Banking Awareness of 4, 5 and 6 August 2022

Topic: Corporates/Companies

1. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recognized more than 75000 startups.

• The last 10000 startups have been recognized in 156 days while the initial ten thousand startups were recognized in 808 days.
• Recognizing more than 75 thousand start-ups is a milestone in the order of 75 years of independence.
• Around 80 startups getting recognized per day, which is the highest rate in the world.
• India has the 3^rd largest ecosystem for startups. Around 7.46 lakh jobs have been created by the Indian startup ecosystem and 49% of startups are from Tier II & Tier III cities.
• Out of the total recognized startups, 12% are from IT services, 9% are from Healthcare and Life Sciences, 7% are from education and 5% are from professional and commercial services.

Topic: Appointments

2. President Droupadi Murmu has appointed Suresh N Patel as Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC).

• He was appointed Vigilance Commissioner in April 2020.
• Last year, Sanjay Kothari retired as CVC on 24 June. The post of CVC was vacant for almost one year.
• The CVC heads the Central Vigilance Commission. Nittoor Srinivasa Rau was the first CVC of India.
• Praveen Kumar Srivastava and Arvinda Kumar have been appointed as Vigilance Commissioners in the Central Vigilance Commission.
• Central Vigilance Commission:
  • It was established on the recommendation of the K. Santhanam Committee.
  • It was granted statutory status in 2003. It is an apex anti-corruption government body in India.
  • It consists of a chairperson and two Vigilance Commissioners.

Topic: Agriculture

3. Central government has approved the highest ever FRP of Rs 305 per quintal for sugarcane farmers.

• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the FRP of sugarcane for sugar season 2022-23 (October - September).
• The FRP for sugar season 2022-23 is 2.6% higher than current sugar season 2021-22.
• The decision will benefit five crore sugarcane farmers and five lakh workers employed in the sugar mills and related activities.
• In the past eight years, Fair and Remunerative Price has increased by more than 34%.
• The Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) is announced by the Central government.
• It is announced on the basis of recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) in consultation with the State Governments and after taking feedback from sugar industry associations.
• About Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP):
  • In October 2009, Sugarcane (Control) Order 1966 was amended.
  • The Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) of sugarcane was replaced by the FRP of sugarcane for the sugar season 2009-10 and onwards.
  • It is the benchmark price. No sugar mill can purchase cane from sugarcane farmers below this price.
  • Some state governments announce State Advised Price (SAP) which is usually higher than FRP. These states are Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu.

Topic: RBI

4. RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) increased the repo rate by 50 basis points from 4.90% to 5.4%.

• Since May 2022, the repo rate has increased by 140 basis points.
• The increase in repo rate will increase the lending rates and EMIs of existing home loan customers.
• The main aim of increasing the repo rate is to control the rising inflation.
• For the current financial year, the RBI retained its CPI inflation forecast of 6.7%.
• The Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate will be 5.15% while Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate will remain at 5.65%.
• The real GDP growth projection for 2022-23 retained at 7.2% with Q1 - 16.2 %, Q2 - 6.2 %, Q3 - 4.1 % and Q4 - 4 %.
• GDP growth for the first quarter is projected to be 6.7 %.

Topic: RBI

5. RBI has allowed primary dealers to take part in more foreign exchange-related business activities.

• Standalone primary dealers can now offer all foreign exchange market-making facilities that only category-I authorised dealers are allowed to undertake.
• As per RBI’s and Statement on Developmental Regulatory Policies, the step will bring them on par with banks operating primary dealer business.
• Presently, there are seven standalone and 14 bank primary dealers in India.
• RBI has also allowed standalone primary dealers to carry out foreign currency settled overnight indexed swap (FCS-OIS) transactions, directly with non-residents and other market-makers.  
• According to RBI’s bi-monthly Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies, BBPS is currently accessible only to the residents of India.
• RBI has proposed to enable BBPS to accept cross-border inward payments to facilitate the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in carrying out utility, education and other bill payments on behalf of their families in India.
• RBI has also taken a decision to bring Credit Information Companies under the internal Ombudsman framework.
• Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS):
  • It is an RBI conceptualised ecosystem driven by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
  • NPCI functions as the authorized Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU). BBPS Pilot was launched in the year 2016.

Topic: Committees/ Commissions/Taskforces

6. A 15-member committee has been formed by SEBI to attract foreign investment.

• K V Subramanian has been appointed as chairman of this expert group of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs).
• The FPI Advisory Committee (FAC) consists of 14 other members representing foreign banks, stock exchanges depositories and RBI.
• The FAC will advise on issues related to investments and operations of FPIs in the financial markets, including measures to facilitate ease of doing business by FPIs in India.
• It will review investment avenues available for FPIs. It will advise on the feasibility of new investment avenues.
• It will suggest measures required to encourage FPI participation in the bond market.

Topic: Miscellaneous

7. Achieving Women Equity (AWE) Funds has launched its first India-focused fund of ₹350-crore.

• The fund will make an investment in about 15 startups over the next five years.
• The fund is registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• Achieving Women Equity (AWE) Funds is a gender-smart investment platform.
• It aims to empower 30 million women by 2030 through investment in companies owned, led or influenced by women.

Topic: RBI

8. RBI has imposed a penalty of ₹32 lakh on Indian Bank.

• The penalty has been imposed on Indian bank for breach of directions on classification and reporting of frauds.
• RBI has also imposed penalty of ₹82 lakh on Jupiter Capital Private Ltd, for breach of norms on submission of credit information.
• Jupiter Capital Private Ltd is a Bengaluru-based private equity and debt investment firm.
• Indian Bank:
  • It was founded in 1907. Its headquarters are in Chennai. Shanti Lal Jain is its MD & CEO.
  • From 1 April 2020, Allahabad bank has been merged with Indian Bank.

Topic: Agriculture

9. India's coffee exports have for the first time crossed the billion dollars mark.

• India's coffee exports reached a new high level of US$ 1.04 billion in 2021-22.
• In 2020-21, India’s coffee export value was US$ 734.98 million. Coffee shipments have increased by 42% during this period.
• India export around two-thirds of the coffee it produces every year.
• Italy, Germany, Belgium, and Russia are the largest importers of coffee from India.
• Karnataka is the largest coffee producer in India. It produces around 70% of the total coffee produced in India. Kerala and Tamil Nadu are in the second and third positions.
• Arabica and Robusta types of coffee are mainly produced in India. Due to its mild fragrant flavour, Arabica coffee has a higher market value than Robusta coffee.
• Brazil is the highest coffee-exporting country in the world. It is followed by Vietnam, Colombia and Indonesia.   

Topic: Miscellaneous

10. Virtual reality platform Decentraland has announced world’s first metaverse ATM.

• Decentraland has partnered with Transak payment gateway and Metaverse Architects studio.
• This has been done to allow users to easily purchase Mana or any other cryptocurrency.
• Mana is used as an in-game currency. Users can purchase and sell items within the game using cryptocurrency.
• The metaverse ATM is intended to ease the user experience.
• J.P. Morgan earlier launched its first metaverse lounge on Decentraland.
• Decentraland:
  • It is a 3D virtual world browser-based platform.
  • Users can buy virtual plots of land on the platform as a non-fungible token (NFT) via the MANA cryptocurrency.
  • It is powered by the Ethereum blockchain. It allows users to create, experience, and monetize their content and applications.

Topic: Agriculture

11. Haryana contributes maximum to total trade value on government’s e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) platform.

• Value of trade in agriculture produced by 18 States and three union territories on e-NAM platform till June 30 has been ₹2.04 lakh crore.
• Haryana’s contribution was ₹62,757 crore. Haryana was followed by Rajasthan (₹38,794 crore share) and Andhra Pradesh (₹30,890 crore share).
• States and union territories must make three reforms in their respective State Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Acts for integrating their mandis with the e-NAM platform.  
• The reforms are provisions for e-trading, a single-point levy of market fees, and a unified single trading licence for the State.
• Total 1,000 mandis have been integrated with the platform. Rajasthan led the list of integrated mandis with 144 mandis. It was followed by Uttar Pradesh at 125 and Gujarat at 122.
• Out of the 1.73 crore farmers registered on the e-NAM platform, Uttar Pradesh came first by registering 33 lakh farmers. Madhya Pradesh and Haryana are ranked second and third, respectively.  
• Out of the 2.26 lakh traders registered on the platform, Rajasthan came first by registering 82,359 traders. Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are ranked second and third, respectively.

Read Banking Awareness PDF of 4, 5 and 6 August 2022