1. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its Annual Report for FY 2018-19. Key Highlights (Stats as on June 30, 2019) -
- RBI sttaed that growth deceleration is cyclical downswing and not a structural slowdown.
- Balance sheet size of RBI increased by 13.42 % to Rs 41.03 lakh crore from 36.17 lakh crores an year ago.
- RBIcontingency fund, which is useful in fighting any exigency is reduced to Rs 1.96 lakh crores, after 52,000 crore excess payout to government.
- Income for 2018-19 increased by 146.59 % to Rs 1.93 lakh crore in 2018-2019. Expenditure decreased to Rs 17,045 crore, from 28,277 crore in 2017-18. Interest income grew by 44.62 % to Rs 1.06 lakh crore and other income rose to Rs 86199 crores.
- RBI’s holding of government securities grew by 57.19 per cent, from Rs 6.29 lakh crore to Rs 9.89 lakh crores.
- Year ended with an overall surplus of Rs 175987 crores as against 50000 crores in previous year.
- RBI held 618.16 metric tonnes of gold as compared to 566.23 metric tonnes as on June 30, 2018.
- After IL& FS crisis, credit flow from NBFCs to commercial sector dips 20%.
- Value of bank fraud cases increased 74%, from 41,167 crore in FY18 to 71,543 crores in FY19.
- Number of bank fraud cases rose from 5,900 in FY18 to 6,800 in FY19.
- Gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio of banking system declined to 9.1 per cent in March 2019, from 11.2 per cent in previous year.
- Currency in circulation soars _____________________ to Rs 21.10 trillion.
2. Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare released 3rd Advanced Estimate (2018-19) of Area and Production of various Horticulture Crops. Total Horticulture Production of country is estimated to be _______________ Million Tonnes, 0.69% higher than 2017-18.
3. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Merger of several Public sector Banks, aimed at minimizing administrative tasks and maximize growth and profitability-
- Merger 1 - Punjab National Bank + Oriental Bank of Commerce + United Bank
- It will create 2nd largest PSB with business of 17.95 lakh crores.
- Anchor Bank - Punjab National Bank
- Merger 2 - Canara Bank + Syndicate Bank
- It will create 4th largest PSB with business of 15.20 lakh crores.
- Anchor Bank - Canara Bank
- Merger 3 - Union Bank + Andhra Bank + Corporation Bank
- It will create 5th largest PSB with business of 14.59 lakh crores.
- Anchor Bank - Union Bank of India
- Merger 4 - Indian Bank + Allahabad Bank
- It will create 7th largest PSB with business of 8.08 lakh crores.
- Anchor Bank - Indian Bank
- Note That SBI Associate Banks were merged into SBI in May 2016 and Dena Bank and Vijaya bank were merged into Bank of Baroda in April 2019.
- PSBs that are left out of this round of mergers - Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Punjab and Sind Bank.
- After mergers, _______________________ PSBs will be functional in country.
4. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's National Statistical Office (NSO) released estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for first quarter (April-June) Q1 of 2019-20 -
- GDP growth rate came down to 6 year low of _______________ in Q1 of FY 2019-20 financial year, triggered by huge slowdown in manufacturing sector.
- GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q1 of 2019-20 is estimated at 35.85 lakh crores, as against 34.14 lakh crore in Q1 of 2018-19, showing growth rate of 5.0 %.
- Quarterly GVA at Basic Price at Constant (2011-12) Prices for Q1 of 2019-20 also shown slow growth rate of 4.9 % over corresponding quarter of previous year.
- The Q1 FY 2019-20 Growth rate is much lesser than most agencies had predicted, showing slowing down state of the economy.
- Earlier, India's GDP growth was 5.8 % in Q4 of FY 2018-19, 6.6 % in Q3, after strong growth of 7.1% in Q2 and 8.2% in Q1 of FY 2018-19. GDP Growth Rate of FY 2018-19 was 6.8 %.
5. As part of measures for mitigating genuine difficulties of Start-ups, CBDT (_______________________) has decided to form a dedicated cell headed by Member (IT &C) - Currently Pramod Chandra Mody (He is also CBDT Chairman). Cell will work towards redressal of grievances and mitigate tax-related issues in case of Start-ups.
6. Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Government e Marketplace (GeM) signed MoU with ____________________ (SIDBI) to benefit MSMEs, women entrepreneurs, Self Help Groups (SHGs), and various beneficiaries under MUDRA and Stand-up India scheme. It will enable promotion of special initiatives of GeM like Womaniya and Start-up Runway with SIDBI stakeholders.
7. Mastercard, ___________________ and Samsung India tied up for launch of Samsung Pay for Bank's credit card holders.
8. Ministry of Environment has released Rs ____________________ of CAMPA funds to various states for afforestation projects, to boost forestry activities and achieve objectives of Nationally-Determined Contributions (NDCs) of increasing forest and tree cover.
9. 4th Advance Estimates of production of major crops for 2018-19 released by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare -
- Foodgrains – _______________ million tonnes.
- Rice – 116.42 million tonnes. (record)
- Wheat – 102.19 million tonnes (record)
- Nutri / Coarse Cereals – 42.95 million tonnes.
- Maize – 27.23 million tonnes.
- Pulses – 23.40 million tonnes.
- Gram – 10.13 million tonnes.
- Tur – 3.59 million tonnes.
- Oilseeds – 32.26 million tonnes.
- Soyabean – 13.79 million tonnes
- Rapeseed and Mustard – 9.34million tonnes
- Groundnut – 6.69 million tonnes
- Cotton – 28.71 million bales (of 170 kg each)
- Sugarcane – 400.16 million tonnes (record)
- As per Fourth Advance Estimates for 2018-19, total Foodgrain production in country is estimated at 284.95 million tonnes which is higher by 19.20 million tonnes than the previous five years’ (2013-14 to 2017-18) average production of foodgrain.
10. A joint venture company named _________________(KABiL) has been set up with participation of 3 Central Public Sector Enterprises - National Aluminium Company Limited, Hindustan Copper Limited and Mineral Exploration Company limited. KABIL will ensure supply of critical Minerals to Indian domestic market. Equity participation between NALCO, HCL and MECL is in ratio of 40:30:30.
11. Amazon will acquire ________________ stake in Kishore Biyani-led Future Coupons Ltd for an undisclosed amount.
12. As a mesaure for businesses to solve pre-GST disputes with tax authorities, Govt. notified Sabka Vishwas-Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme 2019. It will be operationalized from September 2019 and will continue till _____________ .
- 2 main components of Scheme are dispute resolution and amnesty. Dispute resolution is aimed at liquidating legacy cases of Central Excise and Service Tax that are subsumed in GST and are pending in litigation at various forums. Amnesty Scheme offers an opportunity to taxpayers to pay the outstanding tax and be free of any other consequence under the law.
- Scheme provides substantial relief in tax dues for all categories of cases as well as full waiver of interest, fine, penalty.
13. As per Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2017-18 by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), _______________ of India’s skilled youth are jobless. Nearly a third of trained young men and more than a third of trained young women were unemployed.
14. As per LinkedIn’s fourth edition of Top Companies list for India 2019 -
- Top 5 best workplaces in India - ____________________, Amazon, OYO, One97 Communications, Uber.
15. As per report Top 100 Retailers in Asia 2019 by market research firm Euromonitor International -
- Walmart, which acquired Flipkart in 2018($16 Bn deal) topped rankings in India for 2018 with Gross Merchandise Volume(GMV) of _______________ Billion. Amazon is 2nd with $9.8 Bf GMV followed by Future Group with $3.8Bn GMV(3rd position) and Reliance 4th ($3.6 Bn).
16. AustralianSuper and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan will invest $1 billion each in the __________________________ (NIIF) Master Fund. The agreements include commitments of $250 million each in the Master Fund and co-investment rights of up to $750 million each in future opportunities alongside Fund.
- NIIF is India’s first sovereign wealth fund that was set up by the Government of India in February 2015. It manages over $4 billion of capital commitments across three funds.
- Fund invests in equity capital in core infrastructure sectors in India with a focus on transportation, energy and urban infrastructure.
17. ____________ partnered with multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered Bank to provide co-branded credit cards, with credit period upto 52 days.
18. ________ acquihired Pikup.ai, an Artificial Intelligence startup based in Bengaluru. In Acquihiring, staff of target company joins acquiring firm.
Also, Grexter Living, Bengaluru based co-living services startup has acquihired i2Stay, which will expand the scale of operations of the combined entity and also enable it to move into newer cities.
19. __________ launched India’s first one-time password (OTP) facility for ATM withdrawals. The OTP will be activated for cash withdrawals over Rs.10,000 per day at its ATMs to protect its cardholders from unauthorized withdrawal.
20. _________________ Updates -
- Annnounced that a Document Identification Number (DIN) will be allotted to all communications made by tax department to assessees, for better taxpayer services and accountability in official dealing.
- Notified that small startups with a turnover of up to Rs 25 crore will continue to get the promised tax holiday as specified in Section 80-IAC of Income Tax (IT) Act 1961. It provides a deduction for 100% of income of an eligible startup for 3 years out of 7 years from the year of its incorporation.
- Enhanced Monetary limits for filing of appeals by Income Tax Department, To effectively reduce taxpayer grievances and help Department focus on litigation involving complex legal issues and high tax effect.
Appellate Forum |
Existing Monetary Limit(Rs.) |
Revised Monetary Limit(Rs.) |
Before Income Tax Appellate Tribunal |
20,00,000 |
50,00,000 |
Before High Court |
50,00,000 |
1,00,00,000 |
Before Supreme Court |
1,00,00,000 |
2,00,00,000 |
21. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman anounced several measures to boost economy, amid suspected slow down in economic growth. Key points
- INR ____________________________ crores capital to be provided to public sector banks, to boost lending and improving liquidity situation.
- Surcharge on long and short term capital gains arising from transfer of equity shares has been withdrawn, which was announced in Budget 2019-20. FPIs have pulled out Rs 23,000 crore from domestic equities in July and August, as Budget proposal to levy a surcharge on higher tax-income groups affected 40 per cent of FPIs. It made investment in Indian equities unattractive.
- To revive struggling Auto Sector -
- BS IV vehicles bought before 31st March 2020 will remain operational for their full period of registration.
- Hiking one time registration fees has been deferred till June 2020.
- Ban on purchase of vehicles by government departments has been lifted, allowing additional 15 per cent depreciation, taking it to 30 per cent, on vehicles acquired from now till March 2020.
- Banks will pass on RBI rate cut benefits to borrowers through MCLR reduction. Banks will launch repo rate and external benchmark-linked loan products that will lead to reduced easy monthly installments for housing, vehicle and other retail loans.
- As a major relief to entrepreneurs and startups, 'angel tax' provision will be withdrawn for startups and their investors. Angel tax has been a major issue among entrepreneurs and in startup ecosystem.
- MSMEs to get all their pending GST refunds within 30 days. Also, all GST refunds of MSMEs will be paid within 60 days from date of application.
- Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) will be permitted to use the Aadhaar based bank mandated KYC (Know Your Customer) to avoid repeating the process for customers. It will simplify process of availing credit.
- To boost credit support for purchase of houses, National Housing Bank (NHB) will offer additional liquidity support of Rs 20,000 crore to housing finance companies (HFCs). This will increase total liquidity support to Rs 30,000 crores.
22. Foreign exchange and remittances marketplace BookMyForex.com launched a co-branded Multi-Currency Forex Travel-card in partnership with ______________ and Visa to offer a seamless experience to Indian overseas travellers.
23. Government issued a scheme named Partial Credit Guarantee offered by Government of India (GoI) to Public Sector Banks (PSBs) for purchasing high-rated pooled assets from financially sound Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs)/Housing Finance Companies (HFCs).
- Scheme would enable public sector banks (PSBs) to purchase pooled assets of financially sound NBFCs amounting to Rs. one lakh crore.
- Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget Speech for Union Budget 2019-20 had made the announcement to support fundamentally sound Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in getting continued funding from banks.
- Anouncement said - For purchase of high-rated pooled assets of financially sound NBFCs, amounting to a total of Rupees One lakh crore during the current financial year, Government will provide one time six months’ partial credit guarantee to Public Sector Banks for first loss of up to 10%.
- Window for one-time partial credit guarantee offered by Govt. will open from date of issuance of Scheme for period of six months, or till such date by which Rupees One lakh crore assets get purchased by banks, whichever is earlier.
- One-time guarantee provided by Govt. on pooled assets will be valid for 24 months and can be invoked on occurrence of default.
- Eligible NBFCs/HFCs (as on as on 31-03-2019) -
- CRAR of NBFCs/CAR of HFCs should not be below regulatory minimum (i.e. 15% for NBFCs and 12% for HFCs) as on 31-3-2019.
- Non-Performing Asset should not be more than 6% .
- Micro Finance Institutions and Core Investment Companies are not covered under the Scheme.
- NBFCs/HFCs can sell up to a maximum of 20% of their standard assets subject to a cap of Rs. _________________ at fair value. Any additional amount above ______________ will be considered on pro rata basis. Individual asset size in pool is capped at Rs. 5 crore.
- NBFCs/HFCs will pay a fee equivalent to 0.25% per annum of the fair value of assets being purchased by bank under this Scheme to GoI.
24. Gross GST revenue collected in July 2019 remained INR _______________ crores (CGST -17,912 crore, SGST - 25,008 crore, IGST - 50,612 crore and Cess is 8551 crores).
25. Housing sector regulator National Housing Bank (NHB) opened a liquidity infusion facility of Rs._______________ crore for Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) to improve liquidity in sector, to boost lending and accelerate growth of Stressed NBFC Sector.
26. In its 3rd Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting, RBI reduced policy repo rate by _____________ basis points (bps).
- Repo rate under liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) was reduced from 5.75% to 5.40%, lowest since April 2010.
- Reverse repo rate revised to 5.15% (from 5.50%).
- Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and Bank Rate revised to 5.65% (From 6 %).
- RBI has also reduced GDP growth Projection for 2019-20 from 7% to 6.9%.
- Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is 4 % and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) is 18.75 % (will update on October 12, 2019).
- RBI Monetary Police Committee is headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das with members – Ravindra H. Dholakia, Michael Debabrata Patra, Bibhu Prasad Kanungo, Chetan Ghate and Pami Dua.
- RBI also stated to make available National Electronic Funds Transfer system on a 24x7 basis from December 2019 as per the Payment System Vision 2021 document.
27. Indian GDP Growth Forecasts (August 2019) -
- Ratings agency CRISIL has cut its forecast for India's GDP growth by 20 basis points for FY 2019-20 to 6.9% from 7.1%.
- As per _____________________ (NCAER), India’s GDP growth will be 6.2% in FY 2019-20, down from 6.8% in 2018-19. The decline in estimation was due to flat growth in the agriculture sector as it depends largely on the south-west monsoon.
- Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) slashed India’s GDP growth forecast expected to grow by 6.2 % in FY 2019-20, from 6.5% earlier, amid sluggish domestic demand, and slowing down of Industry figures. ANZ also downgraded forecast for FY 2020-21 to 6.5% from 7.1% earlier.
- Moody’s Investors Service reduced India’s GDP growth forecast for 2019 calendar year to 6.2% from the previous estimation of 6.8%.
- India’s economy will grow at a median rate of 6% during first quarter of FY 2019-20, as per a FICCI report. In same Quarter an year earlier, economy grew at 8.2%.
- India Ratings and Research has revised its projection of India’s GDP growth in the financial year 2019-20 to 6.7%, from 7.3% earlier.
28. _______________________ Govt. announced to waive off loans taken from non-licensed money-lenders by tribals living in 89 scheduled villages in Chhindwara, to make tribals debt-free. Government will also provide tribals with debit cards. Through this, they can withdraw up to Rs 10,000 from ATMs installed at weekly markets.
- State Government also announced “Mukhyamantri Madad Yojna” for providing assistance to tribal families on childbirth and death of a family member. Under this, tribal family will get 50 kg of rice/wheat, on birth of a child. In case of death, 100 kg of rice or wheat and utensils for cooking food would be given.
29. ___________ Updates -
- Approved $200 million loan for improving road infrastructure in 34 districts of Maharashtra to connect rural areas with markets and services. The total cost of the project is $296 million.
- Signed agreement to invest $23 million in non-convertible debentures(NCD) being issued by GRIL (GR Infraprojects Limited), to support road sector investment plans of India. This will promote GIRL’s ability for construction of roads and highways in India through purchase of new building equipment.
30. Mastercard, _________________
and Samsung India tied up for launch of Samsung Pay for _______________ credit card holders, enabling card holders to make contactless mobile payments using their Samsung Pay-enabled phones.
Also, ___________ and digital healthcare platform Practo partnered to launch an industry first co-branded health credit card, powered by Mastercard.
31. Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Government e Marketplace (GeM) signed MoU with _________________________ (SIDBI) to benefit MSMEs, women entrepreneurs, Self Help Groups (SHGs), and various beneficiaries under MUDRA and Stand-up India scheme. It will enable promotion of special initiatives of GeM like Womaniya and Start-up Runway with SIDBI stakeholders.
32.Ministry of _____________
- Amended Companies (Share Capital & Debentures) Rules by removing Debenture Redemption Reserve requirement for Listed Companies, NCFCs and HFCs. Provisions relating to creation of Debenture Redemption Reserve (DRR) have been revised for -
- Removing requirement for creation of a DRR of 25% of value of outstanding debentures in respect of listed companies, NBFCs registered with RBI and for HFCs registered with National Housing Bank (NHB) both for public issue as well as private placements.
- Reduction in DRR for unlisted companies from present 25% to 10% of outstanding debentures.
- Till now, Listed Companies had to create a DRR for both Public Issue as well as Private Placement of Debentures, while NBFCs & HFCs had to create DRR only when they opted for Public Issue of Debentures. It is aimed at creating a level-playing field between NBFCs, HFCs and listed companies’ on one hand and also between them and Banking Companies & All India Financial Institutions on other, which are already exempted from DRR.
- Amended provisions relating to issue of shares with Differential Voting Rights (DVRs) under Companies Act 2013, to help startups by enabling promoters of Indian companies to retain control of their companies, even they raise equity capital from global investors.
- Raising equity capital from global investors with DVR shares now making up to 74% of total voting rights instead of existing 26%.
- Requirement of distributable profits for 3 years period has removed for a company to be eligible to issue shares with DVR.
33. Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will launch ___________________________ portal e-commerce marketing platform, on lines of e-commerce behemoths such as Alibaba and Amazon. It will provide platform for MSMEs to market and sell their products and boost the sector.
- MSME sector contributes nearly 29% to manufacturing segment and 40% to exports. Government aims to increase contribution of MSMEs in manufacturing sector to 50% in 5 years.
34. Mumbai based Fynd, a Google-backed firm that connects retailers with online stores and consumers, has been acquired by _____________, which will own 87.6% stake in Fynd, valued approx 295 crore INR.
35. ____________ government unveiled ‘State Small Savings Incentive Scheme‘ for the calendar year 2019 under the notation “AQ” series. It aims to stop people from transacting with ‘suspicious’ non-banking private financial institutions.
- Any eligible person who deposits minimum amount INR 2000 in any Small Savings Schemes during 2019 can obtain a free web-based coupon from designted offices.
- A state-level lucky draw of the scheme will be held on April 26, 2020, in which the people can win cash award as an incentive for their habit of thrift. First prize will be Rs 5 lakh.
36. PNB Housing Finance raised fresh equity of Rs _____________ ($75 million) as External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) of Singapore.
37. Payments startup EnKash launched India’s first corporate credit card called ‘________________’ for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups, which will enable availing credit facility for immediate needs and to manage liquidity of startups.
38. Postal department will convert India Post Payments Bank into a __________________, enabling it to provide micro credit at the doorsteps to individuals and SME's. Payments Banks are commercially unviable due to too many regulatory restrictions on operating procedures.
39. RBI accepted recommendation of Expert Committee to Review Extant Economic Capital Framework of RBI, headed by former RBI Governor ____________________, for transferring INR 176051 crores to government.
- It comprises of Rs 123414 crore of surplus for 2018-19 and 52637 crore of excess provisions as per revised Economic Capital Framework (ECF). Since 2013, RBI has been paying 99% of its disposable income to government. Other recommendations of committee Include -
- Committee recommended to maintain RBI’s Contingency Risk Buffer (CRB), as India’s fund to handle a financial stability. It was recommended to be maintained between 5.5% to 6.5% of RBI’s balance sheet, which is above available level of 2.4% as on June 2018.
- Panel recommended that revised economic capital framework, under which RBI decided to transfer Rs 52,637 crore excess provisions to government, be reviewed every 5 years.
- RBI accounting year (July-June) may be brought in sync with fiscal year (April to March) from FY year 2020-21, to reduce need for interim dividend being paid by the RBI.
- It has recommended a surplus distribution policy which targets not only the total economic capital (as per extant framework) but also realised equity level of RBI’s capital. It will help bring about greater stability of surplus transfer to Government.
- There will be no transfer of unrealised valuation buffers. These will be used as risk buffers against market risks. Interim dividend to the government may be paid only under exceptional circumstances.
- It recommended adopting Expected Shortfall (ES) methodology in place of extant Stressed-Value at Risk for measuring market risk on which there was growing consensus among central banks as well as commercial banks over the recent years.
- Central banks are seen to be adopting ES at 99% confidence level (CL). Committee recommended adoption of a target of ES 99.5% CL and a range defined between target and downward risk tolerance of 97.5% (both under stress conditions).
40. ___________________ Updates -
- Allowed Bank of China to offer regular banking services in India, Including Bank of China Limited in 2nd Schedule of RBI Act 1934.
- Asked banks not to count failed transactions at ATMs due to technical reasons, as part of “free ATM transactions”, which are permitted every month.
- Barred both deposit-taking and non- deposit taking NBFCs (Non-Banking Finance Companies) from charging pre-payment /foreclosure charges on any floating rate term loans sanctioned for purposes other than business to individual loan borrowers.
- Earlier, it barred commercial banks from charging such penalties from individual borrowers with mortgage loans in May 2014.
- Extended timeline for conversion of minimum detail Prepaid Payment Instruments to KYC-compliant PPIs from 18 months to 24 months.
- Extended timings of Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) transactions by an hour from 7 AM instead of 8 AM with effect from August 26, 2019. RTGS was earlier available for customer transactions from 8 AM to 6 PM and for inter-bank transactions from 8 AM to 7.45 PM.
- _______________had decided to allow National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) services to be active 24×7 from December 2019 from the current timings of 8.00 am to 7.00 pm on all working days.
- Imposed collective penalty of Rs 11 crore on 7 public sector banks, for non-compliance with certain RBI directions related to 'Code of Conduct for Opening and Operating Current Accounts.
- Allahabad Bank and Bank of Maharashtra have been imposed with a penalty of Rs 2 crore each.
- Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and United Bank of India have been imposed with a penalty of Rs 1.5 crore each.
- Oriental Bank of Commerce has been imposed with a penalty of Rs 1 crore.
- RBI has also imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on Corporation Bank for non-compliance of norms related to cyber security framework for banks, frauds classification and reporting.
- Issued final draft enabling framework for regulatory sandbox (RS) for fintech startups, enabling them to set up their own regulatory sandbox for live testing of innovative products in the areas of retail payments, digital KYC(Know your customer) and wealth management. It will be for firms that have minimum net worth of INR 25 lakh.
- RS refers to live testing of new products/services in a secure &controlled regulatory environment, where the regulators can allow certain regulatory relaxations for the limited purpose of the testing.
- It also permits carrying out field tests so that benefits and risks of emerging financial innovations can be evaluated.
- Concept of Regulatory Sandbox was proposed by a committee headed by Sudarshan Sen, former executive director of RBI.
- Issued guidelines on Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) for Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to Fisheries and Animal Husbandry farmers during 2018-19 and 2019-20.
- Apart from existing KCC holders for crop loans, farmers involved in activities related to Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, through a separate KCC will get at concessional interest rate of 7% during 2018-19 and 2019-20 for short loan up to 2 lakh.
- Interest subvention is available for animal husbandry and fisheries farmers at the rate of 2% per annum at time of disbursal of loan.
Additional interest subvention of 3% per annum will be given for timely repayment.
- Interest subvention & prompt repayment incentive benefits will be available only on an overall limit of 3 lakh per annum on availing short term loan.
- Permitted all categories of billers (except prepaid recharges), who provide for recurring bill payments to participate in BBPS (Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) on a voluntary basis. Presently, BBPS covers billers in 5 segments including DTH(Direct-to-Home), electricity, gas, telecom, and water bills.
- Permitted processing of e-mandate on credit and debit cards for recurring transactions (merchant payments), with maximum limit of INR 2000. While processing first transaction in e-mandate-based recurring transaction series, additional factor authentication (AFA) validation should be performed.
- It is applicable for transactions performed using all types of cards - debit, credit and Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs), including wallets.
- Tightened fit-and-proper criteria for directors on boards of state-run Public Sector Banks (PSBs), to determine ‘fit and proper’ status of person to be eligible to be elected as a director on PSBs. It has for the first time, laid down exhaustive list for the disqualification of directors.
- PSBs are required to constitute Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) consisting of minimum of three non-executive directors from amongst board of directors. Centre’s nominee director shall not be part of the NRC. Elected director shall hold office for 3 years.
- Several other conditions have been laid out by RBI.
- Will set up a "Central Payment Fraud Registry", to track frauds in payment systems. Under this registry, payment system participants will be provided access to it for near-real time fraud monitoring. The aggregated fraud data will be published to educate customers on emerging risks. Currently, banks report all banking frauds to the Central Fraud Monitoring Cell of RBI.
- Approved Scheduled bank status for Bengaluru Based Jana Small Finance Bank, which now has over 260 branches.
41. Registration for PM Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana began, as newly launched old age pension Scheme aimed at improving livelighoods of small and marginal farmers.
- Scheme is for farmers aged 18 to 40 years and a monthly pension of Rs. __________________ will be provided to them on attaining the age of 60 years.
- The farmers will have to make a monthly contribution of Rs.55 to Rs.200, depending on their age of entry. Government will also make an equal contribution of the same amount in the pension fund.
- Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) shall be the Pension Fund Manager and responsible for Pension pay out.
42. Relaxing bank lending norms to Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), RBI allowed banks on lending through NBFCs (other than MFIs- Microfinance Institutions) to Agriculture, MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) and affordable housing to be treated as priority sector lending for banks.
- Banks have been allowed on-lending to agriculture (investment credit) up to Rs.__________________, MSMEs up to Rs. 20 lakh and housing up to Rs.20 lakh per borrower (increased from Rs.10 lakh) to be classified as priority sector lending.
- RBI also eased bank’s exposure limits to help NBFC sector under stress. It has raised bank’s exposure limit to a single NBFC to 20% of Tier-I capital of bank against 15% earlier.
43. SBI Life Insurance and Indian Bank have signed a _____________ pact to offer holistic financial planning solutions to Bank’s customers.
- Indian Bank also signed similar agreement with Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Ltd.
- Axis Bank signed similar agreement with health insurer Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co Ltd (ABHICL).
- Karur Vysya Bank signed a similar agreement with General insurance company Digit Insurance.
- Indian Bank signed similar Tie up with Tata AIG General Insurance.
44. ______________ approved Singapore Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India to operate jointly in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, Gandhinagar. The two entities will create a new platform for trading called NSE International Financial Service Centre (IFSC)-SGX Connect.
45. Saudi Arabia’s oil firm Saudi Aramco will accquire ______________ stake of Reliance Industries’s oil and chemicals business for about $15 billion (approx Rs 1.06 lakh crores).
- As part of deal, Aramco will supply 700,000 barrels per day on a long-term basis of crude oil to Reliance’s twin refineries(Reliance & petrochemical complex) at Jamnagar in Gujarat, which has capacity of 68.2 million tonnes per annum.
- Reliance also announced launch of Jio Fiber, its promising optical fibre-based service that was announced last year. It will provide broadband speeds upto 1GBPS, along with a bundled landline connection and DTH Service. Commercial launch of jio Fiber will begin from Sep 5, 2019.
46. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) relaxed compliance requirements for _________________ (FPI).
- Relaxed norms for Municipal bonds to help smart cities and other registered entities working in areas of city planning and urban development work.
- SEBI decided to simplify KYC requirements for FPIs as well as broad based criteria for them. Also, FPIs would be classified into 2 categories instead of 3.
- SEBI will amend its regulations for credit rating agencies to ensure that any listed or unlisted entity, before getting rated, gives an explicit consent to agencies for obtaining full details about borrowings from their lenders.
- SEBI would permit startups move from Innovators Growth Platform of stock exchanges to main board, provided that such entities have a shareholder base of at least 200.
- SEBI will reward informants with up to Rs 1 crore cash for any credible information about Insider Trading. These benefits would only be available to individuals and corporates. Professionals like auditors would not be able to use this route.
- To safeguard interests of investors, mutual fund houses would be asked to shift all their investments to listed or to-be-listed equity and debt securities in a phased manner as well as reduce their exposure to unrated debt instruments from 25% to 5%.
- SEBI eased its norms for buyback of shares by listed companies, especially those having subsidiaries in housing finance and NBFC sectors. Buyback offer cannot exceed 25% of aggregate paid-up capital and free reserves of company, also shareholders’ approval is required for size over 10%.
- SEBI will allow route for other structures where a group of municipalities pool their resources together to jointly raise funds through issuance of bonds. These are generally called Pooled Finance Development Funds.
- In case of private placements, minimum subscription amount per investor is currently Rs 25 lakh, which is being proposed to be reduced to Rs 10 lakh to align it with regulations for corporate bonds.
47. ______________ based Financial firm DBS Bank tied up with Social Alpha, the non-profit start-up incubator to mentor & support start-ups focusing including inclusion, healthcare, and the environment in India, over next 18 months.
48. __________________ (SIDBI) partnered with Incuspaze Solutions Private Limited (Incuspaze) to open a first-of-its-kind co-working space named @Workspaze, exclusively designed for MSMEs and startups.
49. ___________________ 's Shanghai branch got connected to China's National Advance Payment System (CNAPS), making it only Indian bank to have obtained license to do business in local currency in China and also inducted to CNAPS by People's Bank of China (PBOC).
- CNAPS, launched in 2008 by People's Bank of China (PBOC) provides real-time settlement services for all payments.
