Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 8, 9 and 10 August 2020

1. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund launched by PM Modi

• ₹1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund has been launched by PM Modi by giving ₹1,000 crore to 2,200 farmer societies.
• ₹17,000 crore has also been released to 8.5 crore farmers as the sixth Instalment of PM-Kisan scheme.
• Union Cabinet approved Agriculture Infrastructure Fund last month. It aims to support farmers, Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS), farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and agri-entrepreneur in developing community farming assets and post-harvest infrastructure.
• Agriculture Infrastructure Fund will be available from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years). Under this fund, banks and financial institutions will give ₹1 lakh crore with 3% per annum interest subvention and credit guarantee coverage up to ₹2 crore.
• PM-Kisan scheme was launched in February 2019 and since than total ₹90,000 crore has been disbursed under the scheme.

2. Maharashtra stops its pilot project Baliraja Chetana Abhiyan (BCA)

• Maharashtra has decided to stop its pilot project Baliraja Chetana Abhiyan (BCA).
• The project was launched in 2015 to prevent farmer suicides in Yavatmal and Osmanabad districts.
• Under the scheme, farmers were provided counselling and the closure of project has been announced on 5 August.
• From 2015-18, the number of farmer suicides in Maharashtra have doubled to 11,995.
• During 2016-17, a study was carried by the Government of India to known reasons for increasing suicides. The study was titled as Farmer Suicides: An All-India Study. 

3. A new platform to be launched by Sub-K Impact Solutions

• SARTHI is a new fintech platform that will be launched by Sub-K Impact Solutions.  
• SARTHI stands for Seamless Advanced Resourceful Tech-driven Hybrid Interface.
• It aims to provide customers financial products and services through a call or a nearby agent.
• Sub-K Impact Solutions is an associate company of BASIX Social Enterprise Group. It is based in Hyderabad.

4. Period leave introduced by Zomato

• Zomato has introduced period leave for its female employees.
• The period leave will be given for 10 days per year.
• The initiative is a part of Zomato’s efforts to combat stigma around the issue.
• Zomato is a food delivery company. It was founded in 2008. It is based in Gurugram.

5. Upper limit for offline digital transactions

• RBI has decided that Rs 200 will be the upper limit for payment transactions in offline mode.
• RBI has started a pilot scheme and allowed payment system operators (banks and non-banks) to offer offline digital payments or digital payments without internet connectivity.
• Offline payment will be made through cards, wallets and mobile devices. This will increase digital transactions in remote areas where internet connectivity is low.

6. Government sanctions 15 proposals under Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS)

• The government has sanctioned 15 proposals of NBFCs and HFCs under Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS) announced as part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat package.
• The sanctioned proposals are worth RS 6,399 crore and 37 proposals worth Rs 11,037 crore are being processed.
• Rs 30,000 crore Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS) was announced under Aatmanirbhar Bharat package. It is aimed at improving liquidity position of NBFCs and HFCs.
• The scheme was started on July 1 to address the short term liquidity needs of NBFCs and HFCs. It is open for three months.
• SLS Trust is implementing the scheme. It is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) set up by SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBICAP).
• On 6 August, an additional special liquidity facility of RS 10,000 crore was launched by RBI.
• Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) are companies registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and regulated by RBI under RBI Act, 1934.
• NBFCs are not allowed to accept demand deposits. Their depositors do not get a deposit insurance facility of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation. So, they are different from banks.
• Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) provide finance for housing. Along with the Registrar of Companies, they must be registered with National Housing Bank.

Read Banking Awareness PDF - 8, 9 and 10 August 2020