Banking Awareness of 7 and 8 June 2024

Topic: Taxation

1. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has started the process to replace the Central Excise Act, which is eight decades old.

• In an effort to update the law and encourage ease of doing business, CBIC has issued a draft bill to amend the Central Excise Act.
• The Bill consists of twelve chapters, 114 sections and two schedules.
• There are four schedules, eleven chapters, and more than 110 sections in the current Act.
• Post introduction of GST, Central Excise is levied mainly on petroleum products.
• The GST's purview does not yet extend to petroleum products.
• As part of the pre-legislative consultation process, stakeholders are can submit comments by June 26th, according to CBIC.

Topic: RBI

2. RBI has launched its 3rd global hackathon, HaRBInger 2024-Innovation for Transformation.

• Under the Hackathon, participants are invited to develop solutions using technology and innovative approaches under two themes.
• These themes are “Zero Financial Frauds” and “Being Divyang Friendly”.
• Earlier, the themes of hackathons were 'Inclusive Digital Services' and 'Smarter Digital Payments'.
• The inaugural hackathon, HARBINGER 2021, centered on 'Smarter Digital Payments'.
• The second global hackathon, HARBINGER 2023, launched on February 14, 2023, focused on 'Inclusive Digital Services'.
• A hackathon is an event that is organised to bring together people and entities for the development of innovative solutions for challenges in specified areas through problem statements.

Topic: Banking System

3. State Bank of India and Muthoot Microfin Ltd has entered into co-lending partnership.

• The partnership is for co-lending to members of joint liability groups (JLGs) engaged in agricultural and allied activities and other income-generating enterprises.
• The co-lending aims to boost rural women entrepreneurs.
• The range of loan amounts will be from a minimum of ₹10,000 to a maximum of ₹3 lakh.
• Muthoot Microfin, which is a part of the Muthoot Pappachan Group (also called Muthoot Blue).

Topic: Corporates/Companies

4. ‘Insure today for a safe tomorrow’ campaign has been launched by Universal Sompo General Insurance.

• This campaign aims to increase awareness about the importance of insurance in safeguarding against unforeseen risks.
• Universal Sompo and Maruti Suzuki Insurance Broking collaborated to spread insurance awareness in Andhra Pradesh.
• Under the campaign, a free vehicle checkup was offered at Andhra Praesh’s Krishna district.
• The campaign includes following key initiatives:
  • Free vehicle checkups
  • Identifying and ensuring uninsured vehicles
  • Educating the public about the benefits of property insurance
  • Encouraging them to buy an on-the-spot insurance policy
• Universal Sompo General Insurance is a Joint venture of Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Karnataka Bank, Dabur Investments, and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

5. Vellayan Subbiah selected the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024.

• He is the fourth winner from India in 24-year history of the award.
• This makes India the only country among EY regions to win the global entrepreneurship award four times.
• Other Indians who won the award are Narayana Murthy, Uday Kotak and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.
• Vellayan Subbiah is Executive Vice-Chairman of Tube Investments of India (TII) and Chairman of Cholamandalam (Chola) Investment and Finance Co. Ltd.
• He was chosen from among nearly 5,000 programme participants.
• These participants included 51 winners across 47 countries and jurisdictions.
• He was awarded the EY Entrepreneur of the Year for India in 2023.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

6. India have to invest $385 bn in renewable energy to meets its target of 500 GW by 2030.

• Moody's Ratings estimated that India has to invest $385 billion to meet its target of 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2030.
• Coal will remain a key source of electricity generation for the next decade.
• India is a major greenhouse gas emitter and is aiming to reduce its non-fossil fuel capacity by 50 GW each year to meet its 500 GW target.
• India will have to spend $190 billion to $215 billion on capacity over the next six to seven years.
• India's strong policy support has increased renewable energy share to around 43% of its power capacity in fiscal 2023–24.
• Adani Group is aiming to generate 45 GW of renewable power by 2030.

Topic: RBI

7. RBI MPC has kept repo rate unchanged at 6.5% for the eighth consecutive time.

• The RBI has raised FY25 GDP growth forecast to 7.2% from 7%.
• The RBI has kept FY25 inflation forecast at 4.5%.
• The MPC kept repo rate unchanged by a 4:2 majority.
• Dr. Shashanka Bhide, Dr. Rajiv Ranjan, Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra and Shri Shaktikanta Das voted to keep repo rate unchanged.
• Dr. Ashima Goyal and Prof. Jayanth R. Varma voted to cut the policy repo rate by 25 basis points.
• RBI will introduce auto-replenishment of UPI Lite wallet.
• Q1FY25 inflation estimates have been kept at 4.9%. Q2FY25 inflation estimates have been retained at 3.8%.
• Q3FY25 inflation estimates have been kept at 4.6%. Q4FY25 inflation estimates have been retained at 4.5%.
• Q1FY25 GDP growth forecast has been increased to 7.3% from 7.1%.
• Q2FY25 GDP growth forecast has been increased from 6.9% to 7.2%.
• Q3FY25 GDP growth forecast has been increased from 7% to 7.3%. Q4FY25 GDP growth forecast has been increased to 7.2% from 7%.
• RBI has reviewed the bulk deposit limit and proposed to revise the bulk deposits as ‘Single Rupee term deposit of ₹3 crore and above’ for SCBs (excluding RRBs) and SFBs.
• For Local Area Banks, bulk deposits are proposed to be defined as ‘Single Rupee term deposits of ₹1 crore and above’.

Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions

8. SEBI launched the 'Saarthi 2.0' mobile app for investors.

• The market regulator SEBI launched the 'Saarthi 2.0' mobile app to help investors manage their personal finances.
• The 'Saa₹thi 2.0' app came with a user-friendly interface, which will help investors make financial decisions.
• It comprises comprehensive tools for demystifying complex financial concepts.
• These tools help users make various financial calculations, aiding in better financial planning.
• On this app, users can explore different modules to learn about various financial instruments and market procedures.
• These modules cover a variety of topics, including KYC procedures, mutual funds, ETFs, and buying and selling shares on stock exchanges.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

9. NPCI International joined hands with the Reserve Bank of Peru to enable UPI payments.

• NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) and the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP) announced a partnership to adopt a UPI-like real-time payments system.
• This partnership will make Peru the first country in South America to adopt the globally renowned Unified Payment Interface (UPI) technology.
• This strategic partnership will empower BCRP to set up an efficient real-time payment platform in Peru.
• It will facilitate instant payments between individuals and businesses.
• This partnership aims to strengthen Peru's financial infrastructure and support economic growth.
• NIPL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

10. Defence Accounts Department has signed MoUs with four banks.

• These four banks are Bank of India, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India and Utkarsh Small Finance Bank.
• Defence Accounts Department, Ministry of Defence will onboard them as System for Pension Administration Raksha (SPARSH) Service Centres.
• The MoUs will provide last-mile connectivity to pensioners.
• The MoUs will provide connectivity especially in remote areas where they do not have technical wherewithal to log on to SPARSH.
• These Service Centres will become an interface for pensioners for SPARSH.
• SPARSH is an initiative of the Ministry of Defence. It aims to provide comprehensive solution to the defence pensioners.

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