Current Affairs - August 2019 to January 2020

Month January 2020 Type Banking and Economy

371 Current Affairs were found in Last Six Months for Type - Banking and Economy

(Showing 314 Important Ones)

Economy

1. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman notified that 2% Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on cash payments above Rs 1 crore made through

Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) will be exempted, from October 1, 2019. This is aimed to discourage cash transactions

and move towards a less-cash economy.

Government also gave 15 percentage points additional depreciation rate to commercial vehicles, taking it to 45 %, available for

vehicles bought between August 23 and March 31 in current financial year.

2. Government approved a capital infusion of Rs 9,300 crore in Troubled IDBI Bank. Government (49% stake) will give Rs 4,557 crore,

while 4,743 crore will be given by LIC (51% stake).

After LIC acquired controlling 51% stake in IDBI Bank in January 2019, RBI placed IDBI Bank in category of private sector bank.

3. India signed $206 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB), to develop water supply and sewerage infrastructure in

5 cities of Tamil Nadu and strengthen capacities of urban local bodies (ULBs) for improved service delivery. This is 2nd project loan for

ADB-supported $500 million multi-tranche financing for Tamil Nadu Urban Flagship Investment Programme approved in September

2018.

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 5% 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. New India Assurance company signed inter-creditor agreements (ICAs) for debt exposure to debt instruments of Reliance Home Finance

and Dewan Housing Finance. This is first such instance of an insurance company entering into ICAs for debt resolution.

6. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) mandated other telecom operators to pay 6 paise per minute for every mobile call they

receive on their networks or interconnect usage charges (IUC) till 31 December, 2020.

Rate was reduced from 14 paise to 6 paise from 1st October 2017 and was proposed to zero from 1st January 2020. Now after this

extension, from 1st January 2021, the charges of wireless to wireless calls will be made zero as proposed by TRAI.

7. Competition Commission of India Approvals -

Approved merger of BNP Paribas (BNPP) Mutual Fund and Baroda (BOB) Mutual Fund. It proposes to amalgamate BOB Asset

Management Company (AMC) into BNPP AMC and BNPP Trustee Company (TC) into BOB TC.

Approved investment in Ecom Express Private Limited (Ecom) by CDC Group plc. CDC is a Development Finance Institution, owned

by DFID, UK Government, which provides capital to private sector entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Approved acquisition of shareholdings in Mumbai International Airport Limited by Adani Properties from Bid Services Division

(Mauritius) Limited and ACSA Global Limited. It relates to acquisition of 23.5 % equity stake of MIAL by APPL from BSDA and

ACSA.

Approved secondary acquisition in Delhivery Private Limited (DPL) by SVF Doorbell (Cayman) Ltd. (SVFD). After this, SVFD will

hold up approx 25.72% of DPL.

Approved acquisition of the ‘Plates & Coils Mill Division’ of Welspun Corp by Laptev Finance.

Approved acquisition of 4.94% shareholding in Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) by Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) and

acquisition of 0.24% shareholding in TMC by SMC. TMC and SMC are both Japan based.

Approved Amazon's proposed Rs 1,500 crore deal to acquire 49 % stake in Future Coupons Ltd (FCL), a Future Retail promoter

group company.

Approved acquisition of 37.40% stake and joint control of Adani Gas Limited by Total Holdings SAS. Total Holdings, is parent

company of the Total group entities worldwide.

Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery will acquire Siemens’ 49 % stake in Primetals Technologies. Following closing, MHMM will

assume sole control of Primetals Technologies.

8. World’s largest index compiler, Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) added 8 stocks and deleted 6 from India index.

Additions include Berger Paints, DLF, HDFC AMC, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, Indraprastha Gas, Info Edge, SBI Life,

Siemens India.

Deleted Stocks included BHEL, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Indiabulls Housing Finance, L&T Finance, Vodafone Idea and Yes Bank.

9. 15th Finance Commission submitted its report for FY 2020-21 to President Ram Nath Kovind. It was constituted in November 2017

under Article 280 of Constitution. At that time, It was mandated to give recommendations for 1st April 2020 – 31st March 2025.

Earlier in November 2019, Govt. Approved 15th FC to submit first report for first FY 2020-21 and to extend tenure of 15th FC to

provide for presentation of final report covering FYs 2021-22 to 2025-26 by 30th October, 2020.

Extension will enable it to examine various comparable estimates for financial projections in view of reforms and the new realities to

finalise its recommendations for 2020-2026.

15th FC was constituted in November 2017, to give recommendations for devolution of taxes and other fiscal matters for 5 years,

commencing 1 April 2020.

Commission's chairman is N. K. Singh, with members being Ajay Narayan Jha, Ashok Lahiri and Anoop Singh. Commission also has

a part-time member in Ramesh Chand. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also earlier served as a member.

10. 2 Indian private sector Banks Axis Bank and ICICI Bank will close their operations in Sri Lanka, after Central Bank of Sri Lanka permitted

to do so.

11. 3 regional rural Govt owned banks in UP - Baroda Uttar Pradesh Grameen Bank, Kashi Gomti Samyut Gramin Bank and Purvanchal Bank

will be amalgamated on April 1, 2020 into a single regional rural bank which will be called Baroda UP Bank, with headquarters at

Gorakhpur.

12. 37th GST Council Meeting Held in Panaji (Goa) under Chairmanship of F inance & Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Key

Recommendations Include -

Goods -

GST Council recommends lower 12% cess on 1,500 cc diesel, 1,200 cc petrol vehicles with capacity to carry up to 13 people..

Rate levied on cut and polished semi precious stones has been dropped from 3% to 0.25%. Jewellery exports to now attract

zero GST.

Reduction in GST rates -

Goods Original Rate Reduced rate (new)

Parts of Slide Fasteners 18% 12%

Marine Fuel 0.5% (FO) 18% 5%

Wet Grinders(consisting of stone as a grinder) 12% 5%

Dried tamarind & Plates and cups made up of leaves/ flowers/bark 5% Nil

Cut and polished semi- precious stones 3% 0.25%

Specified goods for petroleum operations undertaken under Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy (HELP) 5%

Exemptions from GST/ IGST -

Imports of specified defence goods not being manufactured indigenously (upto 2024).Supply of goods and services to FIFA (International Federation of Association Football ) and other specified persons fororganizing the Under-17 Women’s Football World Cup 2020 in India.Supply of goods and services to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for specified projects in India.

Increase in GST rates -

GoodsOriginalRate

Increased rate (new)

Goods falling under chapter 86 of tariff like railway wagons, coaches, rolling stock (without refund of accumulatedITC-Indian Tariff Code)

5% 12%

Caffeinated Beverages 18%28% + 12% compensationcess

Services -

GST Rates Reduced on Hospitality Services - NIL (Under 1000), 12 % (1001 - 7500), 18 % (Above 7500)

BANGLA SHASYA BIMA crop insurance scheme of West Bengal Government has been exempted from GST.

Group insurance schemes for paramilitary forces under the Home Affairs ministry to be exempted from GST.

13. 4th Advance Estimates of production of major crops for 2018-19 released by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers

Welfare -

Foodgrains – 284.95 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.

14. 5th RBI Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee Review -

Monetary Policy Rates -

Repo Rate - 5.15 %

Reverse Repo - 4.90 %

Bank Rate - 5.40 %

CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) - 4 %

SLR(Statutory Liquidity ratio) - 18.75 % (RBI decided to reduce SLR from to 18.0% in six quarterly instalments beginning

January 2019)

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate - 5.40 %

RBI revised GDP growth Forecast for 2019-20 downwards to 5%, from 6.1% in October Monetary Policy Review.

Monetary Policy Committee is responsible for fixing the benchmark interest rate in India, meets 4 times a year. Itcomprises six

members - 3 RBI officials and 3 external members nominated by Government. Governor of RBI (Shashikanta Das Currently) is

chairperson of MPC.

15. 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.

16. Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal launched Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) in New Delhi, developed

on pattern of US Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) system. SIMS will provide advance information about steel imports to

Government and stake holders, to have effective policy interventions.

17. Memorandum of Agreement signed between Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and State Bank of India (SBI), in which, SBI

would provide e-payment services directly to bank accounts of all ESIC beneficiaries and payees without any manual intervention as an

integrated and automated process.

18. A joint venture company named Khanij Bidesh India limited (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.

19. AI Powered National Stock Exchange (NSE) knowledge Hub inaugurated in New Delhi, to assist insurance, banking and financial

services. Learning modules in the hub will help in understanding the stock exchange and its functioning better.

20. According to RBI Consumer Confidence Survey 2019, the consumer confidence has dipped to a six-year low, due to decline in

employment, income and discretionary spending. Current Situation Index fell to 89.4 whereas it was 95.7 in July 2019.

21. According to an RBI Report, current account deficit (CAD) decreased to 0.9 % of gross domestic product (GDP) or $6.3 billion in July-

September 2019 quarter due to economic slowdown that helped country improve its export and import balance sheet.

It was 2.9 % of GDP or $19 billion in corresponding quarter of 2018-19. Reduction in CAD is primarily due to low trade deficit of $

38.1 billion as against the trade deficit at a high of $ 50 billion in 2018.

In first half of FY 20, CAD was 1.5 % of GDP ($ 84.3 billion), compared to 2.6 % ($ 95.8 billion) in first half of last (2018-19).

22. According to annual Report of Ombudsman Schemes for 2018-19 released by RBI -

Complaints received by RBI's 21 Offices of Banking Ombudsman (OBOs) increased to 195901 complaints in 2018-19, up by 19.75%.

Resolution of complaints increased to 70.40 % in 2018-19 from 65.82 % in 2017-18.

23. Adani Capital acquired Essel Finance’s MSME loan business. Through the acquisition, Adani Capital secured a loan book of around 145

crores, operating out of 10 cities wit 1100 customers.

24. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) will buy 75% stake in Krishnapatnam Port Co. Ltd (KPCL) at an enterprise value of

13500 crores. Krishnapatnam Port is located in southern Andhra Pradesh and is a multi-cargo facility.

25. Airtel Payments Bank launched ‘Bharosa savings account’ Scheme -

It will enable customers to withdraw cash, check balance or access a mini statement of their account at over 6,50,000 Aadhaar-

enabled payment system (AePS) enabled outlets across India.

It will let customers open a savings account with 500 minimum monthly balance. It offers 5 lakh personal accident insurance on

maintaining balance of 500.

26. Amazon will acquire 49% stake in Kishore Biyani-led Future Coupons Ltd for an undisclosed amount.

27. As a First, HDFC Bank launched myApps, a suite of white-label apps that will enable urban local bodies including Smart cities and

municipalities, housing societies, clubs or gymkhanas and religious institutions to completely digitise their ecosystem. Bank will offer a

customised app as a value-added service in addition to its complete suite of banking products.

28. 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 31st December 2019. .

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.

29. As per Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2017-18 by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), 33% 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.

30. As per BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2019 rankingreleased by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown -

HDFC Bank named Indias' most valuable brand for the sixth consecutive year with brand value of $ 22.70 billion. LIC 2nd with

brand value of Rs 1.43 lakh crore.

Top 5 -

Rank Brand Brand value (Rupees) Change in value

1 HDFC bank 1.61 Lakh Crore + 5%

2 LIC 1.43 Lakh Crore + 2%

3 TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) 1.29 Lakh Crore + 21%

4 Airtel 72,988 Crore -10%

5 SBI (State Bank of India) 59,640 crores + 7%

31. As per Financial Stability Report (FSR) 2019 released by RBI -

Gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio of all scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) may increase from 9.3 % in September 2019

to 9.9 % in September 2020. GNPA of public sector banks (PSBs) will increase from 12.7 % in September 2019 to 13.2 % in

September 2020 and GNPA of private banks from 3.9 % to reach 4.2 %.

Net NPAs of banks fell to 3.7 % in September 2019, due to increased provision for NPAs.

Ratio of banks capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) improved from 14.3 % in March 2019 to 15.1 % in September 2019 due to

government’s capital infusion in PSBs.

32. As per LinkedIn’s fourth edition of Top Companies list for India 2019 -

Walmart Owned Flipkart ranked as best workplace in India.

Top 5 - Flipkart, Amazon, OYO, One97 Communications, Uber.

33. As per National Statistical Office under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Retail inflation rose to a 5-year high of

7.35% in December 2019. Earlier, in July 2014, it was 7.39 %.

Retail inflation has crossed the upper limit set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which is 2-6%.

Retail inflation is increase in the price of goods sold at retail market, measured by consumer price index (CPI).

34. As per RBI data, India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $ 14.3 billion or 2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the first

quarter (April – June) of 2019-20. CAD had fallen from $ 15.8 billion (2.3 % of GDP) in first quarter of 2018-19.

Net foreign direct investment was $ 13.9 billion in first quarter, up from $ 9.6 billion in same quarter of FY 2018-19.

35. As per RBI report titled "Furthering Digital Payments", RBI has asked banks not to charge for NEFT Transactions, From January 2020. It

has been done to promote digital transactions.

36. As per data by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India rose 15% to

$26 billion in first half of FY2020. Singapore was largest source of FDI in India during the period, with $8 billion investments.

Singapore was followed by Mauritius ($6.36 billion), US ($2.15 billion), Netherlands ($2.32 billion), Japan ($1.78 billion).

37. 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

$14.49 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).

38. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $ 200 million loan to upgrade about 2,100 kilometers of rural roads to all-weather

standards in Maharashtra’s 34 districts for better connecting rural areas with markets and services.

39. Asian Development Bank approved $451 million loan to strengthen power connectivity between the southern and northern parts of the

Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) in Tamil Nadu. The total cost of the project is $653.5 million. Cstimated completion is by

end of 2024.

40. Asian Development Bank approved second tranche of USD 150 million for West Bengal to boost capital investment and infrastructure in

state. It is a policy based programme loan of USD 300 million by ADB for West Bengal Development Finance Program, approved in

September 2017.

41. Asian Development Bank signed $190 million loan with India to upgrade 754 kilometres of state highways and major district roads

(MDRs) in 14 districts of Rajasthan.

42. AustralianSuper and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan will invest $1 billion each in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund

(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.

43. Auto major Mahindra and Mahindra will acquire up to 55% stake in radio taxi firm Meru Cabs, by a fresh issue of shares worth up to 103

crores.

44. Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) Regime between Switzerland and India began from September 1, 2019. Under this, India will

start receiving information on all financial accounts held by Indian residents in Switzerland, for 2018. It is highly significant step in

government’s fight against black money.

45. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance launched a new mobile app called 'Farmitra', to assist farmers in optimizing their farming practices.

46. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance launched i-SERV, a first-of-its-kind video calling service within life insurance industry, to enhance customer

experience.

47. Bajaj Finance overtook SBI in market value, becoming fifth most valued in country’s BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance)

domain. Market capitalisation of Bajaj finance stood at Rs 2.32 lakh crore as against SBI’s Rs 2.28 lakh crore.

48. Bandhan Bank partnered with multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered Bank to provide co-branded

credit cards, with credit period upto 52 days.

49. Bank of Baroda (BoB) launched an agriculture digital platform called “Baroda Kisan” in Bardoli (Gujarat), to address various needs of

farmers. Earlier, BoB signed MoU with 6 firms namely Skymet Weather Services, Weather Risk Management Services, BigHaat, Agrostar

India, EM3 Agri Services and Poorti Agri Services to develop “Baroda Kisan”.

50. Bank of Baroda (BoB) signed MoU with Gujarat government, to facilitate flow of credit in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

(MSMEs) sector. Credit will be provided to the MSME for greenfield projects, startups, women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs from

backward areas.

51. Bank of Baroda subsidiary Baroda Asset Management India will merge its mutual fund business with BNP Paribas Asset Management

India, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas Asset Management Asia (BNPP AM). The deal has no cash consideration.

52. Beijing Based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved loan worth $210 million for irrigation ($145-mn) & solar energy

projects($65-mn) in India.

$145-million will be given to improve irrigation service delivery and strengthen flood risk management in West Bengal (WB).

Remaining $65-million will be for 250-megawatt (MW) solar power project in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

53. Beijing Based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved investment of $575 million in suburban railways and renewable

energy sector. It will extend a long-term project loan to Mumbai Urban Transport Corporation for $500 while the rest $75 million will be

invested in Tata Cleantech Capital.

AIIB expects investment of 100 million USD in India in a year, in Wind and solar projects.

54. Bengaluru-based fintech start-up Shubh Loans received Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) license from RBI, through its

subsidiary ‘Ekagrata ‘of its parent company Datasigns Technologies.

55. Bombay Stock Exchange Partnered with FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), to promote MSMEs and

startups. A session was organised to promote Udyam Saathi and Udyam Sakhi initiatives to foster MSME sector.

56. British subsidiary of Punjab National Bank lost its UK High Court appeal in a USD 45-million deceit claim against seven individuals and

two companies, based in India and US.

Issue was whether High Court of England and Wales should accept jurisdiction to try claim by London-based PNB International

Limited, involving 8 loans it made between March 2011 and December 2014 for oil re-refining and wind energy generating projects in

US.

PNBIL had claimed that it had been defrauded by actions of defendants following granting of loans amounting to USD 45 million to

companies in US and India controlled by the individual defendants.

57. CPPIB (Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ) Credit Investments Inc agreed to invest US$225 million in India Resurgence Fund

platform (IndiaRF), a distressed assets buyout platform set up by Piramal Enterprises Ltd and Bain Capital Credit.

58. CSO (Central Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme implementation) released first advance estimates of GDP numbers

for FY 2019-20 -

GDP growth is estimated at 5% for 2019-20 as against 6.8% in 2018-19, decelerating due to decline in the growth of manufacturing

sector.

Manufacturing sector grew at 2% in 2019-20, compared to 6.9% in 2018-19.

Core and industrial sectors showed 11-year drop in GDP growth. 8 core industries in India include crude oil, electricity, refineries,

coal, cement, natural gas, electricity and fertilizers.

Estimates are based on growth in first two quarters.

59. Cabinet approved new process of strategic disinvestment to privatize selected Public Sector Units, with Department of Investment and

Public Asset Management as nodal agency.

In Budget 2019-20, divestment target was raised from 90,000 crore rupees to 1.05 lakh crore rupees.

DIPAM and NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) will jointly identify PSUs for strategic disinvestment. Earlier,

only NITI Aayog used to identify PSUs to be disinvested.

60. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will invest about $600 million in India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund

(NIIF) through NIIF Master Fund. It includes commitment of $150 million in NIIF Master Fund and co-investment rights of upto $450

million in future opportunities.

NIIF is India’s first sovereign wealth fund that was set up by the Government in February 2015. It manages over $4 billion of capital

commitments across three funds.

61. Canara Bank 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.

62. Central Board of Direct Tax(CBDT) has set up National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) for electronically assessing the tax returns which

would reduce human interventions thereby reducing corruption. CBDT appointed Krishna Mohan Prasad as first Principal Chief

Commissioner of Income Tax (Pr.CCIT) of NeAC.

63. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) 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.

64. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) launched a revamped programme to attract investments into India and strengthen

Make in India through manufacture and other operations under bond scheme, of Customs Act, 1962.

The Section enables conduct of manufacture and other operations in a customs bonded warehouse.

The Scheme has been modernized with clear procedures, simplified compliance requirements ICT-based documentation and account

keeping, by issue of Manufacture and Other Operations in Warehouse Regulations 2019.

CBIC collaborated with Invest India to launch a dedicated microsite for providing information and promoting the scheme and for

facilitation of investors. It can be accessed at https://www.investindia.gov.in/bonded-manufacturing

65. China Based Tencent Holdings acquired minority stake in Indian online insurance aggregator Policybazaar.com, valuing it at $1.5 billion.

66. China based Xiaomi launched Mi Credit personal loan service in India, its second Mi-branded financial solution service after Mi Pay.

Xiaomi defines Mi Credit as “an online curated marketplace for lending, to offer the best personal loans to Mi Fans".

67. Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved Proposal from Korea based carmakers Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corp

to acquire a stake in ANI Technologies – the parent firm of ride-hailing platform Ola and Ola Electric Mobility (OEM). The investment

amounts to US$300 million.

68. Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved acquisition of 4.15% stake in Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL) by Jomei

Investments Limited (JIL). JIL is wholly-owned by Advent International GPE IX Limited Partnership, a fund managed by Advent

International Corporation.

69. Competition Commission of India (CCI) given its approval under the 'green channel' route to acquisition of Essel Mutual Fund by a

Sachin Bansal-owned entity. This is first clearance under the 'green channel' route, a speedier approval mechanism put in place by CCI.

70. Competition Commission of India (CCI) released its report on “Market Study on E-Commerce in India. According to report -

Number of internet users have increased from 45 crores in 2017 to 66 crore in 2019. This is primary reason for the fast growth of E-

Commerce sector. Revenue from the E-Commerce sector is growing at the rate of 51%.

In July 2018, number of online transactions in E-Commerce sector was 1 to 1.2 million per day.

E-Commerce Sector was established in 2009. There are around 5000 E-commerce start-ups as of now.

71. Competition Commission of India approved Kora Master Fund LP investment of upto 10 per cent ($75 million) in Edelweiss Securities

Ltd.Kora, a foreign portfolio investor, proposes to invest $75 million in Edelweiss Securities and Edelweiss Global Investment Advisory

(EGIA) subsidiaries.

72. Competition Commission of India approved Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) acquiring minority stake in Hero Future

Energies Global Ltd. (HFE UK), and Hero Future Energies Private Ltd (HFE India).

Stake will be acquired by way of subscription to equity shares in HFE UK and non-voting compulsorily convertible preference shares

in HFE India.

This transaction was approved through ‘green channel,’ a much quicker route for clearing certain categories of mergers and

acquisitions, that was introduced by CCI recently.

73. Competition Commission of India approved acquisition of 70 % stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corporation by Saudi Arabian Oil

Company for $69.1 billion. In India, SABIC is engaged in supply of petrochemical and agro-nutrients while Saudi Aramco supplies crude

oil, liquefied petroleum gas, base oil and petrochemical products.

In August 2019, Saudi Aramco has announced acquisition of 20% stake in oil to chemicals (OTC) business of Reliance Industries, for

around $15 billion.

74. Consumer Affairs Ministry announced that Hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts will be made mandatory across country from

January 15, 2021 to ensure purity of Gold. It makes it compulsory for all the jewellers to register with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

and sell only hallmarked gold jewellery and artefacts. Gold hallmarking voluntary at present. One year period will be provided for

implementation.

75. Credit Saison India, domestic subsidiary of Japanese financial Firm Credit Saison, received a licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI

) to set up a non-banking financial company(NBFC) in Bengaluru.

76. Department of Telecom (DoT) approved raising of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bharti Airtel to 100 % from 49 % allowed earlier.

77. Department of fisheries, NABARD and Tamil Nadu Government signed an agreement to implement Fisheries and Aquaculture

Development Fund (FIDF). The tripartite agreement has set a total of Rs 7522 crores to address infrastructure requirement of fisheries

sector and increase fish production.

78. Edelweiss Asset Management Company (AMC) launched India’s 1st Corporate Bond ETF (exchange trade fund) called Bharat Bond ETF.

ETF is a government initiative and Edelweiss AMC was given mandate to design and manage it.

Edelweiss aims to raise initial amount of Rs 3,000 crore through this bond from institutional players with a greenshoe option of Rs

2,000 crore in 3-year maturity period (2023) and 4,000 crore with a greenshoe option of 6000 crore in 10-year maturity bucket

(2030).

Small retail investors will have to invest at least Rs 1,000 in this fund. Here they can invest up to 2 lakhs. At the same time, the

minimum amount for anchor investors has been fixed at Rs 10 crore.

ETF is a basket of bonds issued by CPSE/CPSU/CPFI/any other Government organization Bonds (Initially, all AAA rated

bonds).

79. Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will pay 8.65% interest (up from 8.55 %) on the deposits of more than 6 crore

subscribers for the period of 2018-19. Its first increase in interest rate of Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) in past two years.

80. Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) extended USD 35.80 million line of credit to Suriname, to fund country's rural electrification

programme. With this, Exim Bank has in place 258 LOCs covering 64 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and CIS, with credit

commitments of around USD 25.48 billion from India.

81. Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitaraman Introduced Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2019 in Goa, with several

amendments in Income-tax Act 1961 and Finance (No. 2) Act 2019.

As per a New provision Inserted in Income Tax act, any domestic company will have option to pay income-tax at the rate of 22% from

earlier 30% subject to condition that they will not avail any exemption/incentive. Effective tax rate will be 25.17% inclusive of

surcharge & cess. They are not required to pay Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT).

Total revenue foregone for reduction in corporate tax rate and other relief is estimated at 145000 crores.

Any new domestic company incorporated on or after October 1, 2019 making fresh investment in manufacturing was given an option

to pay income-tax at rate of 15% from earlier 25%.

It is available to companies which do not avail any exemption/incentive and commence production on or before March 31,

2023

The effective tax rate for these companies will be 17.01% inclusive of surcharge & cess.

They are not required to pay Minimum Alternate Tax.

In order to provide relief to companies which continue to avail exemptions/incentives, the rate of Minimum Alternate Tax was

reduced from existing 18.5% to 15%.

Enhanced surcharge introduced by Finance (No.2) Act 2019 will not apply on -

Capital gains arising on sale of equity share in a company / unit, in hands of an individual, Hindu Undivided Family (HUF),

Association of Persons (AOP), Body of Individuals (BOI) and Artificial Juridical Person (AJP).

It shall also not apply to capital gains arising on sale of any security including derivatives, in the hands of Foreign Portfolio

Investors (FPIs).

To provide relief to listed companies which have already made a public announcement of buy-back before July 5, 2019, tax on buy-

back of shares for such companies will not be charged

In July, government, as part of Budget, had announced a 20 % tax on share buyback by listed companies.

Scope of Corporate social responsibility (CSR) 2% fund has been expanded. It can be spent on incubators funded by Central or State

Government or any agency or PSU of Central or State Government, and make contributions to public funded Universities, Indian

Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Laboratories and Autonomous Bodies.

82. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman released postage stamps to commemorate services of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI,

which plays an immense role to counter smuggling and preserve cultural heritage and environment of country.

83. 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, 12 PSBs will be functional in country.

84. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman anounced several measures to boost economy, amid suspected slow down in economic growth. Key

points

INR 70000 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.

85. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched eBkray / eB�य, an common e-auction platform to enable online auction of attached

assets transparently and cleanly for the improved realization of value by banks. It is linked on Indian Banks Auctions Mortgaged Properties

Information (IBAPI) portal.

Objective is To enhance user experience through seamless access to information by search based on type and location of property put

up for e-auction by banks in India.

86. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released report of task force on National Infrastructure on Pipeline (NIP) 2019-2025. The task

force was headed by Atanu Chakraborty (Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs).

Report says that between 2020 and 2025, Govt has plans to invest 102 lakh crores rupees by 2025 and make India a 5 trillion-

dollar economy. Out of expected expenditure of 102 lakh crores, projects worth Rs 42.7 lakh crore (42%) are under implementation,

projects worth Rs 32.7 lakh crore (32%) are in conceptualization stage and rest are under development.

Total capacity of Indian Energy Sector is 356 GW, Out of this, thermal constitutes 66%, renewable energy constitutes 22%, hydro

sector constitutes 13% and nuclear around 2%. Vision for 2025 is raise capacity to 619 GW of energy by decreasing thermal energy to

50%, increasing renewable to 39%, hydro to 9% and maintaining nuclear energy at same level.

Transport -

Current freight traffic of Indian Railways is at 33%. Govt will add 30% of net cargo by 2025 and will increase private trains to

500.

There are 12 major ports in India, with capacity 2 billion tons, which is to be increased to 2.5 billion tons.

India ranks 3rd in aviation sector, aiming to improve to 2nd position.

Agriculture -

Currently, Food Corporation of India has installed 7.25 lakh metric tons of silos, which is to be increased to 100 lakh MT.

Area under irrigation is 68 million hectares, to be increased to 85 million hectares by 2025. Micro irrigation that covers 15% of

irrigated area is to be increased to 28%.

Digital Infrastructure -

India ranks second in terms of mobile phones with 119 crore mobile subscribers, aimed at ranking one. Currently, internet

penetration in the sector is 40% and the aim is to increase this to 80%.

Around 25% of urban and 18 % rural households have drinking water in their premises, which Under Jal Jeevan Mission, is to

be increased to 100% by 2024.

Government also decided to remove Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) to promote digital payments, with all digital transactions using

RuPay or UPI facing no additional charges from January 1, 2020.

87. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that to overcome slowdown and increase business activities, government has asked banks

not to declare stressed loans of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as Non Performing Assets (NPAs) until March 31, 2020.

Public Sector Banks will organise ‘loan melas’ or “Shamiana meetings” in 400 districts, to provide loans to NBFCs and retail

borrowers, including homebuyers and farmers.

88. Finance Ministry retained interest rates on its small savings schemes (SSS) of the post office for the fourth quarter of the financial

year(FY) 2019-20 (January - March 2020). Rates arew -

Scheme Interest Rate

Public Provident Fund (PPF) 7.9%

National Savings Certificate (NSC) 7.9%

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) 7.6% (113 months maturity)

Sukanya Samriddhi Account 8.4%

5-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme 8.6%

Savings Deposit 4.0%

Term Deposits (1-5 year maturity) 6.9 %-7.7 %

5-year Recurring Deposit 7.2%

89. Finance and corporate affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced several measures to boost economic growth. Rs 70,000 crore

package for the exports and real estate sectors was announced, including setting up of a stressed asset fund.

Scheme for Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) will replace Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS).

It will come into effect from January 1, 2020. RODTEP will more than adequately incentivize exporters than existing schemes put

together. Revenue government will forego on scheme is projected at Rs 50,000 crores.

Fully electronic refund module (FORM GSAT RFD-01) for quick and automated refund of Input Tax Credits (ITC) in Goods and

Service Tax (GST) will monitor and speed up ITC refunds.

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) will expand the scope of Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ECIS). It will offer higher

insurance cover to banks lending working capital for exports. This will enable reduction in overall cost of export credit including

interest rates, especially to MSMEs.

Revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for Export Credit will release an additional Rs. 36,000 crores to Rs 68,000 crores as

export credit under priority sector.

A mega shopping festival similar to the world-famous Dubai Shopping Festival, will be conducted at 4 places in India in March 2020

on themes of gems and jewellery, handicraft/yoga/tourism, textiles and leather.

FTA Utilisation Mission will be set up to work with Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) and export houses and to

utilise concessional tariffs in each FTA.

Goods and Services Tax Network stated that all new dealers will have to mandatorily make Aadhaar verification or physical

verification from January 1, 2020. This is aimed at checking malpractices in GST. Earlier, it was optional for the dealers.

An Online “Origin Management System” for exporters to enable them to obtain Certificates of Origin – CoO (under Rules of Origin)

will be launched by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in collaboration with Exports Inspection Council (EIC).

Housing -

External Commercial Borrowing guidelines will be relaxed to facilitate financing of home buyers who are eligible under

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in consultation with RBI.

Government servants contribute to a major component of demand for houses. This will encourage more government servants

to buy new houses.

Special Window to provide last mile funding for housing projects which are non- NPA (Non Performing Assets) and non-

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Projects and are Net worth positive in affordable and middle income category to be

set up. Objective is to focus on construction of unfinished units.

Stress fund of Rs 20,000 crore for real estate will provide last-mile funding for housing projects that are not in bankruptcy

court or already tagged as bad debt and will benefit nearly 8.5 lakh home buyers. 10000 crores to be contributed by Govt.

90. Financial Firm Paytm launched all-in-one QR (Quick Response) for merchants across India, to enable traders to get unlimited payments

across country at zero percent fees through Paytm wallet, Rupay Cards & all UPI (Unified Payments Interface ) based apps directly.

Paytm also unveiled a new service ‘Paytm Business Khata’, which promotes Paytm merchant partners to maintain digital ledgers of

all their customer transactions including cash and credit.

91. Fintech Firm PayU acquired majority equity stake in digital credit platform PaySense, for an equity value of $185 million.

92. First Advance Estimates of production of major Kharif crops for 2019-20 released by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and

Farmers Welfare

Foodgrains – 140.57 million tonnes.

Rice – 100.35 million tonnes.Nutri / Coarse Cereals – 32.00 million tonnes.Maize – 19.89 million tonnes.Pulses – 8.23 million tonnes.Tur – 3.54 million tonnes.

Oilseeds – 22.39 million tonnes

Cotton – 32.27 million bales (of 170 kg each)

Jute & Mesta - 9.96 million bales (of 180 kg each)

Sugarcane – 377.77 million tonnes

93. Flipkart former CEO Sachin Bansal acquired DHFL General Insurance, for Rs 100 crores, from Wadhawan Group Capital (WGC). WGC is

parent of crisis-hit Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), which has been recently admitted for bankruptcy.

94. GST Council Meeting in New Delhi -

For the first time, council used voting process and voted to tax lotteries under highest slab of 28%. It also rationalized the rates of

woven and non-woven bags to 18% (up from 12%).

Finance Ministry has set a monthly target of Rs 1.1 lakh crore collection of GST for the remaining four months of this Fiscal.

95. Germany Based Financial Firm Deutsche Bank projected that Indian economy will reach $7 trillion by 2030, in its report “Imagine 2030”.

According to report, India will grow with Nominal GDP growth rate of just over 10% in next decade, with economy presently valued at $3

trillion.

96. Global Payments Firm Visa and Indian payments Firm BillDesk partnered to roll out SI-Hub, a seamless and secure way to make

recurring payments using cards with a one-time enrollment.

97. Global Rating Agency Standard and Poor's reaffirmed Sovereign Credit Rating of India at BBB- with outlook as stable. It stated that

India’s economy continues to achieve impressive long term growth rates despite a recent deceleration.

98. Global rating agency Moody’s stated India's fiscal deficit to be 3.7 % of GDP, as against Govt's target of 3.3 %. For all States put together, it

is estimated to be 3 %.

99. Government announced its plan of selling its 100 % stake in Air India, inviting bids by March 17, 2020. This is government’s 2nd attempt

to sell Air India, after 1st In 2018, which failed to get any bid. Bidder would have to agree to assume roughly $3.26 billion in debt.

100. 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. 5,000 crore at fair value. Any

additional amount above 5,000 crore 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.

101. Government launched Bharatiya Poshan Krishi Kosh with aim of reducing malnutrition, launched by WCD Minister Smriti Irani along

with Bill Gates. It is a repository of diverse crops across 128 agro-climatic zones to help enable better nutritional outcomes.

Ministry of Women and Child Development has collaborated with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for this project.

102. Government made Aadhaar mandatory for subscribers of Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY) pension scheme for senior

citizens. which envisages assured return of 8 % annually, being implemented through Life Insurance Corporation of India. It was

announced in Union Budget of 2017-18. In 2018-19, limit under PMVVY was doubled to Rs 15 lakh, available for subscription till March

2020.

103. Government removed price restriction on locally produced oil and natural gas, to increase investment in oil and gas sector.

As per New Exploration Licensing Policy, producers cannot charge gas from deep sea below government-prescribed ceiling. Govt had

fixed this ceiling at 8.43 USD per mmBTU. The ceiling is to be removed now.

Gas producers were critical about this low pricing that affected investment adversely. Though, prices seem increasing at initial

period, it will get reduced in long term as more investors compete.

Kelkar Panel had suggested to increase ceiling gradually and remove it completely to increase investment.

104. Government will invest 25000 crores in different areas of fisheries sector in next 5 years, to help accomplish goals of ambitious Blue

Revolution (Fisheries) project. Govt aims to double aquaculture productivity from 3 million to 6 million tonnes, and double seafood exports

in 5 years.

105. Government will launch India’s first fixed income Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) comprising debt securities of large PSUs in December

2019. It will comprise only AAA-rated papers of the PSU companies, expected to have size of 15000 to 20 000 crores.

It is expected to improve liquidity in corporate bond market, smoothen borrowing plans of PSUs and enhance investor base.

It will be first large fund in India that will allow retail investors to invest in fixed income product comprising a basket of securities,

without need to study individual bond issues.

Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has appointed Edelweiss Asset Management as asset manager for

proposed debt ETF.

It will provide safe investment option and high liquidity. It will also help in deepening corporate bond market and will allow PSUs to

borrow from market.

As these ETF units will be listed on exchanges, it will provide new options to investors to own securities of government-owned PSUs

along with facility of overnight liquidity.

106. Government will merge 3 public Sector Insurance Companies as announced in budget 2019-20. The merger includes United India

Insurance Limited, National Insurance Co Limited and Oriental Insurance Company Limited.

Budget 2020 did not make provision of funds for insurers and Department of Financial Services.

Therefore, government institutions in financial sector are forced to seek supplementary demands to fulfil their purposes. Budget

allocated Rs 12,000 crore for this.

General Insurance Companies have sought Rs 500 crore to Rs 3000 crore each to avoid falling below solvency ratio.

3 companies that are to be merged are struggling to maintain minimum solvency ratio of 1.5, as mandated by IRDAI.

Solvency ratio is calculated by dividing company’s tax net operating income by its total debt obligation.

107. Govt extended mission period of its flagship initiative Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) by 2 more

years, after it was Unable to meet set targets for urban renewal in 500 cities.

Launched in June 2015, AMRUT completes its mission period in March 2020. It promises 139 lakh water connections, 145 lakh

sewer connections, LED streetlights and other developments with outlay of 77640 crores (with central assistance of 35990 crores).

Seeing the poor progress, it has been extended by 2 years.

108. Govt raised Indian Overseas Bank's authorised capital from 15000 crores to 25000 crores.

109. Govt will not allow imports without HSN (Harmonized System of Nomenclature) code (in Others category), stating that there must be

zero tolerance for substandard products and services from industry and consumers.

110. Govt-owned insurer National Insurance Company approved its merger with Oriental Insurance Company and United India Insurance

Company. The same was apprpoved in 2019.

111. Govt. approved INR 12000 crores capital infusion in 3 state-run general insurance companies, to boost their capital base and meet

regulatory norms. Companies include National Insurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance.

112. Govt. approved allocation of 5 coal blocks, after a long gap of four years. It is expected to generate revenue of over 17000 crores over 30

years.

For first time, successful bidders shall have the flexibility to sell 25 % of coal produce in open market.

2 mines are allocated to Birla Corporation and one each to Vedanta, Prakash Industries and Powerplus Traders.

113. Govt. approved additional central assistance of Rs. 4432.10 crore to three States from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) -

3338.22 crores to Odisha for Cyclone Fani, 1029 crore toKarnataka for drought and 64.49 crore to Himachal Pradesh for avalanches and

hailstorm.

114. Gurgaon-based Food delivery aggregator Zomato acquired Uber Eats business in India, in an all-stock deal. It provides Uber with 9.99%

ownership in Zomato after acquisition. Deal is estimated to be pegged at $300-350 million.

115. HDFC Bank became 3rd Indian Company (and 1st bank) to attain 7 lakh crore market capitalisation (M-cap), after Reliance Industries

and Tata Consultancy Services.

116. HDFC received approvals from Competition Commission of India (CCI), RBI and IRDAI to acquire 51.2% stake in Apollo Munich Health

Insurance Company. Apollo Munich will be merged with and into HDFC Ergo, subject to approval from National Company Law Tribunal.

Value of deal is Rs. 1,347 crore in which HDFC will acquire 50.8%.

117. Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (MoS- IC) for Housing and Urban Affairs launched Credit-linked Subsidy Services(CLSS) portal

named “CLAP” (CLSS Awas Portal), with URL https://pmayuclap.gov.in/. It aims to address grievance of beneficiaries in an organised

manner.

A Memorandum of Agreement(MoA) was signed between MoHUA and state govt of 6 states for light house projects(LHP) under

Global Housing Technology Challenge. States - Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.

For LHPs, Ministry has introduced a technology innovation grant as an additional grant of 2.0 lakh per house, in addition to existing

share of Rs 1.5 lakh per house under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U).

118. Housing sector regulator National Housing Bank (NHB) opened a liquidity infusion facility of Rs.10000 crore for Housing Finance

Companies (HFCs) to improve liquidity in sector, to boost lending and accelerate growth of Stressed NBFC Sector.

119. ICICI Bank become 1st bank in India to deploy industrial ‘robotic arms’ to count millions of notes in currency chests across country, with

14 machines deployed in 12 cities that can count 6 million notes in a day.

120. ICICI Bank launched first-of-its-kind 24×7 self-service delivery tool for customers called “iBox”. Under this, customers will be able to take

their debit, credit card, check book and return check from the branch close to their home or office. The iBox terminals are installed outside

the premises of the bank’s branches, which can be used even after bank closes.

121. ICICI bank launched India’s largest API (application programming interfaces) Banking portal called ‘ICICI Bank API Banking

portal’(https://developer.icicibank.com/), which consists of 250 APIs & allows bank’s partner companies to sign up on it and create

applications.

122. IRDAI barred Reliance Health Insurance Co (RHICL) from selling new health insurance policies, amid poor financial status of RHICL.

123. IT Firm Wipro received strategic contract valued at $300 million from ICICI Bank, to offer comprehensive suite of services to ICICI Bank

for 7 years.

124. IT Firm Wipro tied up with Febraban, an industry body representing the Brazil’s financial services industry. Wipro will develop an online

platform “Noomis” for the financial services industry in Brazil.

125. In its 3rd Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting, RBI reduced policy repo rate by 35 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.

126. India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) launched Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) Services, becoming single largest platform in

country for providing interoperable banking services to customers of any bank, including 34 crore Jan Dhan account holders.

AEPS enables anyone with a bank account linked to Aadhaar to carry out basic banking services, irrespective of bank they hold their

account with.

To avail these services, a customer with an Aadhaar linked account can authenticate his identity with fingerprint scan & Aadhaar

authentication to complete a transaction.

127. India received details of accounts of Indians in Swiss banks, as first tranche of information shared by Switzerland with India under AEOI

(Automatic Exchange of Information) framework. Switzerland exchanged account details with 75 countries including India.

To combat black money deposited in Swiss banks, India and Switzerland signed an agreement in December 2017 that allowed

automatic sharing of tax-related information from January 2018.

128. India secured a USD 277 million (about Rs 1,900 crore) loan from Germany to establish an energy-efficient housing programme in

country. Loan agreement has been signed between State Bank of India and German development bank KfW. It is under financial

cooperation pact signed between India and Germany recently.

129. India signed $250 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB), to expand energy efficiency investments in India that

will benefit agricultural, residential and institutional consumers. It will be provided to Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).

Additionally, $46 million financing will be provided from Clean Technology Fund (CTF), to be administered by ADB.

ADB had previously approved a $200 million loan to EESL, a public sector energy service company, in 2016 for Demand Side Energy

Efficiency Sector Project that focused on efficient lighting and appliances.

130. India signed $451 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to strengthen power connectivity between southern and

northern parts of Chennai–Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC), which is part of the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC), in Tamil

Nadu.

131. India signed $490 million loan with Asian Development Bank, for public-private partnership (PPP) project to upgrade about 1600 km of

road infrastructure in Madhya Pradesh. An additional $286 million investment will be mobilised through private sector. Project will

upgrade 750 km of state highways and 850 km of MDRs to two-lane and all-weather standards with road safety features.

132. India signed 88 million USD Loan agreement with World Bank, to modernize Assam’s Ferry transport service on Brahmaputra river.

Aim of Assam Inland Water Transport Project (AIWTP) is to help Assam improve its ferry infrastructure and strengthen institutions

operating inland water transport.

133. India signed US$165 loan agreement with World Bank for implementation of Odisha integrated irrigation project for climate resilient

agriculture. It aims to support small farmers to strengthen resilience of their production system and improve market linkage for their

produce.

134. India signed USD 210 million loan agreement with World bank, to support small holder farmers participate in competitive agriculture

value chains, facilitate agri-business investments, increase market access and productivity in focus commodities, and build resilience of

crops to recurrent floods or droughts in the state of Maharashtra.

135. India signed a $91 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to modernize Vijayanagara Channel irrigation systems

and prepare river basin management plans in the Krishna river basin that will help improve irrigation water use efficiency and contribute

to improving sustainable water security in Karnataka.

136. India's domestic payments platform-Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has hit landmark of one billion Transactions, 3 years after its

launch in April 2016. It also crossed 100 million users, making it the fastest adoption of any payments system anywhere in world.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates UPI platform, aims to take network global by enabling acceptance of

UPI in Singapore and UAE.

137. Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and National Board of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) signed MOU, to

facilitate research and technologies to develop climate resilient practices in agriculture sector and hi-tech farming practices.

138. 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 National Council of Applied Economic Research (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.

139. Indian GDP Growth Forecasts (Dec 2019) -

CRISIL (Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited) lowered its estimate of India’s GDP growth rate to 5.1 % for current

financial year –FY20 from earlier estimate of 6.3 %. Growth in second half of 2019-20 will go up to 5.5%, up from 4.75% in the first

half.

RBI in its 5th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee Review, has lowered GDP growth forecast for FY 2019-20 to 5 %, down from

6.1 % earlier.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) lowered its forecast for India’s economic growth in FY 2019-20 to 5.1%.

Moody’s slashes India’s GDP growth forecast to 4.9% for FY 2019-20, down from its earlier projection of 5.8 %. It expects growth to

improve to 6.6 % and 6.7 % in 2020-21 and 2021-22 respectively.

Fitch Ratings recuced its growth forecast for India to 4.6 % for 2019-20 fiscal, down from previous estimation of 5.6 %

International Monetary Fund (IMF) retained India’s economic growth forecast at 6.1% for FY20.

140. Indian GDP Growth Forecasts (Jan 2020) -

World Bank's Global Economic Prospect report predicted India's GDP growth rate to be 5 % in FY 2019-20 and 5.5 % in FY 2020-21.

CSO (Central Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme implementation) predicted 5 % Growth ibn FY 2019-20, under

first advance estimates of National Income for FY 2019-21.

SBI projected gross domestic product (GDP) for FY20 to be 4.6 %, against 5 % projected earlier.

According to ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2020’ report by United Nations, India’s GDP (Gross Domestic

Product) growth forecast for 2019-20 will be 5.7%. It has been slashed from 7.6% to 5.7 %. In FY 2020-21, growth rate is expected to

be 6.6%.

International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook reduced growth forecasts for India to 4.8 % for 2019-21, down from 5.8 %.

Also, IMF has projected global growth to rise from 2.9 % in 2019 to 3.3 % in 2020 and 3.4 % in 2021.

Indian economy growth is expected to rise to 5.8 percent in 2020-21 and 6.5 percent in 2021-22.

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), Indian subsidiary of Fitch group, estimated Indian economy to grow at a 5.5% rate in FY 21

(2020-21). It is slightly higher than 5% GDP growth rate estimate for FY20 (2019-20).

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), in its “Economic Outlook Survey 2020”, projected India’ s GDP

growth at 5% for 2019-20 and 5.5 % in 2020-21.

141. Indian GDP Growth Forecasts (November 2019) -

Moody's Investors Service has cut India's economic growth forecast for current year to 5.6% from 5.8% estimated earlier.

It expects economic activity to pick up in 2020 and 2021 to 6.6% and 6.7% respectively, but pace to remain lower than in recent

past.

Few Days Earlier, Moody's Investors Service had cut India's ratings outlook to "negative" from "stable", citing increasing risks

that India will grow at a slower pace than in the past.

However, Moody's retained India's foreign and local currency ratings at 'Baa2'.

Japanese Firm Nomura has cut its GDP forecast for India to 4.9 % for FY 2019-20 year 5.7 % earlier, saying India economy is going

through a "deeper trough" and even a sub-par recovery is at least a year away.

National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) pegged India’s GDP growth for 2019-20 at 4.9 %.

Fitch group firm India Ratings and Research lowered India's GDP growth forecast to 5.6 %, as 4th revision for this year.

142. Indian GDP Growth Forecasts (Oct 2019) -

Standard & Poor (S&P) Global ratings reduced India’s growth to 6.3% from its previous estimation of 7.1% for 2020.

RBI in its 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Review reduced GDP Growth Foreacst for 2019-20 to 6.1 % (From 6.9%).

International rating agency Moody’s reduced India’s GDP growth forecast to 5.8% for FY20, from 6.2% earlier.

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), a part of Fitch group, lowered India's GDP Growth forecast for FY 2019-20 to 6.1%, from 6.7 %

earlier.

Fitch Ratings slashed India's GDP growth forecast in current fiscal to 5.5 %. down from 6.6 % projection earlier.

143. Indian GDP Growth Forecasts (September 2019) -

DBS bank (formerly Development Bank of Singapore) reduced India’s GDP to 6.2% from its previous forecast of 6.8%.

Rating agency CRISIL revised India’s fiscal year 2020 GDP growth forecast to 6.3%.

International Monetary Fund(IMF) reduced India's GDP growth rate to 7% from 7.3% earlier.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2019 updated India’s GDP growth to 6.5% from 7% for FY

2019-20, after growth slowed down to 5% in Q1 April–June FY 2019-20, which is six-year low in the first quarter.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its Trade and Development Report 2019 forecasted India’s

GDP growth rate at 6% in FY 2019-20, down from 7.4% in FY 2018-19.

144. Indian Railways signed MoU with Railways PSU RailTel, to implement Phase II of e-office programme. Railways will also provide content

on demand services in premium, suburban, express and mail trains. E-Office system is an integrated file management system that will help

employees manage data, content electronically.

145. Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad ranked 7th globally and 1st in Asia in Forbes Best International 1-Year Business Schools 2019

rankings. ISB participated in the ranking for the first time. Top institutes -

International Institute for Management Development (IMD) Lausanne, Switzerland

Insead Fontainebleau (France) & Singapore

Judge Business School Cambridge, United Kingdom

SDA Bocconi School of Management Milan, Italy

Said Business School Oxford, United Kingdom

146. Indian car-maker Mahindra & Mahindra formed a Joint Venture with Ford Motor Company (FMC), after it bought a 51% stake in Indian

unit of Ford. M&M will now manage Ford’s Indian Operations. M&M acquired 51% equity share capital of Ardour Automotive, a wholly-

owned subsidiary of Ford in India. Equity value of transaction is approx 657 crores.

147. Insurance Regulator IRDAI mandated all general and health insurance companies to offer a Standard Health Insurance Product (SHIP),

aimed at taking care of basic health needs, carrying similar policy wordings and enabling seamless portability among the insurers. SHIP of

each insurer will have nomenclature of Arogya Sanjeevani Policy followed by the insurer’s name.

148. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India imposed penalties of Rs 1.01 crore on Cholamandalam MS GIC.

Penalty of 1 crore is for violation of Clause that specifies that no commission shall be payable to any intermediary on acceptance of a

ported policy.

Other penalty of 1 lakh is for motor insurance and was for violating outsourcing guidelines by agreeing to payment terms not in

interests of insurer.

149. Insurance regulator IRDAI imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on Cholamandalam MS General Insurance, for violating health insurance

regulations related to payment of commission.

150. Japanese life insurer Nippon Life Insurance renamed Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management (RNAM) as Nippon India Mutual Fund

(NIMF) after acquiring 75 % stake in RNAM from Reliance Capital for around Rs 6,000 crores.

151. Joint venture between Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and Ebix received approval from IRDAI. The venture, branded as BSE-Ebix

Broking Insurance Broking Pvt. Ltd., will enable distribution outlets, wealth management advisors, Points of Sale (POS) to sell life and

non-life insurance product.

152. MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari launched updated Credit linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS) to allow micro, small and medium

enterprises (MSMEs) to access capital, during workshop on ‘Credit Linked Capital Subsidy and Delayed Payment of MSMEs’ held at New

Delhi.

Credit linked Capital Subsidy Scheme provides 15% subsidy for additional investment up to Rrs.1cr. for technology upgradation by

MSMEs in the specified 51 sub-sectors. Now in relaunched scheme, there is an additional 10% subsidy to SC-ST entrepreneurs while

special provisions have been made for 117 ‘aspirational’ districts, northeastern region and hill states.

153. Madhya Pradesh 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.

154. Mahindra Two Wheelers Europe, a subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra, will acquire 100 % ownership of Peugeot Motocycles (PMTC).

Brand's presence in Europe will be fortified, with PMTC's headquarters continuing to be based at Mandeure (France).

155. Manila (Philipppines) based Asian Development Bank (ADB) 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.

156. Manila (Philipppines) based Asian Development Bank (ADB) 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.

157. Mastercard, RBL Bank and Samsung India tied up for launch of Samsung Pay for RBL Bank credit card holders, enabling RBL Bank

Mastercard card holders to make contactless mobile payments using their Samsung Pay-enabled phones.

158. Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN) and Sa-Dhan along with FIDC (Finance Industry Development Council) jointly launched

‘Code for Responsible Lending’ (CRL) for micro credit industry. Sa-Dhan is RBI recognised self-regulatory organisation and industry

association for microfinance industry.

In addition to CRL, a revised industry Code of Conduct (CoC) was also released for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) that will act as a

binding set of principles for lending practices. One of pivotal guidelines in CRL mandates that only three microcredit entities can

lend to a client at same time. It also caps size of total lending to Rs.1 lakh per borrower.

A significant development in CRL adoption was signing up of Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC) which makes CRL more

inclusive in its coverage. FIDC is self-regulatory organisation for registered NBFCs.

159. Microfinance institution CreditAccess Grameen (CAGL) acquired Chennai-based Madura Micro Finance (MMFL) in a two-step process

for Rs 876 crores. In first leg, CAGL will acquire up to 76.2 % stake in MMFL and in 2nd stage, remaining stake of MMFL shall be merged

into CAGL.

160. Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal informed about Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ECIS) called Nirvik,

which was announced recently by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of measures to boost exports.

To facilitate banks further, Ministry of Commerce & Industry has enhanced Insurance cover for Banks up to 90% for working capital

loans (from 60 % currently) and moderation in premium incidence for MSME sector. Enhanced cover will ensure that Foreign and

Rupee export credit interest rates will be below 4% and 8% respectively for exporters.

Scope of cover has been enlarged to cover not only principal outstanding but also for unpaid Interest. Cover percentage has been

enhanced to 90% from the present average of 60% for both Principal and Interest.

ECIS support shall be in force for 5-years and on conclusion, standard ECGC covers will be available for Banks with its regular

features.

For accounts with limits below Rs.80 crore the premium rates will be moderated to 0.60 per annum and for those exceeding Rs.80

crore, it will be 0.72 per annum for the same enhanced cover.

161. Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal launched Common Digital Platform for Issuance of electronic Certificates

of Origin (CoO), as a single access point for all exporters and all agencies concerned. Authorities of partner countries will be able to verify

authenticity of certificates from website.

162. Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Government e Marketplace (GeM) signed MoU with Small Industries Development Bank of India

(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.

163. Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (Department of Consumer Affairs) published draft e-Commerce Guidelines

for consumer protection 2019, applicable on all business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce platforms.

It aims to make e-commerce platforms and their sellers more transparent and accountable to consumers.

It also seeks to curb sale of counterfeit products online and unfair trade practices by a series of consumer safeguards that forbid e-

commerce companies from influencing pricing, adopting unfair promotion methods or misrepresenting quality of goods / services.

It mandates e-commerce firms to self-declare compliance and also provide way for customers to contact them directly.

It proposes to make mandatory for e-commerce entities to accept returns in event products delivered are defective, wrong or spurious

or if they do not have characteristics or features advertised.

It makes mandatory for e-commerce platforms to declare all details about their sellers including address, website and email address.

164. Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) notified new rules known as Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Insolvency and Liquidation Proceedings

of Financial Service Providers and Application to Adjudicating Authority) Rules 2019.

It provides framework for insolvency and liquidation proceedings of systemically important Financial Service Providers (FSPs) other

than banks.

Rule is applicable to FSPs under section 227 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code(IBC) for insolvency and liquidation proceedings.

Now Non-Banking Financial Companies -NBFCs with assets worth at least Rs 500 crores can be taken for debt resolution &

liquidation proceedings under the provisions of the IBC 2016, by being referred to National Company Law Tribunal. It might refer to

troubled companies like DHFL (Dewan Housing Finance Limited) and Altico Capital.

165. Ministry of Corporate Affairs 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.

166. Ministry of Corporate Affairs 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.

167. Ministry of Finance notified that interest rates of Post Office small savings schemes will remain unchanged for third quarter (Q3) Oct -

Dec FY 2019-20 -

Name Interest rate Compounding Frequency

Savings Account 4 Annually

1, 2, 3 year Post Office Time Deposit 6.9 Quarterly

5 Year Post Office Time Deposit 7.7 Quarterly

5 Year Post Office Recurring Deposits 7.2 Quarterly

5 Year Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) 8.6 Quarterly

5 Year Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (MIS) 7.6 Monthly

5 Year National Savings Certificate (NSC) 7.9 Annually

Public Provident Fund (PPF) 7.9 Annually

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) 7.6 Annually

Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme 8.4 Annually

168. Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will launch Bharatcraft 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.

169. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's National Statistical Office (NSO) released estimates of Gross Domestic Product

(GDP) for 2nd quarter (July-September) Q2 of 2019-20 -

GDP growth rate came down to 6 year low of 4.5% in Q2 of FY 2019-20 financial year, triggered by huge slowdown in manufacturing

sector.

GDP at Constant (2011-12) Prices in Q2 of 2019-20 is estimated at 35.99 lakh crores, as against 34.43 lakh crore in Q2 of 2018-

19, showing growth rate of 4.5 %.

Quarterly GVA at Basic Price at Constant (2011-12) Prices for Q2 of 2019-20 also shown slow growth rate of 4.3 % over

corresponding quarter of previous year.

Earlier, India's GDP growth was 5 % in Q1 of FY 2019-20, 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 %.

170. Misc. Competition Commission of India Approvals -

Approved subscription of compulsorily convertible debentures (CCDs) of Piramal Enterprises by Caisse de dépôt et placement du

Québec (Canada). Upon conversion, equity shareholding of CDPQ in Piramal Enterprises will increase from 3.68 % to 8.99 %.

Approved acquisition of stake in Future Supply Chain Solutions Limited (Future Supply) by Nippon Express (South Asia & Oceania).

Nippon Express is a Singapore-based wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Express Co. Ltd.

Approved acquisition of 16.01% paid up share capital of SBI General Insurance Company by Napean Opportunities LLP. Napean is a

newly incorporated entity and belongs to PI Opportunities Fund – I and Azim Premji Trust.

171. Misc. Corporate Events (Dec 2019) -

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) approved Max India’s divestment of 51 % stake in Max Bupa

Health Insurance Company to private equity firm True North. It valued Max Bupa at INR 1001 crores.

A MoU for online ticketing of National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) was signed between Films Division and BookMyShow

(BMS). With this MoU, booking a ticket to visit NMIC will be available on BookMyShow.

Investor Education & Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) signed MOU with Bank of Baroda for Investor Awareness.

HDFC ERGO General Insurance launched my health Woman Suraksha policy, designed to cover women against numerous illnesses

and contingencies they may face.

Power generation firm NTPC signed term loan agreement for 5000 crore with State Bank of India (SBI), with tenure 15 years.

Global payments Firm Mastercard partnered with India's Federal Bank to provide an additional layer of security for digital

transactions,by offering identity check to bank's cardholders.

Vakrangee Finserve Limited partnered with Union Bank of India for 20,000 Banking Business Correspondent (BC) points for

Nextgen Vakrangee Kendra.

Ministry of Coal has allotted two Coking Coal mines, Rohne and Rabodih (Jharkhand), to add 10 MT per annum to coking coal

production in country. ‘Rohne’ Mine is allotted to National Mineral Development Corporation and ‘Robodih OCP’ coal mine

to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam.

American Firm DuPont partnered with Indian Govt's AGNIi (Accelerated Growth of New India’s Innovations) initiative, executed by

Invest India, to support development of sustainable innovations and technologies across industries.

Indigo Became First Indian airline to operate 1500 daily flights across its network of 83 domestic and international destinations, with

increase of 22% during 2019.

Hinduja group's Ashok Leyland signed pact with Yes Bank for vehicle finance for period of 2 years.

Federal Bank has tied up with online real estate platform Magicbricks for listing and e-auctioning of immovable properties

repossessed by it in recovery proceedings.

Kotak Mahindra Bank has tied up with Pine Labs to enable debit card facility for their debit cardholders across point-of-sale

terminals by Pine Labs.

Defence PSU BEML signed MoU with Railays PSU IRCON International, to explore opportunities in overseas market.

HDFC Life Insurance partnered with Paytm to enable customers of Paytm to purchase insurance products from HDFC Life.

Reliance Industries launched new online grocery platform called JioMart.

Government signed MoU with E-Commerce firm Flipkart for selling products made by women self-help groups under Deendayal

Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) on Flipkart's platform.

Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) signed MoU with social enterprise Selco Solar Light Pvt Ltd, for solar lighting and

livelihood solutions. Finance livelihood solutions that are backed by solar power will be provided by the bank.

172. Misc. Corporate Events (Jan 2020) -

Bank of Baroda signed co-lending partnership agreement with JM Financial Home Loans Limited (JMFL), to provide loans to Home

buyers.

Indian Bank signed MoU with Women Entrepreneurs Welfare Association in Tamil Nadu, to offer training and credit linkage to

women members/entrepreneurs of association for establishing business.

CSC e-Governance Services India signed MOU with Paytm Payments Bank Ltd for sale of FASTags, to facilitate sale of PPBL FASTags

through last mile network of 3.6 lakh CSCs.

PSU Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary company with name CONCOR Last Mile

Logistics Limited.

Amazon India and Future Retail signed long-term agreements to expand reach of Future Retail stores and consumer brands through

the Amazon India marketplace. Amazon also announced USD 1 billion investment in India.

Axis Mutual Fund announced its new fund – ‘Axis All Seasons Debt Fund of Funds’, as an open-ended fund of funds scheme

investing in debt-oriented mutual fund schemes.

To increase security of credit / debit cards, RBI directed all banks to give card users the facility to themselves enable/disable their

cards for different types of use - online, physical, contact-less domestically or internationally.

Bajaj Finserv partnered with Apollo Hospitals to extend credit to those having to undergo expensive healthcare procedures, called

Health EMI Cards.

RBI released minutes of Board meeting for the first time, as a step to improve transparency of its business at board meetings.

ICICI Bank launched Cardless cash withdrawal facility from its ATMs, with per-day transaction limit of 20000.

ICICI Lombard received Irdai’s approval to pilot 6 innovative applications in its health and motor portfolio under Sandbox Project.

Regulatory Sandbox Project has provided insurance industry with flexibility to explore new products and services that suit

today’s technology and data driven world.

This is the highest number given to any company under the Irdai-introduced project.

E-Commerce Firm Flipkart signed MoU with Gujarat State Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation, for promotion of

local handicrafts by bringing on board thousands of artisans, weavers and craftsmen, as part of Flipkart’s “Samarth” initiative.

Indian Bank launched 2 two tailor made credit products - Corporate Loan and Ind Surya Shakthi/ Indian Bank Solar which will be

available across country for benefit of textile sector.

173. Misc. Corporate Events (November 2019) -

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) signed MoU with Indian Bank and Canara Bank, facilitate a cashless, paperless and transparent

payment system on the portal and would create an efficient procurement system for government entities.

Tripura Gramin Bank in collaboration with Stock Holdings Corporation of India launched an e-Stamp Counter at Agartala. With e-

Stamp facilities in banks, all of government revenue gets transferred only in government fund, increasing transparency.

MSTC Ltd signed agreement with Allahabad Bank for development of a dedicated e-Auction platform, directly linked with the Indian

Banking Association’s portal (https://ibapi.net) for sale of non-performing assets (NPAs) through SARFAESI (Securitisation and

Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest) Act.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank launched Digital Savings Account along with Fixed Deposit and Privilege Savings Account to offer digital

services to its customers. Amount upto 1 Lakh cab be deposited. The limit will be lifted after getting full KYC done.

RBI issued new compensation guidelines for banks to raise variable portion of remuneration to at least half of the total for their CEOs

and full-time Directors.

RBI stated that if variable pay is up to 200 % of fixed pay, at least 50 % of it should be non-cash. However, if variable pay is

more than 200 % of fixed pay then, 67 % of it should be paid through non-cash ways.

India's Sun Pharma partnered with AstraZeneca UK Ltd to introduce certain novel ready-to-use infusion oncology products in China.

Indian Bank signed MOU with Muthoot Microfinance to serve micro, small and medium enterprises.

Karnataka Gramin Bank (KGB) launched ‘mobile ATMs’ in several districts of Karnataka, to further financial inclusion efforts.

Ministry of Environment granted clearance to Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) to set up a Rs 766-crore 2G ethanol plant in Haryana’s

Panipat district.

PNB Housing Finance raised INR 2500 crores from Life Insurance Corporation of India in 10-year bonds, as PNB Housing's second

fund raising in bonds this fiscal.

Gujarat Govt. launched online registration portal to facilitate setting up of new MSME units. It will enable quick approval and

certificate issuiance, to set up new MSME unit in state.

Uttar Pradesh government launched a dedicated web portal and a mobile application named e-Ganna, for sugarcane farmers. It will

ensure transparency in process of issuing cane supply slips to farmers by mills.

Ride hailing Firm Ola and tech firm Microsoft inked a partnership to measure real-time street air quality index in Delhi.

Subsidiary of NBFC Sundaram Finance Ltd - Sundaram BNP Paribas Home Finance - has been renamed to Sundaram Home

Finance.

IIM Indore signed MoU with Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) Mussoorie, to exchange faculty

members for various training programmes.

MSME Lender U GRO Capital signed a loan co-origination partnership with State Bank of India (SBI) to offer credit at competitive

rate of interest.

Commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland signed MoU with ICICI Bank to offer customised financial solutions to customers.

SBI Card Tied up with airline Vistara to offer co-branded credit cards.

Online trucking platform BlackBuck partnered with private lenders IDFC Bank and Yes Bank to provide FASTags to truck owners

free of cost. Truck owners can order FASTags on BlackBuck's Boss App, to be doorstep delivered for free until December 31, 2019.+

Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare) ordered winding up Adarsh Credit

Cooperative Society Ltd (Ahmedabad). ASSC Ltd has been found to indulge in misusing funds of depositors for personal gains.

COCO By DHFL General Insurance launched its first retail health indemnity insurance product COCOCure, as a new-age health

insurance product.

174. Misc. Corporate News (Oct 2019) -

Axis Bank launched ‘Express FD’, a digital fixed deposit (FD) product that allows a customer to open an FD account in three minutes

through digital mode without opening a savings account. It offers attractive interest rates, zero issuance fees and no penalty on pre-

mature withdrawal of up to 25% of amount. Amont can be between 5000 - 90000, for tenure between 6 to 12 months.

Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur launched Pragati Rath of HDFC bank, which will provide financial and digital literacy to

people during a month-long initiative.

UCO Bank launched digital products called UCash, Digilocker and an app. UCash allows Customers to withdraw money from ATMs

without using debit card. Digilocker will enable sharing of verified electronic documents without use of physical documents. Mobile

app comes as integration of 4 existing apps – UCO Mbanking, UCO UPI, UCO Mpassbook and UCO Secure.

U GRO Capital (formerly known as Chokhani securities) signed its first co-origination of loan agreement with Bank of Baroda, to

necessitate joint contribution of credit flow with competitive rate of interest, to empower SMEs by using U GRO Capital’s co-lending

platform ‘GRO-Xstream’.

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) signed MoU with Union Bank of India (UBI). It will facilitate a cashless, paperless and

transparent payment system on portal and will create an efficient procurement system for government entities.

ICICI Bank launched a new Fixed deposit (FD) scheme called “FD health” which provides investors a complimentary critical illness

cover on 33 critical illnesses for customers the age bracket of 18-50 years.

LIC launched Indian life insurance industry’s first joint mass media campaign with the slogan ‘Sabse Pehle Life Insurance’. It will

encourage Indian households to opt for adequate life insurance cover as fundamental necessity in their lives.

Payment services Firm Mastercard along with cricketer M S Dhoni launched a nationwide initiative to increase the acceptance and

adoption of digital payments among merchants.

Home Credit India tied-up with Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) for joint lending using end-to-end automated processing which will help

customer get real-time approval and disbursement.

SBI Card launched 'SBI Card Pay', a payment feature based on Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology for faster, convenient and

more secure card payments using mobile phones.

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) signed MoU with Federal Bank to offer a number of services including transfer of funds through

GeM Pool Accounts (GPA), advising of Performance Bank Guarantees (e-PBG) and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to registered

users.

Aditya Birla Finance Limited partnered with Indian Dental Association (IDA) to launch an easy EMI facility for patients going for

dental treatments.

Indian Overseas Bank launched healthcare insurance policy through online platform in association with Universal Sompo General

Insurance Company.

Kotak Mahindra Bank launched its first overseas branch at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). With this, Kotak can now

accept offshore deposits and offer advisory services to clients based outside UAE.

United Bank of India and Srei Equipment Finance Limited partnered to offer loans to MSMEs and retail customers under a co-

lending arrangement.

175. Misc. Corporate News (September 209) -

Health Insurer Max Bupa signed bancassurance corporate agency agreement with Indian Bank, Under which bank will distribute

Insurer's products and services to its customers.

Repco Home Finance Ltd signed corporate agency agreement with SBI Life Insurance, to provide SBI Life’s range of products to its

customers.

Merchant platform Pine Labs partnered with Federal Bank, to offer EMIs for offline debit card transactions. Federal Bank customers

will be able to instantly avail loans on EMI at Pine Labs terminals.

Hyundai Motors signed agreement with Bank of Baroda to be preferred financier for its dealers and consumers.

Airtel Payments Bank partnered with HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company to offer unique Mosquito Diseases Protection Policy

(MDPP) to protect against 7 mosquito-borne diseases - Dengue, Malaria, Chikungunya, Japanese Encephalitis, Kala-azar, Lymphatic

Filariasis (Elephantiasis) and Zika virus. It will be offered to Airtel Payments Bank customers at a nominal cost of Rs 99 per annum.

IDBI Bank and Life Insurance Corporation of India Credit Cards Services (LIC CSL) will launch co-branded credit card.

Life insurance provider Aegon Life Insurance signed Corporate Agency Agreement with Paytm, to offer life insurance products.

Indian Army and Bank of Baroda signed to lay down basis of banking services to be provided by Bank of Baroda to personnel of

Indian Army.

Paisalo Digital (Formerly S.E Investments) signed its second co-origination of loan agreement with Bank of Maharashtra (BoM), to

necessitate joint contribution of credit flow by BoM and Paisalo. 1dst such agreement was signed by PAISALO with SBI, to pay out

200,000 loan applications in 2019.

Telecom frim Bharti Airtel has tied up with Bharti AXA Life Insurance, to offer prepaid plan for its users along with insurance

protection plan. Airtel has launched a special prepaid plan of Rs 599, in which customers will get 2GB data per day, unlimited calling

and life insurance cover of Rs 4 lakh from Bharti AXA Life Insurance with validity of 84 days.

176. Monetary limits for filing of appeals by Income Tax Department further enhanced by CBDT, 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

177. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries became First indian Company to hit Rs 10 lakh crore mark in market capitalisation. Second most

valuable Indian Firm is Tata Consultancy Services, with market cap approx 7.81 lakh crores.

178. Muthoot Finance acquired IDBI Asset Management Ltd and IDBI Mutual Fund Trustee Company Ltd, for 215 crores.

179. NBFC Aditya Birla Finance Ltd became first company to list its commercial papers (CPs) on stock exchanges. Listing of commercial

papers is expected to lead to an efficient transmission of information regarding corporate borrowings and liquidity positions to market

participants.

A Commercial paper is an unsecured money market instrument, issued in form of promissory notes that enables highly rated

corporate borrowers to diversify their sources of short-term borrowings.

180. NBFC ECL Finance and Central Bank of India (CBI) signed agreement for priority sector lending to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

(MSME).

ECL Finance also tied up with State Bank of India for priority sector lending (PSL) to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

(MSME).

181. NCDEX (National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange) launched return based agricultural futures index named NCDEX AGRIDEX, in

partnership with NSE Indices Limited. AGRIDEX tracks and replicates the performance of the ten most liquid commodities traded on the

NCDEX’s platform.

182. NPCI will set up a subsidiray to export UPI (Unified Payments Interface), after large scale success seen by UPI service, also gaining global

praise. The subsidiary will take the technology to foreign markets.

Based on UPI's performance, Google recommended similar service called FedNow to US Federal Reserve Board.

183. NSDL Payments Bank (subsidiary of National Securities Depository Ltd) will soon start operations, as 6th Active Payments Bank in India.

Others are - Airtel Payments Bank, India Post Payments Bank, Fino Payments Bank, Jio Payments Bank and Paytm Payments Bank.

NSDL was one of 11 applicants that received in-principle approval from RBI in August 2015 to set up payments banks.

184. National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) issued its first audit report of IL&FS Financial Services Limited for 2017-18. It is first

report submitted by authority since its constitution in October 2018.

Prior to NHRA, audit of IL & FS financial services were conducted by Deloitte Haskins and Sells (DHS), which is said to be

inadequate by NHRA. IL & FS is 3 decades old infrastructure projects financing NBFC, which has been facing severe cach crunch

recently.

After establishment of NFRA, India is eligible for membership of International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators, a global

member organization that includes regulators from 53 jurisdictions.

185. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has rationalized merchant discount rate (MDR) on transactions with RuPay debit cards,

effective from 20 October 2019. MDR has been revised to 0.60 % on transactions above Rs 2000, with maximum of 150 per transaction.

Currently, MDR of 0.90 % is charged on transactions above 2000, with maximum limit of 1000 per transaction.

186. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) stated that Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS) stood at 220.18 million with

transaction value 9685 crores during July 2019. This will help improve the reaching out of financial inclusion in India. AePS allows a bank

customer to use Aadhaar as an identity to access respective Aadhaar enabled bank account and perform basic banking transactions.

187. National Payments Corporation of India launched blockchain technology based “Vajra Platform” to make payments fast & secure. Vajra is

based on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), designed to offer automatic clearing and settlement of payments on NPCI products such as

unified payments interface (UPI) and Rupay card. Vajra can be accessed by payment companies for providing secured transactions on their

platforms / applications.

188. National Stock Exchange launched interest rate options on 10 year Government bonds, expected to provide institutional investors the

ability to manage risk through a non-linear product. Interest rate options are based on the underlying ten-year government bonds, which

are 7.26 % 2029 bond and 6.45 % 2029 bond.

189. New Development Bank (earlier BRICS Development Bank) committed $100 million to India’s National Investment and Infrastructure

Fund’s (NIIF) Fund of Funds. Envisioned in budget 2015, NIIF was launched as an alternative investment fund in December 2016 with a

target corpus of 40,000 crore.

190. New India Co-operative Bank will convert it into a small finance bank, under Voluntary Transition of Primary (Urban) Co-operative

Banks (UCBs) into Small Finance Banks (SFBs) dated September 27, 2018, Minimum net worth required for transition is 200 crores, along

with other conditons.

191. Odisha government unveiled ‘Odisha 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.

192. Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) will now be eligible to apply for National Pension System (NPS) at par with Non Resident Indians

(NRIs), after a permission by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

Now, any Indian citizen, resident or non-resident and OCIs are eligible to join NPS till age of 65 years.

Till now, subscribers under National Pension System (NPS) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) have crossed 3.18 crores.

NPS was notified for government employees joining service on or after 1 January 2004. It was extended to all citizens from May

2009, to corporates in December 2011 and to Non-Resident Indians (NRI) in October 2015. It now has over 66 Lakh govt and over 19

lakh private employees.

In 2019, tax exemption limit under section 10(12A) of IT Act, for lump sum withdrawal rom NPS account on exit/maturity was

increased from 40% to 60%. Moreover, remaining 40% of corpus is already tax-exempt as it is mandatorily utilised for annuity

purchase.

193. PNB Housing Finance raised fresh equity of Rs 522 crore ($75 million) as External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) from Sumitomo Mitsui

Banking Corporation (SMBC) of Singapore.

194. Patanjali Ayurved completed acquisition of debt ridden soya food brand Nutrela maker Ruchi Soya for Rs.4,350 crores through an

insolvency process.

195. Payments startup EnKash launched India’s first corporate credit card called ‘Freedom Card’ for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

and startups. Freedom card enables availing credit facility for immediate needs and to manage liquidity of startups.

196. Postal department will convert India Post Payments Bank into a small finance bank, 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.

197. Punjab National Bank launched a Preventive Vigilance (PV) portal to facilitate its staff members to check procedural lapses as well as

promote good practices, to promote vigilance awareness in banking system.

198. RBI 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Review -

RBI reduced repo rate by 25 basis points (bps), to 5.15% (from 5.40%).

Reverse repo rate stands revised to 4.90%.

Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and Bank Rate revised to 5.40%.

RBI has also reduced GDP growth projection for 2019-20 from 6.9% to 6.1%.

Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) Stands at 18.75 % and CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) Stands at 4 %.

RBI Monetary Policy committee comprises six members -

3 RBI officials (Term 3 years) - Shaktikanta Das (RBI Governor and MPC Chairperson), Bibhu Prasad Kanungo (RBI Deputy

Governor), Michael Debabrata Patra (RBI Officer Nominated by Govt)

3 external members nominated by Government (term 4 years) - Ravindra H. Dholakia, Chetan Ghate, Pami Dua.

Current mandate of committee is to maintain 4% annual inflation until 31 March 2021 with an upper tolerance of 6% and a

lower tolerance of 2%.

199. RBI Approved Scheduled bank status for Bengaluru Based Jana Small Finance Bank, which now has over 260 branches.

200. RBI Panel on regulatory and supervisory framework for Core Investment Companies (CICs) has recommended tighter norms to cut

leverage by CICs and improve governance as well as regulatory supervision.

CIC is a non-banking finance company (NBFC) that holds equity shares in group companies, not less than 90 % of its net assets, and

not less 60 % of its net assets as equity shares in group companies.

Panel is headed by Tapan Ray. It recommended that number of layers of CICs be restricted to two and that any CIC within a group

shall not make an investment through more than a total of two layers of CICs, including itself.

201. RBI Stated that Liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) norms for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) will take effect on 1 December 2020,

extending its previous date of 1 April 2020.

In May 2019, RBI Had issued Draft Guideines titled Liquidity Risk Management Framework for NBFCs and Core Investment

Companies (CICs), to help NBFCs deal with severe liquidity problems and to prevent re-occurrence of IL&FS type of debt crisis.

LCR, which refers to share of high quality liquid assets to be set aside to meet short-term obligations, will be introduced in stages.

In its final guidelines, RBI said NBFCs with assets of 10000 crore and above will have to maintain a minimum of 50% of LCR as high

quality liquid assets (HQLA), while those with assets of 5000-10,000 crore will have to maintain 30% LCR. In both cases, LCR will be

progressively increased to 100% by December 2024.

Draft guidelines had earlier proposed that all non-banks will have to initially maintain60% LCR from April 2020. The changes are in

line with suggestions from NBFC sector, which had sought relaxations in LCR norms.

202. RBI accepted recommendation of Expert Committee to Review Extant Economic Capital Framework of RBI, headed by former RBI

Governor Bimal Jalan, 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).

203. RBI allowed Bank of China to offer regular banking services in India, Including Bank of China Limited in 2nd Schedule of RBI Act 1934.

204. RBI and securities market regulator SEBI will jointly launch a framework that will freely enable exchange of borrower information

between banks and credit rating agencies (CRAs) in more accurate manner.

It will bridge gap between default rates divulged by rating agencies that differed from report by RBI’s Central Repository of

Information on Large Credits (CRILC), a borrower-level database focusing on systemically important credit exposures.

Divergence is due to banks’ reluctance to exchange on any data about delays in payment of principal/interest to CRAs. Also, CRAs do

not have access to CRILC.

RBI also revised guidelines on concurrent audit system, Following recommendations of committee headed by Y.H.Malegam. It

Includes that Concurrent auditors will be appointed for upto 3 years, as against earlier tenure of 5 years.

205. RBI announced to provide an additional collateralized intra-day liquidity (IDL) facility called Liquidity Support, for smooth operation of

National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) transactions on a 24X7 basis. LS facility will operate as per same terms and conditions as Intra-

Day Liquidity (IDL) facility.

206. RBI appointed Jammu & Kashmir Bank (J&K Bank) as UTLBC (Union Territory Lead Bank Convenor) of newly formed UT of Jammu &

Kashmir (J&K). Similarly, State Bank of India (SBI) is named as lead banking convenor of UT of Ladakh.

207. RBI approved Shivalik Mercantile Co-operative Bank's transition into a Small Finance Bank (SFB), under “Scheme on voluntary

transition of Urban Co-operative Bank into a Small Finance Bank” issued in September 2018.

On being satisfied that applicant has complied with requisite conditions (within 18 months), RBI would consider granting it a licence

for commencement of banking business under Section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 as a SFB.

208. RBI approved Kerala Government's Proposal of formation of Kerala Bank, by merging 13 District Co-operative Banks (DCBs) with Kerala

State Co-operative Bank. Kerala Bank will be largest banking network in state.

209. RBI asked banks not to count failed transactions at ATMs due to technical reasons, as part of “free ATM transactions”, which are

permitted every month. RBI said that Using ATMs for non-cash withdrawal transactions also should be not part of the free transactions

facility.

210. RBI asked banks to link all new floating-rate loans (home, auto loans & and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME)) to external

benchmark like repo rate from October 1, 2019. With this, benefit of the reduction in policy interest rates will reach consumers relatively

fast & all kinds of loans will get cheaper.

211. RBI barred Equitas Small Finance Bank (ESFB) from opening new, after ESFB missed deadline to list its shares on stock exchanges. RBI

also froze salary of ESFB’s MD and CEO Vasudevan PN.

As per RBI’s licensing conditions issued in November 2014, a small finance bank’s shares have to be mandatorily listed on the stock

exchanges within 3 years of touching a net worth of Rs 500 crores. 3-year period of ESFB lapsed on September 4, 2019.

212. RBI barred Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank from doing any business for six months and capped depositor withdrawals

at Rs 1000 per day.

Defaults appear to have surged in the past six months amid tight economic conditions and some lumpy loans to real estate companies

that turned sour, making it difficult for bank to meet its commitments.

213. RBI 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, RBI barred commercial banks from charging such penalties from individual borrowers with mortgage loans in May 2014.

214. RBI cancelled Certificate of Authorisation of Vodafone m-pesa, on account of voluntary surrender of authorisation. Customers having a

valid claim on company as a PSO, can approach the company for settlement of claims within 3 years.

215. RBI curbed Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank, a private bank in Bengaluru (Karnataka) from doing business, after finding alleged

irregularities in transactions. Bank’ customers can withdraw cash up to 35000 only, till further notice.

216. RBI directed banks and NBFCs to stop sharing pattern of consumer’s credit information held by credit information companies (CICs)

with analytics firms, IT companies, institutional agents and unregulated parties.

RBI states such data sharing actions are against Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act 2005 (CICRA). Data will be

provided by Banks & NBFCs to 4 consumer credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian , TransUnion CIBIL and CRIF High Mark

and it will be confidential manner.

217. RBI enabled selected banks in India to offer round-the-clock (24×7) trading in Indian rupee to allow Indians to safeguard their foreign

exchange (Forex) risks at any time (changed from current window of 9 AM - 5 PM). This will also make offshore currency markets in

countries like Dubai & Singapore less attractive for Indian investors.

218. RBI enhanced scope of ‘Special Non-resident Rupee’ (SNRR) by allowing persons residing outside India to open such accounts for

purposes Including External commercial borrowing, Trade credit and Trade (Export/ Import) Invoicing in domestic currency.

It is done to popularise cross-border transactions in Indian rupee (INR).

Other reasons include export/ import invoicing and business related transactions outside International Financial Service Centre, all

in domestic currency of INR.

219. RBI excluded Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank from 2nd schedule of RBI Act 1934 with effect from April 1, 2019, since they have ceased to

carry on banking business with effect from April 1, 2019. Both banks were merged into Bank of Baroda.

220. RBI expanded coverage of Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) to include all categories of billers who raise recurring bills and payments

(except prepaid recharges) as eligible participants, on a voluntary basis.

RBI now allows other recurring bill payments like school fees, insurance premiums, EMIs and municipal taxes, which can also be

paid through BBPS.

At present, payment of recurring bills through BBPS is available only in five segments - direct to home (DTH), electricity, gas, water

and telecom.

221. RBI 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.

RBI 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.

222. RBI framed new guidelines in licensing Small Finance Banks(SFB) under ‘On-tap’ regime, to bring more participants in finance banking.

As per the new guideline -

SFBs should have 200 crores minimum capital (doubled from 100 Crores), except for such small finance banks which are converted

from Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs). UCB’s should initially have at 100 crores, and should be enanced to 200 crores within 5

years. Proposed CAR is to be maintained at 15% (up from 9%).

On- tap licencing is a time-efficient feature that will allow eligible parties to obtain license on-demand basis and without the need to

wait. RBI allows license to the applicants throughout year.

SFBs will be listed within 3 years of reaching a net worth of Rs 500 crores.

Small private entities, payment banks, NBFCs, Micro Finance Institution(MFI) and cooperative banks to apply for SFB status having

run successfully for 5 years.

Only small private entities can apply for SFB and no large industrial and public sector entities will be allowed to become SFB.

Business groups, autonomous bodies, joint venture companies and promoters of universal banks will also not be allowed to become

SFB.

10 SFBs were given licence initially in 2015. They were Ujjivan, Janalakshmi, ESAF, Equitas, Au Financiers, Capital Local Area,

Disha, RGVN, Suryoday and Utkarsh.

223. RBI has cut risk weight of consumer credit, including personal loans from 125 % to 100 %, enabling banks to give more loans for

purchasing various consumer products. This will reduce the cost of banks on personal loans, consumer loans and they can reduce the

interest rates for them. For all loans considered unsecured, till now there was a provision to keep a risk weight of at least 125 %.

224. RBI has put Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) Framework against Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB), limiting business activities of LVB.

RBI has put LVB in PCA due to high NPA, insufficient capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRR) and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1)

negative RoA (Return on assets) for two consecutive years. Bank’s net NPA is 7.49%, capital adequacy ratio was at 7.72% and its RoA

was -2.32% as on March 2019.

225. RBI has put in place a revised framework on currency swap arrangement for SAARC countries for 2019-2022. It came into operation in

November 2012 with an intention to provide a backstop line of funding for short-term foreign exchange liquidity requirements or balance

of payment crises till longer-term arrangements are made.

Under framework for 2019-22, RBI will continue to offer a swap arrangement within overall corpus of USD 2 billion. Drawals can be

made in USD, euro or Indian rupee. Framework provides certain concessions for swap drawals in Indian rupee.

226. RBI has put penalty of INR 1.5 crores on Bank of India for of ‘non-compliance with RBI direction on frauds’ in Rotomac Group

companies.

RBI has also imposed penalty of INR 50 lakh on Punjab National Bank (PNB) for delay in reporting of fraud observed in account of

Kingfisher Airlines Limited.

227. RBI imposed 1 crore penalty on Bandhan Bank for non-compliance with promoter holding norms. Bandhan bank failed to bring down

shareholding of its “non-operative financial holding company” to 40 % of its paid-up equity capital within 3 years of commencement of

business.

RBI also imposed a penalty of 35 lakh on Tamilnad Mercantile Bank for violating norms on frauds classification and notification.

228. RBI 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.

229. RBI imposed monetary penalty of Rs 12.88 lakh on Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) issuer Balancehero India Private Limited for non-

compliance of regulatory guidelines. Toyota Financial Services India Limited (TFSIN) has also faced Rs 5 lakh penalty for non-compliance.

230. RBI imposed penalty of INR 1.50 crore on Corporation Bank for non-compliance with certain provisions of directions issued by RBI.

231. RBI increased household income limits for borrowers of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and microfinance institutions

(MFIs) from 1 lakh to 1.25 lakh rupees in rural areas, and from 1.6 lakh to 2 lakh for urban / semi-urban areas.

RBI also increased loan disbursal limit to 75000 for 1st cycle (from 60000), and 1.25 lakh for successive cycles (from 1 lakh).

232. RBI increased limits imposed on peer-to-peer lenders to 50 lakh, as total amount of money any investor can invest across all P2P

platforms.

Earlier, limits for both borrowers and lenders across all P2P platforms were 10 lakh.

In P2P industry, individual borrowers are connected to lenders through digital platforms, acting as a marketplace.

233. RBI increased loan sanction limit for small exporters as priority sector lending (PSL) by banks to Rs 40 crore per borrower from Rs 25

crore in order to boost credit to the export sector. Criteria of ‘units having a turnover of up to Rs 100 crore’ was removed.

234. RBI introduced a new reporting system for all co-operative banks, called Central Information System for Banking Infrastructure (CISBI).

Co-op Banks will submit their information related to their presence points in a single proforma online.

Bank Branch Statistics Division (BBSD) in Department of Statistics and Information Management (DSIM) of RBI will be nodal unit

for CISBI.

CISBI has replaced existing system of email-based reporting at branches, which was inefficient.

It has been done after collapse of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank, following uncovering of 4000 crores fraud.

235. RBI 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.

236. RBI issued guidelines on 'on tap' authorisation of payment systems, including minimum net worth criteria, to encourage competition.

For entities desirous to provide platforms for Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU), Min Net worth is 100 crores.

In case of TReDS (Trade Receivables Discounting System), the minimum paid up equity capital should be Rs 25 crores. TReDS

scheme is to facilitate financing of invoices and bills of MSMEs drawn on corporate buyers by way of discounting by financiers.

Minimum net worth for entities desirous of entering the WLA (White Label ATM) segement should be Rs 100 crore. White Label

ATMs are set up by non-bank entities.

237. 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.

238. RBI issued new order for banks and payment system operators regarding failed transactions of customers. Time period has been fixed at 5

days for disposal of grievances and auto reversal of the amount on the failed transaction for the banks, termed as Turn Around Time (TAT).

Banks will have to pay compensation to the customers if there is no settlement or reversal of the transaction within this time period.

This compensation will be as per Rs 100 per day after completion of the time period.

239. RBI launched the MANI (Mobile Aided Note Identifier) application for visually challenged persons to identify new currency notes that

were launched after demonetization. MANI application scans currency notes using camera and gives audio output in Hindi and English.

However, the application does not detect genuine or counterfeit notes.

240. RBI 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.

241. RBI raised investment limit for FPIs in government and corporate bonds, to bring in more foreign funds into market. Currently, short-

term investments by a foreign portfolio investors (FPI) should not exceed 20 % of total investment of that FPI in either central government

securities or state development loans or corporate bonds. It is now increased to 30 per cent in both cases.

RBI also made a relaxation in voluntary retention route (VRR) for FPI investments in debt. The investment cap through VRR has

been doubled to 1.5 lakh crores.

242. RBI rejected proposed of merger between Indiabulls Housing Finance and Lakshmi Vilas bank.

Earlier, Competition Commission of India had approved the merger in June 2019.

Reason is not stated by RBI. It is speculated that RBI rejected merger because of LVB's high NPA and negative return on assets

recently.

Due to performance-related concerns, RBI had put Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) under Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework.

243. RBI released a report National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI): 2019-2024, formulated by RBI under aegis of Financial

Inclusion Advisory Committee (FIAC). As per report, 6 pillars as part of strategic objectives to achieve financial inclusion -

Universal Access to Financial Services

Providing basic bouquet of financial services

Access to livelihood and Skill Development

Financial Literacy and Education

Customer Protection and Grievance Redressal

Effective Co-ordination

244. RBI released draft on limits on exposure to borrowers, large exposures and revision in priority sector lending (PSL) targets for primary

(urban) co-operative banks (UCBs), aimed at avoiding effort to avoid frauds like Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank.

RBI has decided to restrict Primary (urban) cooperative banks (UCBs) exposure to a single borrower & a group of connected

borrowers at 10% and 25%, respectively, of their tier-I capital. Till now, limits are 15% and 40 % respectively. UCBs are mandated to

bring down their excess current exposures to stipulated scale by March 31, 2023.

UCBs also require that at least 50% of their portfolio should comprise advances of not more than 25 lakh per borrower.

RBI also hiked priority sector lending (PSL) target for UCBs to 75% of adjusted net bank credit (ANBC) /credit-equivalent amount of

off-balance sheet exposure from 40%. Norms will be applicable from 31 March 2023.

245. RBI released guidelines for ‘on tap’ Licensing of Small Finance Banks in Private Sector.

Payments banks willing to convert into small finance banks (SFBs) can apply for such a licence only after 5 years of operations.

Minimum capital for setting up an SFB has been mandated at 200 crores. Urban co-operative banks that wish to become SFBs, initial

requirement of net worth will be 100 crores, which will have to be increased to 200 crores within 5 years.

SFBs will be given scheduled bank status immediately upon commencement of operations.

246. RBI released report on “Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2018-19” -

NPA -

Gross NPAs of Banks declined to 9.1 % in 2019 from 11.2 % in 2018. Gross NPAs of public sector banks improved to 11.6 % in

2018-19 from 14.6 % in 2017-18. while, gross NPAs of private sector banks has increased from 4.7 % in 2017-18 to 5.3 % in

2018-19.

Net non-performing assets of all commercial banks declined to 3.7 % in 2018-19 as compared to 6 %in the previous fiscal.

Due to resolutions under IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016), recovery of stressed assets (NPAs + Restructured loans +

Written off assets) has shown improvement during 2018-19.

In FY19, about Rs 8.15 trillion worth of stressed assets were involved in recovery process, increase of over 200 % from Rs 2.70

trillion in 2017-18.

During FY 2017-18, there were 5916 cases were registered , out of which forgery accounts up to Rs 41167 crores. It grew by 74% to

reach 6801 cases of bank fraud in India worth of 71543 crore in 2018-19.

RBI directed large cooperative banks to report all aggregate exposures of Rs.5 crores and more to Central Repository of Information

on Large Credits (CRILC), aimed at early recognition of financial distress.

247. RBI revised Know Your Customer (KYC) norms for banks and other lending institutions, allowing banks / lending institutions to use

“Video based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP). V-CIP is a consent based alternate method of establishing the customer’s identity

and for customer onboarding from remote areas while leveraging the digital technology.

248. RBI revised its supervisory framework for Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs), aiming to expedite resolution of UCBs experiencing

financial stress. UCBs may be placed under supervisory action framework under following conditions -

Net Non-Performing Asset (NPA) exceeds 6% of its net advances.

Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio (CRAR) falls below 9%.

Incurs losses for two consecutive financial years.

249. RBI stated that a bank’s exposure to a single NBFC (excluding gold loan companies) will be restricted to 20 % of that bank’s eligible

capital base. RBI had earlier spoken about harmonisation of single counterparty exposure limit for banks’ exposure to single NBFCs with

general single counterparty exposure limit.

Under revised guidelines on large exposure framework (LEF) effective from April 2019, a bank’s exposure to a single NBFC is

restricted to 15 % of its Tier I capital, while for entities in other sectors exposure limit is 20 % of Tier I capital of bank, which can be

extended to 25%.

250. RBI superseded board of debt-laden Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), to initiate process of resolution of company

under the insolvency and bankruptcy rules. The company is all set to become India’s first financier to land up in bankruptcy courts.

It comes after Govt empowered RBI to refer stressed NBFCs and HFCs having assets worth at least Rs 500 crore to insolvency court.

R Subramaniakumar has been appointed as the administrator.

DHFL owes close to Rs 1 lakh crore to its debtors.

251. RBI 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.

252. RBI tightened norms for Asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) by barring them to bilaterally buy assets from banks /financial

institutions (FIs) which is its sponsor, lender or has subscribed to the fund raised by ARC.

However, RBI allowed ARCs to participate in auctions of financial assets, that should be conducted in a transparent manner, on

arm’s length basis and the prices are set by market forces only.

253. RBI will buy and sell government securities of Rs 10,000 crores under a special Open Market Operation, named Operation Twist. Such

moves are implemented by the federal bank in order to bring down the interest rates of long-term securities.

When long-term bonds are bought by RBI, their demand increases. This lowers long term yields. This way the yield curve gets twisted

and hence the name “Operation Twist”.

Open Market Operation is a tool used by the RBI to smoothen liquidity conditions and regulate money flow. RBI operates OMO

through commercial banks and does not deal with the public directly.

Purchase will be for government securities worth Rs 10,000 crore for the instrument ‘6.45 per cent GS 2029’.

254. RBI will develop a mobile phone-based application for visually impaired people to identify currency notes, along with Daffodil Software

Pvt Ltd.

255. 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.

256. RBI withdrawn certain exemptions granted to housing finance companies (HFCs), putting them on a par with NBFCs -

HFCs are currently exempt from provisions of Chapter IIIB of RBI Act 1934. This exemption has been withdrawn now. RBI can now

order winding up of a HFC on being satisfied that it is unable to pay its debt.

RBI can now inspect any HFC to verify completeness of any statement furnished to RBI.

Another exemption taken away is with regard to maintenance of a reserve fund. Mortgage lenders will have to create a reserve fund

and transfer at least 20% of its net profit every year before any dividend is declared.

Also, Earlier, Finance Act 2019 had amended National Housing Bank Act 1987, conferring certain powers for regulation of HFCs to

RBI.

257. RBL Bank and digital healthcare platform Practo partnered to launch an industry first co-branded health credit card, powered by

Mastercard.

258. Rate of interest on House Building Advance has been reduced from existing 8.5% to 7.9% for 1 year, irrespective of loan amount.

Scheme of HBA to Central Government Employees is aimed as a welfare measure to Government employees to construct houses of

their own, applicable to employees who have rendered 05 years of continuous service.

259. Ratings Agency Fitch raised India's fiscal deficit forecast to 3.6 % of GDP for this fiscal year, from 3.4 % previously, due to weak revenue

collections resulting from sluggish economic growth. Govt aims to contain fiscal deficit within 3.3 % for current fiscal.

260. 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. 3000 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.

261. 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.10 lakh, 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.

262. Reliance Industries (RIL) became first Indian company to hit market capitalisation of Rs 9 lakh crores. IT giant TCS is second with

market-cap of Rs 7.66 lakh crores. It was earlier second company to reach Rs 8 lakh crore mark, after Reliance.

263. Reliance Industries Topped Fortune India 500 list, ending Indian Oil Corporation's 10-year reign as India's largest company. Oil and

Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was ranked third, followed by State Bank of India, Tata Motors and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd

(BPCL).

Rajesh Exports climbed one position to be ranked 7th on 2019., followed by Tata Steel, Coal India, TCS and Larsen & Toubro.

264. Reliance Industries subsidiary Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd (RSBVL) acquired 51.78 % stake in Bengaluru based Asteria

Aerospace for Rs 23.12 crores.

265. Reliance Jio Infocom commercially launched its fiber-based wired broadband service called JioFiber, which offers a bundle of services

such as high-speed internet, landline phone and High Definition (HD) television. It offers minimum internet speed of 100 Mbps and goes

upto 1 GBPS.

266. Reliance Jio topped telecom market with a 31.7 percent market share in the second quarter of 2019. Bharti Airtel has regained its second

spot, leaving behind Vodafone Idea.

267. Reliance Subsidiary Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings signed binding agreements with Canada’s Brookfield Infrastructure

Partners LP and its institutional partners for an investment of Rs 25,215 crore in telecom tower assets of RIL. Reliance Jio lnfratel has a

portfolio of about 130,000 telecom towers that form the backbone of Reliance Jio Infocomm’s network.

268. Researchers from US's Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed a new technology to capture carbon dioxide from a stream

of air, virtually at any concentration level. It may pave way for new strategies to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas levels.

Most methods of removing CO2 from gas required higher concentrations of CO2. The new method could take out gas even when it

was present in very low concentrations.

Device is a specialized battery with a stack of electrodes that absorbs carbon dioxide from the air passing over its surface as it was

being charged up, and then released the gas as it was being discharged.

269. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its Annual Report for FY 2018-19. Key Highlights (Stats as on June 30, 2019) -

RBI stated 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.

RBI contingency 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 17 % to Rs 21.10 trillion.

270. SBI Ecowrap report has cut GDP growth forecast to 5% for FY 2019-20 from earlier projection of 6%. Second quarter GDP growth rate is

likely to slip to 4.2%. Report predicts that growth rate will pick up pace in 2020-21 to 6.2%.

271. SBI Life Insurance and Indian Bank have signed a bancassurance pact to offer holistic financial planning solutions to Bank’s customers.

Indian Bank also signed similar corporate agency agreement with Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Ltd.

Axis Bank signed similar bancassurance agreement with health insurer Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co Ltd (ABHICL).

Karur Vysya Bank signed a similar bancassurance agreement with General insurance company Digit Insurance.

Indian Bank signed Bancassurance Tie up with Tata AIG General Insurance.

272. SBI announced ‘residential builder finance with buyer guarantee’ (RBBG) scheme, to push residential sales and improve homebuyers’

confidence. SBI will issue a guarantee for completion of select residential projects to customers who have availed home loans from it, with

focus on affordable housing projects priced up to 2.50 crore rupees in 10 cities initially.

Under RBBG, guarantee would be given by bank till project gets occupation certificate (OC).

273. SBI opened its Melbourne office, becoming first Indian bank to have a branch in Australian state of Victoria.

274. SBI will introduce One Time Password (OTP)-based ATM cash withdrawals from Jan 2020, to reduce occurrences of unauthorised

transactions happening at ATMs. SBI will introduce one-time password for every cash withdrawal of Rs 10,000 and above between 8 am

and 8 pm.

275. SEBI 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.

276. SEBI banned Karvy Stock Broking Ltd (KSBL) over client defaults worth Rs 2,000 crores, after National Stock Exchange (NSE) found that

Karvy had allegedly sold client stocks pledged with it through associated entities.

277. SEBI eased norms for buyback (repurchase) of shares by listed companies, especially those having subsidiaries in housing

finance and Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) segments .

Ministry of Corporate Affairs earlier permitted government companies carrying out non-banking finance and housing finance

activities to launch buybacks resulting in up to 6:1 debt to equity ratio post share repurchase.

Buyback offer cannot exceed 25% of aggregate paid-up capital and free reserves of company and an approval from the shareholders is

required through a special resolution in case the size exceeds 10%.

At present, post-buyback debt-to-equity ratio is up to 2:1, except for companies for which a higher ratio has been notified. If debt to

equity ratio exceeds 2:1 threshold, buybacks would be allowed after excluding subsidiaries that are NBFCs and HFCs.

Standalone debt to equity ratio of all such excluded subsidiaries should not exceed 6:1. Earlier, Sebi had proposed to keep this

threshold at 5:1.

278. SEBI imposed a penalty of over Rs 22 crore on Aurobindo Pharma and its promoters, for violating insider trading norms.

279. SEBI issued rules for exchanged-traded debt funds and index funds. It comes ahead of proposed issue of first debt ETF, to be managed by

Edelweiss Asset Management and will cater to borrowing needs of PSUs. As per SEBI Guidelines -

Index created for debt ETF must have minimum 8 companies with no single issuer having more than 15% weight.

Any new debt ETF to be launched should replicate index completely. If this is not feasible due to non-availability of securities issued

by index constituents, ETF would be allowed to invest in other debt issues with a deviation of plus or minus 10%.

Duration of debt ETF / index fund should not deviate more than 5% from duration of index. If credit rating of an issuance falls below

investment grade, rebalancing by debt ETF must be done within 5 days.

280. SEBI notified that only FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors) located in FATF countries or managed by an enterprise based under FATF

jurisdiction can deal in Participatory Notes.

P-Notes are financial instruments required by investors to invest in Indian stock markets without being registered with SEBI.

It is based on recommendaton made by HR Khan Committee.

The step will majorly affect funds from Mauritius and Cayman Islands. They are not FATF members and a major portion, 15 to 20%

of FPI comes from these countries.

281. SEBI) eased its norms to allow smart cities to raise funds through ‘Muni Bonds‘. Entities in areas of city planning and urban development

work, including municipalities, special purpose vehicles (SPVs) under ‘Smart Cities Mission’ can also raise funds through debt securities.

SEBI had issued its Issue and Listing of Debt Securities by Municipalities (ILDM) Regulations 5 years ago and since then 7

municipalities have raised nearly Rs 1,400 crore by issuing their debt securities, which are commonly known as ‘Muni Bonds’.

Several Requirements have been withdrawn and Rules pertaining to creation of escrow accounts were eased.

SEBI allowed this route for other structures where a group of municipalities pools their resources together to jointly raise funds

through the issuance of bonds, generally known as Pooled Finance Development Funds (PFDF).

In case of private placements, minimum subscription amount per investor currently at Rs 25 lakh has been reduced to Rs 10 lakh, to

align it with regulations for corporate bonds.

282. Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment launched 3 Apps - UAN REGISTRATION, E-INSPECTION

AND DIGI LOCKER, developed by Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), at EPFO's 67th Foundation Day.

Online UAN generation - Now workers can obtain Universal Account Number (UAN) directly on EPFO website which enrolls them

for PF, Pension and Life Insurance benefits and a worker need not depend on his employer for UAN.

EPS Pensioner’s PPO (Pension Payment Order) in DigiLocker website/Application - EPFO integrates with DigiLocker of NeGD to

create depository of electronic PPOs which is accessible to individual pensioners. This is a move towards paperless system and ease of

living for pensioners.

e-Inspection Form would be available in user login of employers not filing ECR which enables employer to inform either closure of

business or unpaid dues with proposal for payment.

283. Saudi Arabia’s oil firm Saudi Aramco will accquire 20 % 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.

284. Securities and Exchange Board of India tightened noose around corporates, stating to issue INC (Issuer not cooperating) ratings if

companies are not cooperating with credit rating agencies (CRAs) on disclosure of loan defaults.

Last year in November, Sebi had mandated listed companies to make public disclosure on stock exchanges about default in payment

of interest obligations on loans, including revolving facilities like cash credit from banks or financial institutions beyond 30 days.

Companies are also required to disclose default in case of unlisted debt securities such as non convertible debentures within 24

hours.

285. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) relaxed compliance requirements for Foreign Portfolio Investors (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.

286. Siemens India acquired Delhi-based electrical and electronic equipment maker C&S Electric for cash consideration of Rs 2,100 crores. It

will help Siemens strengthen position as a supplier of low-voltage power distribution and electrical installation technology in country.

287. Singapore 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.

288. Small Industries Development Bank of India (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.

289. Smartphone manufacturer Realme launched its new financial services platform named ‘Realme Paysa‘ in partnership with Oppo-owned

fintech startup FinShell. It will provide certain products like loans, mutual funds and credit score reports to consumers. It came few days

after rival company Xiaomi had launched financial service ‘Mi Credit’ in India.

290. South-Central Railways and SBI signed MoU to implement door step banking in 585 railway stations. It will enable direct pick up of cash

from all stations included in MoU.

291. State Bank of India will sell stake in its life insurance arm to meet minimum public shareholding norms. SBI will sell at least 3.5 % stake

in SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd., with an option of oversubscription of 1 percent.

292. State Bank of India's (SBI) Shanghai branch got connected to China's National Advance Payment System (CNAPS), making SBI 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.

293. Steering Committee on Fintech related issues (headed by economic affairs secy Atanu Chakraborty) submitted its Final Report to Finance

MinisterNirmala Sitharaman.

Committee recommended that RBI may consider development of a cash-flow based financing for MSMEs, development of an open-

API MSME stack based on TReDS data validated by GSTN and a trusted e-invoice infrastructure designed around TREDS-GSTN

integration.

Committee recommends modernisation of land records by setting up a dedicated National Digital Land Records Mission based on a

common National Land Records Standards.

294. Stock market regulator SEBI extended deadline for separation of posts of Chairman and MD (Managing Director) or chief executive

officer (CEO) for 500 listed companies by 2 years. Now this rule has to be followed by April 1, 2022. It’s aim is to separate board and

management of top companies.

Rules to separate post of Chairman-MD are part of recommendations of Uday Kotak (MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank) Committee

appointed by SEBI on Corporate Governance.

295. Telangana Govt. presented annual budget for 2019-20 of 146492 Crores. Expected revenue surplus is 6,564 crores and the fiscal deficit is

27,749 crores.

296. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) updated rules related to Mobile Number Portability (MNP), effective from Dec 16, 2019.

It will be mandatory for companies to provide MNP facility within three days of application, down from 15 days currently.

Validity of 8 digit Unique Porting Code is reduced to 4 days , from 15 days earlier.

It will be applicable everywhere except Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), Assam and North East Region, where validity of UPC code is

unchanged at 30 days.

297. Telecom operator Bharti Airtel signed pact with AMPSolar Evolution to acquire 26 % stake in solar power firm, for Rs 8.4 crores.

298. Three combinations get automatic approval under Competition Commission of India (CCI) Green Channel -

Acquisition of IDBI Asset Management (IAML) and IDBI MF Trustee Company (IMTL) by Muthoot Finance Limited (MFL).

Acquisition of Adani Electricity Mumbai (AEML) and Adani Electricity Mumbai Services (AEMSL) by Qatar Holding LLC (25.1%

equity involved).

Acquisition of GVK Airport Holdings by Green Rock B 2014 Limited, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and Indo-

Infra Inc.

299. To boost foreign investment in infrastructure sector, Govt. waived off 3-year lock-in period for investments made by Non-Resident

Indians (NRI) in Infrastructure Debt Funds (IDFs).

To accelerate flow of long-term debt in infrastructure projects, amendments in tax laws were made to provide exemption from

income tax to infrastructure debt funds (IDFs) in 2011.

Also, Recently govt has planned to invest Rs 100 lakh crore in the infrastructure sector by 2024-2025, suggested by task force headed

by Atanu Chakraborty.

300. To boost small value digital transactions, RBI launched semi-closed prepaid payment instrument (PPI) for transaction of goods and

services up to a limit of Rs 10,000. These PPIs will enhance digitization of daily payments at local shops and retail outlets for purchase of

daily household goods / services.

Amount loaded during financial year shall not exceed 100000. Outstanding at any point in such PPIs should not exceed Rs 10,000.

301. To improve risk management & ensure sufficient liquidity, SEBI tightened rules for mutual funds, in which it make it mandatory forliquid

schemes to hold at least 20 % in liquid assets such as cash and cash equivalents like treasury bills and repo on government securities.

New guideline will come into force from April 1, 2020.

302. To promote Ease of Doing Business, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) launched paperless licensing

process through Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) for road tankers for transportation of petroleum, under Petroleum

Rules 2002.

It will provide simpler mechanism, ease of living and business to the petroleum road tanker owners. It will include filing applications

online, online payment of fees. Applicants will be intimated via SMS and email.

303. To promote digital payments, RBI permitted processing of e-mandate for recurring payments through UPI (Unified Payments Interface).

This will allow UPI users to bypass additional factor authentication (AFA), a security measure put in place for card payments that

requires OTP – one-time password verification) during registration and 1st transaction.

This was earlier available for card / wallet payments. The limit on such recurring transactions has been set at Rs 2000.

304. To promote digital payments, government asked banks / payment system providers to not impose charges, or merchant discount rate

(MDR), on customers and merchants on digital payments made to establishments with turnover in excess of Rs 50 crores. This will be

applicable from November 2019. This was announced in budget 2019-20 by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

305. To protect interest of consumers, RBI has set INR 50-lakh limit on the aggregate lending to all borrowers across all Non-Banking

Financial Company – Peer to Peer (NBFC-P2P) lending platforms.

Also, lender investing over 10 lakh across P2P platforms should get a practising chartered accountant certify a minimum net-worth of

Rs 50 lakh.

Earlier in December 2019, RBI had increased aggregate lending limits imposed on peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders to 50 from 10 lakh.

306. US based research firm Fidelity National Information Services (FIS)'s 6th Flavours of Fast report 2019 rated India’s Immediate Payment

Service (IMPS) as world’s best real-time payment service in comparison to similar facilities of 54 countries. It is rated highest in FISh

‘Faster Payments Innovation Index 2019’ and received 5 star rating.

307. US-based consumer credit reporting firm Equifax will buy stake held by State Bank of India and its other local joint venture partners in

Equifax Credit Information Services Pvt. Ltd.

SBI will sell its 7.41% stake, Bank of Baroda and Sundaram Finance 10% each, Bank of India 3.5%, Union Bank of India 4.17% and

Kotak Mahindra 5.56%.

308. Vijaya Bank museum has been inaugurated in Bengaluru, at Vijaya Tower, headquarters of erstwhile Vijaya Bank. Vijaya bank was

merged with Bank of Baroda in April 2019.

309. Vreedhi Financial Services (VFS) secured a non banking finance company licence from Reserve Bank of India, enabling it to offer credit

and other services to micro enterprises operating in tier two three cities and small towns.

310. WE Hub partnered with Start-up India (DPIIT), to launch Startup India’s flagship program for women entrepreneurs called WING

(Women Rise Together program in Telangana. It will provide women entrepreneurs with access to incubation, investors and business

support.

Government of Telangana had launched Women Entrepreneurship Hub (WE- Hub) in Mar 2018.

311. With addition of over 1300 startups this year so far, India continues to be 3rd largest startup ecosystem in world, as per IT industry body

Nasscom. Number of tech startups in India has grown to 8,900-9,300. Report is titled Indian Tech Start-up Ecosystem: Leading Tech in

20s.

India also witnessed addition of 7 Unicorns this year, taking total tally to 24 It is 3rd highest number of Unicorns (companies with

valuation of over $1 billion) in a single country.

312. World Bank Group arm IFC anchored an investment round of USD 200 million in Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services, to create a

dedicated pool of financing for MSMEs in low-income states. At least USD 100 million will be earmarked for women-owned MSMEs,

supported by blended finance from IFC-Goldman Sachs' Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility.

313. World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Finance Industry Development Council (representative body of asset

and loan Financing NBFCs) signed MoU to train NBFCs in India on “Commercial Credit Reporting”. It wiill train NBFCs to build their

capacity to improve reporting and enquiring on Commercial Credit Information Data from Credit Bureaus.

314. e-commerce Firm Amazon introduced ‘Project Zero’ in India, To block selling of counterfeit goods on its platform. It introduces additional

proactive mechanisms to identify, block and remove counterfeits.

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