Monthly Current Affairs - September 2019 1 Monthly Current Affairs - September 2019 S. No Topics Page No 1. Banking Current Affairs 3 2. Finance and Economy 7 3. National Current Affairs 9 4. State Current Affairs 19 5. International Current Affairs 26 6. Summits and Conferences 29 7. Ranks and Indices 31 8. Agreements and MoU signed 33 9. Appointment 34 10. Sports Current Affairs 35 11. Defence Current Affairs 40 12. Books & Authors 43 13. Awards 45 14. Science & Technology 47 15. Important days and Themes 48 16. Obituaries 49 17. Monlty Quze 50 2 Monthly Current Affairs - September 2019 BANKING CURRENT AFFAIRS Samsung India inks with Mastercard RBL Bank for mobile payments • For this, RBI has selected Daffodil Pvt Ltd. through Samsung Pay • Features of the app as per RBI guidelines: • RBL Bank and Samsung India jointly launched the Samsung Pay for RBL • The application should be able to identify the denomination of legal Bank‘s Mastercard credit card customers. tender banknotes of Mahatma Gandhi Series and Mahatma Gandhi (New) • The tie-up will allow the customers of RBL bank to make contactless series by capturing the image of the notes that are placed in front of the transactions with enhanced security on their Samsung Pay-compatible mobile camera or scrolled across it. smart phones efficiently. • The mobile application should be searchable via voice option in all app stores. ICICI Bank installs Robotic-arm to count currency notes • The mobile application should be able to identify the banknote • India's ICICI Bank declared to be the first bank in the country to deploy denomination in 2 seconds or less. industrial robotic arms to count currency notes. • It shall provide multilingual support as well as audio notification. • The main aim is to brings in a frictionless and completely mechanized process of note-sorting, leading to higher accuracy and flexibility to PNB puts up 11 NPA accounts for sale to recover dues of Rs 1,234 crores handle large volumes continuously. • Punjab National Bank, a government-run put up for sale nearly a dozen Non Performing Assets (NPA) to recover dues of over Rs 1,234 crore. IDBI Bank to be recapitalised with infusion from govt, LIC • The bank invited bids from Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs)/ • Cabinet has approved recapitalization of IDBI Bank with a one-time NBFCs/ banks/ financial institutions for 11 NPA accounts. infusion of funds by both Government and LIC. • The PNB given in-principle approval for amalgamation of Oriental Bank • It will help both IDBI and LIC and shows the Government's commitment of Commerce and United Bank of India with the lander. to take banking to a sound level. • IDBI Bank will resume all the facilities of housing loans, auto loans etc. SBI cuts lending rates 10 bps • SBI announced its fifth-rate cut on its marginal cost of funds based ECL Finance and Central Bank of India entered into an agreement to co- lending rate by 10 basis points (bps) across all tenors. lend to MSME • The interest rate is now 8.15%. It will be effective from 10 September • ECL Finance Ltd, a subsidiary of Edelweiss Financial Services, and Central 2019. Bank of India has signed an agreement for priority sector lending to • The reduction in the lending rate is expected to profit all the current SBI Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) customers. clients who have a home, auto and other category loans of MCLR. • The partnership aims to facilitate speedy disbursal of credit across a • SBI has also reduced term deposit (TD) rates by up to 25 basis points. bouquet of products, including machinery and business loans. • The aim of the rate cut is for boosting credit requests in the festival • Many MSMEs face challenges of high interest rates or are excluded from season. access to banking services, given geographical inaccessibility. UK Sinha committee recommends Telangana startup policy for startups ESIC Signs an Agreement with SBI in other states • Employees‘ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) signed Memorandum of • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) backed UK Sinha committee has Agreement (MoA) with State Bank of India for direct transfer of benefits recommended that Telangana's innovative model for start-ups should be electronically into bank accounts of all stakeholders. assessed for possible replication in other states. • As per an agreement signed between the two, SBI will provide e-payment • UK Sinha, the former Chairman of SEBI, led committee submitted its services directly to bank accounts of all ESIC beneficiaries and payees. report in June. Cabinet approves Rs 4,557 crore capital infusion into IDBI Bank IPPB launched AePS services • The Cabinet has approved a capital infusion of Rs 4,557 crore into IDBI • India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) rolled out Aadhaar enabled payment Bank. system (AePS) services. • The capital infusion process will be done through recapitalisation bonds • IPPB become the single largest platform in the country for providing under which the government will infuse the capital into the bank and the interoperable banking services to the customers of any bank. bank will buy the recapitalisation bonds from the government on the • The AePS services linked to Aadhaar can perform basic banking services such as cash withdrawals and balance inquiry irrespective of the bank same day. • The launch of AePS by India Post Payments Bank enhances the last mile • The capital infusion aims to help the bank in its return to profitability. interoperable banking infrastructure by 2.5 times. • The capital infusion is also expected to help IDBI to come out of Prompt Corrective Action framework of the Reserve Bank of India. IDBI to launch co-branded credit card with LIC • The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI Bank) and Life Insurance Wipro bags USD 300 million contracts from ICICI Bank Corporation of India Credit Cards Services (LIC CSL), a wholly-owned • Wipro has won a 7-year contract worth $300 million from ICICI Bank. subsidiary of LIC, will launch a co-branded credit card. • The project is to provide a range of services. • It will be marketed to customers, agents, and employees of the corporation and its subsidiaries. • For this project, Wipro is to hire 3,800 employees of Vara Infotech. • Vara Infotech is currently providing these services to ICICI. It provides World Bank to sanction Rs 3,000 crore for food parks facilities and assets for Rs.321 crore. • The World Bank will provide Rs 3,000 crore assistance to finance mini • In 2018-2019, Vara Infotech's revenue from these services stood at and mega food parks across India. Rs.221.5 crore. • The announcement was made by Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries during the 15th Indo-US Economic Summit. RBI to launch a mobile app to aid the visually impaired • The 15th Indo-US Economic Summit was organized by the Indo-American • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is to implement the idea to develop a mobile Chamber of Commerce-North India Council (IACC-NIC) in New Delhi. application with an aim to help the visually impaired people to identify currency notes. 3 Monthly Current Affairs - September 2019 Code for Responsible Lending (CRL) for the micro-credit industry Indian Banks‟ 2018-19 Savings Deposits Stood At Rs 39.72 Lakh Crore launched by MFIN, Sa-Dhan and FIDC • According to the Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy 2018-19 • In order to bring more transparency & address customer-centric issue, released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the aggregate savings the Code for Responsible Lending (CRL) for the microcredit industry was deposits in the Indian private and public sector banks (PSBs) reached Rs jointly launched by Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), 39.72 lakh crore as on March 31, 2019. • The RBI-recognised self-regulatory organization & and industry • The foreign banks had a share of Rs 58,630 crore. Read full details here: association for the microfinance industry, Sa- Dhan along with Indian Banks‘ 2018-19 Savings Deposits Stood At Rs 39.72 Lakh Crore FIDC(Finance Industry Development Council) at Sa-Dhan's 15th Annual National Conference 2019 held in New Delhi. Bharti Airtel & Bharti AXA Life Insurance tie up to offer pre-paid plan with insurance protection cover Government exempts 2% TDS on cash payments of over Rs 1 crore made • An Indian global telecommunications services company, Bharti Airtel has through APMCs tied up with Bharti AXA Life Insurance to offer prepaid plan for its users • Finance Minister of India Smt Nirmala Sitharaman notified that 2% Tax along with insurance protection plan. Deducted at Source (TDS) on cash payments above Rs 1 crore made • Airtel has brought a special prepaid plan of Rs 599, in which customers through Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) will be will get 2GB (gigabyte) data per day, unlimited calling and 100 SMS exempted and it is set to be effective from October 1, 2019. (Short Message Service) per day on any network, as well as a life • This is aimed to discourage cash transactions and move towards a less- insurance cover of Rs 4 lakh from Bharti AXA Life Insurance. cash economy. Paisalo Digital inks co-origination of loan agreement with Bank of RBI allows all recurring bill payments through BBPS Maharashtra • Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has extended the use of the Bharat Bill • Paisalo Digital (Formerly known as S.E Investments Limited) has signed Payment System(BBPS) for all recurring(repetitive) payments such as its second co-origination of loan agreement with major public sector bank school fees, insurance premiums and municipal taxes, Equated Monthly in India, Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) with the aim to necessitate the joint Installments (EMI) on a voluntary basis except for prepaid recharges to contribution of credit flow by BoM and Paisalo Digital.