1. ICICI Bank Has Launched a New Product Named “Istartup 2.0”, to Cater to the Banking Needs of Startups and Entrepreneurs
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Current Affairs - September 2020 Month Sep 2020 Type Banking and Economy 57 Current Affairs were found in Month - Sep 2020 for Type - Banking and Economy Showing 41 Important Ones. Economy 1. ICICI Bank has launched a new product named “iStartup 2.0”, to cater to the banking needs of startups and entrepreneurs. 2. Adani Group will accquire 74% stake in Mumbai International airport, acquiring current promoter GVK 's 50.50 % stake and 23.5 % stake of Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) and Bidvest Group. 3. American investment firm General Atlantic invested 3675 crores into Reliance Retail ventures Limited (RRVL) for .84 % stake. This is 3rd investment in Reliance Retail Since October 2020. Earlier, American investment firm KKR invested 5550 crores into Reliance Retail ventures Limited (RRVL) for 1.28% stake. American investor Silver Lake invested 7500 Crores INR for 1.75% Stake in Reliance Retail. In concerned 3 Deals, RRVL has divested 3.87 % Stake so far. 4. Andhra Pradesh Govt received Approval from IRDAI, to form its Crop Insurance Firm Andhra Pradesh General Insurance Company (APGIC). Andhra Pradesh is among few states like Bihar, West Bengal that have chosen to have their own crop insurance schemes. APGIC will run state’s own YSR Free Crop Insurance Scheme, to provide free crop insurance to all farmers from 2019–2020. 5. As per 2019 annual Ease of doing business ranking of states / UTs by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade - Top 5 - Andhra Pradesh (topped for 3rd time in a row), Uttar Pradesh (jump of 10 places), Telangana, MP, Jharkhand. Bottom 3 - Odisha (34), Sikkim (35), Tripura (36) 6. Asian Development Bank (ADB) and France’s ENGIE group signed loan of up to 466 crores for setting up a 200-MW solar power project in Gujarat. 7. Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved 300 million USD loan to finance inclusive water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services in secondary towns of Rajasthan. 8. Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved USD 270 million loan for Madhya Pradesh Urban Services Improvement Project. 9. Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed agreement for $15 million of debt financing through subscription of nonconvertible debentures for Coimbatore Based poultry farming Firm Suguna Foods. 10. Bandhan Bank has set up a new vertical called “Emerging Entrepreneurs Business (EEB)”, to support emerging needs of unbanked / underbanked customers. 11. Cabinet Approvals (Sep 21, 2020) - CCEA - Approved increase in Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for all mandated Rabi crops for marketing season 2021-22, in line with the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission. Highest increase in MSP has been announced for lentil (Rs. 300 per quintal) followed by gram and rapeseed & mustard (Rs. 225 per quintal each) and safflower (Rs. 112 per quintal). For barley and wheat, increase of Rs. 75 per quintal and Rs 50 per quintal respectively has been announced. 12. Canara Bank launched lead management system (LMS) – i-Lead 2.0 (Inspiring Leads System version 2.0), to provide services to customers, irrespective of their location. 13. Competition Commission of India Approvals (Sep 2020) - Approved incremental acquisition by SABIC International Holdings (affiliate of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation), of 6.51% shareholding in ClariantAG. Approved acquisition of Metso Oyj’s minerals business by Outotec Oyj (Both Finland Based Companies). Approved combination involving acquisition of 20% equity of Piramal Pharma by CA Clover Intermediate II Investments (Curie). Approved acquisition of Nutrition & Biosciences (Spinco) by International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), which relates to sole control by IFF, over Nutrition & Biosciences business of DuPont de Nemours, by acquiring control over SpinCo, a company newly formed by DuPont. Approved acquisition of sole control over Bombardier Transport by Alstom S.A, and acquisition of approximately 18% and 3% share capital of Alstom S.A. by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Bombardier Inc (Bombardier) respectively. Approved acquisition of 100% equity shares of Medlife International by API Holdings, and of up to 19.59% equity share capital of API Holdings by Medlife’s shareholders. Approved demerger of Textiles Business of GHCL Ltd into its wholly owned subsidiary GHCL Textiles Limited. Pursuant to demerger, GHCL will retain its chemicals and consumer products business and GHCL Textiles will have demerged Textiles business. Approved acquisition of certain real estate projects of RMZ Group and 100% equity shareholding in CoWrks by Brookfield Private Capital (DIFC) Limited. Acquiring entity will be a newly formed company belonging to Brookfield Private Capital (DIFC) Limited. 14. Department of Posts launched scheme called Five Star Villages, to ensure universal coverage of flagship postal schemes in rural areas. Schemes covered include Savings accounts, Recurrent Deposit Accounts, NSC / KVP certificates, Sukanya Samridhi Accounts/ PPF Accounts, Funded Post Office Savings Account linked India Post Payments Bank Accounts, Postal Life Insurance Policy/Rural Postal Life Insurance Policy and PM Suraksha Bima Yojana Account / PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana Account. A Village will attain Single star if it implements universal coverage of any one of mentioned schemes, 2 star for 2 schemes and so on. It is initially Launched on pilot basis in Maharashtra, to be implemented by team of 5 Gramin Dak Sevaks who will be assigned a village. 15. European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest 650 million euros in construction of First metro line in Kanpur City (Uttar Pradesh). 16. Finance Ministry allowed 5 states to raise additional financial resources of 9913 crores through Open Market Borrowings (OMBs). States are - Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Goa, and Tripura. This has been accorded after these States successfully met reform condition of implementation of One Nation One Ration Card System. In view of COVID-19 pandemic, Central Government in May 2020 allowed additional borrowing limit of up to 2 % of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) to States for FY 2020-21, this came out as 427302 crores available to States. 1 % percent of this was subject to implementation of following four specific State level reforms - Implementation of One Nation One Ration Card System, Ease of doing business reform, Urban Local body/ utility reforms and Power Sector reforms. 17. Government amended public procurement (Preference to make in India ) order 2017. It states that entities from other countries that do not allow Indian companies to participate in their government procurement procedures, shall not be allowed to participate in Indian government procurement procedures. It has been done to promote Make in India and to curb investments from neighboring countries with emphasis on China. Earlier, share of class 1 and class 2 local suppliers were fixed at 50 % and 20 % respectively. After these amendments, Govt will set upper threshold for procurement above which foreign companies will have to create joint ventures with Indian companies, to participate in government tenders. 18. Govt. approved INR 25215 crores deal between Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Ltd (RIIHL) and Canadian firm Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, involving sale of over 1.35 lakh mobile towers. Tower Company, Reliance Jio and RPPMSL executed the deal, under which Jio will remain tenant of new entity for 30 years. 19. Govt. capped benefits under Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) at Rs 2 crore per exporter on exports made between September - December 2020 without changing coverage of scheme and applicable rates. Also, MEIS scheme will be withdrawn from January 1, 2021. 20. IT Firm Infosys completed acquisition of US-based product design and development firm Kaleidoscope Innovation, acquired for up to USD 42 million. 21. India extended 250 million USD loan to Maldives, to combat economic impact of COVID-19. 22. India signed $500 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB), as first tranche of $1 billion facility approved earlier, for high-speed 82-kilometer Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor. It is aimed at improving regional connectivity and mobility in India’s national capital region (NCR). 23. India signed $82 million loan agreement with World Bank, for implementation of Himachal Pradesh State Roads Transformation Project, to strengthen transport and road safety institutions of Himachal Pradesh. 24. India's Srei Equipment Finance received investment of 10 million euros from Germany-based KfW IPEX-Bank, backed by cover from France-based Euler Hermes. 25. Indian GDP Forecasts (Sep 2020) - Indian FY 21 GDP Contractions expected by Several Agencies, due to COVID-19 Pandemic - 10.9% - SBI’s Ecowrap research report. 14.8 % - American brokerage Godman Sachs. 11.8 % - India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), the India arm of Fitch Ratings . 9 % - S&P Global Ratings. 11.5 % - Moody’s 9 % - CRISIL 10.2 % - Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In FY22 (2021-22), OECD projects India’s GDP to grow at 10.7%. 9 % - Asian Development Bank (ADB). FY22 (2021-22) India GDP growth is expected at 8 %. ADB expects GDP growth for developing Asia at - 0.7 % in 2020, the first negative economic growth since 1962. 5.9 % - United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). India's GDP is expected to Grow at 3.9% in FY 22 (2021-22). 11 % - Rating Agency ICRA 12.6 % - National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). For 2021-22, NCAER projects the GDP of India to grow by 7%. 26. Insurance Regulator IRDAI Named LIC, GIC and New India Assurance as domestic systemically important insurers (D- SIIs), deciding to subject them to enhanced regulatory supervision. D-SIIs refer to insurers of such size, market importance and domestic and global inter-connectedness whose distress or failure would cause a significant dislocation in the domestic financial system. Likewise, among banks, RBI had earlier declared SBI, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs). 27. Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) enhanced support under scheme announced to support Agarbatti Industry.