Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 7 and 8 July 2021

Topic: Miscellaneous

1. Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) merged with Finance Ministry.

• Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has been merged with Finance Ministry.
• For this purpose, Cabinet Secretariat notified an amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961. It came into force immediately.
• Finance Ministry had earlier five departments- Economic Affairs, Revenue, Expenditure, Investment and Public Asset Management, and Financial Services. It has now six departments.
• Heavy Industries Ministry will continue to be the nodal ministry for the automobile and capital goods sector.
• Department of Public Enterprises was earlier part of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

Topic: Reports and Indices

2. Online commerce industry to reach $188 billion in 2025 from $64 billion last year.

• As per a report by FICCI, the online commerce industry is projected to reach $188 billion in 2025 from $64 billion last year.
• The report ‘A progressive shift from transactions to trust’ was recently released on 07 July.
• As per the report, consumers are no longer turning to online commerce as an alternative buying channel.
• Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group.
• It is the largest and oldest apex business organization in India. It was established in 1927. It is a non-government and not-for-profit organization. Harshavardhan Neotia is its president.

Topic: RBI

3. RBI imposes monetary penalty on fourteen banks.

• RBI has imposed a monetary penalty on fourteen banks for non-compliance with directions issued by RBI.
• RBI has imposed monetary penalties in the exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of sections 47, 46 and 51 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
• The names of the banks are given in the following table.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

4. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and Bank of India enter into agreement.

• Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and Bank of India has entered into a corporate agency agreement.
• The agreement will enable the distribution of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance’s products through the bank’s network of branches.
• Under the agreement, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance will offer a personal line of products such as motor insurance, health insurance, home insurance and commercial line of products like engineering insurance, marine insurance to customers of Bank of India.
• Bajaj Allianz General Insurance is a private general insurance company in India.
• Bank of India is a government of India-owned bank. It’s headquartered in Mumbai. Atanu Kumar Das is the MD & CEO of Bank of India.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

5. PCHFL to collect up to ₹1,000 crore through NCDs.

• Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Limited (PCHFL) will collect up to ₹1,000 crore through non-convertible debentures (NCDs).
• PCHFL has announced the issue of non-convertible debentures of the face value of ₹1,000 each.
• Tranche I Issue has a base issue size of ₹200 crore. It opens on July 12, 2021, and closes on July 23, 2021.
• PCHFL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Piramal Enterprises Ltd. It is a non-deposit taking housing finance company.
• Non-convertible debentures:
  • They are financial instruments that are not convertible into shares or equities. They are used for raising long-term funds.
  • In comparison to convertible debentures, NCDs provide higher returns.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

6. Drip Capital partners with SBM Bank India.

• Drip Capital has partnered with SBM Bank India to offer trade financing solutions for small and medium-sized exporters in India.
• With this partnership, MSME exporters will get collateral-free working capital at competitive rates.
• Drip Capital is a fintech provider of cross border trade finance. Pushkar Mukewar and Neil Kothari are the founders of Drip Capital.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

7. Razorpay partners with Mastercard to launch MandateHQ .

• Razorpay has partnered with Mastercard to launch MandateHQ, a new recurring payment interface to help banks comply with the new RBI guidelines on recurring payments.
• As per Shashank Kumar, Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Razorpay, banks can adopt MandateHQ solution in seven days and enable their cardholders to make recurring payments.
• RBI had issued a framework for processing e-mandates on recurring online transactions.
• RBI had made authentication mandatory for all recurring transactions below ₹5,000 on debit cards, credit cards, UPI and other pre-paid instruments.
• Razorpay is a payment solution provider in India. Mastercard is an American multinational financial services corporation.

Topic: Banking System

8. Max Bupa Health Insurance enters into a bancassurance partnership with Axis Bank.

• Max Bupa Health Insurance has entered into a bancassurance partnership with Axis Bank, which is India’s third-largest private sector bank.
• The partnership will help provide comprehensive health insurance solutions to employees and customers of Axis Bank.
• The partnership will enable Axis Bank customers to gain access to quality healthcare solutions through the health insurance products of Max Bupa.
• Axis Bank also has an existing health insurance partnership with Aditya Birla Health Insurance.
• Bancassurance is defined as a relationship between a bank and an insurance company that aims at offering insurance products to the bank’s customers.
• Max Bupa Health Insurance is an Indian health insurance company.
• Axis Bank is the third-largest private bank in India. It is headquartered in Mumbai. Its MD & CEO is Amitabh Chaudhry.

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