Current Affairs Magazine January 2021 FROM THE MD’S DESK .... Content Dear Aspirants, 1. This is the information BANKING & FINANCE age and knowledge has Page-02 no limit. Gone are the days when people used to depend solely on 2. libraries and books to NATIONAL AFFAIRS gain knowledge. The Page-05 means of procuring knowledge and Anshuman Nayak 3. accessing information B.E. (NIST, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS has undergone a sea Berhampur) change with the advent Page-08 of computers, internet MBA (HR) (UBS, Chandigarh) and smart phones. The 4. internet is the biggest library ever created in human history and seemingly STATE AFFAIRS presents itself as an unlimited and ever growing store Page-11 of knowledge and information. So when my team approached me with the idea of a 5. current affairs magazine of ARIFIN the first question I PEOPLE IN NEWS asked myself was why? What difference can we make? Page-12 There are the news papers, a plethora of similar national level magazines and of course the internet which serve 6. the purpose already. SPORTS The reason I gave my nod was simple. Page-15 (1) With so much of information around, there is the problem of overload; I believe there is still a gap to be bridged when it comes to providing 7. precise, succinct and relevant information. AWARDS (2) It need not be a mere current affairs magazine Page-17 but rather it can be a holistic support system for competitive Exam preparation with question 8. banks, tips and tricks , concepts and practice Miscelaneious exercises, general awareness, traditional GK and more such similar features. Page-22 Hence, the result is this magazine whose editorial team is a blend of youth, energy, knowledge and experience. 9. As explained earlier, I promise my readers two things: Weekly Static Takeaways (1) This is not going to be just another magazine. Page-25 This will be a magazine with a difference. (2) With each new issue, the magazine will get 10. better and better with new and innovative GK&CA QUIZ features,. Page-27 So, watch out, enjoy and benefit!! 1 Current Affairs Magazine January 2021 GST collections for December 2020 highest ever at Rs 1.15 RBI introduces Legal Entity Identifier for NEFT, RTGS lakh crore transactions above Rs 50 crore GST Revenue collection The Reserve Bank of India has introduced Legal recorded to be an all-time high Entity Identifier (LEI) for all payment transactions 174 crore rupees) since the implementation of of value Rs 50 crore and above undertaken by entities Goods and Services Tax in the country. (non-individuals) via Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer The revenue collected is 12 per cent higher than (NEFT). the GST revenues in the corresponding period lasting last financial year. Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) are the This has been due to the combined effect of the Centralised Payment Systems operated by RBI. This economic recovery instruction shall come into effect from April 01, 2021. nation-wide drive against GST evaders. The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a 20-digit number RBI introduces the RBI-Digital Payments Index used to uniquely identify parties to financial Reserve Bank of India has launched a Digital transactions worldwide. Payments Index (DPI) to capture the extent of Reserve Bank has introduced LEI in a phased digitization of digital/electronic payments across the manner for participants in the over the counter (OTC) country. derivative and non-derivative markets as also for This RBI-Digital Payments Index (DPI) has 5 broad large corporate borrowers. parameters that will be used for the measurement of LEI can be obtained from Legal Entity Identifier India deepening and penetration of digital payments. Ltd. (LEIL) which is wholly owned subsidiary of The RBI-DPI comprises of 5 broad parameters that Clearing Corporation of India Ltd (CCIL). enable measurement of deepening and penetration World Bank Projects Indian Economy to Contract By 9.6% of digital payments in the country over different in 2020-21 time periods. World Bank has projected the Indian economy to These parameters are – (i) Payment Enablers (weight contract by 9.6 per cent in the fiscal year 2020-21, in 25%), (ii) Payment Infrastructure – Demand-side its Global Economic Prospects report. World Bank factors (10%), (iii) Payment Infrastructure – Supply- estimates Growth to recover to 5.4 per cent in 2021. side factors (15%), (iv) Payment Performance (45%) Apart from this, the global economy is estimated to and (v) Consumer Centricity (5%). expand by 4 per cent in 2021 by the World Bank. According to the report, global growth is projected The base period for RBI-DPI is March 2018. This to moderate to 3.8 per cent in 2022. means that the DPI score for March 2018 is set at 100. RBI has calculated the DPI for March 2019 and RBI sets up College of Supervisors chaired by N S Viswanathan March 2020 at 153.47 and 207.84 respectively, indicating appreciable growth. RBI-DPI shall be The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up an published on a semi-annual basis from March 2021 academic advisory council called ‘College of onwards with a lag of 4 months. Supervisors (CoS)’ to further strengthen supervision over regulated entities. ADB & India signs $10 million loan for expanding horticulture in HP The Cos will be headed by former deputy governor N S Viswanathan and will have five other members. Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Govt of India The objective of the council will be to identify areas has signed $10 million project readiness financing where skill building/up-skilling are requir-ed, plan (PRF) for Himachal Pradesh’s horticulture expansion. and develop curricula of all programmes, benchmark This loan agreement will finance piloting activities, along with design and capacity building to expand practices, and develop appropriate teaching horticulture production and farm household income methods, etc. in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh. NSO Projects India’s GDP to contract 7.7% in FY21 It also supports establishment of water user The GDP of India is expected to contract by 7.7 per association (WUAs) on completed irrigation cent in the current fiscal year 2020-21, as per the schemes. first advanced estimates released by the National 2 Current Affairs Magazine January 2021 Statistical Office (NSO), under the Ministry of RBI forms six-member working group to regulate digital Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) lending frauds on January 07, 2021. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up a working The first advance estimates of GDP of a financial group to study digital lending activities of the year are released before the Union Budget. This data regulated and unregulated players, due to the helps in the budget-making process. growing instances of frauds in digital lending space. IHS Markit: Indian economy to rebound with 8.9% growth The group will suggest steps to regulate digital in FY22 lending including online lending platform and mobile London-based financial services company IHS lending. Markit has projected the Indian economy to rebound The group will evaluate digital lending activities and by 8.9 per cent in the fiscal year 2021-22, beginning assess the penetration and standards of outsourced April 2021. digital lending activities in RBI regulated entities. This upward estimate is based on the backdrop of The six-member panel comprises of following four the significant improvement in domestic economic RBI internal and two external members: activity in the fourth quarter of 2020 by India. Jayant Kumar Dash, Executive Director, RBI ICRA Projects India’s real GDP to expand by 10.1% in FY22 (Chairman) Domestic rating agency ICRA Ratings expects the Ajay Kumar Choudhary, Chief General Manager- real gross domestic product (GDP) of India to grow in-Charge, Department of Supervision (Member) by 10.1% in the financial year 2021-22 (FY2022). P Vasudevan, Chief General Manager, The rating agency ICRA had earlier projected a Department of Payment and Settlement contraction of 7.8% for the ongoing fiscal 2020-21. Systems, RBI (Member) The seemingly-sharp expansion will be led by the Manoranjan Mishra, Chief General Manager, continued normalisation in economic activities as Department of Regulation (Member Secretary) the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines gathers traction Vikram Mehta, Co-founder, Monexo Fintech and the low base. (External Member) RBI slaps Rs 2 crore fine on Deutsche Bank for non- Rahul Sasi, Cyber Security Expert & Founder of compliance CloudSEK (External Member) The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of IRDAI sets up panel to examine availability of health Rs 2 crore on Deutsche Bank AG for non-compliance insurance products with certain provisions of directions concerning Insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and interest rate on deposits. Development Authority (IRDAI) has set up a panel The central bank said the statutory inspection of of experts called ‘Health Insurance Advisory Deutsche Bank’s financial position as on March 31, Committee’ to examine the availability of health 2019, and the Risk Assessment Report revealed non- insurance products in the country, considering the compliance with the ‘Reserve Bank of India (Interest need of the Indian society and recommend suitable Rate on Deposits) Directions, 2016’. products and processes. The action was based on the deficiencies in The expert committee will be headed by IRDAI regulatory compliance and was not intended to Chairperson, Subhash Chandra Khuntia and will have a Member (Non-Life) as the vice-chairperson. pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or The committee, which has a term of one year. agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. BofA Securities Projects GDP of India to Contract 6.7% in FY21 India’s retail inflation drops to 4.59 % in December The BofA Securities expects the GDP growth of India for the current financial year 2020-21 to contract by India’s retail inflation fell sharply to 4.59 percent in 6.7 per cent.