FROM THE Content MD’S DESK... 1. BANKING & FINANCE Dear Aspirants, Page-02 This is the information age and knowledge has 2. no limit. Gone are the STATE AFFAIRS days when people used to depend solely on Page-03 libraries and books to gain knowledge. The 3. means of procuring NATIONAL NEWS knowledge and Page-04 accessing information Anshuman Nayak has undergone a sea B.E. (NIST, 4. change with the advent Berhampur) GLOBAL NEWS of computers, internet MBA (HR) (UBS, Page-07 and smart phones. The Chandigarh) internet is the biggest 5. library ever created in human history and PEOPLE IN NEWS seemingly presents itself as an unlimited and ever growing store of knowledge and information. Page-09 So when my team approached me with the idea of a current affairs magazine of ARIFIN the 6. first question I asked myself was why? What SPORTS difference can we make? Page-14 There are the news papers, a plethora of similar national level magazines and of course the 7. internet which serve the purpose already. AWARDS The reason I gave my nod was simple. Page-16 (1) With so much of information around, there is the problem of overload; I believe 8. there is still a gap to be bridged when it Know more about Kerala comes to providing precise, succinct and Page-19 relevant information. (2) It need not be a mere current affairs magazine but rather it can be a holistic 9. support system for competitive Exam GK/CURRENT AFFAIRS QUIZ preparation with question banks, tips and Page-20 tricks , concepts and practice exercises, general awareness, traditional GK and 10. more such similar features. FUN TIME LESSON Hence, the result is this magazine whose Page-32 editorial team is a blend of youth, energy, knowledge and experience. As explained earlier, I promise my readers two things: (1) This is not going to be just another magazine. This will be a magazine with a difference. (2) With each new issue, the magazine will get better and better with new and innovative features,. So, watch out, enjoy and benefit!! Current Affairs Magazine NOVEMBER 2019 BANKING & FINANCE PSBs introduce repo linked loan products to 100 per cent foreign direct investment for any Several public sector banks such as Canara commercial coal mining project does not mean Bank, Union Bank of India, Corporation Bank, a ready flow of such money, says a study. and Indian Overseas Bank announced repo-rate As global capital flees thermal coal, the time is linked lending rates for faster transmission of not congenial to attract foreign investment. interest rate cut to borrowers. Leading global investors are moving towards RBI made it mandatory for banks to link interest renewable energy (RE), says the Delhi-based rates for retail and micro, small and medium Centre for Financial Accountability. enterprise loans to external benchmarks from RBI reduces repo rate by 25 basis points in October 1. The external benchmark home loan 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy lending rate is typically 8.25-8.30 per cent for In its 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy these banks. Committee meeting, the Reserve Bank of India SBI opens office in Melbourne has reduced the policy repo rate by 25 basis State Bank of India opened its Melbourne office, points (bps). becoming the first Indian bank to have a branch The MPC has also decided to maintain the in the Australian state of Victoria. accommodative stance of monetary policy. The The Melbourne office will assist the growing main decisions taken in the 4th Bi-monthly trade and investment relations between Victoria Monetary Policy Committee meeting are: and India, and is the outcome of the state’s 10- The repo rate under the liquidity adjustment year India strategy. facility (LAF) was reduced from 5.40% to Axis Bank launches Express FD 5.15%. Private sector lender Axis Bank announced the The reverse repo rate under the LAF stands launch of a digital fixed-deposit product. Called revised to 4.90%. ‘Express FD’. A customer can open an Express The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and FD account in three minutes through the digital the Bank Rate is revised to 5.40%. mode without opening a savings account with RBI has also reduced the real GDP growth for the bank. 2019-20 from 6.9% to 6.1%. WTO cuts global trade growth forecast to 1.2 Moody’s cuts India’s GDP growth forecast to percent 5.8% for FY20 The World Trade Organisation (WTO), cut global Moody, the rating agency has lowered its 2019- trade growth forecasts for 2019 to 1.2 per cent, 20 GDP growth forecast for India to 5.8% from from the earlier 2.6 per cent. 6.2%. WTO cut rates mainly due to trade tensions and It stated that the Indian economy is experiencing sluggish global economy. a pronounced slowdown partly due to long- Global trade growth is projected to grow at 2.7 lasting factors. per cent in 2020, down from the previous Yes Bank Ltd appoints Anita Pai as COO projection of 3 per cent. Yes Bank Ltd has appointed Anita Pai as the Standard & Poor’s slashes India growth Chief Operating Officer and Jasneet Bachal as forecast for FY20 to 6.3 percent the Chief Marketing Officer of the bank. The S&P Global Ratings reduced India’s growth appointments has been made to further projection for 2019-20 from 7.1% to 3%. strengthen the top management at the bank. For 2020-21 S&P forecasted India’s growth rate ICICI Bank launches new FD scheme “FD to 7%. health” Standard & Poor’s Financial Services ICICI Bank has launched a fixed deposit scheme LLC(S&P) is an American financial services called FD Health, that comes with an in-built company. critical insurance policy. The FD Health – Critical Opening up of commercial coal mining to 100% illness Cover will be provided to only the primary FDI unlikely to boost sector holder of the FD account. The central government’s decision to allow up Anyone in the age bracket of 18-50 years, gets 2 www.arifin.in Current Affairs Magazine NOVEMBER 2019 this complimentary insurance cover for a year India’s premier export finance institution, issued on 33 critical illnesses. For the first year, free of its first ever USD-denominated Socially cost insurance cover will be provided which can Responsible Bond for $50 million. be renewed later. The bond is significant as it marks the first The new FD scheme from ICICI bank offers a issuance by Exim Bank to tap investors seeking complimentary critical illness cover of Rs. 1 lakh more socially responsible investment options. from ICICI Lombard General Insurance The three year $50m dollar SR Bond was issued Company on opening an FD of Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. at a fixed coupon of 2.385% per annum. 3 lakh for a tenure of at least two years. e-invoicing will be a game-changer for GST IMF cuts World and India growth rates The GST Council has approved the introduction The World Bank-International Monetary Fund of ‘E-invoicing’ or ‘electronic invoicing’ for (IMF) annual meetings kicked off on a somber business to business (B2B) transactions from note, with the IMF downgrading global growth January 1, 2020. Once implemented, it can help in 2019 to 3%, the slowest since the global arrest tax evasion as it enables pre-populating financial crisis. of GST returns with the e-invoice details. Return India’s growth projections have also been filing will also become simpler with reconciliation downgraded to 6.1% and 7.0% in 2019 and 2020 becoming easier. respectively, down by 1.2 percentage points and SBI Card launches contactless mobile phone 0.5 percentage points relative to April projections, payments facility owing to weaker than expected domestic SBI Card announced the launch of ‘SBI Card demand. India’s growth rate in the April-June Pay’, a feature which allows contactless quarter had hit 5%, the lowest in six years, as payment using mobile phones at PoS terminals. per government data. Consumption, investment Using SBI Card Pay, customers can make and exports were down. contactless payments at near field The IMF projected the U.S. would grow at 2.4% communication (NFC) enabled point of sale and 2.1% in 2019 and 2020 respectively. terminals with just one tap of their mobiles, For China, growth was projected to grow at without using the physical credit card or entering 6.1% and 5.8% in 2019 and 2020. any PIN. Exim Bank Issues First Socially Responsible SBI Card Pay is a payment feature based on Bond Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology for Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), faster, convenient and more secure card payments using mobile phones. STATE AFFAIRS Odisha bans single use plastic from 2nd These institutions would act as a bridge between October the government and the people by rendering over The Odisha government has banned single use 500 types of services at their doorstep. plastic in all urban areas of the state from Gandhi The village and ward secretariats start Jayanti. functioning in a full-fledged manner from January The State Forest and Environment Department 1, 2020 in a notification stated the government has Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launches ‘Mo prohibited manufacture, sale, trade, import, Sarkar’ initiative storage, transportation and distribution of single Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik rolled use plastics. out ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme which finds its roots Andhra Pradesh CM launches Village in the Gandhian philosophy of giving people their Secretariat system voice in daily governance.