued on December 1, 2020.
• Government will overall borrow Rs. 26,000 crore on 09 July. Government will borrow this amount through the auction of the 4.26 % GS 2023 (₹3,000 crore), New GS 2031 (₹14,000 crore) and 6.76 % GS 2061 (₹9,000 crore).
• The date of repayment in the case of 4.26% GS 2023 is 17 May 2023. The date of repayment in the case of New GS 2031 is 12 July 2031. In the case of 6.76 % GS 2061, the date of repayment is 22 February 2061.
• On July 8, RBI will purchase five G-Secs aggregating Rs20, 000 crore under its G-Sec Acquisition Programme (G-SAP 2.0).
• RBI will conduct the next purchase under G-SAP 2.0 on July 22, 2021 for Rs 20,000 crore.

Topic: Appointments

2. BBB recommends 10 candidates to panel for filling vacancies of Executive Directors in various PSBs in 2021-22.

• Banks Board Bureau (BBB) has recommended 10 candidates to panel for filling vacancies of Executive Directors in various PSBs in 2021-22.
• BBB has shortlisted 10 candidates out of 40 candidates from various PSBs. Their names are given in the following table.

• This panel will be used for filling vacancies in the financial year in 2021-22.

• Only candidates having completed at least 2 years as General Managers or/and Chief General Manager and 3 years of residual service as of April 1, 2020 were considered by BBB.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

3. PhonePe partners with Flipkart to digitize cash-on-delivery payments.

• PhonePe has partnered with Flipkart to digitize cash-on-delivery payments and launch contactless ‘Scan and Pay’ feature for Flipkart’s pay-on-delivery orders.
• The partnership would reduce personal contact. With this facility, customers will scan PhonePe QR code to make contactless payments for deliveries from Flipkart.
• PhonePe is a Bangalore-based Indian digital payments and financial services company. It was founded by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer in 2015.
• Flipkart is an e-commerce company. It is headquartered in Bangalore. Myntra and PhonePe are its subsidiaries. It was founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal.

Topic: Committees/Commissions/Taskforces

4. Government establishes Advisory Council for Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

• Government has established Advisory Council for Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
• Advisory Council comprises Nandan Nilekani, Anjali Bansal and senior representatives from the government and retailers organisations.
• Other members of Advisory Council are RS Sharma, Adil Zainulbhai, Arvind Gupta, Dilip Asbe, Suresh Sethi, Praveen Khandelwal and Kumar Rajagopalan.
• Additional Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is the Convener of Advisory Council.
• Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a project of DPIIT. It has been assigned to the Quality Council of India (QCI).
• It aims at promoting open networks developed\ on open sourced methodology, using open specifications and network protocols independent of any specific platform.

Topic: Reports and Indices

5. NIBRI increases to 91.3 for the week that ended on July 4.

• Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) has increased to 91.3 for the week that ended on July 4.
• NIBRI is now only 8.7 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels and 3.6 percentage points below pre-second wave level.
• Google’s workplace and retail and recreation mobility indices increased 3.1 percentage points (pp) and 6.9 pp, respectively. Apple driving index increased 10.3 pp.
• Power demand increased 6.9% week-on-week after a 7.8% increase in the previous week. Labour participation rate declined to 39.6%.

Topic: Reports and Indices

6. Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) contracts to 41.2 from 46.4 in May.

• Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) contracted to 41.2 from 46.4 in May.
• This level is the lowest in 11 months. It will affect the GDP growth rate during April-June quarter.
• Services have a maximum share in India’s GDP with over 57 % contribution. Manufacturing has around a 17 % share in GDP.
• Recently, Manufacturing PMI for June has declined to 48.1. As per IHS Markit, the decline in jobs was widespread across the five monitored sub-sectors and led by Consumer Services.

Topic: Miscellaneous

7. Invest India wins most innovative Investment Promotion Agency 2021 award.

• Invest India has been awarded the world's most innovative Investment Promotion Agency 2021 by OCO Global.
• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar congratulated Invest India for winning the award.
• OCO Global is a leading economic development advisory firm. It works with governments and companies worldwide on international investment and trade attraction.
• Invest India:
  • It is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India.
  • It was established in 2009 as a non-profit venture.
  • It works under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
  • CEO & MD: Deepak Bagla

Topic: Indian Economy

8. India recorded highest ever exports in first quarter of 2021.

• India recorded the highest ever exports in the first quarter of 2021.
• Despite the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, India exported goods of 95 Billion dollars in the first quarter of this financial year.
• The export of engineering goods has increased by 5.2 billion dollars than the previous first quarter of 2019-20.
• For the current financial year, India has set a target of 400 billion US dollars merchandise exports.
• India has also received the highest ever Foreign Direct Investment of 81.72 billion US dollars in the financial year 2020-21.
• Refined Petroleum, Diamonds, Packaged Medicaments, Jewellery, and Rice are the top export products of India.

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