1. E-Commerce Firm ________________ partnered with Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) to encourage Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises(MSMEs} to sell products online through e-commerce.
2. 31st GST Council Meeting held in New Delhi. Key Highlights are -
- Approved Creation of a __________________________ (AAAR) to conflicting decisions by several State Appellate Advance Ruling Authorities on the same issue.
- GST rates on 23 goods and services have been reduced.
- 7 Goods and 1 Service went out of 28% tax slab. Among Goods, Notable was Parts and accessories for carriages for disabled persons, on which GST was reduced from 28 % to 5 %. Among Services, GST rate on cinema tickets above INR 100 reduced from 28% to 18% and on cinema tickets upto 100 from 18% to 12%.
- Services supplied by banks to Basic Saving Bank Deposit (BSBD) account holders under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) shall be exempted.
3. Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh launched _____________________ - National Livestock Mission-EDEG Portal developed by NABARD.
- Government Launched National Livestock Mission for sustainable development of livestock sector. Under Mission’s component called Entrepreneurship Development and Employment Generation (EDEG), subsidy payment for activities related to poultry, small ruminants, pigs etc. goes directly to beneficiary’s account through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
- This Portal is developed to make the process simpler and more transparent (URL https://ensure.nabard.org), so that information related to beneficiary and processing of application can be made readily available.
4. As per Public Enterprises Survey 2017-18 -
- Top 5 Most Profitable PSUs - _____________________, ONGC, NTPC Coal India and Power Grid Corporation.
- Top 10 profitable CPSEs accounted for 61.83 % of total profit earned by all 184 profitable CPSEs.
- BSNL, Air India and MTNL incurred highest losses for 2nd consecutive year, with 52.15 % of total loss incurred by CPSEs in 2017-18.
- There were 339 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) in 2017-18, out of which 257 was in operation. Remaining 82 of CPSEs are under construction.
5. As per RBI Data, Banks swas a significant improvement in recovery of stressed assets in FY 2018, helped by Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and amendments in Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interests (SARFAESI) Act. In FY 2018, banks recovered INR 40400 crore worth of bad loans as against INR 38500 crores recovered in FY17.
- Also, As per RBIs Trends & Progress of Banking in 2017-18 report, system-wide Gross Non-Performing Assets (NPA) of banks rose to _______________________ % or at Rs 10.39 trillion in FY18 from 9.3 % a year ago.
- Share of public sector banks stood at 8.95 trillion (14.6 %), where as Private sector banks’ NPA ratio is much lower at 4.7 %.
6. Beijing based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved a ______________________ million loan for a Water Sanitation Project in Andhra Pradesh. India is second largest shareholder of Asian Infrastructure Development Bank (7.5 % Stake of India) after China (26.06%).
7. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has added 2 new currencies (Korean Won (WON) and Turkish Lira (TRY)) into list of currencies whose Rate of Exchange it notifies for purpose of conversion of foreign exchange to Indian Rupees (INR) and vice versa for assessment of imports & exports. Now, number of currencies in list has gone up to ______________________.
- South Korea and Turkey are both Important Trade partners for India as Trade between India-South Korea grew to $16.36 Billion during 2017-18 from $12.59 Billion in 2016-17 and India - Turkey trade stood at US $ 7.2 Billion during 2017-18.
- This Inclusion of 2 new currencies will facilitate trade & business by easing process of conversion of these currencies into INR and vice versa. It will also help exporters claim benefits of Merchandise Export Incentive Scheme (MEIS) easily, as rates of TKY and WON will be readily available on realization date of remittances.
8. __________________________ (CLSS) for MIG Scheme has been extended by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs by another 12 months i.e..till 31-03-2020.
- CLSS for MIG scheme, launched originally for 12 months till 31-12-2017, covered Beneficiaries of MIG seeking housing loans for construction of houses from Banks, Housing Finance Companies etc.
- Dwelling unit carpet area was revised to ‘upto 120 Sq.m’ and upto ‘150 Sq.m’ for MIG I and MIG II respectively in November 2017 and further enhanced to ‘upto 160 Sq.m’ and ‘upto 200 Sq.m’ for MIG I and MIG II respectively in June 2018.
9. Current account deficit (CAD) widened to _________________ % of GDP for July-September quarter due to higher trade deficit compared with 1.1% during same period of previous year. CAD for Previous (April-June) quarter was 2.4% of GDP or $15.9 billion.
10. ESAF small finance bank received RBI approval to operate as a scheduled bank, making it 5th scheduled bank from ___________________.
11. FMCG Firm Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) approved merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH India) through an-all equity deal, valuing GlaxoSmithKline at INR ____________________ crores.
12. Global financial Firm launched a new generation pre-payment instrument Card in partnership with Federal Bank and Mastercard. It aims to be one-stop solution that facilitates easy disbursements and payments by enterprises.
13. Government moved proposal in Parliament for enhanced bank recapitalisation outlay from 65,000 crore to ______________________ crores in current financial year, to strengthen PSU Banks. The enhanced provision is aimed at -
- Meeting regulatory capital norms
- Providing capital to better-performing PCA Banks to achieve 9% Capital to Risk-weighted Asset Ratio (CRAR); 1.875% Capital Conservation Buffer and 6% Net NPA threshold, facilitating them to come out of PCA
- Facilitating non-PCA banks that are in breach of some PCA thresholds to not be in breach
14. Central Govt. approved additional assistance from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) of 1146 crores to ___________________, which was affected by cyclone ‘Gaja’ recently. The deciding High Level Committee (HLC) was chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh ?
15. ___________________ Govt. approved 50-crore rupees to Science & Technology Innovation (STI) Fund for assistance in research and development, first such fund in India for high-end technology and innovation. Assistance up to Rs. 50-lakh will be provided to UGC and AICTE recognized central and state universities and colleges, for up to 3 years ?
16. HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company signed bancassurance tie up with ___________________, to enable distribution of HDFC ERGO’s insurance offerings to Bank's customers.
17. HDFC Group overtook ______________________ to become India’s largest business house in terms of market value. Combined market capitalisation of five listed companies from HDFC Group stood at 10.4 lakh crores, as per Bloomberg data. This is higher than 10.38 lakh crore market value of 25 listed companies of ___________.
18. _______________ completed its merged with non-banking financial company Capital First, making a new entity called IDFC First Bank, with loan asset book of 1.03 lakh crores. V Vaidyanathan is appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of new entity.
19. India and Japan signed agreement for official development assistance loan for Yen _________________ billion (INR 6666 crores approx) for 3 Projects -
- Chennai Metro Project (Phase 2) (I) for JPY 75 billion
- Program for Japan-India Cooperative Actions towards Sustainable Development Goals in India for JPY 15 billion
- Project for Dairy Development for JPY 15 billion
20. Loan Agreements signed by India in December 2018 -
- ___________________ million Loan Agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to build-up State Tourism Industry and boost visitor arrivals in Tamilnadu.
- $60 Million Loan Agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to continue financing riverbank protection works and community-based flood risk management activities in flood-prone areas along Brahmaputra River in Assam. This Tranche 2 loan is part of $120 million financing facility for Assam Integrated Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program approved by ADB in October 2010.
- $85 million loan with Manila (Philippines) based Asian Development Bank (ADB), to improve skill development eco-system in Odisha and establish an advanced skill training center named World Skill Center (WSC) in state capital Bhubaneswar.
21. Indian GDP Growth Forecasts (December 2018) -
- Crisil has cut India’s growth forecast for current fiscal (2018-19), by 10 basis points to _________________.
- Fitch Ratings, in its report- Global Economic Outlook, slashed India’s GDP growth forecast to 7.2 % for current fiscal, lower than RBI’s projection of 7.4%.
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) retained India’s growth forecast at 7.3% for current fiscal (2018-19) and 7.6% in following financial year (2019-20).
- ICICI Bank projected Indian GDP to grow at 7.2% in 2018-19 and 7.4 % in FY 2019-20.
22. Indian IT Firm _________________ will acquire seven IBM products by mid-2019 for $1.8 billion, as its biggest ever acquisition so far.
23. India’s fiscal deficit in first eight months of FY2018-19 rose to Rs 7.17 lakh crore, being _____________________ of budgeted target for current FY, breaching target of Rs 6.24 lakh crore set by government - Fiscal Deficit is difference between total revenue and total expenditure of the government. It gives indication about total borrowings required.
24. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) stated that customers would be covered under standalone compulsory personal accident (CPA) from January 1, 2019. IRDAI introduced standalone PA cover where a single PA cover can be taken for multiple vehicles.
- In September 2018, IRDAI raised minimum insurance cover for owner-driver to _____________________ lakh from 1 lakh for an annual premium of 750.
25. ________________ Small Finance Bank launched _______________ bankable Debit Card, in association with Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), designed for cricket fans and offers several related deals.
26. Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MOSPI) released revised Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for years 2005 - 06 to 2011 - 12.
- Modifying data of past years using 2011-12 as base year instead of 2004-05, Central Statistics Office (CSO) lowered GDP growth rate under UPA Government.
- GDP Data and Changes from 2004-05 Onwards -
| Assesment Year |
GDP Growth with Base Year 2011 - 12 (New Base year) |
GDP Growth with Base Year 2004 - 05 (Old Base year for Assesment years 2005 - 06 to 2010 - 11) |
| 2005 - 06 |
7.9 |
9.3 |
| 2006 - 07 |
8.1 |
9.3 |
| 2007 - 08 |
7.7 |
9.8 |
| 2008 - 09 |
3.1 |
3.9 |
| 2009 - 10 |
7.9 |
8.5 |
| 2010 - 11 |
___________________________ |
10.3 |
| 2011 - 12 |
5.2 |
6.6 |
| 2012 - 13 |
5.5 |
|
| 2013 - 14 |
6.4 |
|
| 2014 - 15 |
7.4 |
|
| 2015 - 16 |
8.2 |
|
| 2016 - 17 |
7.1 |
|
| 2017 - 18 |
6.7 |
|
- Base year is periodically revised to uncover the structural changes that have taken place in economy over time and to depict a better picture of economy through Gross Domestic Product (GDP), expenditure etc.
27. ______________________ (PCR) of Public sector banks gone up from 46.04 on March 2015 to 66.85% in September 2018, reflecting improvement in their financial health. PCR gives an indication of the provision made against bad loans from the profit generated. Higher the PCR, lower is unexposed part of bad debts.
28. ____________ Govt. decided to merge 20 District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) with State Cooperative Bank, to strengthen state’s rural credit system and facilitate farmers taking credit from cooperative banks.
29. Punjab National Bank (PNB) in collaboration with ______________ government launched a special card called PNB Rupay card, for Kumbh Mela 2019, aimed at convenient and hassle-free transactions for over 12 crore devotees.
30. _______________ Updates -
- Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)'s 5th bi-monthly Statement -
- Policy Repo Rate under Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.5 %.
- GDP growth projection for 2018-19 is retained at 7.4 %.
- Decided to reduce SLR from existing 19.5% to 18.0% in six quarterly instalments beginning January 2019.
- Monetary Policy Rates are -
- Repo Rate - 6.50 %
- Reverse Repo - 6.25 %
- Bank Rate - 6.75 %
- CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) - 4 %
- SLR(Statutory Liquidity ratio) - 19.5 % (RBI decided to reduce SLR from existing 19.5% to 18.0% in six quarterly instalments beginning January 2019)
- Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate - 6.75 %
- Allowed Bandhan Bank to open as many as 40 new branches by end of 2018, releasing restriction that was put on Bandhan bank 3 months back.
- Approved Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to use a INR 1000-crore corpus for funding microlenders, kept by SIDBI for some other purposes. SIDBI recently sought RBI’s approval for using it for microfinance sector.
- Approved merger of SBM (Mauritius) India with Its Indian Subsidiary SBM Bank (India).
- Decided to have a rule-based dynamic limit for outstanding stock of External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) at 6.5% of GDP at current market prices.
- Extended relaxation offered to banks for offering liquidity support to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) until March 31st 2019.
- To facilitate banks to lend to NBFCs / Housing Finance Corporations (HFCs), RBI allowed banks to use government securities equivalent to their outstanding credit for non-bank lenders(NBFC and HFC), in addition to outstanding credit they had, to comply with requirements of liquidity coverage index (LCR).
- Highly liquid assets that banks and financial institutions hold to meet their short-term obligations is known as LCR.
- Imposed fine of Rs 1 crore on Indian Bank for violating cyber security norms.
- Introduced ‘Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions’ to provide cost-free mechanism to redress grievances of customers related to digital transactions. Scheme will be notified by end of January 2019.
- Issued guidelines for enhancing credit discipline of large borrowers by allowing a minimum of 40% of working capital to be drawn. large borrowers with working capital of over 150 crores can draw a minimum loan component of 40% of capital. This will be effective from April 1, 2019. Also, 40 % loan component will be revised to 60 5, from July 2019.
- Launched a ‘Survey on Retail Payment Habits of Individuals', to capture payment habits of individuals in six cities Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Guwahati. Sigma Research & Consulting Pvt Ltd has been engaged to conduct fieldwork of survey.
- Made Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) code mandatory for all market transactions regulated by RBI. LEI is a 20-character unique identity code assigned to entities who are parties to a financial transaction. It excludes individuals and transactions undertaken on recognised stock exchanges. It aims to improve risk management by bettering accuracy of financial data.
- Shortlisted 6 major IT firms to set up a wide-based digital Public Credit Registry (PCR) for capturing details of all borrowers and wilful defaulters. Shortlisted Firms are TCS, Wipro, IBM India, Capgemini Technology Services India, Dun & Bradstreet Information Services India, and Mindtree Ltd.
- PCR is a digital registry of authenticated granular credit information and will work as a financial information infrastructure providing access to various stakeholders and enrich existing credit information ecosystem.
- It would be mandatory for reporting for all material events for each loan to Public Credit Registry.
- Will implement its Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) norms from April 1, 2020.
- NSFR norms were issued after Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) proposed certain reforms to strengthen global capital and liquidity regulations, after global crises since 2007, to promote more resilient banking sector.
- NSFR is defined as amount of available stable funding relative to amount of required stable funding.
31. ________________ successfully tested a new hypersonic missile dubbed “Avangard,” with speeds of more than 30000 kilometres per hour. It can fly at 20 times speed of sound and could manoeuvre up and down, to breach defence systems.
32. ___________________ approved several relaxations for start-ups in sectors like e-commerce, data analytics and bio-technology to raise funds and list them on stock exchanges. Changes include renaming the 'Institutional Trading Platform' (ITP) of start-ups’ listings as 'Innovators Growth Platform'. Other Changes include -
- Do away with requirement of at least 50 % of pre-issue capital held by qualified institutional investors.
- Do away with a cap of 25 percent holding for any person. It will ensure that investors are able to invest more than 25 percent in a start-up.
- Reduce minimum application size for share offers to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 10 lakh earlier to attract more investors to the new platform
- Do away with allocation of 75 % of net offer to institutional investors and remaining 25 % to non-institutional investors. There should be no minimum reservation for any specific category of investors.
- Retains provisions for lock-in period of entire pre-issue capital
- SEBI proposed to reduce time period from 3 years to 1 year for the company listed on the start-up platform to main board of stock exchange.
- Fixing minimum offer size at Rs 10 crore.
