Banking Awareness of 5, 6 and 7 November 2023

Topic: Banking System

1. Bank of Maharashtra has achieved top position among PSU lenders in loan growth in percentage terms in second quarter of the current financial year.

• It has also achieved top position among PSU lenders in deposit growth in percentage terms in Q2 of the current financial year.
• It has continued to remain at the top position in terms of obtaining low-cost Current Account and Savings Account (CASA) deposits.
• Over 20% growth has been recorded in deposit and advances of the Bank of Maharashtra.
• This is highest growth by any public sector bank during the July-September period.
• Gross domestic advances of Bank of Maharashtra grew to ₹1,83,122 crore at the end of September 2023 at a growth rate of 23.55%.
• Bank of Maharashtra was followed by Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India and UCO Bank with growth rates of 20.29%, 17.26% and 16.53%, respectively.
• India’s largest lender SBI has achieved 7th position with growth rate of 13.21% in domestic advances.
• Total loans of SBI were nearly 16 times higher at ₹28,84,007 crore against ₹1,75,676 crore of Bank of Maharashtra in absolute terms.
• In terms of deposit growth, Bank of Maharashtra witnessed 22.18% growth. It mobilized ₹2,39,298 crore at the end of September 2023.

Topic: Appointments

2. The term of office of the chief of the Bank of Maharashtra and the Central Bank of India has been extended by the central government.

• AS Rajeev is the MD and CEO of the Bank of Maharashtra (BoM). He assumed charge as BoM chief in December 2018.
• Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance (MoF), has notified that the Central Government has extended his term of office.
• His term of office has been extended beyond his current notified term till the date of his superannuation or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• His current notified term expires on December 1, 2023. Date of his superannuation is May 31, 2024.
• Matam Venkata Rao is MD and CEO of the Central Bank of India.
• He took charge as the Central Bank of India chief in March 2021.
• His term has been extended beyond his currently notified term until the date of his superannuation or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• His currently notified term expires on February 29, 2024. The date of his superannuation is July 31, 2025.

Topic: Taxation

3. E-way bill generation has reached to all-time high level of 10.03 crore in October 2023.  

• This is the first time e-way bill generation has crossed 10 crore since its introduction.
• This could be due to higher festival demand of goods. Higher compliance also led to high e-way bill generation.
• e-way bill generation surpassed the previous high level of 9.34 crore in August.
• Higher generation of e-way bills would lead to higher tax collection.
• An e-way bill is an electronic document generated on a portal.
• It is an evidence of the movement of goods and indicates whether tax has been paid.
• According to Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017, an e-way bill must be generated by each registered person who causes the movement of goods with a consignment value greater than ₹50,000.  
• This is mandatory for movements between the two States and within a State.
• The threshold for the value of goods to be applicable for transportation within a state's boundaries can be determined by the legislation of that state or territory.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

4. India’s pharma exports grew by 5% in H1 (first half) of FY24 (current fiscal year).

• In H1 ending September 30, 2023, pharma exports grew by 5% at $13,361 million as against $12,723 million in the corresponding period of the last financial year.
• Overall exports in September grew by 9%. This is the 2nd highest monthly growth after April. A growth of 9.43% was recorded in April.
• Top 3 destinations for Indian pharma exports were the US, the UK and Brazil.
• Overall exports in current fiscal year (FY24) are expected to surpass the $27-billion mark.
• In 2022-23, India’s pharma exports to Israel increased 40% at $92 million against $60 million in the previous year.
• As per Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) data, 22% is the Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for the last five years.
• In FY23, Pharma exports have recorded a 3.25% growth at $25.3 billion.
• Pharma exports growth was nearly flat at 0.71% at $24.62 billion in 2021-22.

Topic: RBI

5. RBI has imposed penalty on two banks and two NBFCs.  

• It has imposed a penalty of Rs 72 lakh on Punjab National Bank and Rs 30 lakh on Federal Bank.
• It has also imposed penalty of Rs 13.38 lakh on Kosamattam Finance, and Rs 10 lakh on Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.
• RBI imposed penalty on PNB due to following violations.
  • Levying SMS charges on certain accounts despite maintaining invalid mobile numbers in the Core Banking Solution (CBS)
  • Not strictly adhering to the interest rates as per the pre-disclosed schedule in several term deposit accounts
  • Failing to specify the interest reset date in MCLR-linked loans
• RBI imposed penalty on Federal Bank for issuing demand drafts, each valued at rupees fifty thousand and above, without including the name of the purchaser on the face of the drafts.
• Kosamattam Finance failed to maintain a Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio of 75% in certain loan accounts during the fiscal year 2021-22. So, it was penalized.
• Mercedes-Benz Financial Services India failed to conduct ongoing due diligence of its customers.
• It did not update the Know Your Customer (KYC) information of its high-risk customers.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

6. Mumbai-based IndiaFirst Life Insurance has become first life insurance company to get a GIFT City IFSC registration.

• With this registration, India First Life Insurance is enabled to extend its services outside India’s borders.
• IndiaFirst Life Insurance received approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in August 2023.
• It obtained registration from the International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) in September 2023.
• Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, and Warburg Pincus-owned Carmel Point Investments are promoters of IndiaFirst Life Insurance. They hold 65%, 9% and 26% stake in it.

Topic: Appointments

7. Bank of Baroda has appointed Kadgatoor Sheetal Venkatesmurt as head of Digital Channels and Operations and Digital Lending Business.

• Akhil Handa, the head of Bank of Baroda’s digital lending business, has quit.
• On 10 October, RBI has directed Bank of Baroda to stop onboarding fresh customers on its mobile application 'bob World' with immediate effect, citing material supervisory concerns.
• Rohit Rishi has assumed charge as Executive Director of Bank of Maharashtra.
• He replaces A B Vijayakumar who retired on October 31, 2023.
• Heeralal Samariya has been appointed as Chief information commissioner.
• President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of Heeralal Samariya as Chief Information Commissioner.
• Heeralal Samariya was currently serving as the Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission.
• Currently, there are two information commissioners while eight information commissioners’ post is vacant. 

Topic: Miscellaneous

8. 'India's most generous' title retained by IT pioneer Shiv Nadar in 2023.

• HCL Tech founder Shiv Nadar retained the top spot in Edelgive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2023.
• He retained the title of 'India's most generous' for the third time in five years.
• With a daily donation of Rs 5.6 crore, he donated a total of Rs 2,042 crore during the year.
• With an annual donation of Rs 1,774 crore, Wipro's Azim Premji took the second position.
• Securing the third position in the list, India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani donated Rs 376 crore during the year.
• Once again, writer Rohini Nilekani emerged as the most generous female.
• Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath is the youngest on the list.
• Over the last 5 years, the number of donors contributing more than Rs 100 crore has increased from 2 to 14, and the number of donors contributing more than Rs 50 crore has increased from 5 to 24.
• During this year, overall, the 2023 list featured 119 philanthropists who donated a total of Rs 8,445 crore, a 59% increase over the previous year.
• There were 25 new additions to the list, which is led by Infosys co-founder K Dinesh with a donation of Rs 47 crore.
• Education remained the most preferred philanthropic cause, followed by healthcare.
• Notably, donations towards environment and sustainability increased by 31% year-on-year to reach Rs 143 crore in 2023.
• The 10 edition of the annual ranking of India's most generous individuals tracked philanthropic donations of Rs 5 crore or more between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023.

Topic: Reports and Indices

9. Climate adaptation funding to developing countries declined by 15%: Adaptation Gap Report 2023

• According to the 2023 Adaptation Gap Report, Climate adaptation funding from the World Bank and bilateral sources has declined by 15 per cent to around $21 billion in 2021.
• Climate adaptation funding has declined despite the pledge to double the funding to $40 billion per year by 2025 at the 26th COP of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow.
• In many developing countries, the domestic budget is one of the largest sources of funding for adaptation.
• In low-income countries, neither domestic nor private funding sources could bridge the adaptation finance gaps.
• More than 85% of countries have at least one national-level adaptation planning instrument.
• The finance needs of developing countries have now become 10-18 times more than international public finance flows.
• The total cost of adaptation is $215 billion per year for developing countries. The cost of adaptation is for planning and implementing measures for reducing harm from climate change.
• The adaptation costs for Least Developing Countries and Small Island Developed nations are estimated at $25 billion per year (2 per cent of GDP) and $4.7 billion per year (0.7 per cent of GDP), respectively.

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