Yearly Review of Business and Economy

2018 – Current Affairs Capsule in PDF

January 2018
 Govt signs $250m Loan Agreement With ADB

o Asian Development Bank and the India has signed a 250 million dollar
loan to finance the construction of over 6200 kms all-weather rural roads
in 5 states.

o These states are Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West
Bengal under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

o The program is aimed at improving rural connectivity, facilitating safer

and more efficient access to livelihood.

 Economic Survey 2017-18 printed in pink

o The Economic Survey 2017-18 tabled in Parliament is printed in pink to

highlight gender issues amid economic development.

o The survey estimated that due to "meta-preference" for sons, India could
have about 21 million "unwanted girls," or girls whose parents wanted to
have sons instead.

o It pointed out that most parents continued to have children until they got
sons.

 5 states account for 70% of exports

o The Economic Survey 2017-18 has revealed that five states– Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Telangana, accounted for 70% of
India's exports for the first time.

o The survey found that states' export performance and their standard of
living were strongly interrelated.

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 o It also noted that India's internal trade in goods and services accounted for
an estimated 60% of GDP.

 Open defecation falls to below 50%

o The number of people defecating in the open in rural India had reduced to
less than half of what it was in 2014, according to the Economic Survey.

o So far, 296 districts and 3,07,349 villages have been declared as Open
Defecation Free.

o 8 States and 2 UTs, i.e., Sikkim, HP, Kerala, Haryana, Uttarakhand,

Chhattisgarh, Arunachal, Gujarat, Daman & Diu and Chandigarh have
been declared as ODF.

 Average inflation dips to 6 year low

o The Economic Survey said the average retail inflation has declined to a six-
year low of 3.3% in 2017-18.

o “Controlling inflation has been a priority area for the central government,”
the survey said.

o CPI based headline inflation, factored in by RBI while arriving at its bi-
monthly monetary policy, averaged 3.3% during the period which “is the
lowest” in the last six financial years.

 50% increase in indirect taxpayers

o There has been a 50% increase in the number of indirect taxpayers.

o There has also been a large increase in voluntary registrations, especially

by small enterprises that buy from large enterprises wanting to avail
themselves of input tax credit.

o There were 9.8 million unique GST registrants, an increase by 3.4 million
compared to the previous tax regime is seen.

 Paytm valuation hits $10 bn

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 o Indian digital payment startup Paytm has crossed $10 billion valuation for
the first time after 200 current and former employees sold their shares
worth $47.2 million.

o Paytm's last valuation stood at $7 billion when it raised $1.4 billion from
SoftBank last year.

o The new valuation makes Paytm second-most valuable internet startup in

India after Flipkart (about $12 billion).

 Amazon invests funds into its Indian arm

o E-commerce major Amazon has invested about ₹1,950 crore into its
Indian subsidiary Amazon Seller Services, according to filings.

o The investment comes two months after the Indian unit received over
₹2,900 crore, its single largest infusion into the country's operations till
date.

o Amazon Seller Services also nearly doubled its authorised share capital to
₹31,000 crore, as per filings.

 CRISIL outlook on PSBs revised to stable

o The economic outlook of the Indian public sector banks was revised from
'negative' to 'outlook' by credit rating body CRISIL.

o The revision in outlook is primarily driven by the government's PSB

recapitalisation programme for this fiscal.

o The recapitalisation plan would provide a cushion against an expected rise

in provisioning for non-performing assets.

 Axio Biosolutions secures funding

o Medtech startup Axio Biosolutions has raised USD 7.4 million funding in
Series B round from Ratan Tata's RNT Capital.

o The funds will be used for expansion to new markets, and development of
high-impact medical products.

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 o The company has built a strong R&D structure, with multiple patents to its
credit in the wound healing, mucoadhesive drug delivery, and hemostats
space.

 Small Fin & Payments Banks to offer APY

o According to the Central govt "Payments Banks & Small Finance Banks"
will offer social security scheme Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to their
subscribers.

o The move is aimed at expanding the outreach of Atal Pension Yojana.

o Payment and Small finance banks are a new model of banking

conceptualised by the RBI.

o As on Jan 23, 2018, there are more than 84 lakh subscribers registered
under APY scheme.

 ONGC borrows Rs 4K crore from ICICI Bank

o State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has borrowed Rs 4,000
crore from ICICI Bank.

o ONGC has already borrowed over Rs 18,000 crore from three other banks
to part finance its Rs 36,915 crore acquisition of HPCL.

o ICICI Bank has extended one-year loan to ONGC to fund the acquisition of
government's 51.11 percent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd
(HPCL).

 Prodigee Finance granted NBFC-ND license

o Prodigee Finance received their NBFC license from RBI, making it

possible for the firm to provide SME loans as part of their services.

o Enterslice is a legal technology company that specialises in helping

entrepreneurs in starting successful businesses.

o The goal at Prodigee is to provide SMEs loans that they likely otherwise
would not have had available.

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  Min. of Road Transport signs MoU

o An MoU was signed between NHIDCL and M/S IL&FS Transportation

Networks Ltd.

o It is for construction of the 14.150 m long, 2-lane bi-directional Zojila

Tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir.

o This would be India’s longest road tunnel and the longest bi-directional
tunnel in Asia.

o The construction of this tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity

between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh.

 Vodafone, Flipkart Tie Up

o Vodafone India has partnered with e-commerce marketplace Flipkart to

provide a range of entry-level smartphones at an effective price of Rs999.

o Vodafone has rolled out cash-back offers on select range of entry-level 4G

smartphone models available under Flipkart’s #MyFirst4GSmartphone
campaign.

o For the offer, customers have to a recharge least Rs150 per month for 36
months.

 Government To Infuse fund in 20 PSB

o The government has announced 88,139 crore rupees capital infusion in 20

public sector banks, PSBs, during the current fiscal ending 31st March to
boost lending and revive growth.

o IDBI Bank will get the most- Rs10,610 crore followed by State Bank of
India 8,800 crore rupees.

o The 20 banks that will receive the capital infusion during this phase
include Bank of India, UCO Bank and PNB.

 ICICI Lombard launches ‘IL TakeCare’ app

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 o ICICI Lombard General Insurance, one of the leading general insurance
companies in the country has launched a health insurance app ‘IL
TakeCare’.

o It is in collaboration with Practo, the leading healthcare platform.

o This one-of-its-kind solution covers Outpatient (OPD) expenses of all its

customers.

 Unilever arm invests Rs 65 cr in IDG

o Unilever Ventures, an investment arm of Unilever Plc, has put Rs 65 crore

($10 million) into the IDG Ventures India Fund during the year.

o The company helps early and growth-stage startups receive equity

investment and operational support from Unilever.

o These investments in IDG will create the necessary infrastructure for

Unilever Ventures.

 IOB, NHB Tie up for Rural Housing Push

o Indian Overseas Bank has signed an MoU with NHB for the Rural Housing
Interest Subsidy Scheme of the Ministry of Rural Development.

o Aim of the RHISS is to provide subsidy for housing loans taken by those
living in rural areas for construction and modifications of their dwelling
units.

o The interest subsidy under the scheme is 3% for a loan amount of Rs2 lakh
for 20-year tenure.

 NIIF Makes its Investment with DP World

o The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund announced its first

investment project since its announcement in the Union Budget 2015-16.

o “NIIF has partnered with DP World to create an investment platform for

ports, terminals, transportation and logistics businesses in India,” said the
Finance Ministry.

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 o The venture will invest in opportunities in the ports sector as well as river
ports.

 GoI, Uttarakhand, and WB Sign loan

o The Government of India, the Government of Uttarakhand and the World

Bank Board signed a $120 million Loan Agreement.

o It will help increase access to improved water supply services in peri-

urban areas in the State of Uttarakhand.

o The Uttarakhand Water Supply Program for Peri-Urban Areas will help
the State increase water supply coverage as well as ensure sustainable
water supply service.

 Paisabazaar.com to Offer Direct MFs

o Paisabazaar.com, India’s No. 1 Marketplace for Loans & Cards, announced

that it has launched direct mutual funds, becoming India’s first major
platform to offer direct plans to retail customers.

o A direct mutual fund doesn’t involve any type of commission and provides
higher returns to the consumers.

o The commission involves typically 1% of the investment amount.

 Axis partners Srijan to mentor IIM grads

o Axis Bank is partnering with NGO Srijan through an initiative called

Buddha Fellowship Programme to help nurture talent for development
sector.

o Buddha Fellows are a cohort of IIM grads working in rural areas with
farmer producer companies, govt departments to scale up projects in
livelihood, health & education sectors.

o The bank is mentoring 15 grads from IIM at Kolkata, Ahmedabad &

Shillong

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  ONGC To Buy Government Stake In HPCL

o Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has agreed to buy the government's
majority stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp for Rs. 36,900 crore.

o The deal is part of the govt's objective to combine various public sector
enterprises to give them the capacity to bear higher risks & create more
value for shareholders.

o The proceeds from the HPCL stake sale will help the government pay for
welfare programmes.

 IMF and World Bank commend RBI

o IMF & WB have commended RBI for remarkable progress in

strengthening banking supervision system.

o Report providing Detailed Assessment of Observance-Basel Core

Principles noted that supervision & regulation by RBI remain strong &
have improved in recent years.

o It also acknowledged that banking reforms including Indradhanush Plan &

Bank Board Bureaus have helped usher in an era of transparency

 Allahabad Bank to issue shares

o Allahabad Bank has became the 1st public sector lender to offer an
employee stock option scheme, under which it will offer 5 crore ordinary
shares to its staff.

o Proceeds from share sale will be used to raise core capital of the bank
which has long ago been placed under prompt corrective action by RBI.

o Bank may issue shares in 1 tranche & will complete the transactions in this
financial year.

 Telangana inks MoU with ISE Foods

o Telangana has signed a MoU with the Clean Authority of Tokyo for solid
waste management.

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 o The two sides will exchange expertise and build technical cooperation in
waste management.

o ISE Foods will set up a pilot project for egg production using advanced
technologies.

o The firm will also set up a solar park to support the egg production facility,
including the development of storage devices.

 Mauritius Largest Source of FDI in India

o Mauritius was the largest source of foreign investment in India

(21.8% share), followed by the US and the UK, according to a census by the
Reserve Bank of India.

o It is according to the Census on Foreign Liabilities and Assets of Indian

Direct Investment Companies 2016-17, released by RBI.

o Total sales, including exports, of foreign subsidiaries in India increased by

18.7% during 2016-17.

 AUSFB Inks MoU with LIC

o Banking finance company AU Small Finance Bank has signed an MoU

with LIC to offer Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.

o Under the MoU, LIC will give a life cover of Rs2 lakh in case of death to the
customer at a nominal premium of Rs330 per annum.

o The company will also offer loans under government’s affordable housing
and subsidy schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

 GST Council reduces tax rates

o GST Council has reduced the tax rate on 29 goods and 53 categories of
services by bringing them in lower category.

o The GST rate on transportation of petroleum crude and petroleum

products including ATF has been cut down from 18% to 5%.

o The GST rate on tailoring service has been reduced from 18 to 5%.

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 o The new rates will be effective from 25th Jan 2018.

 Tata Steel raises $1.3 bn through bonds

o Tata Steel has raised $1.3 billion by issuance of unsecured bonds in the
international markets.

o The issue comprises $300 million 4.45% Unsecured Bonds due on July 24,
2023 & $1 billion 5.45% Unsecured Bonds due on January 24, 2028.

o The bonds are rated BB- by S&P and will be listed on Singapore Exchange.

o Proceeds of the bonds will be used to refinance the offshore obligations of

the Group.

 Govt allows import of non-standard steel

o The commerce ministry has allowed imports of non-standard steel

products through Nhava Sheva, Mumbai and ICD-Tughlakabad in the
national capital.

o Earlier, import of these non-prime products called as seconds or defectives

were not permitted through these ports.

o The Directorate General of Foreign Trade under the commerce ministry

deals with export and import related matters.

 Yes Bank ties up with Amplus Energy

o Amplus Energy Solutions has entered into a pact with Yes Bank for
strategic tie-up to co-finance projects in the solar energy space in India.

o Yes Bank will look for bankable projects to invest in & Amplus will develop
them.

o MoU was signed at International Solar Alliance at World Future Energy

Summit, Abu Dhabi.

o Total projects capacity is likely to be up to 1,000 mw under the

partnership.

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  Axis Securities takes membership on MCX

o MCX has announced that Axis Securities - A subsidiary of Axis Bank has
become the 1st bank-sponsored broking entity to take membership on its
platform.

o Through the massive distribution network of Axis, platform stands

extended to a large section of individuals, MSME & SMEs across India.

o Last year, RBI had opened the way for banks to enter commodity broking
services, through subsidiaries.

 India Ratings projects growth at 7.1%

o India Ratings & Research has projected country's economic growth to be at

7.1% next fiscal from 6.5% this year, buoyed by robust consumption
demand & low commodity prices.

o Ind-Ra expects GDP to grow 7.1% year-on-year in 2018-19 which is a tad

lower than 7.4% growth estimated by ADB & IMF.

o Agency said there will be a gradual pick up in growth momentum owing

to reforms like GST & IBC in place.

 Yes Bank to mobilise $1 billion by 2023

o YES Bank will mobilise $1 billion till 2023 & $5 billion till 2030 towards
financing solar energy projects in India.

o The announcement was made at International Solar Alliance conference

organised at World Future Energy Summit 2018 in Abu Dhabi.

o This comes on the back of $400-million co-finance agreement by the Bank

& EIB for construction of new solar power plants & wind farms across

 Grab acquires payments start-up iKaaz

o Grab, Uber’s biggest competitor in Southeast Asian markets has acquired

Bengaluru-based software start-up iKaaz.

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 o iKaaz' technology spans across areas like NFC, QR-code, audio-based
payments as well as bill payments, online payments & peer-to-peer.

o Flexibility & Scalability offered by iKaaz make it ideally suited for

Southeast Asia's diverse payments landscape & large unbanked
population.

 Bank of Baroda partners with Invoicemart

o Invoice discounting marketplace - Invoicemart has tied up with BoB to

discount invoices for MSMEs.

o Buyers & sellers registered on the marketplace will now be able to access
funding from BoB.

o Invoicemart is a joint venture b/w Axis Bank & Mjunction services.

o BoB has stepped up its focus on supply chain financing, whereby it will
provide loans to MSMEs associated with large corporates.

 First Indian bank to cross Rs5 trillion

o India’s most-valued bank HDFC Bank has crossed Rs5 trillion market
capitalisation for the first time, making it the 1st Indian bank to achieve
this milestone.

o TCS & RIL are the other two companies which have crossed market
capitalisation of Rs5 trillion.

o HDFC Bank’s steady 20% profit growth quarter-after-quarter, as well as its

immunity to bad loans crises, has helped it achieve this feat.

 Govt lowers additional borrowings

o The government has lowered the additional borrowing requirement for the
current fiscal to Rs 20,000 crore from Rs 50,000 crore estimated earlier.

o The government reassessed the additional borrowing requirements after

taking note of revenue receipts and expenditure pattern.

o The reduced borrowing would help contain fiscal deficit within the target.

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  SBI to raise Rs 20,000 cr

o The board of State Bank of India has given nod to raise Rs 20,000 crore
for financing affordable housing and infrastructure projects through long-
term bonds.

o Affordable housing segment has gained momentum after the government

provided infrastructure status to it in the last year’s budget.

o Govt is also providing interest subsidy to buyers on low-cost homes under

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

 CIPAM Launches Competition for students

o Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM), under the department
of industrial policy and promotion, has launched a competition for college
and university students.

o Its aim is to foster a culture of innovation and creativity in the youth.

o The competition invites students to submit films on piracy and

counterfeiting.

o The last date for receiving entries is March 31.

 Indian Oil signs LoI with Israeli Firms

o Indian Oil Corporation has signed letters of intent with Phinergy, an

Israeli start-up, & YEDA, a technology spin-off from Israel’s Weizmann
Research Institute.

o The agreement with Phinergy allows IndianOil to work on adoption of

advanced energy systems for the domestic market.

o This association could lead to the setting up of manufacturing units for

these energy systems, initially in India.

 TCS bags over $690 million deal

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 o India’s largest IT services firm TCS has signed an over GBP 500 million
deal with M&G Prudential, the UK and European savings and investments
business of Prudential plc.

o TCS will digitally transform M&G Prudential’s business and deliver

enhanced service for its UK savings and retirement customers.

o The value of this agreement exceeds GBP 500 million over 10 years.

 IIE Lists IRFC's Green Bond

o The Bombay Stock Exchange's India International Exchange listed the first
bond on its Global Securities Market.

o The bonds issued by Indian Railways Finance Corporation are one of the
highest credit rated bonds issued by an Indian corporate and has been
IRFC's first foray into the Green Bond market.

o IRFC had last year raised $500 million from the 10-year green bond from
investors in Asia.

 1st agro options contract in guar seeds

o Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched options trading in guar seed on

commodity bourse NCDEX.

o NCDEX Agri-Options in Guar Seed aims to provide farmers better

engagement in the commodity markets.

o NCDEX is the 2nd exchange after MCX to launch options trading in

commodities.

o Guar seed is a major contributor to revenue generation, hence making it a

suitable commodity to start with for Options.

 Bank of India postpones QIP plan

o BOI has postponed its plan to raise ₹3000 crores through qualified
institutional placement.

o Decision has been taken after govt’s approval to infuse ₹2257 crores in the
bank as part of the major liquidation of the banks.

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 o Infusion by govt will address the immediate need of funds & bank will be
able to address the immediate issues.

o Bank is expecting more money to flow in form of recap bonds.

 Federal Bank ties up with Hedge Equities

o Federal Bank has entered into a strategic partnership with Hedge

Equities for providing Portfolio Investment Scheme services to NRIs.

o Federal Bank is authorised by the RBI to issue permission letter to NRIs

on behalf of the RBI to transact in the secondary market.

o Through this tie-up, the bank aims to facilitate NRI clients to invest in
shares of Indian companies.

 BSE Lists IRFC’s First Green Bond

o The BSE's India International Exchange, India INX, has listed the IRFC's
green bonds on its debt listing platform – the global securities market.

o With this, the Indian Railway Finance Corporation's green bonds have
become the first debt security to be listed on an exchange at International
Financial Services Centre in Gujarat's GIFT city.

o The bonds have an annual yield of 3.835 percent.

 India's GDP to reach 7.3% by 2020-22

o The Indian economy is expected to witness an average GDP growth of 7.3

per cent over 2020-22, says a Morgan Stanley research report.

o The report said that the growth recovery and normalising food prices are
expected to drive a pick-up in inflation.

o The Reserve Bank in its fifth bi-monthly review of this fiscal kept the repo
rate unchanged at 6 per cent and reverse repo at 5.75 per cent

 West Bengal tops DIPP's BRAP 2017

o West Bengal currently tops the list of the Department of Industrial Policy
and Promotion's Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) 2017.
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 o It is followed by Gujarat.

o The rankings are based on implementation only and scores of feedback

evaluation have not been considered.

o BRAP 2017 also includes two new sectors -- healthcare and hospitality.

 Agri-commodity options in Guar seed

o National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) is

launching the country's first agri-commodity options in Guar Seed.

o The instrument, which is uniquely designed by NCDEX and approved by

SEBI.

o It is expected to deepen trade in that commodity and will benefit farmers

in reaping improved price realizations for their produce, with limited
downside risk.

 Inflation accelerates to 17-month high

o India’s retail inflation has reached a 17-month high with a little respite to
be seen in the coming months amid a surge in oil prices.

o Consumer prices rose 5.21 per cent in December from a year earlier, the
Statistics Ministry said in a statement.

o The rise in inflation is unlikely to translate into higher wages, given

subdued demand for jobs.

 IDFC Bank to merge with Capital First

o IDFC Bank will merge with Warburg Pincus-backed Capital First in an all-
share deal.

o V Vaidyanathan, the current chairman of Capital First, will become the

MD and CEO of the merged entity, succeeding Rajiv Lall.

o Post-merger, the combined entity of IDFC Bank and Capital First will have
assets under management of Rs 880 billion and will serve more than five
million customers.

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  India: Growing mobile payment market

o According to eMarketer, India is now the world's fastest-growing

"proximity mobile payment" market in the world.

o The number of mobile payment users in India surged 75.5% from 32

million in 2016 to 56.2 million in 2017.

o This number is expected to grow to 77.8 million - nearly 30% of India's

total number of smartphone users - this year.

 FB's, Twitter's bosses to leave Disney

o Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter's Chief

Executive Jack Dorsey will not seek re-election to Walt Disney Co's board.

o This is because of growing conflicts of interest between the media giant

and the technology companies.

o The departures will take effect in March at Disney's annual meeting, when
shareholders will be asked to re-elect 10 other board members.

 TCS bags ‘$2-plus bn’ Transamerica order

o TCS has signed the ‘largest contract to date’ to become a third party
administrator (TPA) for Transamerica.

o It will take care of Transamerica's life insurance, annuity, supplemental

health insurance and workplace voluntary benefit products.

o The multi-year agreement, worth more than $2 billion, would enable

Transamerica to rapidly enhance its digital capabilities.

 e-way bill to make GST simpler

o From February, transporters will not need separate transit passes for
moving goods from one state to another, thanks to e-way bill.

o Inter-state movement of goods beyond 10 kms, with a value of Rs

50,000 above, will mandatorily require e-way bill from February 1.

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 o The e-way bill rules provide for random verification which can be done by
a tax officer.

 Forex reserves surge to all time high

o India's foreign exchange reserves surged by $1.758 billion to mount a new

record high of $411.124 billion.

o The reserves had crossed the $400-billion mark for the first time on
September 8, 2017 but had since been fluctuating.

o Expressed in the US dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the
effect of change due to the non-US currencies.

 7 years’ jail for benami transactions

o According to Income-Tax Department, people indulging in benami

transactions can be prosecuted for imprisonment up to seven years.

o “Benamidar [in whose name benami property is standing], beneficiary

[who actually paid consideration] and persons who abet and induce
benami transactions are prosecutable.

o It is according to Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988.

 Paytm Launches Paytm Money Ltd.

o Paytm, run by One97 Communications Ltd, has set up a new entity called
Paytm Money Ltd.

o It will offer investment and wealth management products and will invest
close to $10 million upfront in the new entity.

o Paytm Money is the fourth product after Paytm Mall, Paytm Payments
Bank and Paytm wallet.

o Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the founder of One97 Communications.

 MoU between India and Canada

o Cabinet cleared a pact between India and Canada to enhance cooperation

in the field of science and technology.

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 o MoU will foster scientific cooperation between Research and Development
and academic institutions of India and Canada.

o This will help to develop institutional networking and support the

establishment of connections between scientific organisations. Justin
Trudeau is PM of Canada.

 PhonePe inks pact with FreeCharge

o Flipkart’s payments arm PhonePe said it has partnered mobile wallet

company FreeCharge.

o PhonePe has now enabled its over 45 million users to link their existing
FreeCharge wallets to the PhonePe app.

o Once linked, PhonePe customers will be able to spend their FreeCharge

wallet balance at all online and offline merchant outlets that accept
payments via PhonePe.

 PNB Ties up with NSFDC

o Punjab National Bank and National Scheduled Castes Finance and

Development Corporation have tied up to provide financial assistance for
economic empowerment of persons belonging to Scheduled Caste families
living below Double Poverty Line.

o A MoA to this effect was signed between PNB and NSFDC.

o Under this tie-up, PNB would act as a channelising agent for the loan
schemes of NSFDC.

 ICICI Sec. plans to launch 3,200 cr IPO

o ICICI Securities plans to launch an IPO worth at least Rs. 3,200 crore
($500 million) in February.

o Parent ICICI Bank will be selling 64 million shares in the IPO.

o ICICI Securities offers investment banking, institutional broking, retail

broking and private wealth management services.

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  SBI to raise $2 bn via overseas bonds

o SBI is planning to raise $ 2 billion by issuing bonds in U.S. dollar or in

some other convertible currency in the current and the next financial year.

o The lender may raise the funds in more than one tranches. The funds
could be used to boost credit demand.

o The bond is a debt security, under which the issuer owes the holders a debt
and is obliged to pay them interest on the maturity date.

 WB projects India’s growth rate at 7.3%

o World Bank has projected India’s growth rate at 7.3 percent in 2018 and
7.5 for the next two years.

o According to the 2018 Global Economics Prospect release, despite initial

setbacks because of demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST),
India’s economy is estimated to have grown at 6.7 percent in 2017.

o India’s growth potential will be around 7% for the next 10 years.

 1,463 accounts owe PSU banks Rs100 crore

o As many as 1,463 entities account for bad loans of Rs100 crore or more in
21 public sector banks (PSBs), finance ministry data has shown.

o In State Bank of India (SBI) alone, 265 accounts had bad loans of more
than Rs100 crore each, totalling Rs77,538 crore.

o Punjab National Bank topped the chart with 143 non-performing asset
(NPA) accounts carrying over Rs100 crore each.

 Paytm, IndusInd to provide FD facility

o Paytm Payments Bank has partnered Induslnd Bank to introduce a facility

to create a fixed deposit when the customer balance exceeds Rs 1 lakh at
the end of day.

o Paytm Payments Bank customers can redeem their deposits instantly,

anytime without paying any pre-closure or miscellaneous charges.
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 o Customers can also earn up to 6.85 per cent annual interest.

 CBDT relaxes norms for MAT on insolvents

o The Income Tax Department has relaxed norms for levy of Minimum
Alternate Tax (MAT) on companies facing corporate insolvency
proceedings.

o As per Section 115JB of the Income Tax Act, MAT is levied on book profit
after deducting the amount of loss brought forward or unabsorbed
depreciation, whichever is less.

o This has been done to minimise the genuine hardships faced by such
companies.

 2018 Budget to be presented on 1 Feb

o This year’s Union budget will be presented on 1 February.

o The budget will be presented by finance minister Arun Jaitley.

o The Union Budget of India, also referred to as the Annual financial

statement in the Article 112 of the Constitution of India, is the
annual budget of the Republic of India.

 GDP growth may slow down to 6.5% in FY18

o The Indian economy is forecast to grow at its slowest in four years in FY18
but is expected to pick up pace in the second half of the year.

o GDP is seen growing 6.5% in FY18, down from 7.1% last year, according to
the first advance estimates released by the statistics office.

o Gross value added (GVA) growth is forecast at 6.1% against 6.6% last year.

 K.M. Birla to infuse ₹3,200 cr into Idea

o Kumar Mangalam Birla-led promoter firms have agreed to infuse ₹3,200

crore into Idea Cellular.

o The issue, subject to shareholders and other regulatory approvals, is

expected to be completed by early February 2018.
21 | P a g e
 o After this, the shareholding of the promoter group in Idea will increase to
47.2% from the existing 42.4%.

 RBI Initiates PCA Against Allahabad Bank

o The Reserve Bank of India has initiated 'prompt corrective action' (PCA)
against Allahabad Bank over its high bad loans.

o High net non-performing assets and a negative return on assets for two
years in a row have prompted the action.

o Usha Ananthasubramanian is the MD & CEO of Allahabad Bank, which is

headquartered in Kolkata.

 NABARD sanctioned 372.51 crore to Odisha

o National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has sanctioned Rs

372.51 crore loan assistance to Odisha for irrigation and rural bridge
projects.

o This loan has been sanctioned under the Rural Infrastructure

Development Fund (RIDF).

o These projects will provide assured irrigation to about 36440 hectares of

agricultural land and will directly benefit about 40000 farmers across
Odisha.

 Bill to raise NABARD’s capital

o On January 2, 2018, NABARD (Amendment) Bill, 2017, was passed in the

Rajya Sabha.

o The bill seeks to increase NABARD’s authorised capital to Rs 30000 crore

from the current level of Rs. 5000 crore.

o RBI’s 0.4 percent equity in NABARD will be transferred to Central

Government. Consequentially, 100 percent equity of NABARD will now be
with the government.

 Revised Concession Agreement for PPP

22 | P a g e
 o The Union Cabinet has approved the revised model concession agreement
for public-private partnership projects in major ports.

o The amendments in the pact envisage constitution of the Society for

Affordable Redressal of Disputes.

o The approval provides an exit route to developers by way of divesting their

equity up to 100 percent after completion of 2 years from the commercial
operation date.

 New Rs 10 note to be issued by RBI

o According to reports, the Reserve Bank of India is all set to issue new Rs
10 notes under the Mahatma Gandhi series with chocolate brown colour as
the base.

o According to News18, around 1 billion pieces of the new 10 rupee note has
already been printed by the apex bank.

o In August, 2017, new Rs 50 and Rs 200 notes were introduced in the

Mahatma Gandhi series.

 SBI, NABARD signs agreement

o SBI and NABARD have signed an agreement with five NGOs in Bengal for
the promotion of 2,500 joint liability groups in select districts of the State.

o JLGs are informal groups of 4-10 members engaged in similar economic

activities and willing to jointly undertake the responsibility to repay loans
taken by the group from a bank.

o NABARD is headquartered in Mumbai with branches all over India.

 IICA, IPPB Sign MoU

o The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs and India Post Payments

Bank signed an agreement for the training of employees of the latter in the
area of payment banking.

o Under the agreement, IICA has been entrusted with the key responsibility
of capacity building of IPPB.
23 | P a g e
 o Employees will be provided research support by instituting Research
Chairs in the emerging area of payment banking.

 Crisil's index to track FPI investment

o Rating agency Crisil launched an index to measure the performance of

investments of foreign portfolio investors in the fixed-income market.

o Crisil FPI index would serve as benchmark for the performance of FPI
investments in government securities.

o The index holds significance owing to the current tilt of FPIs towards
fixed-income securities and recent enhancement of investment limits by
RBI.

 Crypto-currencies not legal tender : India

o Bitcoins or such crypto-currencies are not legal tender and those indulging
in such transactions are doing it at their own risk, Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley said.

o A committee under the chairmanship of Secretary, Department of

Economic Affairs, is deliberating over the issue.

o A cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of

exchange.

 Desktop ATMs in rural India

o Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank has operationalized it’s first

desktop ATM at Kasibugga in Mandi Bazar of Warangal in Telangana.

o The model will be scaled up to 100 in the near future, said Narasi Reddy,
Chairman.

o The ATM is designed to work in harsh climatic conditions and minimum

power requirements.

o They can dispense small denominations and cater to small cash needs of
rural customers.

24 | P a g e
  RBI bonds scheme not closed: FinMin

o The Finance Ministry said RBI Bonds Scheme has not been closed but the
interest rate on such papers lowered to 7.75 percent.

o These taxable bonds are meant for individual other than Non-Resident
Indians with no maximum limit for investment.

o In 2003, the government came out with bonds offering 8 percent interest
to encourage retail investors to invest.

 India's GDP Growth at 6.5% in FY18

o According to HSBC Report, India's growth rate is expected to accelerate

over the coming year and is likely to improve further to 7.6 percent by
2019-20.

o The key sectors would revive from disruptions related to the

implementation of GST and demonetisation.

o According to the global financial services major, GDP growth in India is

expected to accelerate to 7.0 percent in 2018-19 from 6.5%.

 Debit card trans. up to Rs 2,000: Free

o Customers will not have to pay any transaction charges for payments
through debit card, BHIM app and other payment made for up to Rs
2,000.

o The move will have an impact of Rs 2,512 crore on the exchequer.

o BHIM is a mobile app developed by National Payments Corporation of

India, based on the Unified Payment Interface.

 SBI Reduces Base Rate

o SBI announced a 30-basis-point cut in old lending rate benchmarks —

Base Rate and Benchmark Prime Lending Rate.

o It is done to bring new year cheer to customers whose loans are still linked
to these benchmarks.

25 | P a g e
 o With effect from January 1, 2018, the revised base rate is 8.65 percent
(8.95% earlier) for existing customers and Benchmark Prime Lending Rate
is 13.40 percent (13.70%).

 SEBI to have fourth whole-time member

o The Finance Ministry has accepted markets regulator SEBI’s request to

have four whole time members.

o It is a move which will help broaden the top leadership at the regulatory
authority to faster discharge of duties.

o Currently, Sebi has two whole-time members -- Madhabi Puri Buch and G
Mahalingam -- while Sanjeev Kaushik was appointed a whole-time
member last month.

 SEBI shortlisted Comp. for IT services

o SEBI has shortlisted 15 entities, including Tata Communications,

Wipro for 2 separate services - identify and classify security holes in IT
infrastructure, as well as protect against security threats.

o Selected company will be responsible for all the activities related to

information security and implementation of security solutions.

o SEBI is the regulator for the securities market in India.

 Rs 14,500cr generated through BHARAT 22

o The government revealed that an amount of Rs 14,500 crore has been

raised through its BHARAT 22 Exchange Traded Fund.

o ETF is created to benefit long-term and retail investors by providing an

opportunity to purchase equity stocks of government-run companies.

o The objective of BHARAT 22 ETF is to invest in constituents (22

companies) of S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index.

 GAIL Awards Contracts for PMUG yojana

26 | P a g e
 o GAIL India has placed orders for another 400-km of pipeline of the
ambitious PM Urja Ganga natural gas pipeline project that will take the
fuel to eastern India.

o With these awards, pipe supply orders for 2,100 km of the Jagdishpur-
Haldia & Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline project have been placed.

o Urja Ganga gas pipeline project was inaugurated by PM Modi in his

constituency Varanasi, UP.

February 2018
 Amazon buys video doorbell startup Ring

o E-commerce giant Amazon has agreed to buy US-based video doorbell

startup Ring, the companies confirmed.

o According to reports, the deal could be worth more than $1 billion, making
it one of the most expensive acquisitions in Amazon's history.

o Founded in 2012, the startup makes video doorbells and security cameras
that connect to users' phones or computers.

 Federer won Most Decorated Laureus Award

o Tennis legend Roger Federer became the most decorated winner in the
history of Laureus World Sports Awards after he won twin honours at the
18th edition of the awards ceremony in Monaco.

o It was his sixth award.

o American tennis great Serena Williams won the Sportswoman of the Year
Award. She is now the most decorated female Laureus Award winner with
five Laureus statuettes.

 Centre names 9,491 ‘high risk’ NBFCs

o The government has categorised 9,491 non-banking financial companies

in the country as “high risk” prone.

27 | P a g e
 o These NBFCs have been categorised as high risk prone as they had not
complied with a stipulated provision of the anti-money laundering law.

o The list of 9,491 “high risk financial institutions” has been published by
Financial Intelligence Unit that functions under Finance Ministry.

 Tie up b/w Tamil Nadu Govt and Microsoft

o Govt of Tamil Nadu has signed an agreement with Microsoft to improve

integration of technology in teaching & learning in the state.

o The partnership aims to reform education sector, build tech capacity &
enhance digital literacy across all levels.

o As a part of the agreement, Microsoft will adopt 7 schools identified by

govt & train their teachers & students around building 21st century skills

 AIIB approves $1.5 billion of loans to India

o Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has approved $1.5 billion in loans to

India for infrastructure-related projects in 2018.

o The funds would be used for investment in India’s energy, roads and
urban development projects.

o The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a multilateral development

bank that aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific
region.

 Shipping ministry and IIT Madras joins hand

o Shipping ministry has set up a centre in a joint initiative with IIT Madras
to accelerate indigenous development of technology & patents.

o It also aims to reduce reliance on costly foreign consultations.

o The centre, supported by ministry’s flagship Sagarmala Project, will be

located at the satellite campus of IIT Madras.

o It is expected to serve as the technological arm of shipping ministry.

 Tech Mahindra sets up lab in Bengaluru

28 | P a g e
 o Tech Mahindra has set up a lab in Bengaluru in association with US
chipmaker Intel to prepare for 5G services, according to a top executive of
the IT firm.

o The company's CEO CP Gurnani said that about 30,000 of its employees
have already been re-skilled to handle the emerging technologies.

o The company expects to roll out 5G services by 2019.

 State Bank of India set for UK restructuring

o SBI is set for a major restructuring of its business in UK from April.

o SBI's UK operations will transform into a subsidiary named State Bank of

India UK Limited from April 1.

o It means that all retail branches of SBI in UK will fall under a new UK-
incorporated banking entity instead of their previous status as overseas
branches of the Indian entity.

o SBI operates 7 branches in London.

 RBI asks banks to link SWIFT to core banking

o RBI has directed banks to link SWIFT (Society for World Interbank
Financial Telecommunication System platform) with core banking
solutions of banks by April 30, 2018.

o Failure of SWIFT-CBS link has led to Rs 11,400 cr fraud at PNB.

o SWIFT system promoted in 1973 by banks globally is used to transmit

messages relating to cross border financial transactions.

 Institutes to improve ease of doing business

o Commerce & industry ministry has appointed 4 institutes to interact with

stakeholders and suggest measures to push India’s ranking in ease of
doing business index.

o NICMAR, IIFT, ICSI and ICAI are the four institutes that have been roped
in for the exercise.

29 | P a g e
 o As per the latest World bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking, India’s
position improved by 30 places to 100th.

 India's first 4G LTE telecom system unveiled

o Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha has launched India's first locally developed
4G/LTE telecom system.

o The system has been designed and developed by VNL Ltd., keeping in
mind requirement for high speed connectivity, particularly in rural areas.

o These systems offer compact and versatile radio applications and can
operate flawlessly even in harsh environment.

 RBI launches Ombudsman Scheme for NBFCs

o The RBI launched 'Ombudsman Scheme' for redressal of complaints

against NBFCs.

o "The scheme will provide a cost-free and expeditious complaint redressal

mechanism relating to deficiency in the services by NBFCs covered under
the Scheme," the central bank said.

o The offices of the NBFC ombudsmen will function at 4 metro centres

- Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi.

 Birla's Idea Payments Bank begins operations

o Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Ltd commenced operations as a

payments bank with effect from February 22, 2018.

o In November 2016, Airtel Payments Bank Ltd became the first entity to
start operations as Payments Bank. Paytm and Fino Payments Bank are
the other two entities that have already launched their operations.

o India Post Payments Bank is expected to start operations from April 2018.

 Paytm Launches Two Insurance Companies

o Digital payments startup Paytm has launched two insurance companies,

Paytm Life Insurance and Paytm General Insurance.

30 | P a g e
 o Paytm Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CFO Madhur Deora, and Shankar
Prasad Nath are the three signatory stakeholders in both the companies.

o In January this year, Paytm announced that it has set up Paytm Money
Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of One97 Communications.

 PNB adopts stricter SWIFT control after fraud

o PNB has reportedly stepped up its controls on use of messaging network

SWIFT following a $1.77-billion fraud.

o Any SWIFT message will now have to be created, verified and authorised
by three different officers, while previously only two officers were needed.

o PNB officials had issued unauthorised LoUs via SWIFT for firms linked to
jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi.

 Ambani's Reliance to buy 5% stake in Eros

o Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries said it will buy a 5% stake in

NYSE-listed Eros International for $48.75 million (over ₹316 crore).

o Separately, the companies also announced a ₹1,000-crore fund to produce

and acquire Indian films and digital content.

o Last year, Reliance had purchased 25% stake in media company Balaji
Telefilms for ₹413 crore.

 New rules for Telco-run payments banks

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that KYC (Know Your Customer)
verification of payments bank customers done by telecom companies is
not permissible.

o It has instructed payments banks to complete the KYC process

independently through third parties.

o This comes after Airtel was penalised by UIDAI for allegedly opening
payments bank accounts without 'informed consent' of the users.

31 | P a g e
  Capital First Gets NHB Nod For Merger

o Capital First announced that the regulator National Housing Bank has
approved the merger of the company along with Capital Home Finance
and Capital First Securities Limited with IDFC Bank.

o The share swap ratio for the merger is fixed at 139:10, meaning IDFC Bank
will issue 139 shares for every 10 shares of Capital First.

o The merger is likely to be completed in the next two-three quarters.

 UP Government Signs Pact With Amazon India

o Uttar Pradesh's Khadi and Village Industries Board has signed a pact with
Amazon India.

o It is to facilitate online selling of Khadi products.

o As part of an MoU, Amazon India will educate, train and enable rural
khadi artisans to directly sell their products to Amazon.in customers
across the country under the brand of UP Khadi.

 Centre reboots eNAM to draw more farmers

o In a bid to engage more farmers on the eNAM platform, the government

unveiled mobile payment facility BHIM, and other features in regional
languages as well.

o The eNAM website is now available in Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu,

Bengali and Odia besides Hindi and English, while the eNAM trading
facility is available in six languages.

o It is strengthened with features like MIS dashboard, BHIM.

 Niti Aayog making new list of sick PSUs

o Government think-tank NITI Aayog is preparing another list of sick PSUs

that can be privatised.

o PMO had asked the think- tank to look into the viability of sick state-run
companies.

32 | P a g e
 o The Aayog has already recommended strategic divestment of 40 sick
public sector units.

 Blockchain tech could help prevent frauds

o The adoption of blockchain by India’s banks could help avert frauds such
as the one at PNB.

o It updates information across all users simultaneously, which would have

ensured that various officials would have instantly been alerted to the
creation of the LoUs.

o Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology originally developed as an

accounting system for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

 EPFO fixes interest rate at 8.55 %

o The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, EPFO has declared 8.55%

interest rate for 2017-18 for its about 5 crore members, the lowest in five
years.

o The move will affect around 6 crore subscribers and leave EPFO with a
surplus of Rs 586 crore against Rs 695 crore in the previous financial year.

o Cut comes at a time when returns on debt funds have decreased to 6.75%
from 7.5-8% last year.

 Google Launches Google Pay

o Google has combined its two payment services, Google Wallet and Android
Pay, into a new app called Google Pay.

o Google Pay combines features from both, including the ability to pay at
checkout counters with a smartphone, and even the option to scan into
transit systems.

o With Google Pay, one can digitally store their credit and debit cards, as
well as gift cards and rewards cards.

33 | P a g e
  India-Morocco Cooperation agreement approved

o Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval to the Cooperation Agreement
b/w India & Moroccan National Railways Office.

o The agreement aims to develop long-term cooperation & partnership in

different areas of railway sector.

o The Agreement will enable technical cooperation in Training and staff

development & Mutual technical assistance, including exchanging of
experts among others.

 India's medium-term potential growth above 7%

o According to a UBS report, India's medium-term growth is likely to be

above 7% backed by policy reforms & stable global growth environment.

o India ranks higher in medium-term growth potential compared to other

markets like Russia & China

o The report said, India needs to adopt reforms like stepping up

infra investment, education & health reforms & others to improve it's
potential growth outlook

 BSNL signs pact with Japan’s NTT AT

o BSNL & Japan’s NTT AT along with their Indian partner Virgo Corps, have
signed an agreement to collaborate in developing futuristic technologies.

o The companies would collaborate in futuristic technologies such as

artificial intelligence / IoT & jointly create a 5G test bed

o Agreement is in line with the vision of PM Modi & Japanese PM Shinzo

Abe to collaborate on next generation technologies.

 Virgin group & Mah govt. to build Hyperloop

o The Virgin Group has signed an ‘intent agreement’ with the Maharashtra
State govt to build a hyperloop transportation system between Mumbai
and Pune.

34 | P a g e
 o The first hyperloop route will link central Pune with Mumbai and the
proposed Navi Mumbai international airport.

o The hyperloop is expected to reduce travel time between the cities to 20

minutes, from the present three hours.

 Private companies to bid for coal mines

o The cabinet has approved a plan to allow private companies to bid for coal
mines for commercial production.

o It is the most awaited reform in the coal sector that will bring updated
foreign mining technologies, investments into the country while rising
output and saving forex.

o Coal accounts for 70% of India’s power generation, and the country has a
target to produce 1 billion tonnes by 2022.

 PNB's Viability Rating On Negative Watch

o Amid the ongoing million dollar fraud, credit rating body Fitch has placed
Punjab National Bank's viability rating in the negative watch category.

o PNB's viability rating of 'bb' was placed in the Rating Watch Negative,
following the fraud reported recently.

o Fitch would resolve the rating watch once more clarity emerges on the
extent of control failures & impact on PNB's financial position.

 Star India wins audio-visual production right

o Star India has won the audio-visual production rights for not just IPL but
also for BCCI's domestic circuit for the 2018-19 season.

o The service agreement and the contract term will cover one season of the
IPL (2018) and one season of Domestic Cricket (2018-2019).

o The Star India also holds the media rights of the Indian Premier League.

 Axis Bank opens offshore banking branch

35 | P a g e
 o Axis Bank has announced opening of off-shore banking unit at the
International Financial Services Centre at Gujarat International Finance
Tec-City.

o The Bank will now be able to provide a more comprehensive range of

products to its customers with access to International financial markets.

o Offshore Banking unit is capable to trade in foreign currency in overseas

market & also with Indian Banks

 Amazon enters food retail venture

o Amazon has rolled out its own food retailing business in India called
Amazon Retail with a pilot in Pune.

o With this Amazon becomes the 1st foreign e-commerce firm to stock & sell
food items directly to consumers.

o Amazon had last year secured govt’s permission to invest $500mn in a

wholly-owned venture to retail locally produced & packaged food products
through offline & online channels.

 Axis Bank hikes MCLR by 10 basis points

o Axis Bank has hiked its benchmark marginal cost of funds based lending
rate by 10 basis points in the three month to three year buckets.

o The bank’s 3 month MCLR is now 8.15% and 6 months at 8.30% while the
1 year rate is 8.40%.

o This is the second time that the bank has hiked its lending rates in two
months.

o MCLR is closely linked to the cost banks pay on their deposits.

 RIL plans digitial industrial area in Mah

o Reliance Industries along with global firms, is planning to invest more

than ₹60,000 crore in Maharashtra in the next 10 years for establishing an
integrated digital industrial area.

36 | P a g e
 o Once built, it will be the first integrated digital industrial area in the
country.

o More than 20 global companies including Cisco, HP, Dell, Nokia & Nvidia
among others have already agreed to invest in it.

 PhonePe partners with IOCL

o PhonePe has partnered with Indian Oil Corporation Limited for adoption
of its indigenously-designed Point of Sale device at IOCL retail outlets.

o Customers can now pay using UPI, credit & debit cards, PhonePe wallet &
other wallets for their fuel purchases, through PoS device at IOCL retail
outlets in Bengaluru.

o PhonePe received its RBI licensing in Aug 2014 & was later acquired by
Flipkart.

 WhatsApp to launch inter-bank money transfer

o WhatsApp will launch a “full feature” inter-bank money transfer service in

India, its biggest market, after a test involving a million users.

o This uses customers’ phone numbers linked to bank accounts to facilitate

payments.

o 4 banks will join United Payments Interface which powers the payments
service for WhatsApp. At present ICICI Bank processes the fund transfers
on WhatsApp.

 Privatisation of cooperative spinning mills

o Maharashtra govt has decided to allow privatisation of spinning mills

& powerloom societies that are operated on cooperative basis across the
state.

o It will be allowed to be privatised provided they are ready to return the

govt equity, loan & interest thereupon.

o State’s new textile policy allows them to change land use, which means
they can use it for reasons other than industrial purpose.
37 | P a g e
  IOC to expand refining capacity

o Indian Oil Corp will invest Rs 70,000 crore to raise its oil refining capacity
by about a quarter by 2030.

o IOC will expand its refining capacity to 116.55 MTPA by 2030 from the
current 80.7 MTPA.

o The investment planned by IOC also includes in upgradation of major

units at existing refineries to help produce cleaner Euro-VI or BS-VI grade
petrol & diesel by April 2020.

 MoU Signed between BSI and NHM, UK

o Botanical Survey of India & Natural History Museum have signed a MoU
for cooperation in the field of genetic studies, research, training &
conservation in India.

o NHM will help in capacity building in areas of systematic botany & long-
term conservation of plant genetic resources.

o BSI is an organization for survey, research & conservation of plant

resources, flora & endangered species of India

 Fairfax to acquire 51% stake in CSB

o Canadian investor Prem Watsa’s owned Fairfax Holdings will buy a 51%
stake in Kerala-based Catholic Syrian Bank.

o The deal, if it materialises, will be the first takeover of an Indian bank by a

foreign non-banking financial entity after RBI tweaked ownership norms
last May.

o Founded in 1921, CSB has a strong base in Kerala & a significant presence
in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka & Maharashtra.

 Union Bank hit by fraud

o Days after the fraud at PNB shook the country, Union Bank has suffered
three fraudulent remittances of nearly $2 million.

38 | P a g e
 o Just like the fraud at PNB, no entries of remittances were made in the
ledgers of City Union Bank & transfers were pushed through the SWIFT
financial platform.

o The transfers were made through correspondent banks even though it had
not requested the transfers.

 PNB Housing Finance & IFC tie up

o PNB Housing Finance has tied up with International Finance Corporation

(IFC), part of the World Bank Group, to raise $800 million for green and
affordable housing in India.

o IFC's move to invest in India’s housing programme is aimed at improving

the supply situation in the market by expanding liquidity.

o The move comes as a big boost to Prime Minister Modi’s housing for all
scheme by 2022.

 SBI launches global customer service centre

o State Bank of India has launched its Global NRI Centre (GNC) in Kochi, a
one-stop customer service point for all NRI banking-related activities.

o Through its GNC, SBI aims to centralise operations which are currently
spread across 16 circles, 92 NRI branches in 66 different locations and
several NRI-intensive branches.

o SBI has a strong NRI customer base of over 33 lakh as on January 31.

 NDB to lend $100 mn for water project

o India has signed 2nd loan agreement for $100 million with New
Development Bank for efficient use of water in desert areas of Rajasthan.

o The objective is to rehabilitate 678-km-long Indira Gandhi Canal

system to prevent seepage, conserve water & enhance water use efficiency.

o Project is aimed at rehabilitation of waterlogged areas & modernisation of

irrigation management practices among others

39 | P a g e
  HomeShop18, Shop CJ Network merge businesses

o E-commerce company Homeshop18 and home shopping network Shop CJ

Network have combined their businesses.

o This combination makes HomeShop18 the largest TV home-shopping

network in India.

o The resultant benefits of scale shall better the growth prospects for the
combined entity, allowing it to improve its standing in the TV home-
shopping landscape.

 India lets businesses invest in Iran in rupee

o India is allowing its businesses to invest in Indian Rs. in Iran, in a major

departure from rules that allow Indian investors to open business abroad
only in foreign currency

o So far permission to invest in Rs. has only been given to businessmen

investing in Nepal & Bhutan

o Exception has been made in case of Iran as West Asian country

has imposed restriction, barring it from dealing in $ and €

 Yes Bank lists country's first $600m MTN bond

o Yes Bank has announced the listing of it's debut US $600 million bond
issue under its maiden US $1 billion medium-term note bond on country’s
1st international exchange BSE’s IndiaINX.

o With this, Yes Bank’s MTN programme became country’s first capital
raising platform for international investors in any currency.

o Medium Term note is a debt note that matures or has a payback period of
5 yrs.

 BHEL Bags Rs 560 Crore Order From NTPC

o Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited has bagged an order worth Rs 560 crore
from NTPC for setting up a system for emission control.

40 | P a g e
 o BHEL has secured the order for "supply and installation of the flue gas
desulphurisation system from NTPC for 2x490 MW National Capital
Power Station at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh.

o Earlier, BHEL has executed the FGD system at Tata Power Trombay Unit
8 in 2008.

 Wipro among 135 most ethical comp in world

o Tata Steel and Wipro are the two Indian companies that have been named
by US-based Ethisphere Institute in the list of World's Most Ethical
Companies for 2018.

o The think tank has honoured 135 companies from 23 countries and 57
industries.

o Notably, Tata Steel and Wipro are receiving the award for the sixth and
seventh time respectively.

 PNB loses ₹3,800 crore m-cap

o Punjab National Bank's market capitalisation fell by more than ₹3,800

crore after the bank detected fraudulent transactions worth over ₹11,300
crore at a Mumbai branch.

o The bank is currently valued at ₹35,365 crore after its shares fell nearly
10%.

o The CBI is investigating billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his firms in
relation to the fraud transactions.

 Can't buy cryptocurrencies from card:Citibank

o Citibank India has banned the use of its credit and debit cards towards
purchase or trading of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

o It said the decision came following concerns expressed by the RBI

regarding potential risks associated with cryptocurrencies.

o The govt had said it will take all measures to eliminate use of
cryptocurrencies in illegitimate activities but did not declare them illegal.
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  Bajaj Allianz Insurance partners with Quikr

o Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has entered into a partnership with

Quikr to increase the insurance outreach and offer people with adequate
financial protection.

o With 30 million monthly Unique Visitors, Quikr will be a new age

distribution channel for Bajaj Allianz's products.

o Under this key agreement, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance will offer
personal lines of insurance products.

 Centre to consolidate small savings laws

o In a bid to consolidate the legislations pertaining to small savings

schemes, the government is proposing a merger of the various laws into a
Government Savings Promotion Act.

o The government gives highest priority to the interest of small savers.

o In order to remove existing ambiguities due to multiple Acts and rules for
small saving schemes, the government has proposed merger.

 ‘New RBI norms to spur surge in NPAs’

o RBI’s new norms could result in a jump in bad loans, according to Moody’s
unit ICRA.

o The RBI said that for accounts where a bank’s exposure exceeds ₹2,000
crore, a resolution plan must be implemented within 180 days from the
date of first default.

o In case a resolution is not implemented, lenders should file an insolvency

petition within 15 days of the expiry of the 180 days.

 BoB to exit South Africa after controversies

o Bank of Baroda will reportedly exit the South African market amid
allegations that politically connected Gupta family used its network for
illicit transactions.

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 o Authorities alleged that the Gupta family used the bank to transfer large
sums of illegal money and influence President Jacob Zuma.

o Bank of Baroda was the last lender in South Africa that offered services to
Guptas' companies.

 NTPC may borrow Rs 16,000 crore

o State-run power giant NTPC may borrow about Rs 16,000 crore next
financial year for adding 6,900 MW of fresh electricity generation capacity
by March 2019.

o "The corporation may hit the bonds or debt market to borrow about Rs
16,000 crore during the next financial year for financing the ongoing
projects," a source said.

o NTPC is currently working on adding 21,000 MW capacities.

 Govt saved ₹56kcr through Aadhaar-enabled DBT

o Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Union government has saved
₹56,000 crore through Aadhaar-enabled Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of
about 400 government schemes.

o Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, he further said that

India is going through a revolution in digital payment space and moving
towards a less cash economy at a fast pace.

o It was held in Dubai.

 Direct Tax Collection Rise 19.3% In April-Jan

o Direct tax collections grew by nearly 20% between April and January this
year with strong growth in both corporate and personal income tax
receipts.

o According to official data released, net direct tax collections grew by

19.3% up to January 2018 to Rs 6.95-lakh crore.

o While net corporate income tax grew by 19.2%, personal income tax
receipts rose by 18.6 per cent in January this year.
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  SBI has over Rs 20,000 Crore bad loans

o SBI wrote off bad loans worth Rs 20,339 crore in 2016-17, the highest
among all the public sector banks, which had a collective write off of Rs
81,683 crore for the fiscal.

o The data pertains to the period when the associate banks of SBI were not
merged with it.

o Besides SBI, Punjab National Bank had a write-off of Rs 9,205 crore in

2016-17, followed by Bank of India (Rs 7,346 crore).

 Microsoft and Paisabazaar comes together

o Microsoft & Paisabazaar.com have entered into a partnership to develop

industry first innovations on Microsoft's Cloud platform using artificial
intelligence & machine learning.

o The collaboration would help Paisabazaar identify customer needs more

accurately, factoring in their lifestyle & life-stage.

o It would also expedite processes on Paisabazaar platform through

automation & digitisation.

 India signs concessional agreement with UAE

o India has signed the first concessional agreement with the United Arab
Emirates in the oil sector.

o The agreement was signed between a consortium of the Indian oil

companies and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for the acquisition of
10% participating interest in the offshore Lower Zakum Concession.

o This first concessional agreement will be for 40 years from 2018 to 2057.

 PNB signs pact with National e-Gov Services

o PNB has signed an agreement for information utility with National e-

Governance Services.

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 o It will enable storing of financial information that will help substantiate
defaults & verify claims expeditiously.

o This will in turn facilitate resolution in National Company Law Tribunal in

a time bound manner.

o The objective of the agreement is to augment the information

infrastructure in India.

 IPPB to enable Digital Payments

o India Post Payments Bank will enable Digital Payments in Post Offices by
April this year.

o Once expansion is completed, IPPB will provide largest financial inclusion

network in the country.

o IPPB will be the 3rd payments bank to have full fledged operations after
Airtel Payments Bank & Paytm.

o It will provide digital payment services at the doorstep with the help of
Postmen & Gramin Dak Sewaks

 SBI posts a quarterly loss in 17 years

o India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday reported a loss of
₹2,416.4 crore for the December quarter, marking its first quarterly loss in
at least 17 years.

o The bank had reported a standalone profit of ₹2,610 crore in the

corresponding quarter last fiscal.

o The bank's net interest income during the quarter rose to ₹18,688 crore.

 Only online application for education loan

o The government has directed the banks to only accept online applications
for education loans in a bid to make the loan disbursement process
transparent and efficient.

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 o The banks have also been asked to not consider any application received in
physical form.

o The move also aims to tackle the delay in sanctioning of the education
loans.

 WhatsApp rolls out Payments feature in India

o Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp has started rolling its

Payments feature on both Android and iOS operating systems in India,
according to reports.

o The feature will allow users to instantly transfer money via the Unified
Payments Interface (UPI).

o Earlier reports said that WhatsApp was working with banks including
HDFC and ICICI to integrate its UPI-based payments platform.

 Most cryptocurrencies to hit zero: Goldman

o Goldman Sachs' head of investment research Steve Strongin has said most
cryptocurrencies will lose all their value as they are replaced by a small set
of future competitors.

o Adding that cryptocurrencies don't have any "intrinsic value", he said most
will never see their recent peaks again.

o It's worrying that all cryptocurrencies move together as a single asset class,
he added.

 RBI To Set Up Ombudsman For NBFCs

o The Reserve Bank of India announced setting up ombudsman for

addressing customer grievances in the non-banking finance companies.

o The rules will be laid out by the end of February 2018. RBI will start with
deposit-taking NBFCs and widen the scope to cover NBFCs with asset size
of Rs 100 crore.

o There are around 20 banking ombudsmen have been appointed with

offices mostly in state capitals.

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  RBI To Link Base Rate With MCLR

o The Reserve Bank of India will link the base rate with the MCLR from 1st
of April 2018 to ensure expeditious transmission of its policy rate to
borrowers.

o The RBI had introduced the MCLR system with effect from 1st April 2016,
the Central bank observed that a large proportion of bank loans continue
to be linked to Base Rate.

o Urjit Patel is the Governor of RBI.

 Google And NCERT Join Hands

o Google and NCERT signed a pact to integrate a course on 'Digital

Citizenship and Safety' in information and communication technology
curriculum.

o It was signed on the occasion of Safer Internet Day (06th February).

o The curriculum is spread into four themes - being smart, being safe, being
a digital citizen and being future ready.

 TVS Motor, Intel tie up for green scooter

o TVS Motor Company Ltd., unveiled ‘futuristic’ scooter and motorcycles to

transform future mobility using alternative fuel.

o It included electric scooter, ethanol-powered Apache motorbike and

cruiser motorcycle.

o To reduce the carbon footprint, TVS showcased ethanol-powered TVS

Apache RTR 200 Fi Ethanol. The use of ethanol will reduce the
dependence on import of petroleum products.

 RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6%

o The RBI has kept the repo rate, the rate at which banks borrow from RBI,
steady at 6% for the third time in a row during its sixth bi-monthly
monetary policy review.

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 o This comes after retail inflation in December rose to a 17-month high of
5.21%.

o The RBI last cut the rate by 25 basis points in August last year.

 5.7 cr GST evasion reported in first 5 months

o The government has discovered Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion
amounting to ₹5.7 crore in 16 cases in first five months of the ongoing
fiscal.

o Further, it found service tax evasion of ₹9,660 crore in a total of 2,938

cases during April-December.

o Evasion of central excise amounting to ₹7,242 crore in 614 cases was found
during the same period.

 67 FDI proposals worth cleared in Apr-Dec

o Union Minister P Radhakrishnan has said the government has cleared 67

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals worth ₹11,703 crore during the
first nine months of this fiscal.

o Mauritius was the largest source of FDI in India in 2016-17, according to

an RBI census.

o Further, the government has now cleared a proposal allowing 100% FDI in
single-brand retail via automatic route.

 No angel tax on startups with up to ₹10 cr

o Startups incorporated before 2016 with up to ₹10 crore in angel funding

will be exempted from giving angel tax, the Department of Industrial
Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has reportedly said.

o It'll benefit about 300 startups that received funding from the Angel
Investors Network.

o A separate committee will be set up for the startups' recognition, reports

said, citing an official.

 Student's Credit Card loan through govt body

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 o Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Modi announced that the state government would
set up a corporation to disburse loans for Student's Credit Card scheme.

o Banks will continue to disburse education loans as it has been doing along
with the SCC scheme.

o Bihar launched SCC scheme on October 3, 2016. Under the scheme,

students are able to get education loan of upto Rs 4 lakh for pursuing
higher education.

 Assam and Ola Sign MoU For River Taxi Service

o Cab-hailing startup Ola and the Government of Assam have signed an

MoU to pilot an app-based river taxi service in Guwahati.

o The river taxis will be machine-operated boats and users will be able to
book the rides through Ola's app.

o It'll bring commute time down to 2-5 minutes from 45 minutes by road.
This MoU was signed during the Global Investors Summit: Advantage
Assam.

 Singtel to invest in Airtel's parent firm

o Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) has said it will invest ₹2,649

crore in Airtel's holding company Bharti Telecom.

o With the investment, Singtel's total stake in the firm will increase to 48.9%
from 47.17% while Bharti Enterprises will continue to hold over 50% in
Bharti Telecom.

o Airtel said the fresh round of investment from Singtel highlights its
confidence in the Indian telecom sector

 Higher fiscal deficit for FY'19: Goldman

o The budgeted fiscal deficit is in line with expectations but there are some
risks of slippage in financial year 2018-19.

o Goldman estimates a 20 bps upside risk to the fiscal deficit in 2018-19,

unless economic activities formalise at a rapid pace.
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 o The government outlined a fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent of GDP in
2018-19 as against a revised estimate of 3.5 per cent in 2017-18.

 Govt to regulate cryptocurrencies by March

o Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has said there will be
regulations for cryptocurrencies by the end of this fiscal.

o The exchanges which are operating currently are not regulated and there
are no legal requirements for conducting KYC, he added.

o The government in the Budget said it will take all measures to eliminate
the use of cryptocurrencies in illegal activities.

 Allahabad Bank eyes Rs 270 crore capital

o Allahabad Bank is aiming to raise Rs 250-270 crore from the employee

share offer which started from January 31, 2018.

o Allahabad Bank is the first among the public sector banks to offer share to
its employees.

o The bank is giving a 25% discount on pricing at Rs 53.94 per share to the
employees.

o So far in the current fiscal, the bank had raised Rs 700 cr as capital and
also raised some bonds.

 India's First MSE Sentiment Index

o The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley
launched CriSidEx, India's first sentiment index for micro and small
enterprises.

o The index has been developed jointly by CRISIL & SIDBI.

o CriSidEx is a composite index based on a diffusion index of 8 parameters

and measures MSE business sentiment on a scale of 0 (extremely negative
) to 200 ( extremely positive).

 IOB Receives Rs173 Cr Capital Infusion

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 o Indian Overseas Bank has received Rs173.06 crore capital infusion from
the government in the current fiscal.

o IOB has received Rs173.06 crore a the contribution of the central

government in the preferential allotment of equity shares of the bank as
government’s investment during the 2017-18 fiscal.

 No change in personal income tax rates

o Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the Union Budget for the
year 2018-19 announced that no change has been made in the personal
income tax rates.

o "Government made many positive changes in the personal income tax

rates in the last three years," Jaitley said.

o Around 1.89 crore salaried individuals have filed their tax returns, he
added.

 Axis Bank Launches 4th “Evolve”

o Private sector Axis Bank launched the fourth edition of ‘Evolve’ in

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

o It is an annual multi-city knowledge series for Bank’s small and medium-

sized enterprises (SME) customers.

o The current edition of 'evolve' is titled as “Transform your Family Business

into your dream company”.

o This edition will span across 30 cities.

 FY16 GDP Growth Revised Up To 8.2%

o Central Statistics Office revised the GDP growth rate for 2015-16 to 8.2%
from the earlier estimates of 8% and kept the 2016-17 growth unchanged
at 7.1%.

o The real GDP for years 2016-17 and 2015-16 stand at Rs121.96 trillion and
Rs113.86 trillion respectively.

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 o Under the third revision the GDP growth in 2014-15 is at 7.4% from earlier
estimates of 7.5%.

March 2018
 OLX launched webwise to promote online safety

o OLX, India's leading online classifieds, launched its consumer safety

initiative, "OLX Webwise".

o The initiative aims to raise awareness among users about measures to

keep oneself safe while transacting online.

o OLX will be promoting online safety through its initiatives which include,
Product updates, user safety guidelines, awareness programs with law
enforcement authorities.

 Fino Payments to set up Android-based mPOS

o Fino Payments Bank plans to set up multi-utility Android-based mPOS

devices across 10,000 banking points throughout the country in a phased
manner.

o The move is aimed at eliminating the inconvenience of carrying multiple

devices by the representatives leading to improved services to customers.

o Fino which was a remittance service provider received authorization from

RBI to operate as a bank.

 Rivigo ties up with IDFC & YES Bank

o Rivigo is tying up with YES Bank, IDFC and 10 other financial institutions
to make cheaper funds available to truck owners and operators on its
platform.

o The funds will be available at an interest rate of 1-2% per month, lower
than the usual industry standard of 2-3%.

o Rivigo is a homegrown logistics start-up that owns as well as acts as an

aggregator of trucks.

 Govt invited bids to sell 76% in Air India

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 o The government invited bids to transfer management control along with
76% equity in Air India.

o The government will retain 24% stake in Air India and its subsidiary Air
India Express.

o It also proposed divesting 50% of its stake in Air India Sats Airport
Services.

o Air India is the country's flag air carrier with a significant market position
in international and domestic operations.

 India to have 478 million mobile users

o According to a report, the number of mobile internet users in India is

likely to reach 478 million by June.

o The number of mobile Internet users increased by 17.22% from December

2016 to reach 456 million users by December 2017 said the report.

o The report titled "Mobile Internet in India 2017”, has been jointly
published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and
KANTAR-IMRB.

 SEBI clamps down on derivative markets

o SEBI tightened the derivative markets framework to curb speculations and

prevent small investors from entering the high-risk space.

o It also accepted the majority of the recommendations made by the Uday

Kotak Committee on corporate governance.

o It introduced a concept of ‘product suitability’ under which investors will

have to show income or knowledge proof to deal in the derivatives
segment.

 RBI slaps ₹58.9 cr fine on ICICI Bank

o RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 58.9 crore on ICICI Bank for failure to
adhere to held-to-maturity (HTM) guidelines.

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 o This is the highest penalty imposed by RBI on a bank for a single incident.

o Under RBI guidelines banks have to split their holding of government

securities into `held-to-maturity’ (HTM) and available for `available-for-
sale’ category.

 Govt approves guarantee for IRFC Bonds

o Ministry of Finance has approved Government guarantee of Rs. 5,000

crore in the current financial year for Indian Railway Finance Corporation
(IRFC) bonds to be subscribed by Life Insurance Corporation, LIC.

o The guarantee fee for the aforesaid amount has also been waived by
Ministry of Finance.

o The decision will ease the flow of borrowed funds for Ministry of Railways
to undertake projects.

 Microsoft opens Garage innovation site

o Microsoft inaugurated Garage facility, a maker space for employees, its

first in Hyderabad and the 2nd largest in the world after its Redmond
Garage facility.

o Microsoft Garage provides a platform to employees who want to explore

ideas, build prototypes or experiment with existing products.

o India is Microsoft’s 2nd largest work location after Redmond, which

employees close to 45,000 people.

 Department of Posts launched Cool EMS Service

o Department of Posts has launched the "Cool EMS Service" which will come
into force from 29th March.

o Cool EMS service is one-way service from Japan to India which allows
customers in India to import Japanese food items for personal use which
is allowed under Indian regulations.

o Initially, Cool EMS Service will be available in Delhi only.

 India is the 4th largest automobile market

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 o India’s automobile sales, including passenger and commercial vehicles,
grew 9.5 percent and more than 4 million units in 2017 were sold, making
the country world’s fourth-largest automobile market.

o India beat Germany to take the 4th position.

o Maruti Suzuki India, which makes up 80 percent of the market, continues

with its lead in passenger vehicles.

 Jet Airways makes Guwahati as NE hub

o Jet Airways has announced plans to expand its operations in the northeast
and make Guwahati its regional gateway of the region.

o Jet Airways has increased the number of weekly flights between the
northeast and the rest of the country to 184.

o Jet Airways has introduced non-stop services to Aizawl, Jorhat and

Silchar.

 MCX launches first brass futures contracts

o Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) launched futures trading in

brass for the first time globally.

o The country’s largest commodity exchange will start futures trading in

brass on March 26.

o MCX Brass futures is the first non-ferrous contract with the compulsory
delivery option.

o Brass is an alloy, which primarily contains around 55-60% copper and the
rest is zinc.

 UCO Bank to merge branches in Hong Kong

o Following RBI's ban on letters of undertaking, UCO Bank is planning to

merge its two branches in Hong Kong.

o The ban on LoUs has affected the business of foreign branches & the bank
says one branch is enough to cater for customers’ needs.

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 o With almost zero capital needed for opening a branch in Hong Kong, the
country has the 2nd highest number of foreign branches by Indian banks
after the UK.

 Equitas Bank ties up with CSK

o Equitas Small Finance Bank has launched a new ‘Yellow Army Savings
Account’ to increase its customer base through its association with
Chennai Super Kings.

o The yellow army savings account will offer an interest rate of 6% per
annum for balance below ₹10 lakh and 6.5% per annum for balance above
₹10 lakh.

o Equitas will be the principal sponsor of CSK and the banking partner of
CSK for 3 years.

 Bank fraud loss already more than 2017 mark

o The total amount involved in bank fraud cases this year has reached nearly
₹19,194 crore, which is 63% more than the total loss on all frauds in 2017.

o The CBI has registered 12 major cases of suspected bank fraud this year.

o The amount involved in 31 bank fraud cases registered by the investigating

agency in 2017 stood at ₹11,777 crore.

 Jio, Saavn to create digital music platform

o Reliance Jio Director Akash Ambani, has signed an agreement for merging
the digital music service Saavn with JioMusic to create a digital media
platform with global reach.

o The total value of the deal will be over $1 billion.

o As part of the deal, additionally, Reliance will be acquiring a partial stake

from the existing shareholders of Saavn for $104 million

 Vodafone and Birla announce leadership team

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 o Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group have appointed Balesh Sharma as
Chief Executive Officer of an entity created by the merger of their local
telecom units.

o It will become India’s largest mobile phone operator by subscriber and

revenue market share and be better placed to compete in a market savaged
by price competition.

o Akshaya Moondra will be appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

 BHEL inks pact with Korea-based HLB Power

o BHEL has entered into a technology collaboration agreement (TCA) with

HLB Power, Republic of Korea.

o This TCA will help in establishing the capability for in-house design,
manufacture and testing of very large size gates and dampers.

o BHEL has been supplying conventional Gates and Dampers manufactured

at its Boiler Auxiliaries Plant.

 Axis Bank Opens Representative Office

o Axis Bank opened a representative office in Sharjah, to better serve its

customers in the emirate and to expand its retail offerings to customers in
the neighbouring northern emirates.

o The representative office is the 3rd Axis Bank office in the UAE after Dubai
and Abu Dhabi.

o The new office will service the NRI community in the emirate and will also
provide service in the other emirates.

 IRCTC ties up with Ola

o To provide first-and-last-mile connectivity, IRCTC announced a

partnership with cab aggregator Ola, giving commuters an option book
taxi on its app.

o The Ola cab facility will provide all the services directly on the IRCTC Rail
Connect App.
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 o The tie-up, a six-month pilot project, will give customers access to Ola
booking services when they visit the IRCTC Rail Connect App.

 SEBI raises currency derivative

o Capital markets regulator SEBI raised the exposure limit under exchange-
traded currency derivatives trading for residents and FPIs to USD 100
million across all currency pairs involving the Indian rupee.

o The move will help entities engaged in forex transactions to maintain their
currency risks in a better manner.

o Earlier, there were two different sets of limits based on currency pairs.

 RBI issues corrective framework for PSBs

o The Reserve Bank of India has issued a Prompt Corrective Action

framework to maintain the sound financial health of banks.

o The framework facilitates banks in breach of risk thresholds for identified

areas of monitoring, such as capital, asset quality and profitability, to take
corrective measures.

o The RBI, through corrective framework, encourages banks to abstain from

riskier activities.

 Future Group signed as associate sponsor

o Future Group has been signed as an associate sponsor with Star India for
the upcoming Vivo-IPL 2018.

o Future Group will be an associate sponsor by joining brands like Asian

Paints, Dream 11, MakeMyTrip among others taking the tally to 8 brands.

o Vivo IPL 2018 will be presented in 5 regional languages along with English
to a never-before 700 million viewers through multiple screens
& languages.

 SoftBank fund infusion into Grofers

o Online grocery firm Grofers has raised ₹.400 crore in a fresh funding
round led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group.

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 o With the new round of funding, Grofers said it would continue to invest in
building private labels and supply chain improvements.

o The funding round also saw other investors, including Tiger Global and
Apoletto Asia.

 ‘Digital Export Import’ payments by Yes Bank

o Yes Bank has launched a robotics-based ‘Digital export Import’ payments

solution as a part of its Yes Transact Smart Trade product suite.

o It aims to bring over 1 lakh trade transactions going entirely digital, across
major geographies including China, US.

o The product uses robotics process automation & helps in eliminating the
requirement of documents submission for import & export payments.

 Edelweiss calls off deal to acquire Religare

o Edelweiss Group has dropped the plan to acquire of Religare Enterprises'

securities.

o The move was shelved because of the seller's inability to get requisite
clearances within the required timeline.

o Edelweiss had earlier announced its plan to buy Religare's securities

business, which includes securities and commodities broking, and
depository participant services.

 Karnataka Bank’s all-woman branch

o Karnataka Bank opened its first all-woman branch at Bull Temple Road in
Bengaluru.

o This is the 36th branch opened by the Bank during the current financial
year 2017-18 and the 800th branch of the bank.

o Karnataka Bank is a major Private Sector Banking institution headquarted

at Mangaluru in Karnataka.

 Bhel secures order worth crores from NPCIL

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 o Bharat Heavy Electricals has secured a significant order worth Rs.736
Crore for supply of Steam Generators from Nuclear Power Corporation of
India (NPCIL).

o The Steam Generators will be used for a 700 MWe Pressurised Heavy
Water Reactor to be installed at Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojna
in Fatehabad district of Haryana.

o The Steam Generators will be manufactured at the Tiruchirappalli.

 ICICI Bank launches online overdraft facility

o ICICI Bank has launched instant overdraft ‘InstaOD’ facility for MSME
(Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) customers in a completely online
and paperless manner.

o Customers can get overdraft facility up to Rs 15 lakh for a year anytime,

anywhere using the bank’s Internet and mobile banking app.

o The overdraft is renewable on an annual basis depending on the

repayment track records.

 Wholesale inflation eases to 2.48% in Feb

o Inflation based on wholesale prices eased to a seven-month low of 2.48%

in February on cheaper food articles, including vegetables.

o According to government data released, inflation in food articles slowed to

0.88% in February from 3% in January.

o Inflation in pulses remained in the negative zone at (-)24.51% and cereals,

wheat and items like egg, fish and meat were in the negative zone.

 RBI discontinues LOUs/LOCs issuance

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has scrapped the issuance of Letters of
Undertaking (LOUs) and Letters of Comfort (LOCs) for trade credit for
imports with immediate effect.

o Banks will continue to issue guarantees and letter of credit for trade
purposes which are the international norm.

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 o A letter of credit is secure because it has the details of the expiry date and
the material purchase.

 IBBI and RBI sign MoU

o The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India signed MoU with the
Reserve Bank of India for enhancing cooperation between the two
regulators to ensure better implementation of the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code.

o RBI is the banking regulator, the IBBI regulates insolvency professionals

and agencies and information utilities.

o RBI and IBBI will share data and resources with each other.

 SBI slashes minimum balance charges

o State Bank of India, SBI has cut down the charges for non-maintenance of
average minimum balance in its savings accounts by up to 75 percent.

o The new charges, which will benefit about 25 crore bank customers, comes
into effect from 1st of next month.

o Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, basic savings bank deposit account, and
accounts of pensioners and minors are exempted from these charges.

 Eight sectors added 1.36 lakh jobs

o Employment in eight key sectors, rose by 1.36 lakh on the net basis in
July-September this fiscal compared to the previous quarter.

o The manufacturing sector added 89,000 jobs, education sector added

21,000 jobs while transport sector saw an addition of 20,000 jobs.

o Out of the total estimated change in employment of 1.36 lakh, female

workers accounted for 74,000 and 62000 male workers.

 Retail inflation eases to 4.44%

o Retail inflation for the month of February cooled off to a four-month low
of 4.4% as compared to 5.07% in January 2018.

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 o Inflation in vegetables was 17.57% in February, down from 26.97% in
January, and for fruits, it was 4.80% (as against 6.24%).

o Fuel and light inflation stood at 6.8%, compared with 7.58% in January,
while housing inflation stood at 8.28%

 India’s industrial production grew to 7.5%

o India’s factory production grew in January to 7.5% over the same month
last year, and marginally over the 7.1% recorded in December 2017.

o The recovery in factory output in January was driven by a revival in

manufacturing activity (8.7%) as well as electricity generation (7.6%).

o The sharp improvement in IIP is a positive trigger for the March quarter
GDP which will be announced on 31 May.

 GST e-way bill must from April 1

o Goods and Services Tax Council has mandated the use of electronic way
(e-way) bills from April to track inter-state movement of goods.

o From April 1, transporters of goods worth over Rs 50,000 will have to

generate e-way bills.

o For intra-State movement, the e-way bill will be rolled out in a phased
manner beginning April 15, and will cover all the States by June 1.

 Fastest growing IT services brand in 2018

o Tata Consultancy Services has been named as the fastest growing IT

services brand in the world in an assessment done by leading brand
valuation firm, Brand Finance.

o According to the report, TCS has a total brand value of USD 10.391 billion.

o Over past 2 years, TCS has strengthened its portfolio of global brand
sponsorships by forging new partnerships in UK, Sweden, India, Japan &
Australia.

 Pact to promote solar energy deployment

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 o Asian Development Bank & International Solar Alliance have signed a
cooperation arrangement to promote solar energy deployment in Asia &
Pacific.

o Cooperation envisages solar power generation, solar based mini-grids &

transmission systems for integrating solar energy into grids.

o The two would also cooperate on knowledge sharing & developing

technology roadmaps for promotion of solar energy.

 Airtel Bank fined 5 crore by RBI

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a fine of Rs 5 crores on

Airtel Payments Bank for flouting Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and
operating guidelines.

o Airtel Payments Bank had opened customer accounts without a

clear/specific consent of the customers.

o Know your customer is the process of the banks identifying and verifying
the identity of its account holders.

 Direct tax mop up rises 19.5% in Apr-Feb

o Direct tax collections have risen 19.5% to Rs. 7.44 lakh crore in the April-
February period of the current fiscal.

o The net direct tax collection represents 74.3% of the Rs. 10.05 lakh crore
target as per the revised estimates given in Union Budget 2018-19.

o The growth rate for net corporate tax collections stood at 19.7% while for
personal income tax is 18.6%.

 Paytm now registered investment advisor

o Financial services platform Paytm's wholly-owned subsidiary, Paytm

Money has received approval from market regulator SEBI to become a
Registered Investment Advisor.

o The nod from the SEBI will allow the company to roll out investment and
wealth management products to consumers across the country.
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 o The platform has planned to start with direct plan mutual funds
investments with zero commission.

 Indian startups raise funds via bitcoins

o Initial coin offerings (ICOs) are emerging as a new way of raising funds for
startups. An ICO is based on cryptocurrencies and is a mix of an initial
public offer (IPO) and crowdfunding.

o Startups have managed to raise as much as $200 million in a single round

of funding through ICOs.

o Instead of granting shares in the company, the issuer will create crypto-
tokens to give out to investors.

 RBI imposes penalty on SBI

o The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary fine of Rs 40 lakh on

the country’s biggest lender the State Bank of India over counterfeit notes.

o After Inspection RBI found a violation of its instructions issued on the

detection and impounding of counterfeit notes.

o The RBI had imposed a fine on Axis Bank and Indian Overseas Bank for
not complying with the "known your customer" regulations

 RBI fines Axis Bank,Indian Overseas Bank

o The Reserve Bank of India imposed a penalty of ₹3 crore on Axis Bank for
non-compliance of Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC)
norms.

o The central bank also imposed a penalty of ₹2 crore on Indian Overseas

Bank for non-compliance with Know Your Customer norms.

o RBI came to the conclusion that the charges of non-compliance with RBI
directions and guidelines were substantiated.

 Iraq becomes India’s top oil supplier

o Iraq has overtaken Saudi Arabia by a wide margin to become India’s top
crude oil supplier.

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 o Iran was India’s second biggest supplier of crude oil after Saudi Arabia till
2010-11 but western sanctions relegated it to the 7th spot in the
subsequent years.

o Venezuela is India’s fourth largest supplier with 15.5 MT during April-

January, followed by Nigeria with 14.9 MT

 Jeff Bezos Is Now the Richest Person

o Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has become the first person to amass a fortune
surpassing $100 billion and richest man on earth.

o Mukesh Ambani, the energy and petrochemicals magnate, is the richest

Indian.

o The world now holds more than 2,200 billionaires with a combined
fortune of $9.1 trillion.

 RBI tightens PSL norms for banks

o RBI has tightened priority sector lending norms for foreign banks by
directing them to create sub-targets so that they lend a portion of their
loans to small & marginal farmers as well as MSMEs.

o Move is directed at foreign banks with over 20 branches & will come into
force from next financial year.

o PSL norms mandate foreign banks to lend 40% of their total loan book to
the priority sector.

 IDBI Bank cuts stake in Punjab Alkalies

o IDBI Bank has cut its stake In Punjab Alkalies & Chemicals (PAC).

o In 2018 so far, IDBI Bank has sold 18.11 lakh shares of PAC.

o Recently on February 28, IDBI sold 9.65 lakh shares at an average price of
₹25.35 and the shares were bought by Dayawati Dahiya.

o At the end of December 2017, IDBI Bank was holding 47.10 lakh shares, or
17.35%n stake in PAC.

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  RBI lifts per-borrower loan cap for MSMEs

o RBI has decided to do away with the per borrower loan limits to Micro/
Small and Medium Enterprises for classification under priority sector
lending.

o It is done for increasing the importance of the services sector and to

encourage banks to lend more to this sector.

o So far, loans to Micro/ Small and Medium Enterprises up to ₹5 crore and

₹10 crore, respectively, were classified as PSL.

 Paytm contributed 40% of total UPI trans.

o Out of total 171.4 mn UPI transactions in February, Paytm contributed 68

million, or 40% of the total transactions, a report by National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI) has revealed.

o Paytm had recorded 37 million UPI transactions in December 2017, and

51.2 million in January 2018.

o Further, total UPI (Unified Payment Interface) transactions in Feb went

up by 13.5% as compared to Jan.

 PNB And ICICI Bank Increases MCLR Rates

o The Punjab National Bank (PNB) and ICICI Bank hiked the MCLR rates
for loan borrowers.

o Taking a cue from SBI, country's second-largest private sector lender

ICICI Bank also raised the one-year MCLR from 8.2% to 8.3%.

o The PNB, which is at the centre of Nirav Modi fraud also increased one-
year MCLR to 8.3% from 8.15%.

 SBI Hikes Lending Rate To 8.15%

o The State Bank raised its lending rates by 20 basis points to 8.15%, with
immediate effect, setting the tone for the industry to follow suit.

o This is likely to make home and car loans costlier.

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 o This is the first lending revision by the bank since April 2016 and comes a
day after it massively raised the retail and bulk deposit rates.

 IndusInd Bank And Ripple Tie-Up

o IndusInd Bank announced its partnership with Ripple to facilitate

payments into and out of India.

o With this affiliation, RippleNet can now provide instant access in

emerging markets such as India, Brazil and China.

o In 2017, India saw a total of $65 billion move into the country.

 Corporation Bank reports fraud of ₹6.77 cr

o The CBI has booked an auto dealer in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand for

allegedly siphoning off the loan amount and causing a loss of ₹6.77 crore
to Corporation Bank.

o The agency has booked Ramnandi Estate and its directors along with the
bank's valuer, Sanjay Kumar.

o Corporation Bank alleged that Kumar filed enhanced valuation reports

based on which the loan was sanctioned.

 April-Jan fiscal deficit hits 113.7%

o India's fiscal deficit for April-January reached 113.7% of the budgeted

target for the current fiscal year that ends in March 2018.

o The fiscal deficit stood at ₹6.77 trillion and net tax receipts in the first ten
months were ₹9.7 trillion, government data showed.

o Earlier, the fiscal deficit target for the current year was raised to 3.5% of
GDP from 3.2%.

 Aircel files for bankruptcy

o India's sixth-largest telecom operator Aircel filed for bankruptcy at the

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) claiming that it has a debt of
₹15,500 crore.

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 o This comes after the Ananda Krishnan-owned Malaysian parent Maxis
Communications refused to infuse more funds into Aircel.

o Notably, Aircel's proposed merger with Anil Ambani's Reliance

Communications had failed last year.

 SBI steeply hikes deposit rates

o SBI steeply raised the retail and bulk deposits rates for various maturities
by up to 0.75% with immediate effect.

o This is the third pricing revision in past four months by the bank.

o For retail deposits, below ₹1 crore, rates have been increased by up to

0.50%, while for deposits maturing in one year to less than two years, the
pricing has been raised by 0.15% to 6.40% from 6.25% earlier.

 EPFO Makes Online Claims necessary

o EPFO has made it mandatory to file online claims for provident fund
withdrawals above Rs 10 lakh, taking another step towards becoming a
paperless organisation.

o The EPFO has also made it mandatory to file online claims for withdrawals
of above Rs 5 lakh under the Employees Pension Scheme 1995.

o The EPFO has over six crore subscribers and manages a corpus of Rs 10
lakh crore.

 Catholic Syrian Bank ties up with Celebrus

o The Catholic Syrian Bank Ltd (CSB) has tied up with Celebrus Capital Ltd
(Celebrus), to offer CSB’s customers online trading and demat services.

o With this partnership, CSB’s customers will be able to open a Celebrus

trading account free of cost and also enjoy preferred rates on brokerage
charges/AMC fees on the demat account.

o C V R Rajendran is the MD&CEO of Catholic Syrian Bank.

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April 2018
 RBI raised foreign participation in G-Secs

o The Reserve Bank of India announced measures to raise exposure of

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) in government securities, a move that
will help in softening yields.

o The cap on FPI investments in any Central Government security has been
revised to 30 percent of the outstanding stock of that security.

o FPIs were required to invest in corporate bonds with a residual maturity of

3 years.

 India to grow at 7.5% in 2018-19

o According to a Deutsche Bank report, the Indian economy is likely to clock

a GDP growth of 7.5% this financial year.

o The report noted that higher global oil prices, risk of an earlier than
anticipated rate hike cycle from RBI are some of the factors that pose
downside risk to its baseline GDP estimate.

o According to the report, a $10 increase in oil prices can shave off growth
by about 10 bps

 Paytm introduced 'Tap Card'

o Paytm has announced the launch of its offline payments solution - the
Paytm Tap Card.

o The card uses Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to enable safe
and convenient digital payments, completely offline at Paytm-issued, NFC
PoS terminals.

o Tap Card has been launched to to provide seamless payments solutions for
non-internet customers.

 RBI liberalised ECB norms

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 o RBI has further liberalised norms for external commercial borrowing that
will allow Indian companies to access cheaper funds from overseas
markets.

o According to new norms, RBI has stipulated an uniform all in cost ceiling
of 450 bps over benchmark rate.

o RBI also decided to increase the ECB Liability to Equity Ratio for ECB
raised from direct foreign equity holder under automatic route to 7:1

 Fitch retains India rating at ‘BBB-'

o Global credit rating agency Fitch has affirmed India’s sovereign rating at
‘BBB-’ with ‘stable’ outlook.

o ‘BBB-’ rating indicates lowest investment grade.

o The rating was assigned to the country 11 years ago. Fitch had last
upgraded the rating from ‘BB+’ to ‘BBB-’ with stable outlook on August 1,
2006.

o Fitch has projected India’s growth at 7.3 per cent in current the fiscal.

 Axis Bank posts first loss since 1998

o Axis Bank has reported a net loss of Rs 21.88 billion for the quarter ended
March 2018.

o This is the first time the bank has posted quarterly loss since its listing in
1998.

o The loss has been attributed to higher provisioning for bad loans.

o The lender substantially raised its provisioning to cover for bad loans and
contingencies during the quarter to Rs 71.79 billion.

 NITI Aayog VC: India to grow at 7.5%

o Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar expects India's economy to grow
by at least 7.5 per cent in 2018-19.

o Attributing this growth to improvement in investment cycle and capacity

utilisation, he has also prescribed for more action by govt.
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 o He has said that the government should now concentrate on consolidating
the reform initiatives undertaken in the last 47 months.

 Govt. to acquire RBI's stake in NHB

o The government is all set to acquire the stake of Reserve Bank of India in
housing finance regulator National Housing Bank (NHB),

o RBI currently holds 100 per cent stake in the NHB.

o The Finance Bill 2018 has amended the National Housing Bank Act, 1987,
for transferring RBI’s stake in the NHB to the government.

 Govt. collects Rs 7.41 trillion from GST

o Govt. has collected Rs 7.41 trillion in taxes in the first year of the Goods
and Services Tax (GST) between August 2017 and March 2018

o The revenues for four months have not being accounted for because of the
mid-year rollout and an accounting lag.

o Under GST, the tax levied on consumption of goods or rendering of service

is split 50:50 between the Centre and the states.

 RBI eases rules for foreign investors

o RBI has removed the restriction that limited foreign investors to only
investing in government and corporate bonds with tenures of three years
or more.

o This decision can bolster the domestic bond market.

o The move comes after weak investor interest in two recent auctions that
led to a spike in sovereign debt yields.

 NSE launched e-Gsec platform

o The National Stock Exchange announced the launch of its e-Gsec platform.

o The platform will allow retail investors to invest in government securities

and hold them in existing demat accounts.

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 o The government issues securities to borrow money from the market.

o The Union budget 2016-17 had announced that RBI will facilitate retail
participation in the primary markets through stock exchanges.

 E-way bill roll out in four more states

o The Centre stated that the e-way bill system for intra-state movement of
goods will be rolled out in four more states and one Union Territory on
25th April.

o The e-way bill system is being introduced in Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya

Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Sikkim, and in Puducherry.

o The new system was implemented from April 15 in Andhra Pradesh,

Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

 ADB to give Rs 1,700 crore aid to U'khand

o The Asian Development Bank has agreed to give an aid of Rs 1,700 crore to
Uttarakhand.

o The aid will be given for the creation of infrastructural facilities, sewer
treatment plants and water supply facilities in urban areas of Uttarakhand.

o This was conveyed to Chief Minister of Uttrakhand by the country director

of ADB's India Regiment Mission.

 BoI inks pact with NeSL

o Bank of India has entered into an agreement with National E-Governance

Services (NeSL) for Information Utility arrangement under the Insolvency
and Bankruptcy Code.

o As per the agreement, BoI will avail NeSL service to expedite corporate
insolvency resolution process.

o In September 2017, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of

India registered NeSL as the first Information Utility.

 Paytm Payments Bank registers 100M KYC wallets

72 | P a g e
 o Paytm Payments Bank claims that it now has over 100 million KYC -
registered wallets which includes both complete & minimum KYC.

o This development comes even as there have been indications in digital

payments industry of a sharp fall in mobile-wallet users as customer
authentication did not take off.

o Paytm Payments Bank is owned 51% by Paytm founder Vijay Sharma &
49% by One97 Communications.

 India, Finland settle Nokia tax row

o India and Finland have reached an accord on the tax dispute with Nokia
under the Mutual Agreement Procedure.

o The resolution covering the disputes pertaining to Nokia India as well as

Nokia Corp brings to an end one of the biggest tax disputes involving
multinational companies.

o This paves the way for sale of Nokia’s Chennai plant, which has been
shuttered since November 2014.

 World Bank approved $13bn increase in capital

o World Bank Group has endorsed a package of measures that include a $13
billion increase in paid-in capital.

o The package approved by Development Committee of Board of Governors

consists of $7.5bn paid-in capital for IBRD & $5.5bn paid-in capital for
IFC.

o World Bank Group will now be able to support drivers of long-term

sustainable growth, including investments in human capital & resilience.

 ICICI Bank launched digital form

o ICICI Bank has introduced a 'digital form' which will help open current
accounts in a few hours in comparison to an industry average of a few
days.

73 | P a g e
 o Bank officials would now be able to capture information about customer &
business digitally & verify KYC documents in real-time.

o Digital forms are expected to help bank secure more clients & help
increase bank's market share.

 PNB impounds passports of wilful defaulters

o Punjab National Bank has impounded passports of 150 wilful loan

defaulters who are not repaying loans.

o This is the first such revelation made by any bank, following govt's
instructions to banks on seeking passport copies of all those who have
borrowed more than Rs 50 crore.

o PNB has already declared 1,084 wilful defaulters & has published photos
of 260 such defaulters in newspapers.

 RBI makes Aadhaar key to KYC compliance

o Reserve Bank of India has amended its ‘Know Your Customer’ guidelines,
making Aadhaar compulsory by banks & finance companies.

o RBI has also done away with sections relating to use of other “officially
valid documents” by lenders for address and identity proof.

o The norms have been revised because the government had amended laws
on prevention of money laundering.

 1st Indian company with $100bn market cap

o Tata Consultancy Services has moved closer to the $100 billion mark in
market capitalisation as its share price surged nearly 7%, adding about
$6.2 billion to its valuation.

o The IT major is set to be the first listed Indian company to achieve this
milestone.

o TCS is the leading the chart as the most valued firm followed by Reliance
Industries, HDFC Bank, ITC and HUL.

 1st meet of BRICS FMs & Central Bank Governors

74 | P a g e
 o First meeting of BRICS Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors was
held on the sidelines of IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington
D.C.

o Main issues that were discussed were related to enhancing project

pipelines of NDB evenly across member countries & expansion of NDB’s
membership.

o Issues related to BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement as well as BRICS

Bond Fund were also discussed.

 IOB inked information utility pact with NeSL

o Indian Overseas Bank has entered into an agreement for information

utility services with the National E-Governance Services Limited.

o With this agreement, the IOB branches will be able to provide high-
quality, authenticated information about debts and defaults.

o The NeSL became India's first information utility for bankruptcy cases
under the 'Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code 2016' in October 2017.

 Yes Bank got RBI's nod to open offices

o Yes Bank has received the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to open two
representative offices in London and Singapore.

o The opening of these new offices will help in further diversification and
expansion of financial services to the NRI diaspora.

o Yes Bank opened its first representative office in Abu Dhabi in April 2015.

 Standard Chartered ties up with Zoho

o Standard Chartered Bank has announced an alliance with Zoho to offer

solutions to enhance corporate banking experience.

o Bank’s business account holders can now pay their suppliers & automate
reconciliation right from Zoho Books.

75 | P a g e
 o The collaboration with Zoho offers clients a revolutionary experience,
enabling them to interact seamlessly, resulting in simpler reconciliation &
faster payments.

 SBI allows cash withdrawl at PoS Terminals

o To beat the cash crunch, SBI is allowing debit cardholders withdraw

money from its Point of Sale terminals without any charges.

o According to RBI, a customer can withdraw Rs 1,000 in tier 1 & 2 cities,

whereas Rs 2,000 can be withdrawn in tier 3 to tier 6 cities per day per
card.

o SBI has over 6 lakh PoS machines of which nearly 5 lakh machines are
enabled to dispense cash to its customers.

 Maruti Alto retained best selling PV model tag

o Maruti Suzuki India's entry-level hatchback Alto has retained its status as
the best selling passenger vehicle in India in 2017-18

o The Alto retained its number one position by selling 258,539 units in
2017-18 as against 241,635 units in the previous financial year.

o Maruti continued its dominance with seven of its models featuring in the
top ten list.

 India: World's 2nd largest unbanked population

o According to World Bank, India has 19 crore adults without a bank

account, making it the world’s 2nd largest unbanked population.

o India’s adult population with a bank account has more than doubled to
80% since 2011.

o Jan-Dhan Yojana has brought an additional 310 million Indians into

formal banking system by March 2018.

o China has world’s largest unbanked population, followed by India & Pak.

 India is world's sixth largest economy: IMF

76 | P a g e
 o According to the database of the IMF's World Economic Outlook for April
2018, India's GDP clocked in at $2.6 trillion for 2017.

o India is now the world’s sixth largest economy, displacing France.

o The five economies ahead of India are the United States, China, Japan,
Germany and United Kingdom.

o IMF expects India to grow at 7.4% in 2018 and 7.8% in 2019.

 Taiwan to open trade office in India

o A new office of Taiwan External Trade Development Council in India will

be inaugurated in New Delhi next month.

o As Taiwan & India do not have diplomatic relationship, the trade office is
expected to provide services to Indian & Taiwanese firms to expand
business.

o The New Delhi office is TAITRA's 4th such office in India, following
establishment of 3 other offices in Mumbai, Chennai & Kolkata

 Amazon launched 'Internet'

o Amazon has launched an Android web browser app called 'Internet' for
emerging markets.

o The browser doesn’t occupy much storage space on a user’s device & does
not collect private data like other browsers.

o The app is only available to users in India for the time being & is
supported on devices running Android 5.0 or higher

 RBI imposed restrictions on City Co-operative

o RBI has placed restrictions on business activities of City Co-operative

Bank till such time as its financial position improves.

o Customers of the bank will not be allowed to withdraw more than Rs 1000
of the total balance held in their accounts.

77 | P a g e
 o Bank will have to take prior approval from RBI before it can disburse loan,
make any investment, borrow funds or accept new deposit.

 Facebook introduces new privacy choices

o Facebook would begin rolling out changes to how it handles private data
this week to comply with forthcoming EU rules.

o Under the new policy, FB users will be asked to review & make choices
about ads they receive, including whether they want Facebook to use data
from third parties.

o FB has recently been rocked by disclosures about hijacking of personal

data on tens of millions of its users.

 District plan to accelerate growth by 3%

o Govt has decided to set up a district plan to accelerate growth of districts

by 3%.

o An addition of 3% growth at the district level will ensure that 5 trillion

dollars target for the Indian economy becomes achievable.

o The initiative will begin with 6 districts, including Sindhudurg & Ratnagiri
in Maharashtra, Varanasi in UP, Muzaffarpur in Bihar, Vishakapatnam in
Andhra Pradesh & Solan in HP.

 Amazon launches international shopping from US

o Amazon has launched an international shopping feature that will enable

customers across the world to shop more than 45 million items that can be
shipped to their country from U.S.

o It will allow customers to shop in 25 currencies, with more languages and

currencies to be added in 2018.

o The international shopping feature will display pricing, shipping costs and
import duty estimates.

 Digital platform for MSME exporters launched

78 | P a g e
 o Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu launched FIEO GlobalLinker- A digital
platform for MSME exporters to digitise their businesses & join a global
community of growing businesses.

o It will help in expanding India's multi-focused export strategy & also aid in
connecting art & artisans to market.

o FIEO GlobalLinker is setup with a view to make business growth of SMEs

simpler, profitable & enjoyable.

 India pools into USD 5mn Small States Fund

o India is among 4 countries to pool into an innovative $5 million fund for

small states to obtain easier access to international trade finance.

o India joins Sri Lanka, Mauritius & Malta to inject capital into the new
scheme, which has Standard Chartered & BoB as its the facility managers.

o This new scheme is an example of innovative & collaborative approaches

that are pioneered by Commonwealth.

 Yes Bank launches overdraft facility for MSMEs

o Yes Bank recently announced the launch of ‘YES GST’, an OD (over draft)
facility for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

o Through this first-of-its-kind, industry first initiative, an MSME can avail

OD up to Rs. 1 crore, based on their annual turnover, backed by GST
returns.

o This OD facility can be availed by a MSME against mortgage of residential

or commercial property.

 M&M joins Rs 1-trillion m-cap club

o Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd entered the coveted Rs 1 trillion market

capitalisation club, after its share price hit a fresh 52-week high on the
BSE.

o Following the jump in its m-cap, M&M has joined the ranks of Ultra Tech
Cement, Power Grid Corporation, and IndusInd Bank.
79 | P a g e
 o The company's market capitalisation (m-cap) jumped to Rs 1,01,829.91
crore.

 Ola to introduce 10,000 EVs

o App-based cab aggregator Ola plans to introduce 10,000 e-rickshaws and

electric autorickshaws in India in the next 12 months.

o The ride-hailing company is in talks with state governments, OEM

partners and electronic vehicle innovators to speed up the introduction of
EVs in India.

o Ola aims to bring one million electric vehicles on the road by 2021.

 Kotak Mahindra became 2nd most valuable bank

o Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd beat India’s largest lender State Bank of India
(SBI) for the first time to become the second most valued bank in the
country.

o HDFC Bank Ltd remained country’s most valuable bank with a market
capitalization of Rs5.04 trillion.

o Kotak Mahindra Bank has a market capitalization of Rs 2,22970.40 crore.

 India to launch gas trading hub

o The government plans to launch a natural gas trading hub by October,

creating an Indian gas benchmark which will spark a surge in
consumption of the cleaner-burning fuel.

o The establishment of a Gas Trading Hub / Exchange will further boost the
consumption of natural gas in the country.

o The world's biggest natural gas hub is the Henry Hub in the US state of
Louisiana.

 WPI inflation eases to 2.47% in March

o Inflation based on wholesale prices eased marginally to 2.47% in March on

cheaper food articles, especially pulses and vegetables.

80 | P a g e
 o On the basis of Wholesale Price Index (WPI), inflation was 2.48% in
February and 5.11% in March last year.

o Retail inflation, as per data released last week, slipped to a five-month low
of 4.28% in March on account of decline in food prices.

 RBI tightens Liberalised Remittance Scheme

o The Reserve Bank tightened reporting norms for the Liberalised

Remittance Scheme (LRS) under which an individual can transfer up to
USD 2,50,000 abroad in a year.

o The LRS transactions are currently permitted by banks based on the

declaration made by the remitter.

o The scheme was introduced on February 4, 2004, with a limit of USD

25,000.

 SIDBI Ties Up With CSC To Promote MSEs

o Small Industries and Development Bank of India (SIDBI) announced a

plan to promote micro-enterprises in 115 aspirational districts across the
country.

o It has tied up with Common Service Centre (CSC).

o The ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ program, which was

launched by the prime minister in January, aims to bring about socio-
developmental changes in these backward districts.

 Indian economy to grow 7.3%: ADB

o India's economic growth will rise to 7.3% this fiscal and further to 7.6% in
the next financial year, retaining the fastest-growing Asian economy tag,
on back of GST and banking reforms.

o In its Asian Development Outlook, 2018, Manila-based ADB said, "risks to

trade are high".

o Indian economy grew 6.6% in the last fiscal as it battled the lingering
effects of demonetisation in 2016.
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  Startups with up to ₹10 cr to get concession

o The government has allowed startups to avail tax concession if total

investment including funding from angel investors does not exceed ₹10
crore.

o Several startups and investors had raised concerns over the 'angel tax'
saying it could discourage investments.

o The tax was levied on capital raised by startups in excess of the fair market
value of their shares.

 Retail inflation falls to 5-month low

o India's retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) eased to a
5-month low of 4.28% in March, government data showed.

o Further, the food inflation for the month stood at 2.81%, compared to
3.26% in February.

o Notably, this is the third straight month where inflation softened after
hitting a 17-month high in December.

 SBI sets up 60 'sbiINTOUCH' digital branches

o SBI has set up 60 digital branches, called 'sbiINTOUCH', across the

country.

o SBI has set up these branches in partnership with Dimension Data, a

global technology integrator and managed services provider.

o The digital branches aim to help SBI expand its reach with increasing
profitability.

o It will offer services like instant loan approvals, assistance in choosing

investment portfolios.

 RBI imposes Rs 3 Crore fine on IDBI Bank

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a Rs 3 crore penalty on IDBI
Bank for not following the central bank’s rules on classification of loans.

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 o IDBI bank did not adhere to RBI’s norms on Income Recognition and
Asset Classification.

o RBI said that this action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance.

 New norms for global projects

o The Central Vigilance Commission has drawn up a new set of guidelines

for projects funded by international agencies such as the World Bank, IMF
and Asian Development Bank.

o The new guidelines will put an end to existing practice of government

departments and agencies adhering to the guidelines of foreign donors.

o The new guidelines also draw a distinction between grants-in-aid and

loans.

 SBI launches UK subsidiary

o The SBI has announced the launch of its UK subsidiary, SBI (UK) Limited,
with an initial capital commitment of 225 million pounds from its parent
entity.

o SBI became the first foreign bank in the UK to ringfence its retail division
from its wholesale business.

o SBI operates seven branches in London.

 E-way bill to be rolled out in 5 states

o E-way bill system for the intra-state movement of goods is scheduled to be

implemented from April 15 in five states.

o The new system is being implemented from the aforementioned date in

Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

o E-way bill system for all inter-state movement of goods was rolled out
from April 1.

 Maritime trade to go electronic

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 o The government has made the use of e-Invoices, e-Payments and e-
Delivery orders mandatory across the maritime trade as it seeks to push
digitisation of trade processes.

o The government has also directed stakeholders to use the Port Community
System (PCS).

o PCS is a centralised web-based message exchange platform for the Indian

maritime community to exchange the documents.

 Nabard frames self-healing norms for RRBs

o NABARD has come out with a ‘Prompt Corrective Action (PCA)

Framework’ for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).

o The framework is aimed at enabling RRBs that fail to meet prudential

requirements like capital adequacy to take self-corrective action.

o The PCA will be invoked if RRBs fail to meet the 'capital to risk-weighted
assets ratio', assets (NPAs), and profitability (Return on assets).

 Anti-dumping duty on phosphorus pentoxide

o Based on the recommendation of the Directorate General of Anti-

Dumping and Allied Duties, the revenue department has imposed an anti-
dumping duty on import of Phosphorus Pentoxide from China.

o The duty has been imposed for five years.

o Phosphorus Pentoxide is used as a powerful desiccant and dehydrating

agent and is a useful building block and reagent in the chemical industry.

 Govt approved linking of savings A/c & IPPB

o The Government of India has approved the linking of Post Office savings
accounts with that of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB).

o This will enable Post Office account holders to transfer money from their
savings account to any bank accounts.

o IPPB is governed by Reserve Bank of India and banking service of post

offices comes under the Ministry of Finance.

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  Trouble in Flipkart-Amazon merger

o The possible coming together of online retailers Amazon and Flipkart is

likely to face close scrutiny on competition issues.

o Engaged in intense competition, home-grown Flipkart and Amazon India

are leading players in the Indian online retail market place.

o The combined market share of the two parties, which is around 80 percent
is most likely to pose challenges to the deal.

 India's forex reserves at all time high

o The country's foreign exchange reserves hit a life-time high of 424.361

billion US dollar.

o Previously, the reserves had touched a record high of 421.914 billion dollar
on February 9, 2018.

o Gold reserves remained unchanged at 21.614 billion US dollar.

 ICICI Bank gets Swift's new payment service

o ICICI Bank has become first Indian bank to go live on SWIFT's Global
Payment Innovation, an improved cross-border payments service.

o The service enables real-time payments tracking across correspondent

banks & has a facility to track payments instructions across correspondent
banks globally.

o The announcement of the service comes weeks after the discovery Rs

12,900-crore Nirav Modi scam at PNB

 IndusInd-Samsung tie up for 'tap and pay'

o IndusInd Bank announced a collaboration with Samsung Electronics to

enable its MasterCard and Visa credit card customers to use 'Samsung
Pay'.

o The Samsung Pay allows customers to simply tap and 'pay on the go' using
their registered IndusInd Bank credit cards.

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 o The platform works with patented Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST)
technology as well as Near Field Communication (NFC).

 RBI defered Ind-AS adoption by 1 year

o The Reserve Bank of India has deferred the adoption of 'Indian

Accounting Standards' (Ind AS) by banks, for a year, due to the
unpreparedness of banks to migrate to the new accounting system.

o The earlier deadline for banks to switch to the Ind AS was from 1 April
2018.

o Ind AS is a global accounting practice that lenders are mandated to adopt

that may lead to initial credit losses.

 CBDT facilitates seamless tax payment

o The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) released a one-page simplified

Income Tax Returns Form-1 'Sahaj' for the assessment year 2018-19.

o It can be filed by an individual having income up to Rs.50 lakh and who is

receiving income from salary, one house property/other income such as
interest.

o This initiative benefited around 3 crore taxpayers, who filed their return in
this simplified Form.

 RBI bars banks from crypto services

o RBI directed all regulated entities including banks not to provide services
to businesses dealing in virtual currencies like bitcoins, so as to protect
consumers and check money laundering.

o The RBI asked entities, which are already into such services to stop
providing this kind of services within three months.

o The RBI has directed all payment system operators to store all data within
India.

 RBI switches back to GDP model

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 o The RBI switched back to the gross domestic product (GDP)-based
measure to offer its growth estimates from the gross value added (GVA)
methodology.

o The Government had started analysing growth estimates using GVA

methodology from January 2015 and had also changed the base year to
2018 from January.

o The GDP model gives the picture from the consumers’ side or demand
perspective.

 RBI keeps interest rates unchanged

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 5th April kept the repo rate and
reverse repo rate unchanged at 6 percent and 5.75 percent respectively.

o The real Gross Domestic Product growth in FY19 is seen at 7.4 percent as
against 6.6 percent in FY18.

o The RBI revised CPI inflation projection for 2018-19 to 4.7-5.1% in the
first half of the financial year and 4.4% in the second half.

 RBI decides to set up Data Sciences Lab

o Reserve Bank of India has decided to set up Data Sciences Lab to improve
its forecasting, surveillance and early warning detection abilities which
will aid policy formulation.

o RBI said the lab will comprise experts and budding analysts, who are
trained in Computer Science, Data Analytics, Statistics, Economics,
Econometrics and Finance.

o The unit will become operational by December 2018.

 Flipkart signed a pact with MakeMyTrip

o Flipkart and MakeMyTrip (MMT) have struck a partnership wherein the

online retailer will start to sell travel services on its platform.

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 o MakeMyTrip's multiple brands, including MMT, Goibibo and redBus, will
leverage the large customer base of Flipkart platform to drive online
bookings in travel services.

o The new partnership will start with domestic flight, hotels, bus and
holidays bookings.

 SEBI eases trade rules in commodity exchanges

o To relax algorithm trading norms at commodity derivatives exchanges,

SEBI raised the limit to process up to 100 orders per second by a user for
such trade from the existing limit of 20 orders per second.

o Algorithmic trading or ‘algo’ in market parlance refers to orders generated

at a super-fast speed by use of advanced mathematical models.

o 'Algo' is used by large institutional investors.

 ICICI facilitates money transfer for NRIs

o ICICI Bank launched a service which enables Non-Resident Indians

(NRIs) to send money to a beneficiary in India using social media
platforms like WhatsApp and e-mail.

o This first-of-its-kind service known as 'Social Pay' is available on

Money2India (M2I), the bank's app for remittances.

o 'Social Pay' embraces the medium as a way to simplify money transfers,

adding to customer convenience.

 IndusInd Bank got RBI nod to acquire IL&FS

o Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has received RBI’s approval to buy
the securities services arm of IL&FS.

o In March 2017, the bank entered an agreement with Infrastructure

Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) to acquire 100% stake in ISSL.

o Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) is the promoter

shareholder of IL&FS Securities Services Ltd (ISSL).

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  India became second largest crude steel-maker

o India has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest producer

of crude steel in February, according to the Steel Users Federation of
India.

o At present, China is the largest producer of crude steel in the world.

o India overtook the US in 2015 to become the third largest producer of

crude steel.

o India produced 8.4 million tonnes of crude steel in February 2018.

 India’s first blockchain implemented

o The platforms—RXIL, A.TReDS and M1xchange—approved by the

RBI had been set up to bring together buyers, sellers and financiers for
discounting the MSME invoices and provide them with timely funding.

o This is billed as India’s first live blockchain implementation in the

enterprise financial segment.

o US-based MonetaGo has designed and implemented the production

solution.

 $930 Million Solar Venture in India

o A Chinese energy conglomerate and SoftBank Group Corp. signed a $930

million agreement to produce and sell solar equipments in India.

o Golden Concord Group Ltd. will invest in a 40% stake in the joint venture,
with Japan’s SoftBank taking the rest.

o The project will have a capacity of 4 GW and be involved in producing and

selling solar ingots, silicon wafers, batteries and components.

 Jio Payments Bank began operations

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that Jio Payments Bank has
commenced its banking services.

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 o Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) was one of the 11 applicants which were
issued the in-principle approval for setting up a payments bank in August
2015.

o Telecom major Bharti Airtel was the first to begin payment bank services
in November 2016.

 MoU between Indian Army and HDFC Bank

o A Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) was signed between the Indian

Army and HDFC Bank on the Defence Salary Package.

o The first MoU between HDFC Bank and the Indian Army was signed in
2011 and was renewed on 13 Mar 2015.

o Indian Army has MoUs on Defence Salary Package with 11 public and
private sector banks.

 IndusInd to use WhatsApp for basic services

o Private lender IndusInd Bank announced a pilot program with WhatsApp

enterprise solution in India to communicate with its customers.

o The integration with WhatsApp will allow IndusInd Bank to start

appearing as a verified account when it communicates with its customers.

o The initial test phase will allow the bank to communicate important
transaction alerts to the customers on WhatsApp.

 RBI lets banks spread bond losses

o The Reserve Bank of India allowed banks to spread out the provisioning to
cover losses on their government bond portfolio across four quarters.

o This dispensation to spread the so-called mark-to-market provisioning is

available for the quarters ending December 2017 and March 2018.

o Banks using such option will have to make the disclosure in their notes to
accounts of the quarterly results.

 Ola acquires transportation app Ridlr

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 o Cab aggregator Ola announced the acquisition of end-to-end public
transport ticketing and commuting app, Ridlr.

o Ridlr enables users to search and book public transport options on their
mobile phones.

o Combining Ridlr's innovations in mass transit with Ola's mobility products

will enable true multi-modal mobility solutions for users.

 Microsoft enabled Digital Payments Support

o Microsoft enabled digital payments services on its enterprise social

network app "Kaizala" in India.

o Microsoft has integrated payment services of YES BANK and MobiKwik.

o Payment integration with Microsoft Kaizala will enable users to quickly

send or receive money without having to leave the Kaizala application.

 Direct tax collections grow 17% in 2017-18

o Direct tax collections in 2017-18 at Rs 9.95 lakh crore, exceeded the

revised budgetary target of Rs 9.8 lakh crore.

o Also, 6.84 crore income tax returns filed in the year against 5.43 crore in
the previous year signalling a rise of 26%.

o The collections from corporate tax went up 17.1% while that from personal
income tax rose 18.9%.

o A net of 99.5 lakh new assesses were added to the tax net.

 Manufacturing PMI at five-month low in March

o Manufacturing activity remained in the positive for the eighth consecutive

month in March but fell to a five-month low.

o The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell

from 52.1 in February to a five-month low of 51.0 in March.

o A reading above 50 on the index shows growth, while one less than that
denotes contraction.
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  Axis Bank removed from bullion importers list

o The Reserve Bank of India dropped Axis Bank from a list of banks it has
cleared to import gold and silver in the current financial year that began
April 1.

o Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia were among the 16
banks allowed to import bullion.

o Two other small banks Karur Vyasa and South Indian Bank were also
dropped from the RBI list.

 Core sector growth up 5.3% in Feb

o Eight infrastructure sectors grew by 5.3% in February, mainly helped by a

robust performance of refinery products, fertiliser and cement segments.

o The eight infrastructure sectors, coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery
products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity had grown by just 0.6%
in February last year.

o The core sectors expanded by 6.1% in January.

 SEBI doubles investment limit of angel funds

o Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) decided to double the

investment limit by angel funds in venture capital undertakings to ₹10
crore.

o The SEBI board has approved amendments to Alternative Investment

Funds (AIF) regulations with respect to ‘Angel Funds.’

o The regulator would raise the maximum period of accepting funds from an
angel investor to five years, from three years.

 SIDBI Celebrates it's Foundation day

o SIDBI celebrated its foundation day as the day of Sampark (connect),

Samwad (interaction), Suraksha (security) and Sampreshan (disseminate)
on 2nd April.

o On this occasion, SIDBI launched a series of initiatives.

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 o SIDBI launched 'Samridhhi-the virtual assistant' on banks revamped
universal loan portal 'www.udyamimitra.in'. It will answer standard
queries of aspirants 24*7.

 RBI changes methodology for bond valuation

o To prevent the possibility of manipulation in the prices of securities,

especially government securities, the RBI has changed the methodology
used by debt market players for their valuation.

o Security/bond valuation will be based on the weighted average price of the

last half-an-hour of trading.

o The methodology as to how the bonds are valued is crucial for mark-to-
market purposes.

 Allahabad Bank cuts lending rates

o Allahabad Bank has reduced the base rate and benchmark prime lending
rate (BPLR) by 45 basis points each.

o The Bank has slashed base rate to 9.15% from 9.60%. BPLR has been
brought down to 13.40% from 13.85%.

o The reduction in the rates will lower EMIs for its borrowers.

o Allahabad Bank is a nationalised bank with its headquarters in Kolkata,

India.

 World's second largest mobile phone producer

o As per the information shared by Indian Cellular Association, India is now

the second largest mobile phone producer in the world after China.

o Annual production of mobile phones in India increased from 3 million

units in 2014 to 11 million units in 2017.

o India replaced Vietnam to become the second largest producer of mobile

phones in 2017.

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  E-way bill system comes into force

o The Uniform System of e-way Bill for inter-State movement of goods has
come into force from April 1, 2018.

o Under the new system, every transporter will have to carry a system-
generated bill to move goods from one place to another.

o The e-way bill will be mandatory for inter-state transportation of goods

with a value of 50 thousand rupees and above.

 First bank to roll out AI-run voicebot

o Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched the country’s first artificial

intelligence-powered voice-bot 'Keya' in the banking sector.

o Keya uses automatic speech recognition, natural language understanding

and text-to-speech technology.

o The voice-bot uses natural language understanding to navigate the

customer directly to the destination where he can get his issue resolved.

May 2018
 India's most profitable PSU

o Indian Oil Corporation has for the second year in a row beaten ONGC to
become India's most profitable state-owned company.

o IOC which has for decades been India's biggest company by turnover
posted a record net profit of Rs 21,346 crore in the fiscal year ended March
31, 2018.

o Reliance Industries retained the crown of being India's most profitable

company for the third year in a row.

 Panel ‘must’ for reviewing ratings

o Credit rating agencies (CRAs) will have to form a review committee of

mostly independent members to decide on any request for a rating review.

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 o CRAs will have to disclose on their website all ratings that are not accepted
by an issuer for at least 12 months.

o SEBI has proposed these measures as part of its attempts to strengthen the
governance, accountability and functioning of CRAs.

 ICAI comes out with accounting standards

o The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has issued

accounting standards for local bodies with respect to cash flow statements.

o The Accounting Standards for Local Bodies are aimed at ensuring that the
financial reporting by local bodies reflects how efficiently and effectively
local bodies have discharged their responsibilities.

o ICAI has issued the 'Cash Flow Statements'.

 Microsoft becomes third most valuable firm

o Microsoft has surpassed Alphabet, in the market capitalisation for the first
time in 3 years, becoming the 3rd most valuable firm after Apple & Amazon
globally.

o On May 29, 2018, Microsoft reportedly had a market cap of $753 billion at
the close of trading, almost $14 billion ahead of Alphabet.

o Apple leads with a market cap of $924 billion & Amazon is at second spot
with nearly $783 billion.

 Moody’s cuts India GDP growth forecast

o Moody’s Investors Service has cut India’s 2018 growth forecast to 7.3%
from the previous estimate of 7.5%.

o Moody’s said that the economy is in cyclical recovery but higher oil prices
& tighter financial conditions will weigh on the pace of acceleration.

o Moody’s, however, maintained its 2019 growth forecast at 7.5%.

o Moody’s said growth should benefit from an acceleration in rural

consumption

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  Approval for petrol, diesel futures

o The oil ministry has given its in-principle approval for futures trading in
petrol as well as diesel.

o The Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) had approached SEBI seeking its
nod to launch petrol and diesel futures contracts.

o The contracts are expected to help hedge against volatility in oil prices.

 SEBI to implement system-driven disclosures

o Markets regulator SEBI will soon put in place system-driven disclosures

for non-promoters, directors and certain class of employees of listed
companies.

o The system-driven disclosures in securities market was introduced in

December 2015 and is being implemented in a phased manner.

o It has already been put in place with respect to disclosures of promoter/

promoter group.

 EPFO cuts administrative charges to 0.5%

o Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s trustees had decided to cut the

administrative charges to 0.50% from 0.65% of total wage paid by
employers in its meeting this year.

o EPFO decided to cut the administrative charges in view of its expanding

business and high recovery of such fees.

o According to EPFO estimates, the employers would save in total around

₹900 crore annually after this move.

 Intra-state e-way bill comes into force

o Maharashtra, Manipur & 5 union territories have rolled out intra-state e-

way bill system for movement of goods worth over Rs 50,000 within the
state.

o With this, the number of States, where the system is being implemented
will go up to 27.

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 o E-Way Bill is an electronically generated document which is required to be
generated for the movement of goods of more Rs. 50,000 from one place
to another

 EPF interest rate hits 5-year low at 8.55%

o The government has notified 8.55% interest rate on EPF for 2017-18,
lowest in 5 years since the 2012-13 fiscal.

o Employees' Provident Fund is a mandatory contribution from the salary of

an individual that every company which has more than 20 employees has
to deduct.

o EPF accounts are overseen by the Employees' Provident Fund

Organisation, which is under the Ministry of Labour & Employment.

 Yes Bank empanelled as 'Settlement Bank'

o Yes Bank has received approval from National Stock Exchange to be

empanelled as Settlement Bank for National Securities Clearing
Corporation (NSCC), a wholly owned subsidiary of NSE.

o NSCC is responsible for clearing and settlement of all trades executed on

NSE.

o The Bank is already an empanelled Clearing Bank for BSE, NCDEX &
MCX.

 First company to achieve Rs 7 lakh crore m-cap

o Tata Consultancy Services' market valuation briefly crossed the Rs 7-lakh

crore mark on May 25, 2018, making it the first company to achieve this
milestone.

o TCS is the country's most valued firm, followed by Reliance Industries,

HDFC Bank and Hindustan Unilever Limited.

o TCS recently became the first Indian company to close the trading session
with over USD 100 billion market valuation.

 Direct funding facility to VLEs in CSCs

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 o Small Industries Development Bank of India has signed an MoU with
Common Service Centres Special Purpose Vehicle for providing financial
support to CSCs.

o SIDBI will extend financial support to Village Level Entrepreneurs of

CSCs, with minimum 1 year of operation, under the Direct Financing
Window of SIDBI.

o The MoU aims to bring more citizens under the ambit of financial
inclusion.

 MobiKwik launches UPI on platform

o MobiKwik has announced the launch of Unified Payments Interface (UPI)

on its platform via its own Virtual payment address (VPA) handle @ikwik.

o Users can simply scan and generate UPI QR functionality to send and
receive money using VPA and phone number from the contact list.

o MobiKwik is the first in the industry to offer UPI access to a huge base of
three million merchants on its app.

 New data protection rules come into effect

o European Union's new data protection laws have come into effect.

o The General Data Protection Regulation gives EU citizens more rights over
how their information is used.

o It establishes consumers’ "right to know” who is processing their

information & what it will be used for.

o It also establishes the key principle that individuals must explicitly grant
permission for their data to be used.

 Guwahati-Barauni to get gas pipeline by 2021

o Urja Ganga Natural Gas Pipeline has been extended till Guwahati by the
Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), the city will get gas pipeline by
2021.

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 o The 721-km pipeline project will connect Dhamra, Barauni, Paradip and
Hadia and will extend to Guwahati.

o This is a 3000 crore project and would also be be extended to other

Northeast locations, operational from 2023.

 Customs duty on wheat raised by 30%

o Customs duty on wheat has been raised by the government from 20% to
30% in order to protect domestic growers and curb cheaper imports.

o This has been done to restrict overseas purchase so that the farmers get
their MSP (Minimum Support Price) and also to avoid pressure coming
under domestic prices of wheat.

o Walnut shell has also seen an increase in the import duty from 30% to
100%.

 HDFC bank to offer Digital Loans

o HDFC Bank has launched its Digital Loans against Mutual Funds in
partnership with transfer agent CAM.

o Customers will be able to leverage their mutual fund portfolio to avail

funds for any emergencies without liquidating their investments.

o The ticket size of the loans will range from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore at an
interest rate of 10.5 -11%.

 Bank credit grows 12.64%, deposits at 7.61%

o According to an RBI data, Banks’ credit grew by 12.64% year-on-year to

₹85,51,099 crore in the fortnight ended May 11, 2018.

o Banks’ deposits grew by 7.61% to ₹1,13,92,165 crore in the fortnight ended

May 11, 2018, compared with ₹1,05,86,083 crore in the fortnight ended
May 12, 2017.

o Bank credit is the aggregate amount of credit available to a person or

business from a banking institution.

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  MCX launches India’s first silver options

o India’s Multi Commodity Exchange has launched the country’s first silver
options contracts.

o Five contracts expiring in June, August, November, February and April

with a lot size of 30 kg were launched.

o India is the world’s biggest consumer of silver, which is mainly used for
jewellery making in the county.

o The exchange had recently launched crude oil and copper options.

 Niti Aayog and ABB India join hands

o ABB India & Niti Aayog have inked a pact to help India reap benefits of
new technologies including robotics & artificial intelligence.

o The two institutions signed a Statement of Intent to work together in

preparing key sectors of the economy for digitalisation, artificial
intelligence, robotics & industrial automation.

o The initiative also covers the fast-growing segment of electric mobility.

 Repo in corporate debt securities

o Bombay stock exchange has received approval from RBI and Sebi to
launch repo in corporate debt securities.

o Corporate bond repo is where a firm or a bank pledges corporate bonds

with another company or lender to garner funds.

o The corporate repo debt will be launched in 2 models - Basket repo with
settlement guarantee and Special repo without settlement guarantee.

 Paytm’s initiative to educate women

o Paytm has announced a programme called Paytm AshaKiran, which aims

at educating rural women about financial services.

o It will help in creating new job opportunities in small towns & cities of
India.

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 o In the first phase, the bank has partnered with United Nations
Development Program under its Disha project to mobilize self-help groups
and organize workshops.

 New scheme introduced by IRCTC

o Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation has introduced

VIKALP scheme for passengers in wait-listing to provide berth in another
train.

o Under the scheme, passengers from all classes & trains can select 5 trains,
however, the scheme does not guarantee a confirmed berth.

o Passengers should be prepared as they can be shifted to another train

leaving even 12 hours prior to the booked one.

 Finance Ministry ties with 40 entities

o In order to extend loans under the Mudra scheme, Finance Ministry has
tied up with 40 entities including Amul & Flipkart.

o These companies will identify people who need loans under Mudra Yojana,
underwrite them and we will extend loans under the scheme.

o Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana was launched in 2015, for providing loans
of up to Rs 10 lakh to non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises.

 India drags United States to WTO

o India has dragged US to World Trade Organisation’s dispute settlement

mechanism over the imposition of import duties on steel & aluminum.

o Donald Trump had recently signed two proclamations that levied a 25% on
steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum imported from all countries except
Canada & Mexico.

o India’s exports of steel and aluminum products to U.S. is about $1.5 billion
every year.

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  NDB plans to launch Americas regional office

o New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as BRICS

Development Bank, is planning to launch its Americas Regional Office in
Brazil.

o It will increase operational capabilities of NDB and facilitate identification

& preparation of bankable projects in Brazil.

o NDB is mandated to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable

development projects in BRICS & other emerging economies.

 BNPM to increase bank note paper production

o The government's Bank Note Paper Mill India (BNPM) has received green
signal to increase the production of bank note paper at its Mysuru unit in
Karnataka.

o The production of bank note paper has been increased from 12,000 tonnes
per annum to 16,000 tonnes per annum.

o The raw material used for manufacturing of currency paper is 100%

cotton sourced from neighbouring countries.

 MCX launched India's first copper options

o India’s Multi Commodity Exchange has launched country’s first copper

options contracts.

o It will provide physical market participants an additional instrument to

hedge their risk.

o Option contracts were launched with a lot size of 1 tonne in 3 contracts

expiring in June, August and November 2018.

o Copper ranks as the 3rd most-consumed industrial metal in the world, after
iron & aluminum.

 100% business ownership to foreign investors

o United Arab Emirates Cabinet has approved a plan to allow foreign

investors to own 100% of UAE-based businesses by end of 2018.

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 o At present, foreigners generally cannot own more than 49 percent of any
UAE firm unless it is incorporated in a special “free zone”.

o The decision is part of a wider change to the system that would grant
residency visas of up to 10 years to investors and specialists.

 BoB launched MSME factory in Gurgaon

o Bank of Baroda has launched its first integrated SME Loan Factory in
Gurgaon to cater the needs of MSME segment in NCR.

o It will function as a One Stop Shop' for MSME customers and will provide
end to end solutions viz. acquisition, processing, disbursement &
relationship management.

o BoB has also decided to centralize Government Sponsored Schemes loan

processing at the district level.

 NABARD sanctions Solar street lighting system

o National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has sanctioned LED
Solar Street Lighting system for Arunachal Pradesh under its Rural
Infrastructure Development Fund with a grant of Rs 87.83 lakh.

o It would be implemented in 4 districts of the state Tirap, Longding,

Namsai & Tawang.

o The scheme was launched by Chief Minister Pema Khandu in presence of

NABARD Chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala.

 Revenue from e-tourist visa hits Rs 14 billion

o The government has earned Rs 14 billion as revenue from the highly

successful e-Visa scheme, since its launch in 2014.

o The e-Visa scheme has been implemented by the foreigners' division of the
Home Ministry.

o The scheme also covers business and medical categories.

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 o The facility is available for nationals of 163 countries for entry into India
through 25 international airports & 5 seaports.

 Aadhaar, PAN mandatory for broker licence

o The revenue department has made Aadhaar and PAN mandatory for
persons seeking a customs broker licence.

o Customs broker is a person licensed to act as an agent on behalf of

importer/exporter for a transaction of business relating to entry or
departure of conveyances or goods at any customs station.

o The licence is issued by the Directorate General of Performance

Management.

 Venture Capital Symposium 2018 began

o NITI Aayog, in association with Vision India Foundation, is organising

Venture Capital Symposium 2018 to deepen the economic relationships
between France and India.

o Venture Capital Symposium 2018 is an event where French investors will

be interacting with 100 early to mid-stage Indian start-ups.

o The Symposiums aims to support the Start-up India programme that was
launched by PM Modi in 2015.

 MPC to meet for three days from June 4

o The Reserve Bank of India has advanced the Monetary Policy Committee
(MPC) meeting by a day to June 4 and also increased the duration to three
days.

o It is for the first time that the MPC will meet for three days.

o The six-member MPC, headed by the RBI Governor, sets the benchmark
interest rate.

o MPC was set up by amending the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, through
the Finance Act 2016.

 RBI slaps fine on South Indian Bank

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 o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has slapped a penalty of ₹ 50 million on
South Indian Bank Limited for non-compliance with the directions issued
by it.

o The non-compliance pertains to Income Recognition and Asset

Classification (IRAC) norms, Know Your Customer norms and treasury
function.

o Further, the bank is also pulled up for deficiencies in its compliance

function and compliance culture.

 Indian economy to grow 7.6% in 2018-19

o According to the UN World Economic Situation and Prospects

(WESP), India's economy is projected to grow 7.6% in the fiscal year 2018-
19, remaining one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

o This is a substantial recovery from the 6.7% growth India registered in the
year 2017.

o The report also said that the recovery in private investment remains a
crucial challenge in India.

 RBI issues guidelines on NSFR

o The RBI issued detailed Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) guidelines to
ensure that banks maintain a stable funding profile in relation to the
composition of their assets and off-balance sheet activities.

o The guidelines on NSFR are in line with global norms prescribed by the
Basel Committee.

o The NSFR would be applicable for Indian banks at the solo as well as
consolidated level.

 RBI eases setting up of IFSC Banking Units

o RBI modified the norms for setting up IFSC Banking Units.

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 o In April 2015, the Reserve Bank had formulated a scheme for setting up of
International Financial Services Centres (IFSC) Banking Units (IBUs) by
banks in IFSCs.

o To enable IBUs to start their operations, the parent bank will be required
to provide a minimum capital of USD 20 million.

o The government has set up an IFSC in Gujarat.

 RBI imposed penalty on Cooperative bank

o The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of ₹50,000 on Universal

Co-operative Urban Bank, Mancherial, Telangana.

o The penalty has been imposed on the bank as it had violated

RBI's directive and guidelines on loans and advances to directors and their
relatives.

o Urjit Patel is the Governor of Reserve Bank of India which is

headquartered at Mumbai.

 Record production of Foodgrain in 2017-2018

o Aided by a normal monsoon last year, India’s production of foodgrains

touched a record 279.5 million tonnes in 2017-18.

o This was estimated in the third advance estimate of crop production

released by the Agriculture Ministry on 16th May.

o The higher year-on-year food production is due to a larger harvest of rice

and a record crop of pulses.

 Blockchain-based trade finance network

o Infosys has formed a blockchain-based trade finance network with

7 private-sector banks, to increase security and efficiency in the banking
sector.

o Blockchain allows all stages of transactions to be securely shared between

network members, as opposed to each bank working independently.

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 o Lenders currently testing its trade finance network are ICICI, Axis and Yes
Bank among others.

 BSE is first to get US SEC recognition

o The BSE has received the recognition certificate of ‘Designated Offshore

Securities Market’ (DOSM) from the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC).

o This will help in the sale of securities to US investors through the BSE
platform without registration of such securities with the US SEC.

o The BSE becomes the first bourse in India to receive the

DOSM recognition.

 Exports rose to $25.9 billion in April 2018

o India's exports rose by 5.17% year-on-year to USD 25.9 billion in April

2018 on back of good show by sectors like engineering, pharmaceutical &
chemicals.

o Non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in April 2018 were

valued at USD 19.8 billion as against USD 17.7 billion in April 2017,
showing an increase of 11.73%.

o India recorded a trade surplus in services sector at USD 6.5 billion.

 BSNL partners SAP to boost GST compliance

o BSNL has signed a MoU with SAP to jointly offer innovative GST solutions
to enterprises across India.

o The MoU aims to ensure that every business in the nation successfully
adopts GST through BSNL’s country-wide reach & SAP’s expertise in
providing robust technology offerings.

o The collaboration leverages the capabilities of BSNL as GST Suvidha

Provider & SAP as Application Service Provider.

 IIM-A launched Bharat Inclusive initiative

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 o Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad’s centre for innovation,
incubation, and entrepreneurship has launched a $25 mn Bharat Inclusion
Initiative.

o It aims to mentor & invest in start-ups in early stage & seed segment over
the next 3 to 4 yrs.

o The initiative received an initial pledge of $12.5 mn from Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation & Omidyar Network.

 India to clock GDP growth of 7.7%

o India’s GDP is expected to grow by 7.7% in January-March, up from 7.2%

in the preceding quarter, says a Nomura report.

o According to the report, despite the moderation in March, industrial

production growth averaged 6.2% in the January-March period.

o The report further noted that India is expected to witness cyclical recovery
led by both investment and consumption.

 E-Way Bill system in Assam & Rajasthan

o The E-way bill system for intra-State transport of goods in Assam and
Rajasthan will roll out on May 16 and May 20 respectively.

o This would take the total number of States under the system to 21.

o E-Way Bill system for inter-State movement of goods has been rolled out
from 01st April 2018.

o E-Way Bill is electronically generated for the consignment/movement of

goods from one place to another.

 Listed companies to disclose payment delays

o SEBI proposed that listed companies have to disclose any delay or

expected delay in payment related to their debt securities within 24 hours.

o The proposal comes against the backdrop of various instances regarding

non-compliance with listing norms by issuers of non-convertible debt
securities.

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 o The regulator has sought public comments till June 11 on the proposals.

 Lending, deposit curbs on Allahabad Bank

o RBI has imposed restrictions on Allahabad Bank, including on expansion

of risky assets, creation of non-banking assets and accessing/renewing
wholesale/costly deposits.

o RBI has also asked the bank to reduce exposure to unrated and high-risk
advances.

o The RBI directive comes in the wake of the bank’s common equity tier-1
breaching the minimum regulatory requirement of 7.37% in March 2018.

 India-dedicated investment fund

o China's largest bank, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China has launched
country's 1st India-dedicated publicly offered investment fund.

o The fund will invest in exchange-traded funds listed on more than 20

exchanges in Europe & US that are based on Indian market.

o The bank said that the Indian market offers the best opportunity for
Chinese investors due to the prospects of double-digit growth

 Fino Payments Bank to offer net banking

o Fino Payments Bank launched a suite of digital products that can be

accessed online and through mobile phones.

o Fino had launched its mobile banking app BPay in 2017.

o The latest initiatives include Unified Payments Interface (UPI), BHIM

app- using which customers can access UPI and make P2P payments.

 Paytm introduced automatic recurring payments

o Paytm has introduced automatic recurring payments, a new feature that

lets users configure the payments app to pay for periodic recurring
expenses automatically.

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 o Similar to standing instructions for bank accounts, the ‘My Payments’
feature can be used for high-value payments for a variety of cases.

o Company expects the feature to significantly boost bank-to-bank

transactions on the Paytm app.

 Barclays seeks patents around e-currency tech

o Barclays has filed two patent applications relating to the transfer of digital
currency and data storage with the Indian Patent Office.

o The bank has filed a patent application titled ‘secure digital data
operations' & it is a method and system for transferring digital currency
from a payer to the recipient.

o The other patent filed is ‘data validation and storage’ & is about
cryptography.

 UNDP to set up skill development centre

o United Nations Development Programme will soon set up a skill

development centre at 'Bharosa,' in Hyderabad.

o 'Bharosa,' an initiative of Hyderabad City Police, is a state-of-the-

art centre to support women and children who are victims of violence.

o The centre will empower vulnerable & marginalised women by imparting

skills training.

 Revision of WPI base year to 2017-18

o The commerce and industry ministry has started the exercise to revise
base year to 2017-18 for computation of wholesale inflation with a view to
present a more realistic picture of the price situation.

o In May 2017, the government revised the base year for WPI-based
inflation to 2011-12.

o The new index, with 2017-18, is expected to have new items.

 Largest remittance-receiving country in world

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 o According to the report ‘RemitSCOPE - Remittance markets &
opportunities - Asia & the Pacific', India was the largest remittance-
receiving country in the world in 2017.

o India with $69 bn, China with $64 bn & Philippines with $33 bn were the
3 largest remittance-receiving countries in the world in 2017.

o According to the report, cash-to-cash transactions was the most common

form of transfer.

 ADNOC supplies first oil cargo vessel to India

o Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has sent the 1st cargo vessel with 2
million barrels of crude oil for India's strategic petroleum reserve.

o ADNOC will use part of the crude oil to supply its customers, while the rest
will remain as strategic storage for Govt of India to be released in event of
an emergency.

o This will be the 1st such investment by any foreign company in an Indian
SPR facility.

 Tea industry records highest ever production

o Achieving a historic feat, the Indian tea industry has recorded the highest
ever production of 1,325.05 million kg as well as the export of 256.57
million kg during 2017-18.

o Total tea production in 2017-18 went up by 74.56 million kg or 5.96%, as

compared to the corresponding figure in 2016-17.

o Growth in exports was majorly driven by 5 countries - Egypt, Iran,

Pakistan, China & Russia.

 SEBI asks listed firms to split CMD post

o SEBI has asked listed companies to split the post of Chairman and
Managing Director by April 2020.

o SEBI has also made it compulsory for them to have six independent
directors on board, including a women director.
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 o The changes, which were first recommended by Kotak Bank chief Uday
Kotak-led committee on corporate governance in 2017, have now been
accepted and notified by SEBI.

 RBI puts Dena Bank under corrective action

o RBI has initiated prompt corrective action against Dena Bank in view of
high non-performing assets, restricting the bank from giving new loans
& new hiring.

o Prompt Corrective Action comes after Dena Bank posted a loss for the
third year in a row with net NPA's close to 12%.

o Though several banks are under the PCA framework currently, Dena Bank
is the first lender to have fresh lending curbed.

 New monetary limits for public sector banks

o Monetary threshold for public sector banks to report frauds to

departments of CBI for a probe has been revised.

o Frauds of min. Rs 3 cr & to Rs 25 cr have to be reported to either CBIs

Anti-Corruption Branch or to Economic Offences Wing.

o According to RBI, cases of frauds involving more than Rs 25 cr & up to Rs

50 cr should be given to CBIs Banking Security & Fraud Cell.

 Walmart to buy control of Flipkart

o Walmart had agreed to pay $16 billion for about 77% stake in Flipkart.

o It will be the biggest ever acquisition in India by a foreign firm surpassing

the about $13 billion Vodafone spent in 2007 for buying Hutchison’s
Indian business.

o The Walmart entered India in a joint venture with the Bharti Group in
2007 & started cash-and-carry stores named 'BestPrice Modern
Wholesale' in 2009.

 India to be the fastest growing economy

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 o International Monetary Fund has reaffirmed that India will be the fastest-
growing major economy in 2018, with a growth rate of 7.4% that would
further rise to 7.8% in 2019.

o IMF's Asia & Pacific Regional Economic Outlook said that India was
recovering from the effects of demonetisation and GST.

o After India, Bangladesh is projected to be the fastest-growing economy in

South Asia.

 MCX to launch crude oil options

o India's Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) will launch the country's first
crude oil options contract on May 15.

o India is the world's third-biggest consumer of crude oil. Crude oil futures
contracts were most traded on the exchange platform in 2017/18 fiscal
year ended on March 31.

o The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved the
options contract.

 MSEs biz sentiment improves

o Business sentiment among Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) improved

in the January-March, according to the CriSidEx index.

o The index developed by Crisil and SIDBI is based on a diffusion index of 8

parameters-5 manufacturing and 3 services.

o It measures MSEs business sentiment on a scale of 0 to 200.

o CriSidEx is India's first sentiment index for MSEs which was launched in
February.

 Govt to come out with Producers’ Price Index

o The government will come out with a Producers’ Price Index next month
for 10 services, including telecom & railways on an experimental basis.

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 o The move will help track inflation in these services, which will also include
ports, insurance, banking, transportation & air travel.

o 2 major indices are used currently for tracking price movement

- Wholesale Price Index & Consumer Price Index.

 BSE to launch commodity derivatives trading

o Bombay Stock Exchange has decided to launch trading in the commodity

derivatives segment from October 1.

o BSE will begin commodity derivatives with non-agriculture commodities

like metals, energy and base metals.

o A derivative is a contract between two parties which derives its value/price

from an underlying asset.

o The most common types of derivatives are futures, options, forwards and
swaps.

 NSE introduces 'managed co-location services'

o In order to facilitate small and medium-sized trading members,

NSE introduced a facility of 'managed co-location service'.

o In this facility, space will be provided to vendors along with provision for
receiving market data.

o This facility enables the co-located entities to access the trade/order

related data before other non-co-located entities.

 HPCL begins home-delivery of diesel

o After Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), state-owned Hindustan Petroleum

Corp Ltd (HPCL) has launched home-delivery of diesel in Mumbai.

o 'HP Fuel Connect' will deliver diesel to select customers having fixed
equipment, heavy machinery in their premises.

o IOC had in March launched home-delivery of diesel in Pune.

 India seeks $4 bn assistance from ADB

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 o India has requested Asian Development Bank to expand its sovereign and
non-sovereign operations in the country by providing financial assistance
worth $4 billion a year.

o India also requested ADB President Takehiko Nakao to support its

endevour towards an inclusive & sustainable growth accompanied by rapid
economic transformation.

o ADB aims to promote social and economic development in Asia.

 India's most trusted FMCG brand

o As per TRA's Brand Trust Report 2018, Patanjali has left behind brands
like HUL & ITC to emerge as the most trusted brand in the FMCG sector.

o Patanjali was established in 2006 by Ramdev along with Balkrishna, with

the aim of establishing a science of Ayurveda in coordination with latest
technology & ancient wisdom

o Besides FMCG, Patanjal is present in other sectors like education &

healthcare

 GST Council simplifies return filing process

o The GST Council in its 27th meeting decided on a new, simplifed method
of filing GST returns, based on the recommendations of the Group of
Ministers on IT simplification.

o All taxpayers excluding a few exceptions like composition dealer shall file
one monthly return.

o Goods & Services Tax Council is a constitutional body & is chaired by the
Union Finance Minister

 California's economy is world's 5th biggest

o California’s economy has surpassed that of the United Kingdom to become

the world’s fifth largest economy.

o California’s GDP of $2.7 trillion has overtaken the UK’s $2.6 trillion.

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 o California’s economic output is now surpassed only by the total GDP of the
United States, China, Japan and Germany.

o All economic sectors except agriculture contributed to California’s higher

GDP.

 RBI asks banks to share data with DRI

o The Reserve Bank of India has asked banks authorised to deal in foreign
exchange to share data with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

o Under the new rules, in the case of inward remittances, the agency can
seek information relating to a remittee’s details like name, address etc.

o In the case of outward remittances, the agency can seek information

relating to a remitter’s detail.

 SEBI proposes changes to public issue norms

o SEBI has proposed some changes in public issue norms, including shorter
time period for price band announcement & lesser disclosures about group
companies at time of IPO.

o The time period for announcing price band for Initial public offerings
(IPO) will be reduced to 2 working days from current 5 days.

o These proposals are based on suggestions made by SEBI's Primary Market

Advisory Committee.

 RBI announced Rs.10,000 crore bond purchases

o The Reserve Bank of India has announced that it would buy Rs. 10,000
crore of government bonds via Open Market Operation (OMO).

o The move could bring some relief to the bond market which is reeling
under the pressure of rising yields despite a slew of regulatory measures.

o Since the start of 2018, the yield on the 10-year benchmark bond has
gained 40 basis points to 7.73%.

 Exchanges allowed to extend trading time

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 o Markets regulator SEBI allowed stock exchanges to extend trading in
equity derivatives by over 8.5 hours to bring the timings in line with
commodity markets.

o It has allowed exchanges to set trading hours in equity derivatives between

9:00 am and 11:55 pm, effective October 1, 2018.

o As of now, trading is allowed from 9:15 am till 3:30 pm.

 EPFO introduces View Pension Passbook service

o EPFO introduced ‘View Pension Passbook’ Service for the pensioners

through 'UMANG app'.

o On clicking 'View Passbook' option, it requires PPO Number and Date of

Birth information to be entered by the pensioner.

o Other e-services of EPFO already available through UMANG app includes

EPF Passbook, Raise claim, Track Claim, eKYC services etc.

 RBI asks FPI data from listed companies

o The Reserve Bank asked all listed companies to provide information on

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) investments to depositories before May
15.

o Currently, the RBI receives data on the investment made by FPIs and Non-
Resident Indians on Stock Exchanges from banks.

o Depositories have to provide the necessary infrastructure and systems for

operationalising the monitoring mechanism.

 Kotak launches Free Intraday Trading facility

o Kotak Securities has unveiled ‘Free Intraday Trading’ facility, allowing

investors to trade intra-day without paying brokerage charges.

o Investors can do intra-day trades across cash, future and options segments
at an annual subscription of Rs. 999.

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 o Intra-day trading refers to trades in which investors buy and sell the
shares within the same trading session.

 Core sector growth slows to 4.1% in March

o The growth of eight core sectors slowed to a three-month low of 4.1% in

March due to weak performance in six sectors including coal, crude oil and
natural gas.

o The other sectors which showed slower growth rates were refinery
products, steel and electricity.

o The Index of Eight Core Industries consists- coal, steel, cement, crude oil,
natural gas, fertilizers, electricity & refinery products.

 GST receipts cross Rs. 1 lakh cr. in April

o Revenue from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for April 2018 crossed
the Rs. 1 lakh crore threshold, coming in at Rs. 1,03,458 crore.

o It Indicates that the indirect tax regime was stabilising and that economic
revival was picking up pace.

o The GST was rolled out across the country on July 1, 2017.

 CBIC to handle applications for Inland Depots

o Applications for setting up of Inland Container Depots, Container Freight

Stations, and Air Freight Stations will now be handled by the Central
Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.

o The move will promote ease of doing business at trade front.

o Earlier, the commerce ministry used to handle these applications.

o The development would help India improve its ranking in trading across
borders.

 Government extends MEIS export benefits

o Over 35 handicraft products such as candles, paper and clay articles would
be entitled for export benefits.

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 o These export benefits are provided under Merchandise Export from India
Scheme (MEIS).

o Under this scheme, the government provides duty credit scrip to

exporters.

o The rates vary from product to product and the export destination, as
envisaged in the foreign trade policy.

 RBI allowed FPIs to invest in treasury bills

o Easing foreign investment rules, the RBI on 1st May permitted Foreign
Portfolio Investments (FPIs) to invest in treasury bills issued by the
Central Government.

o The RBI also asked the FPIs to bring down their total exposure in debt
instruments (G-secs or corporate bonds).

o Treasury Bills are short term (up to one year) borrowing instruments of
the Government & they are auctioned by RBI.

 SEBI tightens KYC norms for FPIs

o SEBI came out with a detailed framework for Risk Based Know Your Client
(KYC) documentation of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs).

o The market regulator made it clear that Non-Resident Indians (NRIs),

Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) and resident Indians cannot be beneficial
owners of FPIs.

o NRIs and OCIs can only obtain an FPI licence when they limit their roles
to investment advisors.

June 2018
 Fiscal deficit hits 55% due to higher capex

o The Centre’s fiscal deficit for the first two months of the fiscal year 2018-
19 stood at Rs 3.45 trillion, this is a sign of growing economy.

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 o The fiscal deficit target for 2018-19 is Rs 6.24 trillion, or 3.3 percent of the
gross domestic product.

o The difference between total revenue and total expenditure of the

government is termed as fiscal deficit.

 Tata Steel approves JV with Thyssenkrupp

o The board of Tata Steel has approved the terms to create a 50:50 joint
venture of Tata Steel's European steel businesses and Thyssenkrupp AG.

o The JV would create it second-largest steelmaker after steel tycoon

Lakshmi N Mittal's ArcelorMittal in Europe.

o The company plans to produce 35,000 million tonnes steel used in

transformers for power sector against the current capacity of 10,000 mt.

 India's external debt rises to US$ 529.7 bn

o India's external debt increased US$ 58.4 billion or 12.4% to US$ 529.7
billion end-March 2018 over its level at end-March 2017.

o The increase in the magnitude of external debt was partly due to valuation
loss resulting from the depreciation of the US dollar against major
currencies.

o Debt service payments have declined to 7.5% of current receipts in 2018 as

compared with 8.3% in 2017.

 India exports Rs 18,000-crore worth spices

o India exported a record 10,28,060 tonnes of spices and spice products

valued at Rs 17,929.55 crore in 2017-18.

o There is an increase of 8% in volume and 1% in rupee terms in the year

ended March 2018, compared to the previous financial year.

o The export of value-added products like curry powder/paste, spice oils and
oleoresins also increased in volume and value during the period.

 RIL acquire Radisys Corp for $74 million

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 o Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) has entered into definitive
agreement to acquire Nasdaq-listed Radisys Corp for $1.72 per share in
cash.

o The deal size works out to be ₹510 crore based on current

outstanding equity share impact.

o This acquisition further accelerates Jio’s global innovation and technology

leadership in the areas of 5G, IOT and open source architecture adoption.

 GNFC: 1st in India to use Blockchain Tech

o GNFC (Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers & Chemicals) crosses another

milestone by using Fertilizer subsidy disbursement through blockchain
technology.

o NITI Aayog & GNFC signed a statement of Intent to implement a proof-of-

concept using the Blockchain technology.

o Farmers will be benefited as the process transparency is evident,

transactions cannot be altered and digital fraud can be altered.

 BHEL and Korean firm work on curbing emission

o BHEL has inked a pact with South Korean firm NANO Co Ltd for design
and manufacture emission control devices.

o The Technology Collaboration Agreement (TCA) with NANO Co is for

design and manufacture of SCR Catalysts for De-NOx application in coal-
fired plants.

o In India, there is a 32% increase in SO2 levels and 34% rise in PM2.5
levels.

 1st government blockchain centre in Hyderabad

o The Centre has decided to set up a Centre of Excellence for blockchain

technology in Hyderabad to drive innovation.

o The Centre of Excellence proposed to come up at C-DAC’s Hyderabad unit.

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 o The plan is to use blockchain technology to digitise and secure land
records for Telangana.

o ICICI Bank was the first to execute transactions using Blockchain

technology.

 Indian money in Swiss banks rises 50%

o Money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose over 50% to Swiss Francs
(CHF) 1.01 billion (₹7,000 crore) in 2017, reversing a three-year
downward trend.

o The surge comes as a surprise given India’s continuing clampdown on

suspected black money stashed abroad.

o The Indian money in Swiss banks had fallen by 45% in 2016, marking their
biggest ever yearly plunge.

 Govt hikes ethanol price by Rs 3 per litre

o The government hiked the price of ethanol, used for doping in petrol, by
almost Rs 3 per litre to Rs 43.70.

o This move is to cut India's oil import dependence as well as give the higher
price for sugarcane to farmers.

o The govt has approved the mechanism for procurement of ethanol by

public sector oil marketing companies to carry out the Ethanol Blended
Petrol Programme.

 WEP signs SoI with various organisations

o NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurs Platform (WEP) signed 5 Statement

of Intent (SoIs) with financial institutions.

o These are Shri Mahila Sewa Sahakari Bank Limited, Indiabulls Housing
Finance Limited, SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited, Sreemanta Sankar
Mission and the SEWA.

o The WEP was established on International Women's Day in March 2018 to

increase the number of women entrepreneurs.

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  Govt funds ECGC, NEIA to boost exports

o The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the capital

infusion of Rs 2000 crore in Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC)
and Rs 1040 cr to National Export Insurance Account Trust (NEIA).

o The capital infusion of Rs 2000 crore in ECGC would to boost exports and
benefit MSMEs in the country.

o The grant to NEIA would promote infrastructure for export projects.

 Sagarmala receives Gold Award at Skoch Summit

o The Ministry of Shipping’s flagship programme for port-led-prosperity

‘Sagarmala’ received the ‘Gold Award’ at 52nd Skoch Summit 2018 in New
Delhi.

o The Skoch Awards recognize leadership and excellence in accelerating

socio-economic changes.

o Sagarmala is the programme of govt for port-led-development of the

country through harnessing 7,500 km long coastline, 14,500 km of
navigable waterways.

 PSB's account for 85% of bank fraud cases

o Public Sector Banks accounted for a staggering 85% of nearly 6,500 fraud
cases, amounting to more than Rs 30,000 Cr.

o Top 10 banking frauds in 2018 alone lead to a financial loss of Rs 10,000

Cr. Banks had reported nearly 5,000 frauds amounting to Rs 20,000 Cr in
the fiscal year 2017.

o The PSB's have a disproportionate share of over 85%, exceeding their

business share of about 65% to 75%.

 DBS Bank to launch subsidiary in India

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 o DBS Bank of Singapore will launch its subsidiary in India in Oct 2018, the
2nd foreign bank in the country to convert its local operations.

o The bank has invested another Rs 500 Cr in March 2018 to take the total
capital in India to Rs 5000 Cr and plans to expand to 50 branches.

o State Bank of Mauritius was the 1st to open a local subsidiary after RBI
came out with the regulations in 2013.

 RBI’s Financial Stability Report on NPA's

o The Reserve Bank of India’s Financial Stability Report (FSR) has warned
that gross Non-Performing Assets (NPA) of troubled banks are likely to
rise from 11.6% in March 2018 to 12.2% by March 2019.

o Gross NPAs of banks have already crossed the Rs 10,00,000 crore mark in
the fiscal ended March 2018.

o The system-level capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) may come

down from 13.5% to 12.8%.

 India records highest number of IPOs globally

o Indian exchanges recorded the highest IPO activity as the country saw 90
IPO launches that raised $3.9 billion.

o The exchanges account for 16% of the total issues in the first half of 2018.

o Out of 90 deals that listed, 15 listed both on NSE & BSE result in 93% of
the total proceeds.

o The financial sector, infrastructure and consumer companies with strong

growth continue to boost IPO activity.

 EPFO changes provision for withdrawing funds

o Retirement fund body EPFO provided an option to withdraw 75% of their

funds after 1 month of unemployment.

o The members would also have an option to withdraw remaining 25% of

their funds and go for final settlement of account after completion of 2
months of unemployment.

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 o These provisions are done under the Employee Provident Fund Scheme
1952.

 Oil India discovered hydrocarbon in KG Basin

o Oil India Limited (OIL), a state-owned PSU has made its second
hydrocarbon discovery in Krishna-Godavari (KG) Basin.

o Thanelanka-1 is the first high pressure-high temperature (HP-HT) well

drilled by OIL.

o Earlier, the company made a gas discovery at Dangeru-l well in the block.

o In 2017-18, OIL produced 3.39 metric million tonnes (MMT) of crude oil
and 2.93 billion cubic meters (BCM) of gas.

 41 lakh new jobs created in 8months: CSO

o Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the employment-related statistics

in the formal sector for eight months beginning from September 2017.

o The year witnessed new payrolls of over 6.8 Lakhs were recorded by
Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).

o The estimated total number of new National Pension Scheme subscribers

during the same period is over 5 lakhs.

 NIIF to roll out $2 billion fund

o The National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF) unveiled a $2-

billion long-term fund to finance megaprojects.

o The NIIF already has 2 operational funds - the NIIF master fund that
invests directly in companies & a fund of funds that invests in funds that
are managed by 3rd parties.

o The 3rd fund would cater to India's long-term infra needs.

o NIIF's MD and CEO is Sujoy Bose.

 Online shoppers to surpass 120mn: ASSOCHAM

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 o ASSOCHAM - Resurgent joint study said that online shopping is expected
to grow by 115% in 2018 from 108mn.

o This is aided by fast-increasing data consumption and improvement in

logistics, along with a number of offers presented by e-commerce
platforms.

o The frequency of purchase was higher for categories like apparels &
accessories (54%), beauty and personal care (43%) and electronics (33%).

 PRC, India and ROK see wealth loss of $1.4 tn

o China, India and South Korea, which are the three biggest Asian markets,
excluding Japan, have seen erosion in market capitalisation of $1.4 trillion
in 2018.

o The US, UK & France have fared much better, indicating global funds
could be shifting their preference away from riskier emerging markets.

o This is attributed to rising bond yields, improved economic outlook &

strengthening currency.

 FIU forwarded highest over 65K in FY18

o The Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU), the government agency

mandated on terrorist financing and money laundering, has forwarded
65,829 Suspicious Transactions Reports (STRs) during FY18 — the highest
in the history.

o This number was over 13% higher than the record 58,223 STRs in FY17.

o The spurt in the number of STRs is initiated under FEMA (Foreign

Exchange Management Act), 1999.

 India raises import duties on many items

o India raised import duties on almost 30 items including agricultural and

steel products in protest against the US imposing higher levies on products
shipped from the country.

o Earlier, US hiked tariffs on certain steel and aluminium products which

had tariff implication of $241 million on India.
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 o China, EU and other trading partners have also hiked tariffs in protest.

 BBB recommends for promotion of 22 PSB GMs

o The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) has recommended 22 general managers to

be elevated as executive directors at various public sector banks.

o The Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by PM will take the final

decision in this regard.

o BBB was set up in February 2016 as an autonomous body– based on the

recommendations of the RBI-appointed Nayak Committee. It was the part
of Indradhanush Plan.

 Kaiga generating systems sets new record

o The 220 MW Unit-1 of Karnataka's Kaiga Generating Systems (KGS-1) set

a new record of the continuous operation of 766 days.

o It surpassed the earlier record of 765 days set by the Unit-5 of Rajasthan
Atomic Power Station (RAPS-5) in 2014.

o The unit KGS-1 has been in operation since May 13, 2016. The 220 MW
KGS-1 is an indigenous PHWR fuelled by domestic fuel.

 RBI alters ‘relative’ definition

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has narrowed the definition of relatives
to check the flow of funds.

o Hence, funds under the ‘maintenance of close relative’ category can be

sent only to immediate relatives such as parents, spouses, children and
their spouses.

o This has brought about by defining ‘relatives’ under the Companies Act,
2013 instead of the same act of 1956.

 SAARC launches social enterprise programme

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 o SAARC Development Fund launches a social enterprise development
programme (SEDP) to fund 80 entities annually across eight-member
states.

o SDF was established in April 2010 and its council comprises finance
ministers of these eight SAARC countries.The SDF CEO is Sunil Motiwal

o SDF has already committed $73.74 million for social window projects out
of which it has disbursed $47 million.

 Brazil & India firm most vulnerable to hikes

o According to a report from Mckinsey Global Institute, a 200 basis-point

increase in interest rate would spark a sharp price in corporate debt
especially in case of Brazilian and Indian firms.

o This is seen as central banks of many emerging economies

have raised interest rates, a similar thing done by RBI.

o It also said advanced economies would be protected from such increase of

interest.

 Bank credit rises 3.4% in Dec. 2017 quarter

o Bank credit grew 3.4% on a sequential basis in the December 2017 quarter.

o It was due to better performance by private sector banks and an uptick in

industrial credit after two successive quarters of declines, according to the
Reserve Bank data.

o At the end of the December quarter, bank credit stood at ₹80.62 trillion
compared with ₹77.95 trillion in the Sept 2017 quarter as per the RBI data.

 US pips India as top greenfield FDI place

o The USA has surpassed India as top greenfield FDI destination with a total
FDI of USD 87.6 billion.

o The number of greenfield FDI projects sharply fell by 21% during this year
in case of India as compared to previous year.

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 o China received a total FDI of USD 50.3 billion in the year 2017 while India
received an FDI of 25.1 billion in 2017.

 Northeast India’s first small bank opened

o Northeast India’s first small bank, North East Small Finance bank
(NESFB) started its services.

o Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi (North East) Microfinance Limited received

the Small Finance Bank License from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on
March 31, 2017.

o Tata Trust chairman Ratan Tata and Assam's finance minister Himanta
Biswa Sarma launched the first 28 branches of the bank.

 SEBI set to amend buyback regulations

o SEBI plans to revise the regulations for share buybacks wherein more
clarity would be provided on various aspects, including on the requirement
to make public announcements.

o SEBI has carried out a review of the current buyback norms in order to
simplify the language and remove inconsistencies.

o A company can undertake buyback of shares out of its free reserves and
securities premium account.

 Muthoot Fincorp, NSDC to train 10,000 youth

o Muthoot Fincorp Limited announced its partnership with National Skill

Development Corporation (NSDC).

o Under the scheme, Muthoot Fincorp targets to train over 10,000 people
over the next three years and make them job ready under Pradhan Mantri
Kaushal Vikas Yojana.

o NSDC has approved a target of 3,000 candidates in the first year and
3,500 each in the subsequent two years.

 TCS close trading with over Rs 7 trillion

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 o Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) became the first company to close the
trading session with a market valuation of over Rs 7 trillion.

o The Mumbai-headquartered TCS had in April became the first Indian

company to close the trading session with over $100 billion market
valuation.

o TCS is the country's most valued firm followed by Reliance Industries Ltd,
HDFC Bank, HUL and ITC in the top 5 list.

 Fitch revises Axis Bank outlook to negative

o Fitch Ratings affirmed the long-term issuer default ratings (IDRs) and
viability ratings of ICICI Bank and Axis Bank at 'BBB-' and 'bbb-',
respectively.

o IDRs refers to the relative vulnerability of a company to default on its

financial obligations.

o The global rating agency also revised the outlook on Axis Bank to negative
from stable but maintained ICICI Bank’s outlook as stable for now.

 India’s exports hit six month high in May

o India’s exports grew 20.18 percent to $28.86 billion in May, recording the
highest number in six months.

o India’s trade deficit widened to a four-month high of $14.62 billion in May

as imports surged nearly 15%.

o Even though exports outpaced imports, higher oil import bill wiped away
the benefits of a contraction in gold imports.

 RBI eases norms for FPIs to invest in debt

o The Reserve Bank has eased investment norms for foreign portfolio
investors (FPIs) in debt.

o The move can help attract more overseas flows and thereby help arrest the
recent fall in the rupee on one hand and also lift the recent fall in demand
for corporate bonds.

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 o FPIs are allowed to invest in various debt market instruments such as
government bonds, treasury bills.

 Wholesale inflation hits 14-month high

o India's inflation measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) rose to a

14-month high of 4.43% in May as compared to 3.18% in April,
government data revealed.

o Vegetable prices grew by 2.51% in May, while primary articles that account
for over one-fifth of the entire WPI, grew by 3.16%.

o Fuel and power inflation grew at 11.22% in May.

 WhatsApp opens UPI-based payments service

o Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp has started the mass

rollout of WhatsApp Payments feature via UPI platform in India,
according to reports.

o The feature was rolled out to select users in February, but now, besides
invite-based access, users can also access it after updating the app.

o WhatsApp will be able to send ₹5,000 in a single transaction, the reports

added.

 HDFC, 5th Biggest Consumer FSC: Forbes

o Housing finance major HDFC has been ranked as the 5th biggest public
company globally in the ‘consumer financial services category’ on a list
compiled by Forbes magazine.

o HDFC’s rank has moved up from 7th place last year.

o American Express has topped this category, while Indiabulls Housing

Finance is the only other Indian company (at 13th place) on the list.

 Fed Reserve raises rates

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 o In raising its benchmark overnight lending rate a quarter of a percentage
point to a range of 1.75% to 2%, the Fed Reserve of US marked a milestone
in the U.S. central bank’s shift in monetary policy.

o After the rate-setting, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that the US
economy is doing very well.

o The rate hike marks a shift in US policies used to battle the 2007-2009
financial crisis.

 PhonePe ties up with Ola

o Flipkart-owned digital payments firm PhonePe has tied up with

homegrown cab aggregator Ola.

o Now, users will be able to book a cab or an auto using a micro-app built on
its payments platform.

o The company has gone live with three such micro-apps, including that of
redBus and Metro services, and plans to go live with 5 to 10 more in the
ongoing quarter.

 'KBL Deposit Only Card' unveild

o Karnataka Bank has unveiled a novel card variant 'KBL Deposit Only
Card'.

o The card aims to enable hassle free cash deposit transaction at Bank's 24x7
e-Lobby services.

o This card is specially meant for Bank's Current/Overdraft customers.

o By using this card they can perform card based cash deposit transactions
even with higher deposit limit.

 GST funds to be split b/w centre-state

o Centre and the 'concerned state' will equally share the amount deposited
by erring businesses in the consumer welfare fund.

o These funds are deposited in the national anti-profiteering authority set

up as part of the GST anti-profiteering rules to penalise erring businesses.

132 | P a g e
 o In case the customer is not identifiable, the money has to be deposited in
the consumer welfare fund.

 Unlisted firms to dematerialise share

o The government is planning to make it compulsory for unlisted companies

to get their shares dematerialised by September 2018.

o Additionally, corporate affairs ministry has instructed all unlisted

companies with paid-up capital of more than Rs 50 million to digitalise
shares by June 2018.

o The aim is to make transactions in more than 70000 unlisted

companies more transparent.

 Share capital of HDFC Bank to increase

o Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for grant of permission to M/s.
HDFC Bank Ltd. to raise additional share capital of up to a maximum of
Rs. 24,000 crore.

o The composite foreign shareholding in the Bank shall not exceed 74% of
the enhanced paid-up equity share capital of the bank.

o The proposed investment is expected to strengthen the capital adequacy

ratio of the bank.

 Low recoveries of NPAs: RBI data

o While public sector banks have claimed a ₹1,50,960 crore reduction in

their non-performing asset levels over 2017-18, only 27% was actual
recoveries, according to data provided by RBI Governor Urjit Patel.

o Public sector banks saw a ₹1,50,960 crore reduction in their NPA levels
from the start of financial year 2017-18 till December 31, 2017.

o NPA refers to loans or advances that are in default

 Platform to facilitate repo in corporate debt

133 | P a g e
 o NSE launched 'Tri-Party Repo Market' platform in its debt segment to
facilitate repurchase of corporate debt securities.

o The platform is a kind of repo contract where a third entity, apart from the
borrower & lender, called tri-party agent acts as an intermediary.

o It facilitates services like collateral selection, payment and settlement,

custody & management during the life of transaction.

 CPI inflation quickens to 4-month high

o Retail inflation accelerated to a four-month high in May as quickening

food and fuel costs lifted the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based reading to
4.87%.

o The acceleration in price gains in May, a second straight month when the
headline reading has risen, followed April’s 4.58% pace.

o The food and beverages segment saw inflation accelerating to 3.37% in

May, from 3% in April.

 SEBI panel to study direct overseas listing

o The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has constituted an

expert committee to examine the possibillity of allowing unlisted Indian
companies to do a direct equity listing overseas.

o The expert committee will comprise 9 members.

o Currently, Indian companies can only use the depository receipts route to
list on the overseas exchanges.

 Guidelines to enhance loan for large borrowers

o In a move to enhance credit discipline among larger borrowers, the RBI

proposed a "minimum level of loan component" of 40 percent for
borrowers having an aggregate fund-based working capital limit of Rs. 150
crores and above from the banking system.

o It will be proposed to be effective from October 1, 2018.

134 | P a g e
 o The 40 percent loan component will be revised to 60 percent from April 1,
2019.

 PSBs suffered losses of over Rs. 87,000 cr

o The combined losses posted by public sector banks (PSBs) in financial year
2017-18 were over Rs. 87,357 crore.

o Scam-hit Punjab National Bank (PNB) topped the list with a hit of nearly
Rs. 12,283 crore followed by IDBI Bank.

o Out of 21 state-run banks, only two -- Indian Bank and Vijaya Bank --
posted profits during the year under review.

 Retail inflation jumped further in May

o Retail inflation jumped further in May to a four-month high, primarily

driven by a surge in energy prices, according to a Reuters.

o Economists, suggest more policy tightening from the central bank is

coming.

o On June 6, RBI raised the repo rate for the first time since 2014, by 25
basis points to 6.25%, as recent data showed significant increases for both
inflation and growth.

 RBI seeks update on payments data storage

o The RBI have asked payment services firms to provide an update, on

action taken by them to store transaction data in India, every fortnight.

o RBI wants payment system operators to store payment-related data in the

country by October 2018.

o RBI had said that at present “only certain” payment system operators store
the payment system data either partly or completely in the country.

 FinMin may transfer 5 sick CPSE shares

135 | P a g e
 o The Finance Ministry is planning to transfer shares of five sick Central
Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) to the SNIF fund to meet Sebi's
minimum 25 per cent public shareholding.

o These companies have time till August 21 to meet the 25% public share
holding norm.

o Shares would be transferred on a proportionate basis to the fund to bring

down government stake in these CPSEs to 75 per cent.

 NSE IFSC issues 'omnibus' trade framework

o NSE IFSC, a subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange, has put in place a
framework for 'omnibus' trade.

o It will help overseas investors escape direct registration process and go

through authorised brokers.

o The move will also help in smooth transition of liquidity from Singapore
Exchange (SGX) to Indian offshore exchange at Gujarat International
Finance Tech (GIFT) City.

 2.25 lakh shell firms to struck off

o Centre said it has identified 2,25,910 companies whose names are to be

struck off from the register of companies during the current financial year
2018-19.

o This comes on the top of the removal of 2,26,166 companies from the
register during the previous financial year.

o Task Force on Shell Companies, which had, so far, met eight times, was set
up in February 2017 by the Prime Minister’s Office

 ‘FDI rose to $61.96 billion in 2017-18’

o Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India increased by about 3% to $61.96

billion in 2017-18.

o FDI inflows stood at $60 billion in the previous fiscal. The figure includes
equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital.

136 | P a g e
 o In the last four years, the government has liberalised FDI norms in sectors
such as defence, medical devices, construction development, retail and
aviation.

 L&T’s Nabha Power shuts 700 MW unit

o L&T Group firm Nabha Power Ltd. (NPL) said it had been forced to shut a
700 MW unit of Rajpura thermal power station due to shortage of coal.

o The present crisis was triggered by disruption in the supply of coal rakes to
the plant.

o NPL has been facing coal crisis since last year, forcing it to operate the
plant at critical levels of coal stocks i.e. less than seven days.

 HDFC Bank increases lending rate by 10 bps

o HDFC Bank , the second largest private sector lender of the country,
increased its marginal cost of fund-based lending rate (MCLR) by 10 basis
points (bps) across various loan tenures.

o As a result, its one-year MCLR is now at 8.4%.

o The move comes after all major banks, including State Bank of India (SBI)
and ICICI Bank, increased MCLR by an equal amount.

 Subsidised crop loan to be under DBT mode

o The RBI said that the interest subsidy scheme on short-term crop loans of
up to Rs 3 lakh will be implemented through the DBT mode.

o The Centre has earmarked 15,000 crore rupees for 2018-19 towards
interest subvention for short-term crop loans.

o As per the scheme, farmers can avail of short-term crop loans of up to

three lakh rupees at subsidised interest rate of 7%.

 RBI amends Gold Monetisation Scheme

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made changes in the Gold
Monetisation Scheme (GMS) to make it more attractive.

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 o The revamping of the scheme is aimed at enabling people to open a hassle-
free gold deposit account.

o In 2015, the government launched the GMS with the objective of

mobilising the gold held by households and institutions in the country.

 RBI to set up Public Credit Registry

o In a bid to check loan defaults, RBI said that a Public Credit Registry
(PCR) will be set up containing information on all borrowers to ensure
financial stability.

o Following a report by Yeshwant M Deosthalee headed High Level Task

Force, RBI said it has considered the recommendations and decided to set
up a PCR.

o The PCR will serve as a registry of all credit contracts.

 RBI allows banks to spread MTM losses

o The Reserve Bank allowed banks to spread their mark-to-market (MTM)

losses for the June quarter as well.

o The central bank had also asked banks to build an Investment Fluctuation
Reserve (IFR) of 2% of their holdings.

o In April, RBI had given banks an option to spread provisioning for MTM
losses recorded on their investment portfolio

 RBI hikes repo rate to 6.25%

o The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of

India (RBI) increased the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%.

o This is the first rate hike in four-and-a-half years; the last was in January
2014.

o The MPC arrived at the unanimous decision as the outlook for inflation
had become ‘uncertain’ following a surge in international crude oil prices.

 RBI tweaks norms to boost housing lending

138 | P a g e
 o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the eligibility limit for a
loan to classify as priority sector lending in a bid to boost affordable
housing.

o The move is aimed at giving a fillip to low-cost housing for the

economically weaker sections and lower income groups.

o For metropolitan areas, loan limits have been raised from Rs. 28 lakh to
Rs. 35 lakh.

Co-op banks can become small finance banks

o The Reserve Bank of India has decided to allow urban co-operative banks
(UCB) to convert into small finance banks (SFB),

o The move is aimed at bringing these entities into mainstream banking.

o UCBs currently face regulation by both the RBI and the respective State
governments.

o By turning into SFBs, they will be regulated only by the RBI.

 SEBI moves to ease corporate insolvency

o SEBI amended its ‘Takeover Code’ to remove capital infusion hurdles in

companies with approved resolution plans under the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

o The SEBI move is expected to smoothen the implementation of successful

resolution plans.

o The ‘Takeover Code’ barred acquirers of shares in a company from

entering into any transaction.

 Fitch downgrades PNB on credit profile

o Fitch Ratings has downgraded the Viability Rating (VR) of Punjab

National Bank to ‘b’ from ‘bb-’ and maintained negative ratings.

o The two-notch downgrade is a reflection of the significant deterioration in

its standalone credit profile.

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 o Fitch said the deterioration in its core capitalisation was caused by a sharp
increase in its non-performing loans (NPLs).

 RBI's Monetary Policy Committee began meeting

o RBI's Monetary Policy Committee headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel

began its 3-day meeting in Mumbai on June 4.

o Due to certain administrative exigencies, the six-member committee is

meeting for three days instead of the usual two days.

o It was in January 2014 that the RBI had last raised the short-term lending
rate to 8% since then it has either reduced it or maintained status quo.

 Retail inflation for industrial workers falls

o Retail inflation for industrial workers fell to 3.97% in April.

o Labour Ministry said the fall is mainly due to lower prices of food items.

o All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) is issued
by Labour Bureau.

o The index is used for working out dearness allowance for central
government employees and dearness relief for central pensioners.

 Manufacturing PMI growth slows in May

o Activity in India’s manufacturing sector grew at a weaker pace in May

according to the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index
(PMI).

o This index is based on the survey conducted among purchasing executives

in over 400 companies.

o The report also mentioned that the latest upturn signalled a marginal
improvement in the manufacturing sector.

 Intra-State e-waybills to be implemented

o The e-waybill system for intra-State movement of goods will be

implemented for the final eight States.

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 o The new system would be implemented for intra-State transport in
Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil
Nadu and in West Bengal.

o E-way bill operations are compulsory for inter-state movement of goods

throughout the nation and intra-state movement.

 Government meets fiscal deficit target

o Government has met its fiscal deficit target for 2017-18 at 3.53% of the
Gross Domestic Product.

o Government in the Budget had revised the fiscal deficit target for 2017-18
to 3.5% from the earlier estimate of 3.2%.

o For the current fiscal year, government estimates to trim the deficit to
3.3% of GDP.

o Fiscal deficit is the difference between total revenue & total expenditure of
the government

 Indian economy grew 7.7%

o The Indian economy grew 7.7% in the January-March quarter of 2017-18

on account of robust performance in manufacturing, construction and
service sectors as well as good farm output according to the Central
Statistics Office.

o However, the economic growth slowed to 6.7% in 2017-18 compared to

7.1% in 2016-17.

o The previous high GDP growth of 8.1% was recorded in April-June quarter
of 2016-17.

 India, World Bank signed $500 million loan

o India has signed a USD 500 million loan pact with World Bank to provide
additional financing for PMGSY rural road projects.

141 | P a g e
 o Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana will build 7,000 km of climate
resilient roads, out of which 3,500 km will be constructed using green
technologies.

o World Bank has supported PMGSY since its inception in 2004 & so far it
has invested over $1.8 billion in loans & credits

July 2018
 RIL reclaims its top slot

o Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) regained its status as the country’s most
valued firm by market capitalisation (m-cap) on 31st July 2018.

o It replaced Tata Group’s Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) from the top
slot.

o Reliance Industries had crossed the $100-billion market capitalisation

mark.

o The m-cap figure of companies changes daily with stock price movement.

 India Inc's ECB jumps 66% to $2.71 bn in Jun

o India Inc raised USD 2.71 billion through External Commercial Borrowing
(ECB) and rupee-denominated bonds (RDBs) in June 2018, the RBI data
said.

o Indian companies had raised USD 1.63 billion from overseas sources in
June 2017.

o ECB is basically a loan availed by an Indian entity from a non-resident

lender. Most of these loans are provided by foreign commercial banks

 India’s agricultural land is shrinking

o According to the government data, in 2017, nearly 40 lakh hectares of

agricultural land was impacted because of water woes.

o It has resulted in a drop in the area under cultivation for crops like rice,
pulses & oilseeds.

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 o With 1/3rd of agriculture activities in India still depending on groundwater
for irrigation, the country’s cultivated land is shrinking due to depleting
ground water levels.

 Paytm to roll new retail model for deliveries

o Paytm is now on an expansion spree to build a 'New Retail' model to equip

shopkeepers with technology, logistics and marketing capabilities.

o Under this model, the consumers be able to place orders and get instant
deliveries.

o The company has partnered with a large network of local shops,

restaurants & groceries for accepting Payments & will soon extend 'New
Retail' services to them.

 OYO inks pact with SBI, Bank of Baroda

o OYO has inked an MoU with SBI and Bank of Baroda for extending
support to budget hotels and create jobs across levels.

o The MoU will enable financial support for OYO’s existing & potential hotel
partners for fuelling transformation and standardisation at their
properties.

o These loans will help individuals hailing from Tier II and III cities to be
self-employed and run their own budget assets.

 HCL Tech topples Wipro

o HCL Technologies has surpassed Wipro to become India’s third biggest

software services provider.

o HCL Technologies’ rise has come on the back of years of

underperformance by Wipro and a more aggressive approach in
acquisitions.

o TCS and Infosys are the two larger Indian IT services firms with revenues
of $5.05 billion and $2.83 billion, respectively in the June 2018 quarter.

 ICICI Bank reports loss for the first time

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 o ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector lender by assets, has reported a
net loss of ₹120 crore on a stand-alone basis for the June quarter.

o This is the first time that the bank has reported losses from its India
operations.

o The bank had taken a mark-to-market hit of ₹218 crore on its investments
in government securities during the quarter.

 ITC becomes India’s 4th most valued firm

o ITC has went past Hindustan Unilever to become the country's fourth
most valued firm in terms of market valuation.

o Led by the sharp rally in the stock, the company’s market valuation rose to
₹3,69,259.15 crore.

o With this, ITC also became the most valued FMCG company.

o TCS is the country’s most valued firm with a market cap of ₹7,43,930.44
crore followed by RIL and HDFC Bank.

 SoftBank partners with Paytm

o SoftBank Group Corp will launch a digital payments service in Japan, and
has partnered Paytm for the service.

o The service PayPay will be launched by SoftBank's joint venture PayPay

Corporation (with Yahoo Japan) in 2018.

o Paytm offers seamless mobile payments to over 300 million customers

and 8 million merchants in India.

 DoT clears Vodafone, Idea merger

o The Department of Telecommunications gave its final approval to the

merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.

o The combination, to be known as Vodafone Idea, will create India's largest

mobile-phone company.

o The next process is to notify the Registrar of Companies and get the
company registered.
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  Bharti Infra, Indus tower deal gets clearance

o Bharti Infratel has received clearance from stock exchanges for its merger
with Indus Towers.

o It will now approach the National Company Law Tribunal for its approval.

o In April 2018, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone Group had
announced an agreement for the merger of Indus Towers and Bharti
Infratel to create the largest mobile tower operator in the world outside
China.

 SEBI proposes using UPI

o The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed allowing
investors to use the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) while bidding for
shares in an initial public offer (IPO).

o This will reduce the public issue timeline from the current T+6 to T+3.

o T+3 refers to a system wherein the equity shares would be listed on the
bourses on the third day from the day the IPO closes.

 Rajnath Singh inaugurates Traders Conclave

o Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the 3-day National Traders'

Conclave organised by the Confederation of All-India Traders, in New
Delhi.

o The discussion on simplification of GST, policy for e-commerce, the

relevance of FDI in retail business, digital payment & digitization of retail
business etc. took place.

o The conclave is organised by Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

 HDFC AMC IPO subscribed 35% on Day 1

o The initial public offer of HDFC Asset Management Company was

subscribed 35% within the first few hours on the first day of bidding.

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 o The mutual fund firm's Rs 2,800-crore public offer received bids for
64,90,705 shares against the total issue size of 1,88,04,290 shares.

o HDFC AMC operates as a joint venture between Housing Development

Finance Corporation (HDFC) and Standard Life Investments.

 Karnataka sees 300% jump in FDI inflows

o Karnataka registered the biggest increase in Foreign Direct Investment

(FDI) in 2017, as inflows from overseas jumped 300% in the 12 months
ended March 2018.

o While Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh all saw a drop in FDI
inflows, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) presented in
Parliament show.

o While Karnataka received $8.58 billion in 2017/18 and Tamil Nadu netted
$3.47 billion.

 Banks, Financial Institutes sign pact

o Banks and financial institutions, including SBI, PNB and LIC entered into
an overarching inter-creditor agreement (ICA) to fast track resolution of
stressed assets of Rs 50 crore or more.

o Under the pact, which is part of project 'Sashakt', each resolution plan will
be submitted by the lead lender to an Overseeing Committee.

o The ICA has been signed by 22 public sector banks.

 Federal Bank gets RBI nod

o Federal Bank has received the regulatory nod to open offices in Bahrain,
Kuwait and Singapore, but is awaiting local clearances before it starts
operations.

o Federal bank already has representative offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

o The bank will be focusing more on the unsecured lending segment, where
its book stands at Rs 380 crore at present.

 Midhani to set up 4 MW solar plant

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 o Defence public sector company Midhani has set up a 4 MW solar power
plant at an investment of ₹20.36 crore.

o The plant, spread over 20 acres, is expected to generate 7,000 MWhr/year

with a projected savings of ₹50 million per annum and a reduction of
5,600 tonnes of carbon-dioxide per year.

o The renewable energy project was inaugurated by Ajay Kumar, Secretary

(Defence Production).

 Asia-10 to overtake U.S. in GDP by 2030: DBS

o The 10 major economies of Asia, including India, are expected to see

robust growth and amount to over $28 trillion in real GDP terms on
aggregate, more than the U.S. by 2030, says a DBS report.

o According to DBS the Asia, the 10 economies are - China, Hong Kong,
India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea,
Taiwan, and Thailand.

 Enerparc commissions rooftop solar project

o Enerparc India, a subsidiary of global solar solution provider Enerparc AG

has commisioned 980 KW solar project at Bharat Fritz Werner Ltd. in
Bengaluru, Karnataka.

o The rooftop solar project at BFW will generate approx. 15 lacs of units
annually thus reducing its dependency on fossil fuels.

o Enerparc India had also Installed World’s 1st Solar Power Plant on Ship to
Shore cranes in Mumbai.

 J&K's 1st all women branch at J&K Bank

o First Lady Usha Vohra inaugurated the 1st All-Women Branch of Jammu
& Kashmir Bank at the Sher-i-Kashmir centre.

o The bank also launched products designed exclusively for women

clients which included Pink Gold Saving Scheme, Pink Platinum Saving
Scheme, Special Loan Facility for Women Entrepreneurs.

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 o J&K Bank started on Oct 1 1983, was the 1st bank in India to emerge as a
state-owned bank.

 28th meeting of GST council held

o The 28th meeting of GST council was held in New Delhi on 21st July 2018
under the Chairmanship of Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Railways,
Coal, Finance & Corporate Affairs.

o Refrigerators, washing machines, Lithium-ion batteries, Vacuum cleaners

were reduced from 28% to 18% tax rate.

o Sanitary Napkins, Coir pith compost, Rakhi were exempted from tax slab
from previous 12% tax slab.

 Manufacturers print buy back price on bottles

o In a bid to comply with new regulations, leading beverage makers such as

Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Bisleri have begun printing a buyback value on all
their PET bottles sold in Maharashtra.

o Consumers will be able to return the plastic bottles after consumption and
will be paid back according to the value printed on the bottles.

o Most beverage makers have settled on Rs 15 per kg for the bottles.

 BoB inks pacts with ten companies

o Bank of Baroda signed agreements with 10 companies promote micro and

small business entrepreneurs.

o These companies are from e-commerce, logistics, service providers and

traditional small business which contribute 31% to GDP and 45% of
exports and employ over 100 million.

o These MoUs with will help enhance the bank's footprint in the MSME eco-
system.

 CPPIB to step up investments in India

o Canada’s biggest public pension scheme, Canada Pension Plan Investment

Board (CPPIB) views India as its main focus for investment in Asia.

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 o CPPIB manages Canada’s national pension fund, has invested nearly C$7
billion ($5.30 billion) in India.

o CPPIB currently owns shares in some leading fast moving consumer goods
companies like ITC Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd. & Britannia Industries
Ltd.

 Jana Small Finance Bank launches operations

o Jana Small Finance Bank announced the commercial launch of its banking
operations to convert itself into a small finance bank (SFB), 3 years after
the RBI gave its in-principle approval.

o The bank was earlier called Janalakshmi Financial Services and weathered
huge losses on account of demonetization.

o Ajay Kanwal is managing director and chief executive officer of Jana Small
Finance Bank.

 Amazon hits $900 billion valuation

o Amazon.com's stock market value reached $900 billion for the first time
in its 20 year history.

o It has now become only the second company after Apple to achieve this
milestone.

o The Current market cap of Amazon.com stands at $902 billion as of 18th

July 2018.

o Apple is currently the world's most valuable company with a market cap of
$935 billion.

o The CEO of Amazon is Jeff Bezos.

 Govt announces capital infusion in 5 PSB's

o The government has announced an infusion of Rs 11,336 crore in five

public sector banks as part of its Indradhanush scheme.

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 o The five banks are Punjab National Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Andhra
Bank, Corporation Bank & Allahabad Bank.

o Indradhanush is a scheme for recapitalization of PSBs, with a view to

make sure they remain solvent & comply with the global capital adequacy
norms, Basel-III.

 RBI to launch new 100 rupee note

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would soon issue new Rs 100 notes, with
a base color of Lavender.

o According to the new policy on theme-based currency notes, the new Rs

100 note will have the impression of Gujarat’s Rani-ki-Vav (Queen’s
stepwell).

o The new Rs 100 note will be slightly bigger than the Rs 10 note and weigh
less than the old note & will be printed by Dewas-based Bank Note Press.

 Steel Ministry announces pension scheme

o The steel ministry has agreed to introduce a pension scheme for its CPSEs
(Central Public Sector Enterprises) like SAIL and RINL.

o The pension scheme is estimated to cost an additional financial burden of

Rs 540 crore.

o The pension scheme will be subject to factors like affordability, capacity to

pay and sustainability by the CPSEs.

o The current Steel Minister is Chaudhary Birender Singh.

 Nabard award to Repco Micro Finance Ltd

o Repco Micro Finance Ltd, a non-banking finance company received

Nabard 2018 award.

o The award is given service to self-help group in Tamil Nadu for the fiscal
year 2017-18.

o The NBFC has disbursed loans amounting to ₹2,500 crore to over 10 lakh
beneficiaries.

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 o NABARD Financial Services Limited is a subsidiary of NABARD to provide
financial services in areas of agriculture & microfinance.

 WPI jumps to 5.77% in June

o India's wholesale inflation grew 5.77% in June, a four-and-half year high,

driven by some food items and fuel prices.

o Wholesale inflation rate, measured by Wholesale Price Index (WPI), is a

marker for price movements in bulk buys for traders and broadly mirrors
trends in shop-end prices.

o The data for the month of April has been revised to 3.62% from 3.18%.

 LIC to acquire 51% stake in IDBI Bank

o The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) gave approval to the acquisition of

up to 51% stake in debt-ridden IDBI Bank.

o This was informed by Economic Affairs secretary S C Garg. Now, the state-
owned LIC will approach market regulator SEBI on the matter.

o The LIC stake buy will help the IDBI get a capital support of 10,000 to
13,000 crore rupees.

 PNB opens centralised loan processing centre

o PNB has announced opening of second centralised loan processing centre,

in a Mumbai branch.

o The centre aims to strengthen the bank's internal systems and processes.

o Under this, the bank will focus on profit maximisation, improvement of

asset quality & recovery, and increasing productivity among others.

o PNB's first CLPC is located at Connaught Place branch in New Delhi.

 India to remain fastest growing economy

o The International Monetary Fund has projected a growth rate of 7.3% in

2018 & 7.5% in 2019 for India as against 6.7% in 2017.

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 o The latest growth rate projection for India is slightly less 0.1% in 2018 and
0.3% in 2019 than its April projections.

o According to IMF, India will remain the fastest growing major economy in
2019.

 Transformation Series Challenge by YES Bank

o YES Bank, through partnerships with tech giants such as Microsoft, Cisco,
IBM and Adobe has unveiled the 7th edition of 'Transformation Series
Challenge'.

o The Theme of the event is ‘tech for urban development’.

o The issues identified include over-utilisation of plastic and declining air

quality in cities.

o Rana Kapoor is Managing Director and Chief Executive of YES Bank.

 Malhotra to head Investment Banking of HSBC

o The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) has

appointed Amitabh Malhotra as the Head of Investment Banking for
HSBC India.

o Amitabh will lead the Investment Banking and Equity Capital Markets
business.

o Prior to HSBC, Amitabh worked at Rothschild India, where he was the co-
head and managing director of the Global Investment Bank, based in
Mumbai.

 MF transactions through Facebook messenger

o HDFC securities announced the launch of Mutual Funds (MF)

transactional capabilities on Facebook Messenger through their virtual
assistant, Arya.

o This makes the company the first broker in the Asia Pacific region for
initiating a social media platform for trading mutual funds.

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 o This particular feature facilitates a quick overview of total portfolio
holdings.

 4th National Conclave on Mines & Minerals

o The Ministry of Mines organized the 4th National Conclave on Mines &
Minerals on 13th July 2018 at Indore.

o CM of MP, Shri Shivraj Singh was the chief guest of the conclave.

o Also, an app of NALCO – NAMASYA was launched by the Ministers.

o For the first time, the conclave had an exhibition in which States put up
stalls to showcase their more than 100 mineral blocks which were in the
auction.

 L&T to build ‘tallest’ govt. office building

o Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has bagged a construction project to build govt
office building at Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh.

o The office will be the tallest government office building in India.

o The buildings will house the headquarters of the various government

departments of Andhra Pradesh.

o The project has to its credit of being the 1st Steel Diagrid project with
Automatic Climbing Formwork System.

 PAN verification during FPI share allotment

o Markets regulator SEBI has said that allotment of shares to foreign

portfolio investors (FPIs) in initial public offers would need to be verified
with PANs.

o This step is taken as a check against any breach of investment limit

through multiple entities.

o Under the rules, purchase of equity shares of each firm by a single

FPI would have to be below 10% of the firm’s total issued capital.

 Stock brokers can’t accept cash from clients

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 o Investors can no longer deposit cash in their broker’s account to trade in
stocks.

o The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) made it mandatory for
stock brokers to accept client funds only by way of bank or electronic
transfers such as cheques and mobile banking.

o The move is in line with SEBI’s plans to encourage paperless and cashless
stock market trading.

 RBI flags States’ fiscal stress

o RBI has pointed to the fiscal stress that States are facing due to several
factors.

o In a report ‘State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2017-18 and 2018-19,’

RBI noted that States’ consolidated gross fiscal deficit (GFD) overshot the
budget estimates in 2017-18.

o The report is an annual publication that provides information, analysis

and an assessment of the finances of state governments.

 Inflation now at a 5-month high of 5%

o Retail inflation spiked to a five-month high of 5% in June on costlier fuel.

o The retail inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index, stood at 4.87% in
May. It was 1.46% in June 2017.

o As per the data released by the Central Statistics Office, the inflation in the
food basket was 2.91%, compared to 3.1% in May.

 Industrial growth slips to 7-month low

o Industrial production growth slipped to a 7 month low of 3.2% in May

mainly due sluggish performance of manufacturing and power sectors.

o The mining sector output recorded an impressive growth of 5.7% while the
FMCG sector was the worst performer as its output declined by 2.6%.

o In terms of industries, 13 out of 23 industry groups in the manufacturing

sector have shown positive growth.

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  Demand draft to bear name of purchaser

o RBI has directed banks to incorporate the name of purchaser in demand

draft in a bid to address concerns of money laundering.

o RBI has made required changes in this regard in the KYC norms, which
will come into effect from September 15.

o The step is being taken to address concerns arising out of the anonymity
provided by payments through demand drafts & its possible misuse for
money laundering

 Airtel Payments Bank gets RBI nod

o Airtel Payments Bank has received requisite approvals from the RBI to
begin taking in new customers.

o The development comes nearly 7 months after Airtel along with Airtel
Payments Bank came under fire for allegedly opening payments bank
accounts of its mobile subscribers without their consent.

o UIDAI has allowed them to use the 12-digit unique identification number-
based e-KYC.

 SEBI to come out with consultation paper

o The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will soon come out
with a consultation paper on making it mandatory for large corporates to
meet one-fourth of their financing needs through bond market.

o SEBI will discuss with stakeholders before finalising the framework for
corporates.

o SEBI is the regulator for the securities market in India and its chairman
is Ajay Tyagi.

 Vistara orders jets from Airbus & Boeing

o Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons, on

Wednesday said that it has placed a firm order with both US planemaker
Boeing and European aircraft manufacturer Airbus worth $3.1 billion.
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 o The move is taken as an expansion of its domestic network and to mount
medium to long-haul flights on international routes.

o The current CEO of Vistara is Leslie Thng.

 Connaught Place: 9th most costly location

o According to the report of property consultant CBRE, New Delhi’s

Connaught Place is the 9th most expensive office location in the world
with an annual rent of $153 per sq ft.

o The ranking was topped by Hong Kong at the 1st position followed by
London.

o The survey highlighted that prime office occupancy cost growth was
consistent across all regions in the past 12 months.

 India becomes 69th shareholder of EBRD

o India has been formally announced as the 69th shareholder of the

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

o India has only taken a shareholding in EBRD but it will not be a recipient
of EBRD financing.

o London-headquartered EBRD is a multilateral development bank set up in

1991 after the fall of the Berlin Wall to promote private & entrepreneurial
initiative in emerging Europe.

 India’s first private UAV factory

o India’s first private sector unit for manufacturing unmanned air vehicles
(UAV) and light bullet proof vehicles (LBPV) will be set up by DCM
Shriram Industries Group in Kota.

o These UAVs and LBPVs are likely to be used by defence and para-military
forces in the country.

o The new defence unit in Kota is being set up under ‘Make in India’
initiative of the union government.

 Google to mentor local AI start-ups

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 o Google has announced ‘Launchpad Accelerator India,’ a mentorship
program that would aim to support Indian start-ups that deploy artificial
intelligence and machine learning to build solutions for local needs.

o The three-month accelerator will provide a cohort of 8-10 Indian start-ups

with the mentorship of Google.

o The start-ups will also get up to $1,00,000 of Google Cloud credits.

 HDFC Group’s market cap crosses ₹ 10 trillion

o Market capitalisation of Deepak Parekh-led financial services

conglomerate - HDFC Group has crossed the ₹10 trillion mark.

o HDFC group is the 2nd Indian business house after the Tata group to
achieve this feat.

o The group has 4 listed companies - Housing Finance Development Corp,

HDFC Bank, HDFC Standard Life & Gruh Finance.

o HDFC Bank is India's 3rd most valued firm in terms of market cap.

 Manufacturing sector records robust growth

o RBI has revealed that India's manufacturing sector recorded robust

growth in sales and improvement in operating profit growth in the 4th
quarter of the last fiscal.

o Companies posted sales of Rs. 9.25 lakh crore in the last quarter of 2017-
18.

o Operating profit growth of the manufacturing sector improved despite

increase in input costs, due to higher growth in value of production.

 Modi inaugurated largest mobile factory

o Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in
visited Noida and inaugurated the New Mobile Manufacturing Plant of
Samsung at Noida.

o Notably, it will be the world's largest mobile factory.

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 o With the beginning of this New Plant, India's Make In India and Skill
India Will get a major Push in the country.

 Best-ever Booker Prize winner

o The English Patient’ was voted as the best-ever Man Booker Prize winner,
celebrating five decades of this prestigious literary award.

o Michael Ondaatje’s ‘The English Patient’ won the Booker Prize in the year
1992 and was made in a movie in 1996 that won nine academy awards.

o The novel beat 4 other novels in an online poll that received a total of
9,000 votes.

 World's largest mobile factory

o Samsung has set up what is the world's largest mobile factory at Sector 81
in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

o Not just mobiles, the expansion of current facility will double Samsung's
production capacity of consumer electronics like refrigerators.

o Samsung is currently making 67 million smartphones in India & with the

new plant being functional, it is expected to manufacture nearly 120
million phones.

 PSU banks plan to raise over Rs 50,000 cr

o Public sector banks are planning to tap the markets to raise more than Rs
50,000 crore this fiscal.

o Out of 21 public sector banks, 13 have already taken the approval of their
boards or shareholders for raising capital through the equity market.

o Capital is very much required for these banks as they are saddled with
non-performing assets (NPAs) of about Rs 10 lakh crore.

 Rupee among top 10 EM currencies

o The rupee has been ranked as one of the 10 best-performing currencies,

beating rivals like Real and Rand ever since the NDA government came
into power in May 2014.

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 o Although all emerging market currencies have lost value to the dollar,
rupee’s slide is relatively controlled compared with peers.

o In the 4 year period, the dollar index gained 17% compared with 14.2% loss
in the rupee’s value.

 Union Bank of India to raise equity capital

o Union Bank of India will raise equity capital of Rs. 1500 crore.

o The proposal was approved at its annual general meeting by the bank’s
shareholders.

o The bank said that this capital raise will be in addition to the capital
support which has been granted by the government.

 Forex reserve fell to 10.8 months

o RBI in its biannual report announced that import cover of foreign

exchange (Forex) reserve had fallen to 10.8 months in December.

o The Forex reserve is India's holdings of cash, bank deposits, bonds

denominated in currencies other than, the Indian rupee and managed by
the RBI.

o Import cover is an indicator for currency’s stability, typically a 10 months

cover is seen as stable for the economy.

 TCS recognised as a leader in GDPR services

o Tata Consultancy Services has been recognized as a leader in offering

General Data Protection Regulation Services (GDPR) by NelsonHall’s
NEAT evaluation.

o The GDPR is a comprehensive set of directives put in place by the

European Union to protect the personal data of all its citizens.

o TCS offers a full suite of services including consulting, professional, and

damaged services related to GDPR.

 Most valuable bank in the emerging market

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 o HDFC Bank has gone past Russia's Sberbank to become the most valuable
bank in the emerging market outside China.

o HDFC Bank was one of the top performing major banks globally in 2017.
The Bank’s current market capitalization is $78.4 billion.

o Globally, America's JPMorgan Chase is the most valuable with a market

cap of $353 billion, followed by Bank of America at $282 billion.

 ICICI's mortgage portfolio crosses 1.5 tn

o ICICI Bank has announced that its mortgage loan portfolio crossed the Rs
1.5-trillion milestone.

o This made it the largest private player in the segment, and the lender is
targeting to grow it to Rs 2 trillion by FY20.

o At Rs 1.5 trillion, the mortgage loan-book is half of the bank's overall retail
loan portfolio of around Rs 3 trillion.

 YES Bank to launch Mutual Fund Business

o Private lender YES Bank announced that it has received final regulatory
approval from the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to start
mutual fund business.

o This approval is subsequent to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) approval.

o YES Asset Management (India), a wholly owned subsidiary of YES Bank,

will launch fund offerings across the spectrum in both debt and equity
markets.

 Cryptocurrency transactions to be ceased

o No transactions in cryptocurrencies will be made by the commercial banks

from 6th July onwards as per the RBI directive.

o RBI had already barred all its regulated entities in order to curb money
laundering and other financial irregularities and protect consumers.

o All the regulated entities have been given 3 months to exit their
relationship with businesses and individuals.

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  Small loans rising faster than total credit

o According to Crisil research Small tickets, Unsecured loans have grown

four times as much as total credits of the banking sector.

o Between financial years 2015-2018, unsecured loans, personal loans, SME

credit and Credit card loans have risen to four times of credit.

o The lenders need to remain watchful and disciplined in credit

underwriting going forward because unsecured loans are vulnerable

 Oil prices: Main risk to Indian economy

o According to MOODY’s survey Oil prices, Pace of Banks’ balance sheet

clean-up and investment are the main risks to the Indian economy.

o These issues were raised at MOODY’s 4th annual India credit conference
held at Mumbai and Singapore in June 2018.

o Banks have not been able to raise capital from equity market as planned
under government’s recapitalization mesurer.

 RBI grants licence to Bank of China

o The Reserve Bank of India has issued the license to Bank of China to
launch operations in India.

o With this, Bank of China becomes the second Chinese bank after the
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to have a branch in India.

o Bank of China is one of the four biggest state-owned commercial banks in

China.

o Bank of China opened its first branch in South Asia in Pakistan's Karachi
in 2017.

 IFC invests $100 mn in M&M arm

o World Bank Group members IFC has invested $100 million in Mahindra &
Mahindra Financial Services Ltd.

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 o This would enable the Mahindra group company to augment its growth by
extending loans to individuals along with financing small and medium
enterprises.

o The investment will be through secured non-convertible debentures.

 Small savings interest rates unchanged

o The government has kept the interest rates on small savings schemes,
including NSC and PPF, unchanged for the July-September quarter.

o PPF and NSC will fetch annual interest rate of 7.6% while KVP will yield
7.3% and mature in 11 months.

o The move is aimed at matching the hardening interest rates in the banking
sector.

 TPREL commissions 100 Mw solar project

o TPREL, an arm of Mumbai-based private power producer Tata Power

announced it has commissioned a 100 Megawatt solar power project at
Anthapuramu Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh.

o With this, the overall operating renewable energy capacity of the company
stands at 2,215 Mw in India.

o The project is under the second phase of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar
Mission through Viability Gap Funding.

 IndiaFirst Ties Up With Oxigen

o IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited, a joint venture between Bank

of Baroda, Andhra Bank and Legal and General (UK), has announced its
tie-up with Oxigen Services India Pvt. Ltd.

o It will establish the distribution of its insurance products at Oxigen retail

outlets.

o Oxigen is one of the leading providers of money transfers and prepaid

recharges as low as Rs. 10.

 Bharti Infratel to merge

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 o The Bharti Infratel has got the approval of competition watchdog
Competition Commission of India for merging its operations with Indus
Towers.

o The proposed merger values Indus Towers at an enterprise valuation of ₹

71,500 crore & will create one of the largest mobile tower entities
worldwide with 1.63 lakh towers in all 22 telecom circles.

o The combined company will own 100% of Indus Towers.

 The committee on NPAs submits its report

o The Sunil Mehta committee formed to tackle Non-Performing Assets

(NPAs) & creating credit capacity submitted its report.

o The Sunil Mehta panel presented project 'Sashakt' and has recommended
a five-pronged strategy.

o The plan will result in creating additional jobs by reviving businesses and
will bring in credible long term external capital to limit the burden on the
domestic banking sector.

 2021 census data to be stored electronically

o The data collected in the 2021 Census will be stored electronically, the first
time since the first decennial exercise in 1951 after independence.

o The schedules and other connected papers shall be disposed of totally or in

part by the Director of Census Operations, after creating an electronic
record of such documents.

o The spokesperson said enumerators would start “house listing” in 2020.

 Index of Eight Core Industries

o The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items
included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

o The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stands at 131.4 in May, 2018,
which was 3.6 per cent higher as compared to the index of May 2017.

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 o Core industry can be defined as the main industry of the economy.

 RCEP trade bloc at Tokyo meet 2018

o Asian trade ministers from the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive

Economic Partnership, which includes China, Japan and India but not the
US, met in Tokyo on 1st July.

o The partnership would include the 10 members of the ASEAN as well as

South Korea, Australia & New Zealand.

o The development in RCEP could put pressure on the US to consider

rejoining the TPP, as the US-China trade war continues.

 PAN-Aadhaar linking deadline extended

o The CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) extended the deadline for the
PAN-Aadhaar linking to March 31, 2019.

o The policy-making body of the tax department issued an order, under

Section 119 of the Income Tax Act extending the deadline.

o The CBDT order has come against the backdrop of the Supreme Court's
extension of the March 31, 2018 deadline for linking Aadhaar card.

 FPI outflow hits 10-year high at Rs 48,000 cr

o Overseas investors have pulled out nearly Rs 48,000 crore from Indian
capital markets in the first 6 months of 2018, making it the steepest
outflow in a decade.

o They withdrew Rs 41,433 crore from the debt markets & Rs 6,430 crore
from equities during Jan-June period.

o This is only the second time, when FPIs had taken bearish stance on the
capital markets in the first 6 months of the year.

 FDI growth hits 5-year low in 2017-18

o Foreign direct investment in India seems to be petering out with the

inflows growth rate recording a five-year low of 3% at USD 44.85 billion in
2017-18.

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 o Foreign inflows in the country grew by 8.67% in 2016-17, 29% in 2015-16
and 27% in 2014-15.

o Mauritius has emerged as the largest source of FDI in India with USD
15.94 billion in 2017-18 followed by Singapore, Netherlands, US & Japan.

 Tie-up to develop commodity derivatives market

o Bombay Stock Exchange has entered into an agreement with Bombay

Metal Exchange for growth & systematic development of commodity
derivatives markets in non-ferrous metals complex.

o Through this MoU, BSE & BME will work jointly on initiatives to deepen
the understanding of commodity market among stakeholders.

o BME will assist BSE in designing innovative deliverable products in

commodities.

 Money in Swiss banks

o India has moved up to 73rd place in terms of money parked by its citizens
& companies with Swiss banks.

o India had slipped to 88th place with a 44% plunge in such funds in 2016,
but the latest data shows an increase of over 50% during 2017 to CHF 1.01
billion (about Rs 7,000 cr).

o UK continued to account for the largest chunk at about CHF 403 billion of
the total foreign money with Swiss banks

 IRDAI gives nod to LIC to buy stake in IDBI

o Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has approved a

proposal by LIC to raise its stake in IDBI Bank up to 51% from current
10.82%.

o It will save government from having to infuse more funds into IDBI Bank,
which had received Rs 10,610 crore last fiscal, the most by any public-
sector bank.

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 o The acquisition will be seen only as an investment & LIC will gradually
lower its stake

August 2018
 Revised cost estimate for IPPB

o The Union Cabinet approved the revision of project outlay for setting up of
India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) from Rs. 800 crore to Rs. 1,435 crore.

o The additional sum of Rs. 635 crore accounts of Rs 400 crore for
Technology Costs and Rs 235 crore for Human Resource Costs.

o IPPB services shall be available at 650 IPPB branches and 3250 Access
Points from 1st September 2018.

 First Toll-Operate-Transfer Project

o Macquarie group bags first project under toll-operate-transfer with Rs

9681.5 crore bid.

o India chief of Macquarie group handed over a cheque to Shri Nitin

Gadkari in New Delhi.

o In 2016 government of India had authorized NHAI to monetize

operational national highway projects using the toll-operate-transfer
(TOT) model.

 99.3% of demonetised notes returned

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its annual report said that 99.3% of the
₹ 500 and ₹ 1000 that were withdrawn from circulation in November 2016
were returned.

o RBI also said that it spent ₹7,965 crore in 2016-17 on printing new ₹500
and ₹2,000 and other denomination notes.

o Also, the share of newly introduced ₹200 banknotes in the total value of
banknotes was 2.1% as at end-March 2018.

 RBI expects economic growth rate at 7.4%

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 o RBI on the release of its annual report said that real GDP growth for 2018-
19 is expected to increase at 7.4% against 6.7% in the previous year.

o RBI also said that its monetary policy will work to achieve the medium-
term target for retail inflation of 4 %.

o According to RBI the rise in growth rate is due to pick up in industrial

activity and the good monsoon.

 DBS Named Best Bank for digital innovation

o DBS Bank has been named the world's best bank by Global Finance
magazine.

o It shows a reflection of its ability to invest in digital innovation while still

maintaining stable operations for its customers.

o DBS is the first Asian bank to receive the accolade from the New York-
based publication, which last year gave the title to ING Bank.

 PNB Gets Top Rank In Digital Transaction

o Punjab National Bank (PNB) has announced that the Department of

Financial Services report has rated it as number one state-owned bank in
terms of digital transactions.

o The bank is also rated as the sixth overall amongst all banks in India for
digital performance.

o The bank is rated as ‘Good’ by the government with a score of 71 which is

the highest category of performance.

 SBI change branch names and IFSC codes

o The State Bank of India (SBI), has changed the names and IFSC codes of
1,300 of its branches.

o The idea behind the move is to rationalize SBI’s merger with 5 associate
banks and the Bhartiya Mahila Bank (BMB) which came into effect from
April 1, 2017.

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 o SBI has updated the list of branches with old and new names and IFSC
codes on its website.

 Google Tez renamed as Google Pay

o Google's UPI payments platform ‘Tez’ has been renamed as ‘Google Pay’. It
was announced at ‘Google for India 2018’ event in New Delhi.

o Google Pay users will also be able to get pre-approved instant loans
through the service.

o Even after the change of name Tez users will be able to see the same home
screen, bill payment links, contacts etc.

 FDI growth up 23% in April-June 2018

o According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion data,

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India grew by 23% to USD 12.75
billion during the April-June quarter of 2018-19.

o Key sectors that received maximum foreign investment include services,

trading, telecommunications, computer software and hardware, and
power.

o Singapore was the largest source of FDI during April-June 2018-19.

 'Amaravati Bonds' gets BSE listing

o The bonds titled ‘Amaravati Bond 2018’ have been listed on the Bombay
Stock Exchange.

o Through bonds, funds will be raised to build Andhra Pradesh’s capital

Amaravati.

o The bonds has been issued by A.P. Capital Region Development Authority
(APCRDA).

o A bond is a fixed income investment where an entity borrows funds from

investors for a fixed period of time at an interest rate.

 PNB ranked best bank for digital transactions

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 o Based on the report of Department of Financial Services, Punjab National
Bank (PNB) has been ranked as the best Public Sector bank in the overall
digital transactions category in India.

o It has been rated as the sixth-best in the overall category amongst all
banks in India for digital performance.

o The bank is rated as 'Good' by the government with a score of 71.

 WB launches world's first blockchain bond

o The World Bank (WB) has launched a blockchain-only bond.

o Named bond-i, or Blockchain Offered New Debt Instrument, the bond will
be created and managed with distributed ledger technology.

o The World Bank mandated Commonwealth Bank of Australia to arrange

the world's first blockchain bond.

o The World Bank bonds carry an AAA rating.

 India to grow at 7.5% in 2018, 2019

o According to the Moody’s Investors Service's report, the Indian economy is

expected to grow by about 7.5% in 2018 and 2019.

o The title of the report is 'Global Macro Outlook' for 2018-19.

o The economy is expected to be largely resilient to external pressures like

those from higher oil prices.

o India's GDP grew by 7.7% in the first quarter of 2018-19 financial year.

 RIL crossed ₹ 8 trillion market cap

o Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) became the first Indian company to

cross ₹ 8 lakh crore market capitalization on 23 August, 2018.

o The market valuation of Reliance Industries crossed the $100-billion mark

in July 2018.

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 o The Market capitalization figure of companies changes daily with stock
price movement.

 Flipkart launches independent '2GUD' platform

o India's largest e-commerce marketplace Flipkart launched '2GUD', its

first-ever independent platform for refurbished goods.

o The product portfolio of 2GUD would initially include smartphones,

laptops, tablets and electronic accessories.

o The rollout of the platform is via mobile web initially.

o 2GUD will remain a distinct and separate platform aimed at value buyers.

 Ujjivan SFB launches overdraft facility

o Ujjivan Small Finance Bank announced the launch of its overdraft facility
for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE).

o The facility is an add-on product to the existing MSE term loans offered by
the bank.

o The bank will offer this facility to all MSEs with a turnover of Rs 50 lakh or
more.

o Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (Ujjivan SFB) started its banking operations
in February 2017.

 SBI expects Q1 GDP growth at 7.7%

o According to the SBI's report, India’s GDP is expected to grow by 7.7% in

the April-June quarter due to pick up in leading indicators like cement
production, the sale of vehicles and bank credit.

o SBI has based its assessment on its Composite Leading Indicator, which
takes into account 18 major macro-economic indicators.

o The report also said that GVA (Gross Value Added) growth would be 7.6%.

 Restrictions imposed on import of bio-fuels

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 o The government has imposed the restriction on import of bio-fuels
including ethyl alcohol and other denatured spirits, bio-diesel, petroleum
oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals other than crude.

o The import of these items, which was free earlier, will now only be allowed
for non-fuel purpose on actual user basis.

o The restrictions were imposed through an amendment in import policy.

 CONCOR inks pact with Kandla Terminal

o Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) has inked a pact with Kandla

International Container Terminal (KICTPL) for providing rail access to
container services.

o The Mou with KICTPL aims to promote seamless connectivity and faster
clearance of EXIM containers from Kandla Port.

o CONCOR was incorporated in March 1988 under the Companies Act and
is under the Ministry of Railways.

 Paytm launches AI Cloud for India

o One97 Communications Limited has partnered Alibaba to launch artificial

intellingence-based cloud computing platform ‘Paytm AI Cloud for India’
for developers, startups and enterprises.

o The company said Paytm AI Cloud processes and stores all their consumer
data locally in servers located only in India.

o The platform offers business-centric apps for organisations.

 IRCTC partners with PhonePe

o Mobile payment platform PhonePe has partnered with Indian Railway

Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to facilitate digital payment
on the IRCTC Rail Connect Android app.

o The partnership will enable over 100 million PhonePe users to use their
bank accounts to pay for their travel booking directly via UPI, credit and
debit cards, and PhonePe digital wallets.
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 o PhonePe is owned by Flipkart.

 MSME credit growth slowed during note ban

o According to Reserve Bank of India's report, credit growth in the micro,

small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector declined during the
demonetisation phase.

o Bank credit to MSMEs increased on average by 8.5% year on year during

the June quarter of fiscal year 2018-19.

o MSMEs face constraints in accessing credit through formal channels

because about 97% of them operate in the informal sector.

 HAL becomes first PSU to transact on TReDS

o Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has become the first public sector

enterprise to make a transaction on the "TReDS platform".

o TReDS is an online electronic institutional mechanism for facilitating the

financing of trade receivables of micro, small and medium enterprises
(MSME) through multiple financiers.

o In 2017, the government mandated all major PSUs to join TReDS

platform.

 India clocked over 10% GDP growth

o Indian economy clocked 10.23% and 10.78% growth in 2007-08 and 2010-
11 respectively.

o This is according to the GDP data released by the Ministry of Statistics

based on new back series of 2011-12 as the base year.

o As per new calculation, India’s GDP growth was consistently over 8%,
which slowed down during the financial crisis in 2008-09.

o The economic growth fell drastically after 2010-11.

 SEBI eases process of issuance of securities

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 o The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) allowed investors to
place multiple bids in a private placement issue on debt basis and
permitted depositories to act as facilitators.

o This will ease the process of issuance of securities on electronic book

platform.

o SEBI has also allowed closed bidding on electronic book platform (EBP)
along with open bidding.

 SEBI cuts listing time for public issue

o The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) drastically cut the
timeline for listing of debt securities to 6 days from 12 days at present.

o This will make the existing process of issuance of such securities simpler
and cost-effective.

o The new rule would be applicable for all public issues of debt securities
from October 1, 2018.

 TCS becomes most valued company

o Tata Consultancy Services on 16th August 2018 pipped Reliance Industries

Limited (RIL) to regain the crown of India's most valued company in
terms of market capitalisation.

o RIL had on 14th August 2018 dethroned TCS to clinch the title of the most
valued Indian company by market valuation.

o The m-cap figure of companies changes daily with stock price movement.

 NPCI unveils ‘more secure’ UPI

o The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched the updated

unified payments interface (UPI) 2.0 on August 16, 2018.

o The new version of UPI, in addition to current and savings accounts, will
let customers link overdraft accounts to UPI.

 India’s oil import bill to jump by $26 bn

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 o India's crude oil import bill is likely to jump by about $26 billion in 2018-
19 as rupee dropping to a record low has made buying of oil from overseas
costlier.

o India imports more than 80% of its oil needs, spent $87.7 billion on
importing 220.43 million tonnes (MT) of crude oil in 2017-18.

o For 2018-19, the imports are pegged at almost 227 MT.

 India Ratings cuts growth forecast to 7.2%

o India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has revised its FY19 economic
growth forecast down to 7.2% from 7.4% earlier.

o It cited the headwinds emanating from elevated global crude oil prices and
the government’s decision to fix the minimum support prices of all kharif
crops at 1.5 times the production cost.

o Ind-Ra provides ratings, research and rigorous analytics of market in

India.

 Bharti Axa ties up with Airtel Payments Bank

o Bharti Axa Life Insurance and Airtel Payments Bank entered into an
alliance to offer the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’ (PMJJBY).

o Airtel Payments Bank also becomes the first payments bank in India to
offer the PMJJBY.

o Under the tie-up, PMJJBY will be initially available at one lakh Airtel
Payments Bank banking points across the country.

 BSE to launch liquidity enhancement plan

o BSE will launch a liquidity enhancement scheme on monthly single stock

options and index options.

o Under the liquidity enhancement scheme (LES), brokers and other market
intermediaries are given incentives for a specified period of time to bring
in liquidity.

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 o LES will generate investor interest in securities which have limited trading
activity.

 NTPC to set up unit for coal mining

o NTPC will soon set up a subsidiary to handle its coal mining operations.

o NTPC also has a plan to list the coal subsidiary subsequently on stock
exchanges.

o It would cover operations of its all coal mines and will be run like a coal
company.

o The company has already started extracting coal from the Pakri Barwadih
mine.

 Trade deficit hits 62-month high in July 2018

o A sharp rise in the crude oil bill led to India’s trade deficit widening to a
62-month high in July 2018, despite exports growing by 14.32%.

o The trade deficit increased to $18.02 billion in July 2018, up from $16.61
billion in June 2018.

o A broad-based hardening of the international crude price has led to the

trade deficit rising every month in 2018-19.

 REC inks pact with German bank

o Rural Electrification Corporation has inked a loan agreement with German

bank KfW for EUR 200 million.

o The fund will be used to finance clean energy projects in India.

o This is REC's fourth line of credit under Indo-German development

cooperation which REC will utilise to finance renewable energy projects in
India.

 WPI inflation slows to 5.09% in July 2018

o Inflation at the wholesale level slowed to 5.09% in July 2018 largely due to
a cooling down of food price inflation.
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 o The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation was lower than June’s
5.77%.

o The WPI is published by the Office of the Economic Adviser in the

Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

o The new series of WPI with base 2011-12 is effective from April 2017.

 Mazgon Dock Shipbuilders gets SEBI's nod

o Mazgon Dock Shipbuilders has received markets regulator SEBI's go

ahead to float an initial public offering.

o The company had filed draft papers with the SEBI in April, 2018 and
obtained its "observations" on August 10, 2018.

o SEBI's "observations" are necessary for any company to launch public

issues like initial public offer (IPO) and follow-on public offer (FPO) and
rights issue.

 Inflation slows to 9-month low at 4.17%

o Retail inflation eased to a nine-month low of 4.17% in July 2018 as food

inflation cooled to its lowest level since July 2017.

o Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) slowed from the 4.92%
pace set in June 2018.

o Among all the Indian states and Union Territories, West Bengal recorded
the highest annual inflation rate of 7.37%.

 RBI net sells USD 6.184 bn of US currency

o RBI continued to remain a net seller of the U.S. dollar in June 2018, after
it sold $6.184 billion of the U.S. dollar in the spot market, RBI data
showed.

o In June 2018, the RBI bought $4.020 billion of U.S. dollar, while it sold
$10.204 billion in the spot market.

o In May 2018 and April 2018, RBI had net sold Rs. 5.767 billion and $2.483
billion of the U.S. currency, respectively.

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  Axis Bank introduces iris authentication

o Axis Bank has become the first bank in the country to introduce Iris Scan
Authentication feature for Aadhaar-based transactions through its micro
ATM tablets.

o This service will boost the bank's financial inclusion.

o Micro ATMs completely eliminate the requirement of debit cards,

passwords, PINs, and user IDs, and empower consumers to avail banking
services using only their Aadhaar numbers.

 NPAs in education sector on the rise

o As per the IBA data, the percentage of NPA to outstanding education loan
rose from 7.3 percent in March 2016 to 7.67 percent in the following year
and then jumped to 8.97 percent in March 2018.

o The outstanding education loan amount at the end of 2017-18 was Rs

71,724.65 crore of which Rs 6,434.62 crore was NPA.

o PSBs' share in total lending by banks to education sector is about 91.5

percent.

 Industrial output hits 4-month high of 7%

o Industrial output recorded a four-month high growth rate of 7% in June

on account of higher output in mining, manufacturing and power
generation segments.

o The cumulative growth for the period April-June 2018 stands at 5.2% over
the corresponding period of the previous year.

o The manufacturing sector, which constitutes 77.63% of the index, grew by

6.9 per cent in June.

 Ikea Opened its 1st India Store in Hyderabad

o Ikea, the Swedish retail giant opened its first Indian store in Hyderabad on
9th August 2018.

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 o Ikea's next store is planned to open in Mumbai in the summer of 2019,
followed by another in Bangalore in 2020.

o The Swedish furniture retailer has already invested 4.5 billion euros ($5.2
billion) into India.

 PayPal enters into pact with HDFC Bank

o PayPal, and HDFC Bank have entered into a partnership.

o The partnership will result in a safer, faster and more convenient payment
experience for HDFC Bank cardholders and help drive incremental digital
spend.

o HDFC cards will be presented as a payment option during enrollment and

subsequent payments, with the ability for consumers to easily open PayPal
accounts.

 HSBC launches online platform 'MyDeal'

o HSBC has launched a new digital platform-MyDeal.

o MyDeal will simplify capital raising process through capital markets by

providing real-time access to information such as investors’ feedback,
profiles, client orders and deal pricing.

o The platform contains all the information relating to a client’s capital

markets transaction and is updated on the real-time basis

 CCI approves Walmart, Flipkart deal

o The Competition Commission (CCI) had approved U.S. retail giant

Walmart’s proposed acquisition of Flipkart.

o In May 2018, Walmart announced the acquisition of 77% stake in Flipkart,

the biggest takeover by the U.S. company till date.

o The transaction values the 11-year-old Indian e-commerce company at

$20.8 billion.

o Deals beyond a certain threshold are required to get clearance from the
CCI.

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  650 branches of IPPB to be launched on Aug 21

o Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch 650 branches of India Post
Payments Bank (IPPB) on the 21st August, 2018.

o The IPPB has been setup under the Department of Post, Ministry of
Communication with 100% equity owned by the Indian government.

o The IPPB will leverage the vast network of the Department of Posts with
1.55 lakh access points, three lakh postmen and Grameen Dak Sewaks.

 Mobile transactions hit ₹14,632 crore in June

o The value of transactions made through mobile wallets touched a record

₹14,632 crore in June 2018 as per the data released by Reserve Bank of
India (RBI).

o Debit and credit card transactions too hit a new record of ₹3.62 trillion in
June 2018.

o The volume of transactions through mobile banking yet again reached a

peak in June 2018, crossing the 300 million mark for the first time.

 RBI to pay ₹ 50,000 crore dividend to govt

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will transfer ₹50,000 crore of its surplus
money to the government, the highest since 2015-16.

o The Reserve Bank, which follows July-June financial year, has paid about
63% higher dividend than the previous year (2016-17).

o Under the RBI Act, 1934, the Reserve Bank of India is required to pay the
government its surplus fund.

 SBI launches digital transaction MOPAD

o State Bank of India (SBI) launched one more digital initiative called
MOPAD (Multi Option Payment Acceptance Device) on 8th August,2018.

o It will enable customers to make payments through cards, Bharat QR, UPI
and SBI Buddy (e-wallet) on a point of sale (PoS) terminal.

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 o It will also provide digital convenience to customers and ease of

 JP Morgan to set up finclusion lab

o JP Morgan will set up a financial inclusion lab to support fintech startups

in association with IIM-Ahmedabad and the Dell and Bill Gates
foundations.

o JP Morgan will provide up to $7 million over the next four years towards
this initiative.

o The lab will host accelerator programmes to identify solutions for specific
financial challenges.

 Nikhil Nanda appointed as chairman and MD

o Farm and construction equipment maker Escorts appointed Nikhil Nanda

as the chairman and managing director (MD) of the company.

o The company’s board unanimously appointed Nikhil as the chairman and

MD to succeed his late father, Rajan Nanda.

o Nikhil has been a key member of the company’s board since 1997.

 National Stock Exchange unveils new logo

o To mark 25 years of its existence, the National Stock Exchange of India

(NSE) unveiled a new logo symbolizing integrity, excellence, trust and
commitment.

o The National Stock Exchange of India Limited is the leading stock

exchange of India, located in Mumbai.

o The NSE was established in 1992 as the first demutualized electronic

exchange in the country.

 Anti-dumping duty on 'methylene chloride'

o The Finance Ministry has extended by one year the validity of existing
anti-dumping duty on 'methylene chloride' imports from the US and the
European Union.

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 o Methylene Chloride is used in the manufacture of polycarbonate and
phenolic resins, rayon yarn, pharmaceuticals, agro and fragrance
chemicals.

o It is also used as an extractant for edible fats, cocoa butter and essences.

 Bank collected 5000 Crores from Customer

o 21 public sector banks and three major private sector lenders collected Rs
5,000 crore from customers for non-maintenance of minimum balance in
their accounts in 2017-18.

o SBI was charging the penalty till 2012, reintroduced it from April
1,2017. SBI reduced charges from October 1, 2017

o Accounts under BSBD scheme Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna are not
required to maintain any minimum balance.

 PM Modi to launch IPPB on Aug 21

o PM Modi on August 21 will launch India Post Payments Bank that will
have at least one branch in every district and focus on financial services in
rural areas.

o Two branches of the bank are already operational in Ranchi and Raipur.

o IPPB will go live with 650 branches,3,250 access points co-located at post
offices and 11,000 postmen both in rural and urban area for doorstep
banking services.

 India’s forex reserves dip by $951 mn

o Foreign exchange reserves declined by $951 million to $404.2 billion in

the week to July 27, on account of a fall in the foreign currency assets.

o Reserves rose by a marginal $67.7 million to $405.1 billion in the previous

week.

o It has crossed the $400-billion mark for the first time in the week to
September 8, 2017.

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 o The forex kitty is an indicator of the health of the economy.

 NABARD Sanctions Rs 772 crore in Haryana

o NABARD has sanctioned Rs 772 crore for eight water projects in the rural
areas of Haryana, state Minister for Public Health Engineering Banwari
Lal.

o Works on these projects will supply water to 256 villages and 72 hamlets,
are in progress

o The state government was getting financial assistance from the National
Capital Region Planning Board to modernize the sewerage system in urban
areas.

 ‘Umbrella Organisation’ to revive Co-op Bank

o India’s co-operative banking sector is set to undergo a transformation with

the concept of Umbrella Organisation (UO) of Urban Co-operative Banks
(UCBs) to look into the issues plaguing the sector.

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed non-fund-based umbrella

organisations at State levels.

o Gujarat is the first State in the country to have an UO for the UCB sector.

 Services sector grows fastest since Oct. 2016

o India’s services sector activity remained in the growth territory in July

2018, as business activity witnessed the strongest growth since October
2016.

o The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index rose
from 52.6 in June 2018 to 54.2 in July 2018.

o The Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index maps both the
manufacturing and services sectors.

 Japan become world's 2nd largest stock market

o Japan has pipped China as the world's second-largest stock market.

o The Chinese market was worth $6.09 trillion next to Japan's $6.17 trillion.
182 | P a g e
 o Both markets are ranked after the US which is the world's largest at just
over $31 trillion.

o China lost to Japan after Chinese stocks and currency fell this year amid a
trade spat with the US.

 RBI bars Fino Payments Bank

o Fino Payments Bank has been barred by the Reserve Bank of India from
adding new customers since the end of May 2018.

o The central bank in its auditing of payments banks in May found Fino
Payments non-compliant with the operational guidelines laid down by it.

o According to RBI’s operating guidelines for payments banks, a customer

can make deposits of up to ₹1 lakh per account in a year.

 Facebook announces $4.5 mn investment

o Facebook will invest an additional $4.5 million towards helping the news
industry globally.

o Earlier, Facebook gave $3.5 million towards ‘Facebook Membership

Accelerator’, a three-month pilot programme designed to help news
organisations with membership models.

o The ‘Facebook Membership Accelerator’ will help non-profit news

organisations and local, independent publishers.

 NHAI to ink MoU with SBI for Rs 25k cr loan

o NHAI will ink a pact with State Bank of India (SBI) for a long-term
unsecured loan to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore.

o This is SBI's highest long-term unsecured loan to any entity and also the
largest ever loan sanctioned to NHAI.

o NHAI is getting an unsecured loan from SBI for 10 years with 3 years of
moratorium on repayments.

 Apple: World's first trillion dollar company

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 o Apple became the world’s first trillion-dollar public company, as a rise in
its share price pushed it past the landmark valuation.

o The company hit a $1trillion market capitalisation 42 years after Apple

was founded and 117 years after US Steel became the first company to be
valued at $1bn in 1901.

o Apple was co-founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve
Wozniak.

 RBI raises rates again by 25 bps

o The RBI on 1st August 2018 raised interest rates by 25 basis points, setting
its benchmark repo rate at 6.5%.

o The increase will push up the cost of loans for all borrowers, from
consumers looking to finance their purchases of homes and cars to
businesses looking to meet their capital needs.

o The RBI retained its forecast for economic growth in the current fiscal year
at 7.4%.

 India’s Q1 fiscal deficit at 68.7%

o The government of India reported a fiscal deficit of ₹ 4.29 trillion ($62.57

billion) for April-June, or 68.7% of the budgeted target for the current
fiscal year 2018-19 compared with 80.8% a year ago.

o The fiscal deficit target for the current financial year is Rs 6.24 lakh crore.

o Rs 2.37 lakh crore was the net tax revenue during the April-June quarter.

 IOC tops 7 Indian firms on Fortune 500 list

o Seven Indian companies have made it to the latest Fortune 500 list of the
world's biggest corporations in terms of revenue.

o Indian Oil Corporation continued to be the highest ranked Indian firm and
Reliance Industries (RIL) jumping 53 places.

o Indian Oil Corp (IOC) with 23% rise in revenues at USD 65.9 billion was
ranked 137th, up from the 168th position in 2017.

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  India imposes safeguard duty on solar cells

o India imposed safeguard duty on solar cells imports from China and
Malaysia for two years to protect domestic players from steep rise in the
inbound shipments of the product.

o This comes following recommendations by the Directorate General of

Trade Remedies (DGTR), under the commerce ministry.

o As per the notification of the finance ministry, 25% safeguard duty has
been imposed.

 Mauritius’s SBM gets RBI approval

o Mauritius-based SBM Group has received Reserve Bank of India’s

approval to operate in the country through a wholly-owned subsidiary
route.

o It is the first foreign lender to receive such a licence after local

incorporation was introduced in 2013.

o SBM, which has been in India since 1994, currently operates through four
branches, in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ramachandrapuram.

 Core industries grows to 6.7% in June

o Eight core sector industries registered high growth of 6.7% in June 2018.

o According to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry,

eight sectors including coal, refinery products, fertilisers, steel and cement
showed better performance due to better outcome by cement, refinery and
coal segments.

o Fertilisers saw growth slowing sharply in June to 0.93% from 8.44% in

May 2018.

September 2018
 Imp Business & Economy (24-29 Sept 2018)

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 o Global research agency Fitch raised India’s growth forecast for the current
fiscal to 7.8% from the earlier 7.4%.

o BSE has received regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI) to launch delivery-based futures contract in gold (1
kg) and silver (30 kg).

Source Link:

 RBI cracks down on Bandhan Bank

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cracked the whip on Bandhan Bank
freezing the remuneration of its MD and CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh for
violating norms.

o The action taken is for not bringing down promoters’ shareholding in the
bank to 40% within 3 years of operations as mandated by it while granting
the bank license.

o RBI had also barred the Kolkata-based lender from opening new branches.

 RBI eases cash reserve rules

o The Reserve Bank of India eased mandatory cash requirement rules for
banks to provide “durable liquidity” to the economy.

o RBI said that banks could 'carve out' up to 15% of holdings under the
Statutory Liquidity Reserves to meet their Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR)
requirements as compared to 13% now.

o The relaxation in Statutory Liquidity Ratio requirement with effect from

October 1, 2018

 BSE can now launch gold, silver futures

o BSE has received regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI) to launch delivery-based futures contract in gold (1
kg) and silver (30 kg).

o The exchange will launch trading in these contracts on October 1 2018.

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 o The delivery centre of gold and silver futures contract will be BSE
designated vaults at Ahmedabad initially.

 Finance Minister launches web portal

o The Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun

Jaitley launched a web portal as a transformative initiative in MSME
credit space.

o The web portal www.psbloansin59minutes.com will enable in principle

approval for MSME loans up to Rs. 1 crore within 59 minutes from SIDBI
and 5 PSBs.

o The majority stake of is with SIDBI & 5 PSBs- SBI, Bank of Baroda, PNB,
Vijaya and Indian Bank.

Microsoft, Adobe, SAP in data alliance

o Microsoft, Adobe Systems and SAP have formed an alliance to offer

a unified view of data on their respective end-customers.

o The partners announced the Open Data Initiative at a Microsoft

conference in Florida.

o The initiative will enhance interoperability and data exchange between

their platforms like- Adobe Experience Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365
and SAP C/4HANA through a common mode.

 5 IT firms shortlisted to implement RBI’s CIMS

o The RBI has shortlisted 5-IT firms for implementation of a Centralised

Information and Management System for seamless data collection and
validations.

o The 5 firms are- Capgemini Technology Services India, IBM India,

Infosys, Larsen & Toubro Infotech and Tata Consultancy Services.

o The CIMS also include Centralised Analytics Platform to facilitate the

creation of RBI Data Sciences Lab.

 Tariffs on non-essential imports finalised

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 o The government has finalised the list of non-essential items on which it
will be imposing import tariffs.

o The list would include electronics, gems, select items of steel that are also
manufactured in India, imported apples, and almonds, among others.

o The imposition of tariffs on the import of non-essential items is expected

to help in stabilising the rupee’s level.

 Fitch raises India growth forecast

o Global research agency Fitch raised India’s growth forecast for the current
fiscal to 7.8% from the earlier 7.4%.

o Fitch has revised the forecast for current fiscal ‘on the back of the better-
than-expected 2018 outturn’.

o Fitch’s latest projection for the current fiscal is higher than what is
estimated by the Reserve Bank of India (7.4%) and even the Government
(7.5%).

 BSNL signs deal with Softbank, NTT

o BSNL has inked a pact with Japan’s Softbank and NTT Communications to
roll out 5G and internet of things (IoT) technology in India.

o Under the agreement with Softbank, BSNL will look at collaborating with
the NTT Communications for its satellite constellation to provide high
speed internet services.

o BSNL has signed an agreement with Nokia and Cisco as well for
developing 5G ecosystem.

 Yes Bank pays ₹38 crore in GST fines

o Private sector lender Yes Bank has paid ₹38 crore in fines to
the GST department for alleged violations in domestic remittances.

o A bank official said the money has been paid "in protest" and the lender
believes that it has not violated any norms.

o However, the tax department is of the view that the bank underpaid GST.

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  RBI announces norms for PSL by banks, NBFCs

o The Reserve Bank announced guidelines for co-origination of priority

sector loans by banks and NBFCs.

o It will enhance the flow of funds to the sector at competitive rates.

o These norms are applicable on Small Finance Banks and all Scheduled
Commercial Banks except Regional Rural Banks.

 Imp Business & Economy (17-21 Sept 2018)

o The government of India proposed the merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena

Bank and Vijaya Bank to create India’s third-largest bank.

o PayU India has received Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval to operate
its own Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC).

o India Post Payments Bank and Bajaj Allianz announced a five-year

partnership to sell life insurance products on a revenue share basis.

 SBI to raise $500 million through green bonds

o State Bank of India (SBI) is in the international bond market to raise

nearly $500 million in green bonds, making it the maiden issuance for
the bank.

o The tenor of the bonds is expected to be five years and the notes are to be
issued by the bank’s London branch.

o With this issue, SBI will become compliant with the global standards as
prescribed by the Climate Bonds Initiative.

 BSE, NSE got SEBI approval

o Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) have
received the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) approval to
launch commodity derivatives segment from October 1, 2018.

o BSE will enter the segment with non-agriculture commodities like metals.

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 o At present, the exchanges offer trading in equities, equity derivatives as
well as currency derivatives.

 SEBI approves KYC norms for FPIs

o The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approved norms for
settlement of cases and new KYC norms for Foreign Portfolio Investors.

o SEBI has approved a proposal to allow foreign investors to trade in

commodity derivatives market, except for sensitive commodities.

o SEBI chairman also said that the mutual fund expenses will be brought
down considering economies of scale.

 IPPB, Bajaj Allianz for insurance products

o India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and Bajaj Allianz announced a five-year
partnership to sell life insurance products on a revenue share basis.

o Under the partnership, IPPB will facilitate customers to pay for Bajaj
Allianz life insurance products through their accounts and Bajaj Allianz
Life will offer life insurance solutions.

o IPPB was launched on September 1, 2018.

 PayU India to operate its own NBFC

o PayU India has received Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval to operate
its own Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC).

o The move will help PayU promote inclusive growth in the country by
catering to the diverse financial needs of various segments of the society.

o PayU India is the digital payments firm owned by South Africa’s Naspers
Ltd.

 RBI to buy G-Secs in open market on Sept 19

o The Reserve Bank will purchase government securities (G-secs) worth Rs

10,000 crore on September 19, 2018.

o The move is aimed at inducing liquidity in the system.

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 o The purchase of the government securities will be done through Open
Market Operations (OMO).

o The RBI proposes to purchase G-secs having five different maturity dates.

 Infosys acquired Fluido to expand in Nordics

o Infosys, India's second largest software exporter, has signed a definitive

agreement to acquire Fluido.

o Fluido is a Salesforce advisor and consulting partner in Nordics and cloud

consulting, implementation and training services company.

o Fluido has offices in Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Slovakia.

 Cisco signed agreements with NITI, BSNL

o Cisco has signed two agreements with the NITI Aayog and Bharat Sanchar
Nigam Limited (BSNL) to speed up its Country Digital Acceleration
programme in India.

o Cisco is a U.S.-based firm which

makes networking telecommunications equipment.

o Cisco has made over 25 strategic investments in growth stage companies

in India.

 Wholesale Inflation eases to 4.53% In August

o The Central Statistics Office (CSO) presented India’s Wholesale Price

Index (WPI) Inflation for the month of August 2018.

o WPI stood at 4.53% compared to 5.09% of July 2018.

o Wholesale or headline inflation, however, quickened on an annual basis,

from 3.24% in August 2017.

 Samsung opens Mobile Experience Centre

o Samsung had opened world's biggest mobile experience centre at Opera

House in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

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 o At the centre a customer will be able to enjoy VR experiences such as
the 4D sway chair, Whiplash Pulsar 4D chair that makes 360 degrees
three-dimensional movements.

o Earlier this year Samsung has also launched the world's largest mobile
phone-manufacturing factory in Noida in July 2018.

 BPCL to invest ₹40,000 crore in new plant

o Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is planning to set up a

₹40,000-crore petrochemicals plant at Rasayani in Raigad District of
Maharashtra.

o BPCL to manufacture polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene at this plant.

o The company also plans to shift its LPG bottling plant, storage facilities
and bitumen plant to Rasayani, 60 km away from its Mumbai plant.

 CPI Inflation Falls To 3.69% In August

o Data released by the Central Statistics Office on Wednesday, showed that

retail inflation was at 3.69 percent in August compared to 4.17 percent in
July.

o Consumer price inflation fell below 4 percent for the first time in 2018.

o Inflation is currently running below the MPC’s forecast of 4.6 percent in

the second quarter of the current financial year.

 First Ever Award to Secondary Steel Sector

o Ministry of Steel has launched an Award Scheme to recognize the

Secondary Steel sector for their contribution to the national economy.

o The first ever awards will be given on 13th September 2018 at a function in
New Delhi.

o At present, the PM Trophy / Steel Minister’s Trophy are given to large

integrated steel plants having achieved crude steel production of 1 million
tonnes per annum.

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  SC orders status quo on RBI’s 12 Feb circular

o The Supreme Court ordered status quo on the implementation

of 12 February circular of the Reserve Bank of India.

o The circular mandates insolvency proceedings for a debt servicing default

beyond 180 days.

o SC ordered that insolvency proceedings should not commence against

the defaulting power companies.

o Banks have exposure of about ₹1.74 lakh crore to stressed power assets.

 Govt. notifies rules for shares issue

o The government mandated that issue of further shares and transfer of all
shares by unlisted public companies should be only in 'demat
form' beginning October 2, 2018.

o This was notified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

o According to the government, the move would help eliminate risks

associated with physical certificates such as loss, theft, mutilation and
fraud.

 Yes Bank raises $400 million

o Yes Bank has raised $400 million through syndicated loan facility,
borrowed out of its IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) in Gujarat International
Finance Tec-City (GIFT).

o The bank said this amount will be utilized to support the IBU's growing
business.

o According to Rana Kapoor (MD and CEO, Yes Bank) Yes Bank's IBU has
crossed $3 billion balance sheet within 3 years of starting operations at
GIFT City.

 7 countries at risk of exchange rate crises

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 o According to a new index by Nomura, seven countries are at risk of
exchange rate crises as investors re-assess their risks.

o The name of the new index is 'Damocles', that assessed the risk of
exchange rate crises for 30 emerging market economies.

o The seven countries that are at risk of exchange rate crises are Sri Lanka,
South Africa, Argentina, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine.

 SpiceJet launches air cargo arm

o Spicejet introduced air cargo services on local and international routes.

o The airline will operate cargo services under the brand

name 'SpiceXpress'.

o SpiceXpress will begin operations on September 2018 with the first flight
scheduled from Delhi to Bengaluru.

o Initially, SpiceXpress will cover Delhi, Bengaluru, Guwahati, Hong Kong,

Kabul and Amritsar.

 ICICI Bank launches overdraft facility

o ICICI Bank announced a new overdraft facility for Medium, Small and
Micro Enterprises (MSME) based on their GST returns.

o The facility is known as ‘GST Business Loan’ and it would be available to

any such business, including non-customers of the bank.

o The overdraft amount could range between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore and
would be up to 20% of the turnover reported in the GST return.

 CAD widens to 2.4% of GDP

o India’s current account deficit (CAD) stood at $15.8 billion i.e 2.4% of GDP
in the Q1 of 2018-19 compared with $15 billion (2.5 per cent of GDP) in the
same period of last year.

o The widening of the CAD on a y-o-y basis was primarily due to a higher
trade deficit at $45.7 billion as compared with $41.9 billion in 2017

194 | P a g e
  IRDAI tests guidelines for 'Sandbox Method'

o The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is

working on the guidelines for ‘Sandbox’.

o 'Sandbox' method which will allow insurers to test products in a particular

geography or among a set of few policyholders before they are available in
the market.

o Industry participants believe that this move will lead to further innovation
in insurance products.

 Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma to retire at 54

o Alibaba co-founder and chairman Jack Ma plans to retire from the Chinese
e-commerce giant on Monday on his 54th birthday.

o After retirement Jack Ma plan to devote his time to philanthropy focused

on education.

o Jack Ma is among China’s richest men with a net worth estimated by

Forbes at $38.6 billion.

 Imp Business & Economy (3-7 Sept 2018)

o According to RBI data, Mauritius remained the top source of Foreign

Direct Investment (FDI) into India in 2017-18 followed by Singapore.

o The Reserve Bank of India has asked all commercial banks having 10 or
more banking outlets to have an independent Internal Ombudsman (IO).

o Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) became the 2nd Indian company to attain
a market valuation of over Rs 8 lakh crore.

 HDFC Bank is India's most valued brand

o HDFC Bank retained its top spot in the BrandZ India Top 50 for the fifth
year in a row.

o The total brand value of HDCF bank grew by 21 percent to $21.7 billion in
2018.

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 o Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) comes at the second spot due to the key
role played by its pension plan business, while Tata Consultancy
Services ranked third on the list.

 BEL got contract for surface-to-air missiles

o Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has bagged an order worth Rs 9,200 crore
for supply of Seven Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM) systems.

o BEL has entered into a contract with Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL)
and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) to supply LRSAM
systems.

o The LRSAM will be fitted onboard seven ships to be built by these two
shipbuilders.

 SBI Mutual Fund appoints Ashwani as CEO

o SBI Mutual Fund has appointed Ashwani Bhatia as Managing Director and
Chief Executive Officer.

o Bhatia takes over from Anuradha Rao after she returned to State Bank of
India (SBI) as Deputy Managing Director.

o SBI Mutual Fund is a joint venture between the State Bank of India and
Amundi, a European asset management company.

 Asia Index launches S&P BSE Pvt Banks Index

o Asia Index Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between S&P Dow Jones Indices and
BSE Ltd, announced the launch of an index designed to measure
the performance of private banks.

o The S&P BSE Private Banks Index is drawn from the constituents of the
S&P BSE Finance Index.

o The index is calculated in Indian Rupees and US Dollar and is calculated

real-time by BSE.

 Amazon hits $ 1 trillion in stock market value

196 | P a g e
 o America’s online shopping giant Amazon on September 4, 2018, became
the second US company to hit $ 1 trillion in stock market value.

o Apple was the first US company to hit $ 1 trillion in stock market value.

o Amazon is owned by Jeff Bezos, who among other things also owns The
Washington Post, a top American.

 KVB rolls out tab-based loan processing system

o Karur Vysya Bank Ltd (KVB) has rolled out KVB Next, a tab-based digital
initiative.

o This will help the retail and business customers get in-principle sanctions
for loans within 15 minutes.

o Under the initiative, KVB will offer retail loans for up to Rs. 2 crore, loan
against property for up to Rs. 3 crore and home loans for up to Rs. 1 crore.

 IPPB replaces ATM/debit cards with QR cards

o India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) does away with ATM cards and debit
cards for both cash and cashless transactions.

o IPPB will issue new QR (Quick-Response) cards which work on biometric

authentication and not on passwords or PINs.

o QR card transactions can be done through postmen, post offices or

Grameen Dak Sevaks (GDS).

 RBI bought 8.46 tonne of gold in fiscal 2018

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has bought 8.46 tonne of gold in the
financial year 2017-18, the first purchase of gold by the apex bank in
almost nine years.

o RBI purchased 200 tonne of gold in November 2009 from the

International Monetary Fund (IMF).

o According to RBI's latest annual report for 2017-18, RBI held 566.23 tonne
of gold as on 30 June, 2018.

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  TCS crosses Rs 8 lakh crore in valuation

o Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) became the second Indian company to

attain a market valuation of over Rs 8 lakh crore mark following surge in
its share price.

o Earlier on August 23, 2018, Reliance Industries became the first Indian
company to cross the Rs 8 lakh crore market capitalisation mark.

o TCS had in April 2018 became the first Indian company to have a $100
billion market valuation.

 Paytm Money enters Mutual Funds

o Paytm Money Ltd., the fully-owned subsidiary of 'One97 Communications

Ltd.' entered Mutual Funds domain with Systematic Investment Plans
(SIPs) starting at just Rs 100.

o Paytm money targets to sell the Mutual Fund to around 25 million people
in the next three to five years.

o It has partnered with 25 asset management companies to offer direct plans

of Mutual Funds.

 Manufacturing eases on slower output gains

o India’s manufacturing sector activity eased for the second consecutive

month in August 2018.

o The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to

51.7 in August 2018 from 52.3 in July 2018.

o In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below

50 denotes contraction.

 Reserve Bank tightens ombudsman scheme

o The Reserve Bank of India has tightened the banking ombudsman scheme
with the objective to strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism for
customers.

198 | P a g e
 o The banking regulator has asked all commercial banks having 10 or more
banking outlets to have an independent Internal Ombudsman (IO).

o IO will review customer complaints that are either partly or fully rejected
by the banks.

 ITI inked pacts with start-ups

o ITI Ltd signed agreements with start-ups and original equipment

manufacturers for manufacturing of a wide range of ICT-IOT based
solutions.

o ITI Ltd has also entered into an agreement with Telecommunication

Engineering Center, New Delhi, for the establishment of telecom testing
labs at its Bengaluru plant.

o The agreements signed will help ITI diversify its manufacturing

capabilities.

 ‘Mauritius tops India’s FDI charts again’

o According to RBI data, Mauritius remained the top source of Foreign

Direct Investment (FDI) into India in 2017-18 followed by Singapore.

o While FDI from Mauritius totalled $13.41 billion as against $13.38 billion
in 2017, inflows from Singapore rose to $9.27 billion from $6.52 billion.

o FDI from the Netherlands declined marginally to $2.67 billion as against

$3.23 billion.

 Wipro bags $1.6 billion contract

o Wipro bagged a $1.6 billion 10-year contract, its largest to date, to provide
digital solutions to Illinois-based Alight Solutions LLC.

o This deal will result in revenues of $1.5 to $1.6 billion for Wipro over the
tenure

o Alight is a provider of benefits administration and cloud-based human

resources and financial solutions.

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  Imp Business & Economy-II (27 Aug-1 Sept 2018)

o The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) was launched on September 1,

2018.

o The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) gave its approval to the
merger of Vodafone and Idea Cellular.

o The Indian economy grew 8.2% in the April-June quarter for 2018 driven
by robust growth in the manufacturing, construction and farm sectors.

 Imp Business & Economy-I (27 Aug-1 Sept 2018)

o Punjab National Bank has been ranked as the best Public Sector bank in
the overall digital transactions category in India.

o The bonds titled ‘Amaravati Bond 2018’ have been listed on the Bombay
Stock Exchange.

o Foreign Direct Investment in India grew by 23% to USD 12.75 billion

during the April-June quarter of 2018-19.

o DBS Bank has been named the world's best bank by Global Finance
magazine.

 RBI cancels licence of Bhilwara Bank

o RBI has cancelled the licence of Rajasthan-based Bhilwara Mahila Urban

Co-operative Bank.

o RBI said that the bank does not have adequate capital and earning
prospect and is not in a position to pay its present and future depositors.

o The cancelled licence of the bank is in effect from the close of business on
August 31, 2018.

 GDP grows 8.2% in April-June

o The Indian economy grew 8.2% in the April-June quarter for 2018 driven
by robust growth in the manufacturing, construction and farm sectors.

o The pace of growth was the highest since the 9.3% rise reported for the
January-March quarter of 2016.
200 | P a g e
 o The high growth rate is aided by a low base effect — 5.6% in April-June
2017.

October 2018
 NIIF acquired IDFC Infrastructure Finance

o The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) of India had

acquired IDFC Infrastructure Finance Limited (IDFC-IFL).

o IDFC-IFL is a non-banking finance company registered with the Reserve

Bank of India as an infrastructure debt fund.

o The government had set up the NIIF in 2015 as an investment vehicle for
funding greenfield, brownfield and stalled infrastructure projects.

 RBI to inject Rs 12,000 cr liquidity

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will inject Rs 12,000 crore into the
system through the purchase of Government securities (g-secs) on 1
November 2018.

o RBI has decided to conduct the purchase of the following g-secs under
Open Market Operations (OMO).

o The RBI sells g-secs to take out liquidity from the system and buys back g-
secs to infuse liquidity into the system.

 SBI, Hitachi Payments form JV

o State Bank of India (SBI) formed a Joint Venture (JV) with Hitachi
Payment Services Pvt Ltd to create a digital payment network

o Hitachi Payments will invest 26% in SBI Payment Services Pvt Ltd, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of SBI.

o The JV agreement is subject to requisite regulatory approvals.

o The JV will provide various payment options to customers and merchants

 RBI to inject Rs 40,000 crore in November

201 | P a g e
 o The Reserve Bank said it will inject Rs 40,000 crore into the system in
November through the purchase of government securities.

o The central bank had already injected Rs 36,000 crore into the system in
October.

o An Open Market Operation (OMO) is an activity by a central bank to give

(or take) liquidity in its currency to (or from) a bank or a group of banks.

 WB approves funds for Bangladesh's bridges

o The World Bank has approved $425 million to improve road connections
in Bangladesh.

o It will be done through the building, maintaining and improving rural

bridges in a programme that will benefit two-thirds of the country's
people.

o The 'Operation For Supporting Rural Bridges Programme' will maintain

85,000 m of bridges and build another 20,000 m of new bridges.

 IDFC Bank to be renamed as IDFC First Bank

o IDFC Bank proposed to change its name to 'IDFC First Bank Ltd' in the
wake of its amalgamation with the non-banking financial company Capital
First.

o The decision was taken during the meeting of the Board of Directors of
IDFC Bank.

o The proposal now needs the approval of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

 NSE Indices launched Nifty 500 Value 50 index

o NSE Indices Limited launched a new index, 'Nifty 500 Value 50', on 24
October 2018.

o The index will track the performance of select 'value' companies based on
price multiples and dividend yield.

o The index consists of 50 companies from its parent Nifty 500 index,
selected based on their 'value' scores.

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 o NSE Indices is a group company of National Stock exchange (NSE).

 RBI lifted ban on Fino Payments

o Fino Payments Bank has been allowed to open new accounts by the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

o Fino Payments Bank had been unable to enrol new customers since the
end of May 2018 after RBI found the bank to be non-compliant with the
operational guidelines laid down by it.

o According to RBI’s guidelines for payments banks, a customer can make

deposits of up to ₹1 lakh per account in a year.

 Govt permits import of pet coke

o The government of India permitted imports of certain quantity of pet coke,

used for fuel purpose, for anode making by the aluminium industry.

o The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has allowed the

import of 1.4 MT per annum pet coke for producing calcined pet coke.

o In general, import of pet coke for fuel purpose is prohibited.

 NSE to launch copper large futures contract

o National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has got approval from Securities
and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to launch copper large futures
contract with a trading unit of 25 tonne.

o The 25 tonne copper futures contract is one of the highest traded

contracts.

o NSE aims to provide an onshore hedging platform to big Indian

corporates, refiners and various users in the value chain.

 REC to launch global medium-term notes

o Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) will launch its global medium-

term notes programme at the Global Securities Market (GSM).

o GSM is a primary market platform for raising funds from global investors.
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 o GSM is an arm of the BSE's international exchange India INX.

o India INX is the country's first international exchange launched in

January 2017

 MobiKwik will sell gold on its app

o MobiKwik will now allow customers to buy digital gold.

o MobiKwik users will be able to buy and sell 99.5% purity, 24-carat gold on
the app starting at one rupee.

o It has partnered with SafeGold, a digital platform that allows customers to

buy, sell and receive vaulted gold

o It has created a separate category called 'Gold' on its app.

 PNB Metlife launched 'Khushi' app

o Life insurer PNB Metlife has unveiled an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-

powered customer service app ‘Khushi’.

o The aim is to provide assistance to policyholders for their insurance-

related queries.

o A policyholder can use the app to upload documents; download receipts

and statements; get policy features; premium due details; get fund value
and portfolio details; and update contact details.

 Paytm launched PayPay in Japan

o Paytm has launched a payment service called 'PayPay' in Japan.

o PayPay is based on QR (quick-response) code technology.

o The payment service has been launched in association with SoftBank

Corporation and Yahoo Japan Corporation.

o SoftBank Group is one of the largest investors in Paytm.

o PayPay Corporation was established in June 2018.

 'Wealth Hub' launched by State Bank of India

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 o State Bank of India (SBI) launched its wealth business services by opening
'SBI Wealth Hub' in Mangaluru, Karnataka.

o The wealth hub was inaugurated by SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar.

o SBI is the first PSU bank in the country to introduce comprehensive

wealth business services for its clients.

o The bank has also launched Wealth Business services for NRIs.

 RBI opposes the idea of PRB

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opposed a proposal to set up a

separate and independent regulator for the payments industry.

o An inter-ministerial committee was set up by the Department of Economic

Affairs to finalise amendments to the Payment & Settlement Systems
(PSS) Act, 2007.

o The committee has proposed the establishment of an independent

Payments Regulatory Board (PRB).

 Anti-dumping duty on China steel products

o India has imposed anti-dumping duties of up to US$ 185.51 per tonne for
five years on certain varieties of Chinese steel.

o This will guard domestic manufacturers from cheap imports from China.

o The revenue department imposed the duty based on recommendations of

the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR).

 RBI eased liquidity coverage ratio norms

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted banks to use government

securities equal to the incremental credit disbursed to NBFCs for meeting
liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) requirements.

o The move will provide liquidity to Housing Finance Companies (HFCs)

and Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs).

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 o The RBI eased the single borrower exposure limits for NBFCs not in the
infrastructure segment.

 Registered valuers to value insolvent assets

o Valuation of assets under insolvency will only be done by valuers

registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) from
1 February 2019.

o As on date, India has eight Registered Valuer Organisation and 162

registered valuers.

o The IBBI conducts valuation examinations for all three asset classes - land
and building, plant and machinery, and securities or financial assets.

 India's first cryptocurrency ATM launched

o Virtual currency exchange 'Unocoin' has installed a currency deposit and

dispensing ATM in Bengaluru.

o It allows its customers to deposit and withdraw a minimum amount of Rs

1000 from the platform.

o A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography to

secure and verify transactions

 BSNL partnered Nokia for private 4G service

o BSNL has partnered with telecom gear maker Nokia to offer businesses
private 4G services.

o The first project under the partnership has been deployed at Nokia's
Chennai plant using 4G connection from BSNL's network.

o Nokia also signed a pact with BSNL to implement the next level of
industrial automation —Industry 4.0 – leveraging 4G LTE technology.

 RBI issued guidelines for PPIs

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the guidelines for
interoperability between Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs).

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 o This will allow users of payment wallets to transfer money from one wallet
to another.

o Interoperability across PPIs shall be enabled through Unified Payments

Interface (UPI).

o RBI also allowed PPIs to issue cards using authorised card networks such
as Mastercard, Visa.

 Kreditech got NBFC licence

o Kreditech has been licensed by the RBI to operate as Non Banking

Financial Company (NBFC) for digital lending business and app-based
financing.

o Kreditech will offer individualised direct-to-consumer loans as well as its

Lending-as-a-Service Solution for vendors.

o Kreditech is a Germany-based digital lender and has operations in Russia,

Poland, Spain and India.

 RBI to buy ₹120 bn G-Secs under OMO

o The Reserve Bank India (RBI) has announced that it will purchase
government securities (g-secs) worth ₹120 billion under Open Market
Operations (OMO).

o The purchases will be done on on 17 October 2018 through multi-security

auction using the multiple price method.

o The RBI sells g-secs to take out liquidity from the system and buys back g-
secs to infuse liquidity into the system.

 WPI inflation rises to 5.13% in September

o Wholesale inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) stood at

5.13% in September 2018 as compared to 4.53% in August 2018.

o WPI increased mainly due to the rise in the cost of petrol and diesel.

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 o Food articles witnessed hardening of prices with deflation at 0.21% in
September as against 4.04% in August.

o The WPI is published by the Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce and

Industry.

 SBI signed MoU with Nepal's NBI

o State Bank of India has signed an MoU with Kathmandu-based National

Banking Institute (NBI) for the development of human resources of the
latter.

o Under the MoU, the strategic training unit of SBI will impart education,
training and development to facilitate transformation of NBI's HR
department.

o SBI signed the three-year MoU with NBI to establish a mutually beneficial
strategic alliance.

 NSE signed a pact with Uttarakhand

o Leading stock exchange NSE has signed a pact with the Uttarakhand
government to provide access to capital to MSMEs.

o This which will fuel the growth of such entities in the state.

o The bourse will play an active role in nurturing the SMEs and start-ups by
increasing awareness.

o NSE's SME Platform has currently 182 companies listed, which together
raised over Rs 2,850 crore.

 Govt hiked import duty on electronic items

o The government has increased basic customs duty on electronic and

telecom equipment to 20% from the current 10%.

o The items that will face customs duty hike include smartwatches, optical
transport equipment and voice over internet protocol equipment.

o The hike will come into effect on 12 October 2018.

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 o Restricting imports is a part of the government’s strategy to arrest the
rupee’s fall.

 SBI comes to the aid of NBFCs

o State Bank of India (SBI) will triple its target of buying standard loans
from Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to up to ₹45,000 crore
in FY19.

o The move is expected to give an additional liquidity cushion to NBFCs who

will benefit by selling these loans on full-cash basis.

o A bank typically purchases loans from NBFCs to meet the shortfall in

priority sector lending.

 Foreign entities allowed in commodity market

o Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) permitted foreign entities

having actual exposure to Indian commodity markets to participate in the
commodity derivative segment.

o Such foreign entities will be known as Eligible Foreign Entities.

o Currently, foreign entities are not permitted to directly participate in the

Indian commodity derivatives market.

 Govt. hikes interest for gratuity funds to 8%

o The government of India has notified a higher interest rate of 8% for the
non-government provident, superannuation, and gratuity funds, effective
from October 1 2018.

o The interest rate on these funds has been raised from 7.6%.

o This hike will help private sector employees who have enrolled for these
provident funds gains extra returns.

 NHB raised refinance limit for HFCs

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 o National Housing Board (NHB) has raised refinance limit for housing
finance companies to Rs 30,000 crore for the period between July 2018 to
June 2019.

o The regulator to housing finance companies (HFCs) had set an initial limit
of Rs 24,000 crore, towards refinancing eligible institutions.

o NHB is the principal agency to promote housing finance institutions.

 Flipkart enters into insurance segment

o Walmart-backed e-commerce marketplace Flipkart mark its entry into

insurance segment

o It will be offering a complete protection plan to customers who buy

smartphones on its platform.

o Flipkart has secured a corporate agency licence from the Insurance

Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).

o Flipkart has partnered with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance for the
scheme.

 MobiKwik launches instant loan product ‘Boost’

o MobiKwik, a leading digital financial services platform, has announced the

launch of ‘Boost’.

o Boost is a product that offers instant loan approval and disbursal to

MobiKwik users.

o Users can apply for loans ranging from Rs 5,000 up to Rs 60,000 through
the MobiKwik app

o MobiKwik is the first wallet company in India to disburse the loan amount
in the user’s mobile wallet.

 RBI kept key rates unchanged

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to keep the interest rate
unchanged at 6.5% in the fourth bi-monthly policy review.

o The reverse repo rate has also been kept unchanged at 6.25%.
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 o The Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) stands at 4% while the bank rate is at
6.75%.

o Growth projection for 2018-19 has also been retained at 7.4%.

 RBI imposes penalty on Federal Bank

o Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of five crore rupees on Federal Bank
for non-compliance of certain RBI direction.

o RBI said Federal Bank had failed to report large borrower exposure for
assessment under risk-based supervision.

o The bank had also failed to pay compensation to customers for the delay in
resolution of ATM related complaints.

 RBI allows OMCs to raise money from overseas

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed state-owned Oil Marketing
Companies (OMC) to borrow long-term working capital from overseas.

o RBI relaxed the policy on borrowing up to 10 billion US dollar from the

overseas by the state-owned fuel retailers.

o The RBI has allowed them to raise External Commercial Borrowing (ECB)
of minimum maturity of 3 or 5 years.

 Tech M sign pact with Israeli firm

o IT services provider Tech Mahindra announced a partnership with Israel

Aerospace Industries (IAI) to develop and offer cybersecurity solutions.

o The pact mainly targets cybersecurity at governments, critical

infrastructure, and defence sector.

o The pact will enable the companies to design custom-made security

operation centers (SOCs) and computer emergency response teams
(CERTs).

 BSE launches commodity derivative contracts

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 o Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) became the first stock exchange in India to
launch the commodity derivative contracts in gold and silver.

o Till now, commodity contracts were available only on MCX and NCDEX,
the two specialised commodity derivatives exchanges.

o BSE also waived off transaction charges for the first year in the
commodities derivatives segment.

 RBI to pump Rs 360 bn into bond markets

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would pump Rs 360 billion into money
markets in October to stem fears of a cascading credit crunch.

o The auctions would be conducted during the second, third and fourth
week of October.

o The government will effectively cut its market borrowing by Rs 700 billion
due to higher-than-expected earnings of Rs 750 billion through its small
savings scheme.

 Sale of micro insurance via PoS allowed

o Insurance regulator IRDAI has allowed the distribution of all micro-

insurance products through point-of-sales (PoS).

o It aims to increase insurance penetration in the country.

o Micro-insurance policies are designed to promote insurance coverage

among economically vulnerable sections.

o A micro-insurance policy is a general or life insurance policy with a sum

assured of Rs. 50,000 or less.

November 2018
 LEI mandatory for market participants

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made the Legal Entity Identifier
(LEI) code mandatory for all participants undertaking transactions in the
markets regulated by the RBI.

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 o The LEI is a 20-character unique identity code assigned to entities who are
parties to a financial transaction.

o The LEI code is a measure to improve the quality and accuracy of financial
data systems.

 Interest subsidy for exporters increased to 5%

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the interest subsidy on the post
and pre-shipment export credit from 3% to 5%.

o This move will boost the exports of the Micro, Small & Medium
Enterprises (MSME) sector manufacturers.

o The increased subsidy is applicable from 2 November 2018.

o Exporters get the subsidy under the 'Interest Equalisation Scheme on Pre
& Post Shipment Rupee Export Credit'.

 Norms eased for NBFCs to securitise loan books

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed norms for Non-Banking

Financial Companies (NBFCs) to securitise their loan books.

o They have been permitted to securitise loans of over five-year maturity

after holding them for six months on their books.

o The RBI has also prescribed certain 'Minimum Retention Requirement'

(MRR) for NBFCs for availing the relaxed norms.

 100% stake sale in AIATSL approved by Govt

o The government of India approved 100% stake sale in state-owned airline

Air India’s ground-handling company 'Air India Air Transport Services
Limited' (AIATSL).

o Proceeds from the sale of AIATSL would be used to pay off Air India’s
debt.

o AIATSL is the largest ground handling company in India and is present in

almost all airports across the country.

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  Non-food bank credit grows at fastest pace

o According to the RBI data, the total credit flow from banks to the
commercial sector grew at 15.6% year-on-year to Rs. 97.32 lakh crore in
the fortnight ended 9 November 2018.

o The non-food credit grew by 15.12% to Rs 90.51 lakh crores, while the total
non-statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) investments rose 22.26%.

o Bank credit was lowest during the November 2016 to March 2017 period.

 RBI launches survey on Indian startup sector

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a survey on India’s

startup sector (SISS).

o The survey will create a profile of the startups and provide dimensions
pertaining to their profitability and workforce.

o The survey would also aim at talking about the problems being faced by
the sector in the country.

 RBI to inject Rs. 40,000 crore in Dec 2018

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will infuse Rs. 40,000 crores into the
system through Open Market Operations (OMOs) in December 2018.

o The RBI had announced to inject Rs 40,000 crore into the system in
November 2018.

o OMO refer to the buying and selling of government securities in the open
market in order to expand or contract the amount of money in the banking
system.

 Norms for interoperability of CCPs issued

o The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has announced the
guidelines for interoperability of Clearing Corporations (CCPs).

o The interoperability would permit trading members to clear trades

through a firm of their choice instead of going through the CCPs owned by
the stock exchanges.

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 o The new norms will help in reducing the trading costs.

o It will be effective from 1 June 2019.

 NPCC has got the status of 'Miniratna'

o National Projects Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC) has been

conferred with the status of 'Miniratna' by the Government of India.

o The empowerment of 'Miniratna' status to NPCC will help the company in

taking speedy decisions by enhancing the delegation of powers to the
Board.

o NPCC comes under the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development

and Ganga Rejuvenation.

 Government to infuse ₹42,000 cr in PSBs

o To improve the financial condition of Public Sector Banks (PSBs), the

government of India will infuse ₹42,000 crore by March 2019.

o The government in early 2018 infused ₹11,336 crore in 5 PSBs: Punjab

National Bank, Allahabad Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Andhra Bank, and
Corporation Bank.

o The government had announced the Rs 2.11 lakh crore capital infusion
programme in October 2017.

 SEBI issues norms for raising debt finance

o On 26 November 2018, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

came out with a framework to identify listed companies that need to meet
25% of their financing needs through debt securities.

o It would be applicable to all entities that have an outstanding long-term

borrowing of Rs.100 crore or more and a credit rating of AA and above.

o The framework will come into effect from 1 April 2019.

 Hedging provision for ECBs reduced by RBI

215 | P a g e
 o On 26 November 2018, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed norms for
External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs).

o It reduced the mandatory hedge coverage from 100% to 70% under 'Track
I' of the ECB framework.

o 'Track I' refers to medium-term foreign currency-denominated ECBs with

a minimum average maturity of 3-5 years.

o This move will help reduce costs for companies that raise foreign funds.

 5% subsidy for non-basmati rice exports

o The government of India will give a subsidy of 5% for non-basmati rice

exports from 26 November 2018 to 25 March 2019.

o The move is expected to boost the exports of non-basmati rice.

o The subsidy will be given under the Merchandise Exports from India
Scheme (MEIS).

o The products include husked (brown) rice, parboiled and broken rice.

 J&K Bank made a public sector unit

o The proposal for treating J&K Bank Limited as a Public Sector

Undertaking (PSU) was approved by the State Administrative Council
(SAC).

o The bank has been brought under the purview of the Right to Information
(RTI) act, the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) guidelines, and the
State Legislature.

o The J&K Bank Ltd is the only state government-promoted bank in the
country.

 HDFC ERGO sets up remote sensing lab

o General insurance company 'HDFC ERGO General Insurance' has set up a

remote sensing lab for crop insurance.

o The lab will work on accurately assessing the risks of the insurers and will
also be able to give early warnings about the losses.
216 | P a g e
 o Remote sensing involves setting up scanning an area through the use of
satellite to get deeper information about that region.

 SEBI new rules for reclassifying a promoter

o The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has come out with new
rules for re-classification of a promoter as a public investor.

o An outgoing promoter will have to relinquish special rights as well as

control over the affairs of the listed firm.

o The promoter will not be allowed to have any representation on the board
of directors.

o They will not be allowed to hold over 10% stake.

 Bank credit grew by 14.88% & deposits by 9.13%

o According to the RBI data, bank credit rose by 14.88% to Rs 91.11 lakh
crore in the fortnight ended 9 November 2018.

o The deposits grew by 9.13% to Rs 118.25 lakh crore.

o In the previous fortnight ended October 26, 2018, credit had grown by
14.57% to Rs 90.37 lakh crore, while deposits rose by 9.01% to Rs 117.71
lakh crore.

o In September 2018, the non-food credit rose by 11.3%.

 Credit guarantee process norms changed

o The Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises
(CGTMSE) has changed norms to improve credit guarantee process for
Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE).

o It will now capture key information on the financial status of the

borrowers.

o The modification will be applicable from 1 December 2018.

o CGTMSE has been jointly set up by the government of India and SIDBI.

217 | P a g e
  HDFC disburses Rs 1,100 crore subsidy

o HDFC bank has disbursed over Rs 1,100 crore subsidy to over 51,000
customers under the government’s flagship scheme PMAY (Pradhan
Mantri Awas Yojana).

o It has provided loans of over Rs 9,800 crore under PMAY-Credit Linked

Subsidy Scheme (CLSS).'

o The loans were provided to customers belonging to EWS (Economically

Weaker Section), LIG (Low Income Group) and MIG (Middle Income
Group) category.

 SBI CAP Ventures launches SME & Housing Fund

o SBI CAP Ventures Ltd. has launched Small and Medium Enterprises
(SME) and Affordable Housing Funds.

o SBI CAP Ventures Ltd is an alternative asset manager and subsidiary of

SBI Capital Markets.

o SBI CAP SME Fund aims to raise Rs 400 crore and the Affordable Housing
Fund Rs 350 crore.

 RBI's new body to look into PCA issues

o On 19 November 2018, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Central Board

decided to constitute a 'Board for Financial Supervision' (BFS).

o BFS will examine the framework for banks under Prompt Corrective
Action (PCA).

o The Central Board also decided to constitute an expert committee to

examine the Economic Capital Framework (ECF).

 New online platform launched by NSE

o National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) launched a mobile application

and web-based platform named 'NSE goBID' on 19 November 2018.

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 o The platform will allow retail investors to invest in treasury bills (T-Bills)
of 91 days, 182 days and 364 days and various government bonds from one
year to almost 40 years.

o It will also allow investors to make payments directly from their bank
accounts.

 India’s first interactive credit card launched

o IndusInd Bank has announced the launch of 'IndusInd Bank Nexxt Credit
Card'.

o The card empowers customers with a choice of payment options such as

EMI, Reward Points or Credit at the push of a button, on the card, at the
point of sale (POS).

o The bank claims it to be the nation’s first interactive credit card with
buttons.

 Mobile banking transactions tripled in Sept

o According to the monthly data released by the Reserve Bank of India

(RBI), the number of transactions on mobile banking apps grew almost 3.5
times at 447 million in September 2018.

o The value of such transactions also grew more than 2.4 times at ₹2.07 lakh
crore.

o Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) also grew moderately in both volume

and value terms at 357 million and ₹17,700 crore.

 Exports grew by 17.86% in October 2018

o According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India's exports grew

by 17.86% to 26.98 billion dollars in October 2018.

o India's exports stood at 22.89 billion dollars in October 2017.

o The sectors which recorded healthy growth includes petroleum,

engineering, chemicals, pharma and gems and jewellery sector.

219 | P a g e
  Fitch retains rating for India at ‘BBB-minus’

o Fitch Ratings retained India’s sovereign rating at 'BBB-minus'.

o 'BBB-minus' is the lowest investment grade rating.

o Fitch forecasts India's growth to rebound to 7.3% in FY19 and 7.5% in

FY20.

o The Fitch Ratings added that a recent analysis conducted by it found that
India had the highest medium-term growth potential among the largest
emerging markets.

 Sunil Mehta panel formed 'Sashakt India AMC'

o Sunil Mehta panel has formed an Asset Management Company (AMC) for
resolving large bad loans.

o The AMC will be called as 'Sashakt India Asset Management'.

o The panel is now working towards identifying potential investors for an

Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) which will fund the AMC.

o Sunil Mehta panel is working for the faster resolution of stressed assets in
public sector banks.

 WPI inflation in October jumps to 5.28%

o Wholesale inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) stood at

5.28% in October 2018.

o Wholesale inflation in primary articles, which include food articles,

cereals, paddy, onions, food, and milk, among others, rose by 1.79% in
October 2018.

o WPI is computed by the Office of the Economic Advisor, Department of

Industrial Policy and Promotion, and Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

 Retail inflation softens to 3.31% in October

o According to the Central Statistics Office data, India’s retail inflation eased
to 3.31% in October 2018 driven by cheaper food items.

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 o The retail inflation number is the lowest since September 2017

o Vegetable prices declined by 8.06% in October 2018.

o Retail inflation, measured by Consumer Price Index (CPI), stood at 3.7%

in September 2018 and 3.58% in October 2017.

 NTPC, 3 other PSUs included in CPSE ETF

o The Finance Ministry has rearranged the Central Public Sector Enterprises
(CPSE) Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).

o It has included in the basket the scrips of four State-owned companies

NTPC, SJVN, NLC and NBCC.

o The Ministry has removed GAIL, Engineers India Ltd. (EIL) and Container
Corporation of India in the ETF basket.

 Sale of government stake in DCIL approved

o On 8 November 2018, the Cabinet Committee on Economic

Affairs approved the strategic sale of government stake in Dredging
Corporation of India Ltd (DCIL) to a consortium of four ports.

o The four ports are Vishakhapatnam Port Trust, Paradip Port Trust,
Jawahar Lal Nehru Port Trust and Kandla Port Trust.

o The government of India currently holds 73.44% in DCIL.

 RBI may set-up a digital payments ombudsman

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may set-up an ombudsman for digital
payments by March 2019 to reduce the burden on banking ombudsman.

o The number of complaints related to digital transactions has increased.

o These complaints are being handled by banking ombudsman.

o At present, RBI is in the process of creating a scheme for establishing

offices for the digital payments ombudsman.

 China to import raw sugar from India

221 | P a g e
 o India will export raw sugar to China from early 2019.

o Indian Sugar Mills Association and COFCO, a public sector company of

China have entered into a contract for exporting 15000 tonnes of raw
sugar.

o Raw sugar is the second product after non-basmati rice that China will
import from India.

o India is the largest producer of sugar in the world with 32 million tonnes
of production in 2018.

 JNPT planning to host edible oil refinery

o Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is planning to host an edible oil

refinery to maximise revenue and ensure captive cargo.

o The raw material for the refinery will be imported from abroad and a
considerable part of the finished products will be sent out through the sea.

o The port already has a liquid cargo terminal in addition to the 4 container
terminals.

o The port is situated in Maharashtra

 ECB norms for infra firms eased

o The Reserve Bank of India has liberalised the norms governing external
commercial borrowings (ECBs) for infrastructure creation.

o The minimum average maturity requirement for ECB in the infrastructure

sector has been reduced to three years from earlier five years.

o Additionally, the average maturity requirement for mandatory hedging has

been reduced to five years from earlier ten years.

 RBI imposed Rs 1 cr fine on Fino Payments Bank

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on Fino

Payments Bank for opening new accounts despite directions not to do so
until further order on 5 November 2018.

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 o This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under
the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

o Fino Payments Bank started its operations in June 2017.

 No anti-dumping duty on PTFE resin

o The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has ruled against

putting an anti-dumping duty on the imports of a synthetic fluoropolymer
from India and China.

o The fluoropolymer is a key ingredient in the non-stick coating for pans and
other cookware.

o A polymer of tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is used because of its chemical

inertness, heat resistance and electrical insulation properties.

 First overseas blockchain payment executed

o HSBC has executed India's first financial transaction using blockchain for
a deal involving an export by Reliance Industries to Tricon Energy.

o The blockchain platform integrated with Bolero’s electronic Bill of Lading

(eBL) platform to issue and manage an eBL.

o This allowed a digital transfer of the title of goods from the seller to the
buyer.

 RBI starts process to set up PCR

o The Reserve Bank has initiated steps to set up a wide-based digital Public
Credit Registry (PCR).

o PCR will capture details of all borrowers, including wilful defaulters and
also the pending legal suits in order to check financial delinquencies.

o PCR will also include data from entities like market regulator SEBI, the
Corporate Affairs Ministry and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of
India.

 Kirloskar group got RBI's nod for NBFC biz

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 o Kirloskar Capital has received a licence from the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) to start a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC).

o Kirloskar Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kirloskar Oil Engines

(KOEL).

o It will be headed by Vimal Bhandari.

o Prior to joining Kirloskar Capital, Vimal Bhandari was the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of Indostar Capital.

 RBI allowed banks to provide PCE to NBFCs

o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted banks to provide partial credit
enhancement (PCE) to NBFCs and HFCs on 2 November 2018.

o PCE will be provided to bonds issued by systematically important Non-

Banking Financial Company (NBFC) and Housing Finance Companies
(HFCs).

o The proceeds from the bonds backed by PCE from banks will be utilised
for refinancing the existing debt of the NBFC/HFCs.

 IPO timeline to be cut to 3 days

o The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has initiated the
process to reduce the timeline for public issues from the current 6 days to
3 days.

o It made mandatory for intermediaries to provide retail investors the

option of bidding through the Unified Payments Interface.

o The new guidelines would be applicable for all companies that file their
documents on or after 1 January 2019.

 GST revenue crosses Rs. 1 lakh crore

o Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections crossed the barrier of Rs.1 lakh
crore in October 2018, coming in at Rs. 1,00,710 crore.

o The collections in October 2018 were 20.8% higher than the Rs. 83,346
crore seen in October 2017.

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 o States which achieved strong growth in total taxes collected from State
assessees include Kerala (44%), Jharkhand (20%), Rajasthan (14%) and
Uttarakhand (13%).

 Axis Sec launched commodity derivatives

o Axis Securities has launched trading in commodity derivatives with the

National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) on 31 October
2018.

o In August 2018, it had launched trading in commodity derivatives with the

Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).

o Arun Thukral is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Axis
Securities.

 Core sector growth slows down 4.3%

o Growth of eight core infrastructure sectors slowed down to 4.3% in

September 2018 as production of crude oil and natural gas declined.

o Previously, the lowest growth rate was in May 2018, when the core sectors
expanded at 4.1%.

o Infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products,

fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity grew by 4.7% in September 2017.

December 2018
 PNB launches special card for Kumbh Mela
o Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched a special card for Kumbh Mela
2019.
o The bank has partnered with the Uttar Pradesh government to create a
model for digitization at Kumbh Mela 2019.
o For convenient and hassle-free transactions at these shops, the bank has
created the 'PNB Rupay' card which works even without the internet.
 RBI shortlists Wipro, TCS, 4 others for PCR
o The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shortlisted six major IT companies to set
up a digital Public Credit Registry (PCR)

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 o The IT companies are TCS, Wipro, IBM India, Capgemini Technology
Services India, Dun & Bradstreet Information Services India, and
Mindtree Ltd.
o PCR will be capturing details of all borrowers and wilful defaulters.
o It will strengthen the credit culture in the economy.
 GST Council cuts rates on 17 items, 6 services
o The Goods and Services Tax Council has cut rates on 17 items and six types
of services during its 31st meeting on 22 December 2018.
o The GST rate on cinema tickets above ₹100 was cut from 28% to 18% and
on tickets up to ₹100 from 18% to 12%.
o The Council decided that 5% GST would be levied on renewable energy
devices and parts for their manufacture.
 Govt. to infuse Rs 83,000 crore in PSBs
o The government of India will infuse Rs 83,000 crore in Public Sector
Banks (PSBs) in the next few months in the current fiscal.
o The government of India moved the proposal in Parliament for enhanced
bank recapitalisation
o The recapitalisation will enhance the lending capacity of PSBs and help
them come out of the RBI's Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework.
 RBI caps outstanding ECBs at 6.5% of GDP
o On 20 December 2018, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a cap
for outstanding stock of External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) at 6.5%
of GDP of the country.
o The outstanding stock of ECB as on 30 September 2018 was $126.29
billion.
o ECBs refer to commercial loans in the form of bank loans, securitised
instruments buyers’ credit, suppliers’ credit availed of from non-resident
lenders.
 Four banks may come out of PCA
o Four public sector banks that are under the Prompt Corrective Action
(PCA) framework of RBI, may come out of the PCA restrictions following
an improved performance.
o Four public sector banks are Bank of Maharashtra, Corporation Bank,
Allahabad Bank, and Bank of India.
o This follows a review of the performance of all 11 banks that are under the
PCA framework.
 Merger of IDFC Bank & Capital First completed

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 oIDFC Bank completed the merger process with Non-Banking Financial
Company 'Capital First' on 18 December 2018.
o After the merger, 'Capital First' has been renamed as 'IDFC First Bank'.
o V. Vaidyanathan is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of
the merged entity.
o Rajiv Lall, who was the MD & CEO of IDFC Bank, will now become part-
time non-executive Chairman of the merged entity.
 RBI scales up liquidity infusion
o The RBI will increase the amount of liquidity infusion by Rs.10,000 crore
to Rs. 50,000 crore in December 2018.
o It earlier announced that it will infuse liquidity amounting to Rs. 40,000
crore through Open Market Operations (OMO) in December 2018.
o OMO refers to the buying and selling of government securities in the open
market in order to expand or contract the amount of money in the system.

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