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. 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 Based 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 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. Size of program has been increased to over 55 Crores, compared to 2.66 Crores earlier. It includes - Immediate support to 1500 artisans of about 3.45 Crores (By Providing 400 Automatic Agarbatti making machines, against 200 earlier). Development of 2 centers of Excellence costing at 2.20 Cr at IITs/NITs and at FFDC Kannauj. Setting up of 10 new SFURTI clusters at approx 50 Crores, benefitting about 5000 additional artisans. Under expanded program, Artisans developing hand rolled Agarbatti and ‘Migrant workers’ will be given preference. 28. Misc. Corporate News (Sep 2020) - Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) procured 250 electric vehicles from Tata Motors (150 Nexon electric compact SUVs) and Hyundai Motor India (100 Kona electric premium SUVs). This will utilize 5 Million USD from the recent grant provided by Asian Development Bank (ADB). ICICI Bank launched virtual property exhibition under name ‘Home Utsav’. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance introduced AI powered voice chatbot, “LiGo”, on Google Assistant, to address policyholders' queries. Payments Firm LazyPay launched LazyUPI digital credit card, which combines concept of Buy-Now-Pay-Later with UPI, to enable users access to real-time credit using UPI across omnichannel networks. Govt appointed KPMG-led consortium to advise Ministry of Defence on OFB (Ordnance Factory Board) corporatisation. On occasion of Bank of India (BoI)’s 115th Foundation Day, It launched an international contactless debit card Signature Visa Debit Card for high net worth individuals, who maintain average quarterly balance of 10 lakhs. Telecom Firm Vodafone-Idea announced its new unified brand identity, renaming all its products under a new name and logo “Vi”. ACI Worldwide (Global provider of real-time digital payment solutions) modernized payments infrastructure for ATM and point-of-sale (POS) at State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest bank. Mahindra Finance will enter business of online insurance broking giving digital services to customers of its insurance brokerage subsidiary, Mahindra Insurance Brokers, through portal PayBima. As per Ernst and Young, Indian agriculture sector will rise to about 24 billion by 2025, with more digitalization and diversification. ICICI Lombard signed bancassurance tie up with Yes Bank, for selling insurance products to bank's customers. ICICI Prudential tied similar pact with NSDL Payments Bank. Liberty General Partnered with Airline SpiceJet, to Offer ‘Liberty Secure Travel’ an Insurance Policy, with Zero Cancellation Service. Razorpay Launched Cash Advance, Collateral Free Line of Credit, to Increase MSME Cash Flow, impacted by COVID-19 Pandemic. ICICI Home Finance launched Apna Ghar Dreamz loan scheme for skilled laborers in informal sector in Delhi. SBI General Insurance and YES Bank signed corporate agency agreement (bancassurance), to distribute the general insurer’s retail products to Bank's customers. Yes bank also signed similar bancassurance tie-up with HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation) Life. SBI and Titan partnered to launch contactless payment services through watches, called Titan Pay. Govt approved restructuring of Board of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), including elevating 04 posts of CEOs of Integrated Steel Plants of SAIL as Functional Directors, along with several other changes. State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) India and Mastercard launched unique debit card customized for refined needs of high net worth customers, called SBM World Debit Card. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) launched gold loan scheme titled Vikas Laghu Suvarna, giving loans up to 15 lakh on reduced interest rate of 7.25 %, and giving 80 % of market value of gold subject to a maximum of 3200 a gram. IDFC First Bank launched contactless debit card-based payment facility named SafePay, allowing transactions up to Rs 20000 per day. It is first such facility that allows payments by simply waving one's smartphone against a near field communication (NFC)-enabled PoS terminal. Payments Firm Visa launchd a grant program in India to support women entrepreneurs with its global partner, IFundWomen. Google Pay partnered with VISA for rollout of tokenization across its platform that will enable users to safely transact with their debit or credit cards. Volvo Car India partnered with HDFC Bank to launch Volvo Car Financial Services to enable buyers get easy finance for its vehicles. Flipkart and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance launched a cyber insurance cover for online financial frauds, called Digital Suraksha Group Insurance. SBI Card launched campaign Contactless Connections, which aims at inspiring optimism during Pandemic. NABARD began a Sanitation Literacy Campaign (SLC) in Karnataka to promote literacy on ‘WASH’ (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) in 2000 villages. Yearly Terget MOUs signed by Large PSUs (for 2020-21) - NTPC - Electricity generation of 340 Billion Units and 15 MMT of coal production. NHPC - Electricity generation target at 27500 Million Units. 29. R. K. Singh (Minister of State (IC) Power and New & Renewable Energy) launched pan-India Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) in electricity, aimed at Greening Indian short term power Market. GTAM aims to benefit buyers of renewable energy through competitive prices and transparent and flexible procurement. It will increase in number of participants in renewable energy sector. India’s target is 175 GW of RE Capacity by 2022. 30. RBI Notified Compliance Functions in Banks and Role of Chief Compliance Officer (CCO). Banks will be required to have an effective compliance culture, independent corporate compliance function, and a strong compliance risk management programme at bank and group level. 31. RBI annouced Positive Pay System for Cheque Truncation System from 01-01-2021, developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Banks will be required to enable system for all account holders issuing cheques for amounts of Rs 50,000 and above. Banks may consider making it mandatory in case of cheques for amounts of Rs 5,00,000 and above. RBI had announced Positive Pay mechanism in order to prevent frauds with high value cheques. Under this, cheques will be processed for payment by drawee bank based on information passed on by its customer at time of issuance of cheque. 32. RBI ceased Banking operations by Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank (ABIP). ABIP had earlier surrendered its payments bank license, due to non profitability. Vodafone Idea had 51% in ABIP bank, with remaining 49% held by Grasim Industries Limited. 33. RBI issued draft on rupee IR derivatives, allowing foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to undertake exchange-traded rupee interest rate derivatives transactions subject to an overall ceiling of 5,000 crores. Interest Rate Derivatives (IRDs) are contracts whose value is derived from one or more interest rates, prices of interest rate instruments, or interest rate indices. Proposed directions are aimed at encouraging higher non-resident participation, enhance role of domestic market makers in offshore market and improve transparency. 34. RBI released a cybersecurity vision framework for urban cooperative banks (UCBs). Considering heterogeneity of UCB sector in terms of size, a four guiding principles has been taken into account while formulating framework. A differentiated tier-wise approach will be followed while prescribing cyber security controls for UCBs, with Board of UCBs having primary responsibility for implementing cyber security controls. It would include appointing a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and setting up of various committees, for UCBs with higher digital depth. 35. RBI released revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL) Guidelines, to align with emerging national priorities and bring sharper focus on inclusive development. Bank finance to start-ups (up to 50 crores), loans to farmers for installation of solar power plants for solarisation of grid connected agriculture pumps and loans for setting up Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) plants are included as fresh categories eligible for finance. Some salient features of revised PSL guidelines - To address regional disparities in flow of priority sector credit, with higher weightage to incremental priority sector credit in ‘identified districts’. Targets prescribed for small and marginal farmers and weaker sections are being increased in a phased manner. Higher credit limit for Farmers Producers Organisations (FPOs) /Farmers Producers Companies (FPCs) at a pre- determined price. Loan limits for renewable energy have been doubled. For improvement of health infrastructure, credit limit for health infrastructure (including those under ‘Ayushman Bharat’) has been doubled. 36. RBI will implement Technology Vision for Cyber Security’ for Urban Co-operative Banks (2020-2023), to enhance IT security system of Urban Co-operative banking to prevent cyber-attacks. RBI has mooted 5 pillared strategic approach ‘GUARD’ (G – Governance Oversight, U – Utile Technology Investment, A – Appropriate Regulation and Supervision, R – Robust Collaboration D – Developing necessary skills set) 37. Reliance Industries (RIL) became first Indian company to surpass $200 billion in market capitalisation (m-cap), reaching peak of $208 billion. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is a distant second, with m-cap of $119 billion. 38. Soon after expanding support to Artisans engaged in making Agarbatti, MSME has issued guidelines for two more schemes which include ‘Pottery Activity’ and Beekeeping Activity, aimed at 8000 beneficiaries in 2020-21, with outlay of 130 crores. These beneficiary oriented Self-Employment initiatives are aimed at rejuvenating grass root economy contributing to AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. 39. State Bank of India will launch a loan product named SAFAL (Safe and Fast Agriculture Loan), primarily for organic cotton growers with no credit history. 40. Supreme Court granted 10 years to telecom firms to pay back AGR (adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues amounting to about 1.6 lakh crores. Telecos will have to pay 10% of dues by 2021, and rest can be paid in installments by March 31, 2031. AGR liability on Vodafone-Idea is Rs approx 58000 crore and Bharti Airtel 44000 crores. AGR is usage and licensing fee that Department of Telecommunication charges on telecom operators, . It is divided as licensing fees and spectrum usage charges, fixed between 3%-5% and 8% respectively. 41. Telco Vodafone won tax case against India at international arbitration Tribunal over retrospective tax demand of INR 20,000 crores including capital gains tax and withholding tax. Permanent Court of Arbitration tribunal said that imposition of a tax liability on Vodafone by India is breaching investment treaty agreement signed between India and Netherlands. Tribunal asked Indian government to pay compensation of $5.47 million to Vodafone as legal costs. Top

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