BANKING & FINANCIAL CURRENT AFFAIRS OCTOBER 2021

BANKING & FINANCIAL CURRENT AFFAIRS OCTOBER 2021

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) the license to register as an asset reconstruction company (ARC). The License is given under Section 3 of the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act 2002.
  • The Reserve Bank of India has granted a banking license to Unity Small Finance Bank Ltd (USFBL), which was established jointly by the Centrum Financial Services Ltd (CFSL) and Resilient Innovations Private Limited (BharatPe).
  • The Reserve Bank of India has authorized Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) to collect direct taxes on behalf of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
  • RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs.1 crore on India’s largest public lender State Bank of India (SBI). The penalty has been imposed for non-compliance with the directions contained in “RBI (Frauds classification and reporting by commercial banks and select FIs) directions 2016”.
  • The Reserve Bank of India imposed a fine of Rs.1.95 crore on the Standard Chartered Bank for failing to report a cyber-security incident within the prescribed time period, and failure to credit the amount involved in unauthorized electronic transactions. The bank was also penalized for its noncompliance of RBI’s directions on customer protection.
  • Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd (KMBL) has received approval from the government for the collection of direct & indirect taxes, like income tax, Goods and Services Tax (GST) etc., through its banking network. With this, the bank becomes the first scheduled private sector bank to receive approval after the announcement by Finance Minister allowing all banks to participate in the government-related business.
  • State Bank of India has announced the launch of SBI’s NAV-eCash card on INS Vikramaditya, the largest naval aircraft carrier of India.
  • Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched ‘6S Campaign’ under a customer outreach programme to extend financial services at a concessional rate during the festival season. The ‘6S Campaign’ denotes- Swabhiman, Samruddhi, Sampark and Shikhar, Sankalp and Swagat.
  • The private lender Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd has announced the launch of Micro ATMs across the country. Customers of all banks who possess a debit card can use a Kotak Micro ATM for key banking services such as cash withdrawals and checking account balances.
  • The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched the NPCI Tokenization system (NTS) to further enhance the safety of customers and provide a seamless shopping experience to consumers.
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) over certain specified violations, as referred in Section 26 (2) of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
  • The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has constituted a four-member “high powered advisory committee on settlement orders and compounding of offences”. The Chairman of the committee will be Vijay C Daga, retired judge of the High Court of Bombay.
  • The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has announced the creation of Rs.1,000 crore Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for FPOs (CGFTFPO), a dedicated fund for providing credit guarantees to FPOs. The fund has been launched under the trusteeship of NABSanrakshan Trustee Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NABARD.
  • Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Limited (Bharti AXA Life) has entered into a bancassurance partnership with Utkarsh Small Finance Bank to ensure distribution of life insurance products through the bank’s network across India.
  • AU Small Finance Bank (India’s Largest Small Finance Bank) has launched QR (Quick Response) Code Sound Box to boost its digital payments while making it the first bank to launch such a product. It will help small merchants to run their operations smoothly without the hassle of reading SMS every time when a customer makes a payment. It will be made available in five languages– Hindi, English, Punjabi, Gujarati and Marathi.
  • ICICI Bank has crossed the market capitalization of Hindustan Unilever to become the fifth-largest company by market value. According to BSE data, ICICI Bank’s market capitalisation (m-cap) stood at 5.83 lakh crore, just above HUL’s Rs.5.76 lakh crore.
  • The Union Bank of India (UBI) has signed a MoU with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Hyderabad to launch a 1st of its kind initiative on Cyber Security Awareness.

Economy Current Affairs

  • According to FICCI, India’s GDP is expected to grow at 9.1% in 2021-22 as the economic recovery, post the second wave of the pandemic, seems to be holding ground.
  • ICRA has revised up the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of India for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) to 9%. Earlier this rate was 8.5%.
  • The gross GST revenue collected in the month of September was 1, 17,010 crore rupees, which included a CGST component of 20,578 crores, SGST is 26,767 crore and IGST component of 60,911 crore rupees.
  • Moody’s Investors Service (Rating agency) has upgraded India’s sovereign rating outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’, on October 05, 2021, following an improvement in the financial sector and faster-than-expected economic recovery across sectors. Moody’s expects real GDP growth to average around 6% over the medium term, reflecting a rebound in activity to levels at potential as conditions normalize.
  • The World Bank has estimated India’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the current fiscal year 2021-22 to grow by 8.3% in its latest economic update for South Asia.
  • Fitch Ratings has cut India’s economic growth forecast to 8.7% for the current fiscal but raised GDP growth projection for FY23 to 10%, saying the second COVID-19 wave delayed rather than derail the economic recovery.
  • As per government data released, Retail inflation declined to 4.35% in September, mainly due to lower food prices. The Consumer Price Index-based (CPI) inflation was at 5.30% in August and at 7.27 per cent in September 2020.
  • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated the Indian economy to grow by 9.5% in 2021-22 (FY22) and 8.5% in FY23 (2022-23), in its latest World Economic Outlook report, released on October 12, 2021.

Business Current Affairs

  • Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd (RNESL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has acquired 100% shareholding of REC Solar Holdings AS (REC Group), a Chinese state-owned solar power company.
  • According to a report from the country’s premier trade body for the tech industry, the crypto industry in India has the potential to add $184 billion of economic value, in the form of investments and cost savings, by 2030. The report, entitled “Crypto Industry in India,” was published by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in conjunction with Binance-owned crypto exchange WazirX.
  • Fintech Company BharatPe, announced its entry into the ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) category with the launch of ‘postpe’. The new platform provides credit to customers to buy now, but pay later from anywhere. It provides interest-free credit limit of up to Rs.10 lakh.
  • Tata Group reclaimed “Air India airlines” nearly 60 years after it was nationalized. Tata Sons bid $180 billion for the government’s 100% stake in Air India.
  • Adani Group has took over the Jaipur International Airport from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The airport has been leased out to the group by the government of India for a period of 50 years.
  • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced an increase in its climate financing goals 2019-2030 for developing member countries (DMCs) by $20 billion to $100 billion. Earlier it was $80 billion goal for climate financing for developing countries in Asia during 2019-2030.
  • The Government of India has accorded ‘Maharatna’ status to the state-owned Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC). This gives greater operational and financial autonomy. PFC was incorporated in 1986, and it is the largest Infrastructure Finance Company in India, exclusively dedicated to Power Sector.
  • The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has launched an automated fuelling technology called “UFill”, to provide a swift, secure and smart experience to its customers at outlets by providing them with control of fuelling.
  • IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited (IndiaFirst Life), a joint venture of Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India introduced “IndiaFirst Life Saral Bachat Bima Plan”. It is a savings and protection cover plan for the entire family.
  • Reliance Industries Ltd’s Reliance Brands Ltd (RBL) and famous designer Manish Malhotra have announced a strategic partnership to acquire a 40% stake in Malhotra’s MM Styles Pvt Ltd.
  • The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of 4.99 percent of the outstanding equity share capital in HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company by private sector lender HDFC Bank. HDFC Bank will now acquire 4.99% stake for Rs 1,906 crore from the parent company Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC). HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company is a joint venture between HDFC and European insurer ERGO International AG.
  • Private sector general insurer Future Generali India Insurance (FGII) has entered into a bancassurance tie-up with the Bank of India (BoI).

See also…
BANKING & FINANCIAL CURRENT AFFAIRS SEPTEMBER 2021
Banking & Financial Current Affairs August 2021
BANK INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

 

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