Banking Awareness of 5 and 6 October 2021

Topic: Indian Economy

1. Moody’s changes India’s sovereign rating outlook from Negative to Stable.

• Moody’s Investor Service has changed India’s sovereign rating outlook from Negative to Stable.
• However, it retained the sovereign rating at Baa3, which is the lowest investment grade rating.
• A stable outlook shows that there is a low likelihood of a rating change over the medium term.
• On 01 June 2020, India’s sovereign rating was downgraded from Baa2 to Baa3 and outlook was changed from Stable to Negative.
• Moody’s expects real GDP this fiscal to be more than the FY20 level with a growth rate of 9.3%. Its forecast is 7.9% for 2022-23.
• Moody’s Investor Service is one of the Big Three credit-rating agencies. It is headquartered in the USA.

Topic: Reports and Indices

2. Services PMI declines from 56.7 in August to 55.2 in September.

• Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has declined from 56.7 in August to 55.2 in September.
• However, manufacturing PMI increased to 53.7 in September from 52.3 in August.
• IHS Markit releases both the PMI data every month. Services account for 57 % in gross value added (GVA). Manufacturing accounts for over 14 % of GVA.
• HS Markit compiles PMI. PMI was started in 2005.  It is based on answers from purchasing managers in a panel. The panel comprises of nearly 400 manufacturers. PMI varies between 0 and 100.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

3. Pune-based geospatial start-up, GeoSpoc acquired by Ola.

• Pune-based geospatial start-up, GeoSpoc has been acquired by Ola.
• GeoSpoc's founder Dhruva Rajan and his geospatial scientists and engineers will join Ola as part of the acquisition.
• Founder and CEO of Ola, Bhavish Aggarwal said that investments in next-gen technologies, including location and geospatial technologies, and advancements in satellite imagery conversion into real-time maps will be required.
• Ola is an Indian multinational ridesharing company. It is headquartered in Bengaluru. It was founded in 2010. Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati are its cofounders.  

Topic: Banking System

4. Fino Payments Bank receives SEBI approval to launch IPO.

• Fino Payments Bank has received SEBI approval to launch ₹1,300 crore Initial Public Offering (IPO).
• On 01 October, SEBI has issued its observation letter for the proposed IPO.
• In July 2021, Fino Payments Bank had filed its preliminary IPO papers with SEBI.
• Fino Payments Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fino Paytech Limited (FPL). It was launched in 2017.

Topic: Miscellaneous

5. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) wins two awards from PFRDA.

• Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) has won two awards from Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) for significant enrolment under Atal Pension Yojana (APY).
• P Gopi Krishna, Chairman of KVGB, received awards from Supratim Bandopadhyay, Chairman of PFRDA in Chennai.
• He said that so far the bank has enrolled (cumulative) 2.30 lakh accounts under APY.
• The bank is playing a key role in implementing all three social security schemes (PMJJBY, PMSBY and APY) launched by the Central government.
• KVGB is a regional rural bank. It is headquartered in Dharwad, Karnataka. It is sponsored by Canara Bank.
• Atal Pension Yojana was launched on May 9, 2015. It was formerly known as Swavalamban Yojana.

Topic: RBI

6. RBI supersedes boards of debt-laden Srei Infrastructure Finance (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance (SEFL).

• RBI has superseded boards of debt-laden Srei Infrastructure Finance (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance (SEFL).
• RBI has superseded boards on governance concerns and defaults by the companies in meeting their various payment obligations.
• Former Chief General Manager of Bank of Baroda, Rajneesh Sharma, has been appointed by RBI as the Administrator of the two companies.
• RBI has set up a three-member Advisory Committee to assist the Administrator in the discharge of his duties.
• The members of this Advisory Committee are R Subramaniakumar, TT Srinivasaraghavan and Farokh N Subedar.
• Kolkata headquartered Srei Group owes about ₹30,000 crore in loans to about 15 banks. UCO Bank is the lead lender.

Topic: Appointments

7. CoinDCX makes Amitabh Bachchan as brand ambassador.

• Cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX has made Amitabh Bachchan as its first-ever brand ambassador.
• By making Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador, CoinDCX wants to increase awareness around cryptocurrency and popularise cryptocurrency as an emerging asset class.
• Amitabh Bachchan has recently launched his own non fungible token recently.
• As per CoinDCX, the crypto market in India is worth more than $2 trillion. Sumit Gupta is co-founder and CEO of CoinDCX.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

8. Bengaluru-based Licious becomes first Indian direct-to-consumer (D2C) unicorn.

• Bengaluru-based online meat retailer, Licious has become first Indian direct-to-consumer (D2C) unicorn.
• The startup has raised $52 million in Series G round led by IIFL AMC’s Late Stage Tech Fund at a valuation of $1 billion.
• The current round of fundraise follows a $192-million Series F round led by Temasek & Multiples.
• Earlier this year, Licious allocated ESOPs to over 1,000 employees. This was followed by a buyback worth ₹30 crore in August.
• Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura are co-founders of Licious. It is headquartered in Bengaluru. It was founded in 2015.

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