Banking and Financial Awareness for October 24, 2021

 *Financial News Bulletin Dt. 24th October , 2021*

The RBI decided to extend Basel-III Capital framework to All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs) such as EXIM Bank, the NABARD, National Housing Bank (NHB) and the SIDBI. Basel-III standards mainly seek to raise the quality and level of capital to ensure that financial entities are better able to absorb losses on both a going concern and a gone concern basis.

-Business Line

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the central bank needs to ensure that the nascent revival of economic activity shows signs of durability and sustainability. At the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, held between October 6 and 8, 2021, Das referred to an ever evolving and dynamic environment, with the outlook overcast by several uncertainties including the fact that the pandemic is far from over. “At this critical juncture, our actions have to be gradual, calibrated, well-timed and well-telegraphed to avoid any undue surprises,” the Governor said.

-Business Line

ICICI Bank reported a 30% jump in its standalone net profit for the second quarter of the fiscal with robust growth in net interest income and lower provisions. The bank’s net profit was ₹5,510.95 crore for the quarter ended Sept 30, 2021 as against ₹4,251.33 crore in the same period last fiscal.

-Business Line

Fintech platform Razorpay has announced a new tokenisation solution for businesses in India to enable their end-customers to continue experiencing the convenience of saved card transactions, now with added security and in compliance with RBI guidelines. The solution termed ‘Razorpay TokenHQ’ is a multi- network Card- on-File (CoF) Tokenisation solution that will work across all major card networks including Mastercard, RuPay, and Visa.

-Business Line

The country's foreign exchange reserves rose by $1.492 billion to reach $641.008 billion in the week ended October 15, RBI data showed. In the previous week ended October 8, the reserves had increased by $2.039 billion to $639.516 billion. The reserves had touched a lifetime high of $642.453 billion in the week ended Sep 3, 2021.

-Business Standard

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the fourth consecutive day  today by 35 paise per litre, pushing the total increase in rates on petrol to ₹36 per litre and on diesel to ₹26.58 since early May 2020 when taxes on the two fuels were raised to record levels. Petrol in Delhi now costs ₹107.24 a litre and diesel comes for ₹95.97, according to a price notification of State-owned fuel retailers.

-Business Line

Daily General & Financial Awareness Update for 16 October 2021

16.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial Bulletin

🍒 ‘Higher loan growth for private banks’ : Private sector banks recorded higher loan growth compared to other bank groups (PSBs and foreign banks), with their share in total credit steadily increasing to 35.4 per cent in March 2021 from 20.8 per cent in March 2015, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This has been at the cost of public sector banks, whose share in total credit has come down from 71.6 per cent to 56.5 per cent over the same period, said the central bank. - Business Line

🍒 PNB Housing shelves ₹ 4,000-cr share sale plan to Carlyle Group, other investors : PNB Housing Finance Limited (PNBHFL) has called off it’s proposed ₹ 4,000 crore share sale plan to Carlyle Group and other marquee investors including General Atlantic and Ares SSG, citing protracted delays and uncertainty over regulatory approvals required for the preferential issue.  At a Board meeting held on Thursday evening, PNBHFL decided not to proceed with the proposed preferential issue and therefore will now evaluate other alternatives to raise capital. Also, all the share subscription agreements executed with the proposed allottees have been terminated. - Business Line

🍒 Fintech firm Tala raises $145 m in Series-E round : Tala, a financial services company, has raised $145 million in Series E fundraise led by Upstart, taking the total funds raised to $350 million.  Stellar Development Foundation, Kindred Ventures and the J. Safra Group, IVP, Revolution Growth, Lowercase Capital, and PayPal Ventures also joined the round. Tala will use the investment to accelerate the rollout of its new financial account experience, which provides customers with fresh tools to borrow, save and manage their money, all through Tala’s top-rated consumer finance app,” a Tala statement has said. - Business Line

🍒 India's Forex reserves rise by $2.04 billion to $639.51 billion : The country's foreign exchange reserves rose by $2.039 billion to $639.516 billion in the week ended October 8, according to RBI data. In the previous week ended October 1, the reserves had dipped by $1.169 billion to $637.477 billion. The reserves had surged by $8.895 billion to a lifetime high of $642.453 billion in the week ended September 3. During the reporting week ended October 8, the rise in the reserves was on account of an increase in the Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs), Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) weekly data released on Friday showed. FCA rose by $1.55 billion to $577.001 billion in the reporting week, as per the data. - Economic Times

🍒 Bitcoin nears $60,000 as investors eye first US ETFs : Bitcoin hit a six-month high on Friday,approaching the record hit in April, as traders became increasingly confident that US regulators would approve the launch of an exchange-traded fund based on its futures contracts.  The world’s biggest cryptocurrency rose nearly 4 per cent to as high as $59,664, its highest since mid-April. It has doubled in value this year and is near April’s record high of $64,895. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is poised to allow the first US bitcoin futures ETF to begin trading next week, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. - Business Line

🍒 RBI Guv to IMF, World Bank: Will remain accommodative in monetary policy : India, which is experiencing robust economic recovery although uneven across sectors, has decided to remain accommodative in its monetary policy, the Reserve Bank of India Governor told the international community on Thursday. India is witnessing a very robust economic recovery, but there is still unevenness across sectors, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in his address to the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. - Business Line

🍒 Karnataka Bank to get Centenary building : Foundation stone for the establishment of the centenary building of Karnataka Bank was laid in Mangaluru on Friday. Established in 1924, the bank will observe its Centenary Year during the financial year 2023-24.  To be constructed adjacent to the present Head Office premises of the bank in Mangaluru, the proposed new building will be of 2.41 lakh sq ft of area. Laying the foundation stone for the centenary building, Mahabaleshwara MS, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Karnataka Bank, said the bank has always travelled ahead of time to cater to the varying demands of the customers from all walks of life. - Business Line

🍒 Unity Small Finance Bank plans to tap 100 million Payback users : Unity Small Finance Bank (SFB), promoted by the Centrum-BharatPe combine, is looking to target over 100 million members of Payback - a loyalty programme company BharatPe acquired in June - to become a digital bank. Jaspal Bindra, chairman of Centrum Capital, had said that the proposed business model is one of collaboration and open architecture, to deliver a seamless digital experience, and aspire to be India’s first digital bank. Elaborating on the bank's approach on a digital platform, Ashneer Grover, co-founder and managing director, BharatPe, said it would need all possible digital channels, including Payback's 100-million-plus customer base. "This will be done within what the regulatory framework allows us to do at arm's length. This (Payback) is an independent business,” said Grover. - Business Standard

🍒 Public insurers lost 30% motor segment business since FY18: Care Ratings : Even as the motor insurance segment, which had a massive decline in FY21, is returning to the growth path, public sector general insurers have been steadily losing ground to the private insurers overall and more so in the bread and butter motor segment, with pie crimping to 32.6 per cent in August, down from 36.6 per cent a year ago. As against this, the private sector has improved their market pie to 67.4 per cent in the reporting month from 63.4 per cent in the same period last year, shows an analysis of the monthly data by Care Ratings. - Business Standard

🍒 Sensex jumps 50% from last Dussehra to scale 61,000 mark. 169 stocks give multibagger returns : India’s equity markets have generated huge wealth for investors since Dussehra last year as the benchmark indices scaled new highs, even though there was a pause in April-May due to the second Covid-19 wave.  The BSE Sensex has rallied more than 50 percent since last Dussehra on October 25, 2020, to surpass the 61,000 milestone on October 14, a day before Dussehra celebrations across the country this year. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 The 4 largest US consumer banks posted another strong quarter this week as the rebounding economy allowed them to release more cash they had set aside for pandemic losses, while sizzling deals, equity financing and trading also boosted their bottom lines. JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup, Well Fargo & Co and Bank of America Corp, seen by analysts and economists as bellwethers of the broader economy, reported a combined profit of $28.7 billion for the third quarter, beating analyst estimates. - Moneycontrol

🍒 Max Life seeks IRDAI nod to launch subsidiary ; Max Life Insurance (MLI) has sought insurance regulator IRDAI’s approval to set up a subsidiary to undertake pension fund management business, said Prashant Tripathy, Managing Director & CEO. Pension regulator PFRDA had recently granted approval to MLI to become a sponsor of a pension fund manager. - Business Line

🍒 RBI approves appointment of Pradeep Kumar Panja as Chairman of Karnataka Bank : Karnataka Bank Ltd has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to appoint Pradeep Kumar Panja, an Independent Director of the bank, as part-time non-executive Chairman with effect from November 14, for a period of three years. He will succeed P Jayarama Bhat, who will complete his term on November 13. Pradeep Kumar Panja retired as Managing Director (Corporate Banking) of State Bank of India (SBI). Prior to this, he also held the post of Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore for about a year. - Business Line

🍒 IL&FS seeks NCLT approval to place Rs 4,000 crore of assets in InvIT : The IL&FS group has sought approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to move five highway assets of the beleaguered group to an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT). An independent assessment has valued the projects at Rs 4,000 crore, said a company spokesman while confirming the development. The valuation is a regulatory requirement under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) rules. With the NCLT approval, a total of 11 projects would be ready for monetisation through the InvIT route. The first tranche of six projects valued at around Rs 9,200 crore already have the NCLT approval. - Business Standard.

Banking and Financial Awareness for 15 October 2021

Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 UCO Bank CEO Atul Kumar Goel appointed chairman of Indian Banks' Association : UCO Bank CEO Atul Kumar Goel has been appointed as chairman of the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) for 2021-22 succeeding Union Bank of India CEO Rajkiran Rai. Last month Goel was shortlisted by the Banks Board Bureau (BBB) to take over as Punjab National Bank (PNB) CEO from January 2022. In the managing committee meeting on Thursday, IBA members also elected State Bank of India chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara, Canara Bank CEO L V Prabhakar and IDBI Bank CEO Rakesh Sharma as deputy chairmen of the IBA. Madhav Nair, country head of Mashreq Bank was elected as honorary secretary of the association. - Economic Times

🍒 Atleast 50% of retail, MSME loans to move to digital lending: Union Bank MD : With digitization gaining pace, close to 50 per cent of retail and MSME loans offered by banks will shift to digital lending platforms over the next two to three years, Union Bank of India's Managing Director and CEO Rajkiran Rai G said on Thursday. Rai said digital lending is changing the banking landscape in a big way because of the availability of data and many ecosystem partners collaborating with banks. "I feel that at least 50 per cent of the loans under retail and MSME segments will move to the digital lending platforms, right from sourcing to documentation level, in two to three years," Rai said while speaking at Sibas 2021, an annual banking and finance conference. - Business Standard

🍒 RBI approves reappointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as MD & CEO of Axis Bank : The Reserve Bank on India (RBI) on October 14 approved the reappointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Axis Bank. The private sector lender, in a regulatory filing, confirmed that it has received the central bank's nod to reappoint Chaudhry as the MD and CEO for another three-year period. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 RBI withdraws restrictions on Hindu Cooperative Bank, Pathankot : The RBI on Thursday withdrew all restrictions imposed on Hindu Cooperative Bank Limited, Pathankot. The Reserve Bank had issued directions stipulating certain restrictions on the bank in March 2019. The directions were modified from time to time and were last extended up to October 24, 2021. "The Reserve Bank of India on being satisfied that in the public interest it is necessary to do so...hereby, withdraws with effect from close of business on October 14, 2021, the said directions so issued to Hindu Cooperative Bank Limited, Pathankot, Punjab," it said in a statement. - Economic Times

🍒 PMC Bank fraud case: HC rejects Rakesh Wadhawan's medical bail plea : The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to grant bail on health grounds to jailed businessman Rakesh Wadhawan, accused of money laundering in the multi-crore Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank fraud case. Wadhawan, founder of Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in 2019 in the case. A single bench presided over by Justice Nitin Sambre said that Wadhawan's submission that he was immediately required to be released on temporary bail on medical ground, was "not justified". - Economic Times

🍒 Five banks may bid for Citi's India consumer businesses : Five top lenders, including HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, are expected to submit binding bids for the Citi India consumer businesses before the October 26 deadline, two officials aware of the development told ET. Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and DBS India are also in contention for the businesses Citi is exiting in India. Although the US lender is seeking a valuation in excess of $2 billion, the bids could be more circumspect after Citi lost significant market share in its retail and credit card books, one of the executives cited above said. HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, two of India's top three most valued private sector lenders, are considered front-runners to win the business that generates about $1 billion in revenue. - Economic Times

🍒 PhonePe revenue up 85%, losses down 44% in FY21 : PhonePe, a digital payments platform backed by US-based retailer Walmart Inc and homegrown ecommerce entity Flipkart, has reported revenue from operations of Rs 690 crore in the previous financial year, a jump of 85%, according to its latest regulatory documents sourced by ET. PhonePe, which competes with Paytm, Google Pay and Amazon Pay, has reported marginally lower net loss of Rs 1,727 crore for the period. Excluding a one-time allocation for employee stock options, the loss is around Rs 884 crore, down around 44%. The narrowed losses is an outcome of PhonePe cutting operational costs. It has significantly reduced its marketing and promotional spends, by around 47%, to about Rs 535 crore from Rs 1,016 crore in FY20. - Economic Times

🍒 Capital account convertibility: India on the cusp of fundamental shifts, says RBI Dy Guv : India is on the cusp of fundamental shifts in the capital account convertibility space, with increased market integration in the offing and freer non-resident access to debt on the table, according to T Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In this regard, Sankar observed that there is an effort to liberalise foreign portfolio investment (FPI) debt flows further, with the introduction of the Fully Accessible Route (FAR), which places no limit on non-resident investment in specified benchmark securities. - Business Line

🍒 Securitisation volume more than doubled to Rs 50,000 cr in H1 FY22: Report ; Securitisation volume more than doubled to Rs 50,000 crore in the first half of the current fiscal year, Crisil Ratings said in a report. The volume zoomed to Rs 20,000 crore in September 2021, growing around 85 per cent year-on-year, marking a clear recovery from the subdued activity seen in the beginning of this fiscal due to the pandemic's second wave, the agency said in a report. It said the investors are getting reassured by the return to near normalcy across businesses and improvement in collection ratios in securitised pools and portfolios of originators. Crisil's senior director and deputy chief ratings officer Krishnan Sitaraman said market activity typically suffers in times of uncertainty like in the pandemic's wake. - Business Standard

🍒 Rupee gains 12 paise to 75.25 against US dollar in early trade : The Indian rupee appreciated 12 paise to 75.25 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday, buoyed by heavy buying in domestic equities and fresh foreign fund inflows. Weakness of the American currency in the overseas market also helped the domestic unit, forex dealers said. However, higher crude prices restrained the rupee to gain momentum, they added. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened strong at 75.27 against the US dollar, then gained further ground to 75.25, registering a rise of 12 paise against the previous close. - Business Line

🍒 Still strong bias for cash payment; need to reassess PSS Act: Report : The pandemic forced an inevitable shift to digital payments but Indians continue to have a strong bias for cash payments, a report said. Due to the emergence of disruptive technologies leading to technology led payment solutions, there is a need to reassess the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS), a key enabler for promoting digital transactions, the report by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy said. The Act was enacted more than a decade back when the digital payments market in India was at its nascent stage and the law was primarily enacted to regulate payment systems from a systemic perspective and to confer the RBI with necessary powers to regulate these systems, it said. - Financial Express

🍒 PNB Housing terminates deal with Carlyle-led investor group ; The board of PNB Housing Finance Ltd has terminated a Rs 4,000-crore fund raising deal with a Carlyle-led group of investors citing pending legal issues which may delay regulatory approvals. Subsequently, Pluto Investments, a Carlyle entity will be initiating the process to withdraw an open offer made by them, the finance company said in a notice to stock exchanges. The Securities and Exchange Board of India had asked PNB Housing to halt a preferential allotment of shares and warrants to entities including Pluto investments, an affiliate of the Carlyle Group, General Atlantic, Salisbury Investments Private Ltd. and Alpha Investments to raise Rs 4,000 crore - Financial Express

🍒 Gold prices rise above Rs 48,000 per 10 gm ahead of Dussehra; silver soars Rs 1,154 a kg : Gold prices continued uptrend for the eighth consecutive day on October 14, up by Rs 638 to touch Rs 48,125 per 10 gram in the Mumbai bullion market a day before Dussehra, tracking sharp gains in the international market and weak dollar. The precious metal edged closer to $1,800/oz on rising inflation- boosted safe-haven appeal. The bullion soared Rs 1,145 or 2.44 percent in this holiday-shortened week in the domestic market. The price of 10 gram, 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 44,083 plus 3 percent GST, while 24-carat 10 gram stood at Rs 48,125 plus GST. The 18-carat gold is quoted at Rs 36,094 plus GST in the retail market. Silver prices climbed by Rs 1,154 to Rs 63,290 per kg against its closing price on October 13.

🍒 RBI imposes monetary penalty on The Kurla Nagarik Sahakari Bank : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on October 14 imposed a monetary penalty of Rs one lakh on The Kurla Nagarik Sahakari Bank for violation of certain rules. "The penalty is for contravention of Section 26-A read with section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (the Act), the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014 (the Scheme) framed under section 26 A of the Act," the RBI said. - Moneycontrol

🍒 Sensex tops 61,000, Nifty moves past 18,300 as bulls take charge : The BSE Sensex, which recorded a fresh all-time high of 61,353.25 during the day, closed at a record high of 61,305.95, up 568.90 points or 0.94 per cent. It hit an intraday low of 60,978.04.  The Nifty 50 closed at 18,338.55, up 176.80 points or 0.97 per cent, after recording a fresh all-time high of 18,350.75. It recorded an intraday low of 18,248.70. Adani Ports, Wipro, Grasim, HDFC Bank and ITC were the top gainers on the Nifty 50, while Coal India, Tata Motors, Eicher Motor, HCL Tech and HDFC Life were the top losers.

Banking and Financial News for October 14, 2021

14.10.2021 : Today's Banking / Financial News at a Glance

🍒 PNB reduces gold loan interest rates: : Punjab National Bank (PNB) has announced that it has reduced interest rates on loans against gold jewellery and Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) by 145 basis points (bps); this is part of its festive season offerings. According to a press release issued by PNB, the bank is now offering loans against Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) at 7.20% and loans against gold jewellery at 7.30%. "Additionally, PNB has slashed the home loan rate which now starts from 6.60%, while customers can avail car loans starting from 7.15% and personal loans from 8.95%," stated the release. - Economic Times

🍒 Dish TV board cites rules, rejects YES Bank's demands to hold EGM : The board of Dish TV Ltd (DTL) rejected on Wednesday, YES Bank's demand to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to consider resolutions, citing regulatory limitations and absence of prior approvals from the government and lenders. Private lender YES Bank, which holds 25.93 per cent stake stake in DTL, had sought the removal of DTL directors Jawahar Lal Goel and others, and appointment of the bank's own nominees. - Business Standard.

🍒 Shivalik Small Finance Bank partners with Go Digit Insurance : Shivalik Small Finance Bank on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership with Bengaluru-based insurtech company, Go Digit General Insurance, to provide an array of instant, easy-to-understand insurance products through the bank’s network of branches across India. This will include health insurance plans, motor insurance, and home and shop insurance. This partnership will enable over 4.5 lakh customers of Shivalik Small Finance Bank to instantly access and purchase from Digit’s list of offerings, through paperless processes, in real time. - Business Line

🍒 Government announces conversion of two G-Secs into six FRBs : The government on Wednesday announced the conversion or switch of two Government Securities (G-Secs), both maturing in 2022 and aggregating ₹36,000 crore (face value) into six floating rate bonds (FRBs) maturing between 2028 and 2034. Thus, the government does not have to redeem the aforementioned G-Secs on their maturity dates — April 13, 2022 (for the security carrying 5.09 per cent coupon rate) and August 02, 2022 (for the security carrying 8.08 per cent coupon rate). Redemption pressure on the government is alleviated to the extent of the face value of the securities being converted or switched. - Business Line

🍒 Mobikwik sees ‘BNPL’ as its fastest growing business segment : IPO-bound One Mobikwik Systems (Mobikwik) sees it’s ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ product — which enjoys higher margins — as a major growth driver and it’s fastest growing business segment in the days to come, said Co-founder Upasana Taku. This digital financial services firm is also aiming to launch its ₹1,900 crore initial public offering (IPO) by this month end, Taku told BusinessLine in an interview. - Business LIne

🍒 PhonePe and NBBL partner to launch ClickPay : Digital payment platform PhonePe has, in association with NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL), launched ClickPay for its customers. ClickPay is a unique payment link that enables customers to make recurring online bill payments (electricity, water, gas, loan, etc) and removes the need to remember tedious account details associated with each biller or service. This link sent by the biller will lead the customer directly to the payment page, fetching the bill amount instantly. - Business Line

🍒 Shriram Housing gets ₹300-cr equity capital from parent firm : Shriram Housing Finance Ltd (SHFL) on Wednesday said it has received the second round of equity capital infusion of ₹300 crore from parent company, Shriram City Union Finance (Shriram City). With this round, the total equity infusion in FY22 stands at ₹500 crore, SHFL said in a statement. The current infusion will increase Shriram City’s holding in SHFL from 81 per cent to 85.02 per cent. SHFL is an affordable housing finance company with Assets Under Management (AUM) of about ₹4,000 crore as of June 2021. - Business Line

🍒 U GRO Capital and Kinara Capital enter into strategic co-origination partnership : U GRO Capital and Kinara Capital have entered into a strategic co-origination partnership to offer collateral-free business loans to small business entrepreneurs in India. Together, both companies plan to disburse ₹100 crores by the end of FY22 to MSMEs in manufacturing, trading and services sectors, per a joint statement. “Available financing for MSMEs will range from ₹1 lakh to ₹30 lakh with tenure ranging from 12–60 months. “Financing can be availed for working capital and asset purchase directly from Kinara Capital, and women-led businesses receive an automatic, upfront discount with the HerVikas program,” according to the statement. - Business Line

🍒 RBI imposes monetary penalty on The Sahyadri Sahakari Bank : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on October 13 imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 3 lakh on Mumbai-based The Sahyadri Sahakari Bank Limited over non-compliance with RBI directions on Frauds - Classification and Reporting, the central bank said in a release. The inspection report of the bank with the bank's position as of March 31, 2019, revealed the bank had not transferred unclaimed amounts in accounts for more than ten years to Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEA Fund). Further, the bank had reported frauds to RBI with an inordinate delay. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Banks' loan growth picks up pace at 3-5%, asset quality stress to remain elevated in Q2 : As the economy revives post deadly second wave of COVID-19, backed by festive demand and season, banks have started seeing growth in their loan disbursals.  In the second quarter of FY22, data released by lenders reveal the loan growth has been around 3-5 percent on a sequential basis. India’s largest private sector bank, HDFC Bank, saw a 4.4 percent sequential growth in its loans and advances. Its outstanding advances were at Rs 11,98,500 crore in the September quarter as compared to Rs 11,47,700 crore in the June quarter of FY22. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Rupee recovers 15 paise to close at 75.37 against US dollar : The rupee on Wednesday rebounded by 15 paise to close at 75.37 (provisional) against the US dollar following a rally in domestic equities and weak American currency in the overseas markets. In addition, lower crude prices also supported the rupee sentiment, forex deals said. At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened strong at 75.29 against the greenback. During the session, the domestic unit swung between 75.19 and 75.51. On Tuesday, the rupee had closed at 75.52 against the dollar

🍒 M-cap of BSE-listed companies at fresh record high of over Rs 270.73 lakh crore ; Helped by the ongoing rally in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies has reached a fresh record high of Rs 2,70,73,296.03 crore on Wednesday. Rallying for the fifth straight session on Wednesday, the 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 452.74 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at its all-time closing high of 60,737.05. During the day, it rallied 552.32 points to its intra-day all-time high of 60,836.63. In five trading days, the BSE benchmark index has gained 1,547.32 points. - Moneycontrol.

🍒 Sensex, Nifty up nearly 1% after fresh highs, Nifty tops 18,100 : At 1 pm, the BSE Sensex was trading at 60,748.56, up 464.25 points or 0.77 per cent, near its new all-time high of 60,755.70. It recorded an intraday low of 60,452.29. The Nifty 50, after recording a fresh high of 18,162.90, was trading at 18,156.85, up 164.90 points or 0.92 per cent. It recorded an intraday low of 18,050.75. Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, Powergrid and Tata Consumer were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Maruti, ONGC, Hindustan Unilever, Coal India and Eicher Motor were the top laggards.

All the News In Gist Dated 20 September 2021

 *20 Sep (Monday)*  

*Varsha Ritu* ⛈️

*शुक्ल पक्ष*:: 

Bhadrapad 

 *Tithi*: Purnima

Vikram Samvat - 2078

According to *Purnimanta* calendar (Ujjain)

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*TODAYs TOP NEWS*

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1. More than 78 crore 58 lakh COVID vaccine doses provided by centre to states, UTs so far

2. Ministry of Commerce and Industry will celebrate week-long Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav from today.

3. PM Modi calls upon citizens to take part in auction of gifts & mementos received by him; proceeds to go to Namami Gange initiative.

4. ‘Namami Gange Programme’, is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014 with budget outlay of Rs.20,000 Crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.

5. Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare,  Narendra Singh Tomar said that the Govt of India has emphasized on re-introducing traditional food items including millet, other nutritious cereals, fruits and vegetables, fish, dairy and organic products in the diet of the people.

6.  *Himachal* : Police to seize Rs 9.27 cr assets of drug smugglers in lower hills in Himachal. DIG, North Range, Sumedha Dwivedi told.

 7. *J&K* : People's Democratic Party (PDP) will fight the upcoming assembly elections in J&K, said party president Mehbooba Mufti, ruling out any alliance with the BJP.

8.  *Maharashtra* : The 10-day Ganesh festival culminates  with the immersion of Lord Ganesha idols taking place in Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and other parts of the state.

9. In Maharashtra: Nearly 1, 47,000 women join self help group in Bhandara district under National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), of these, 35,000 women have been imparted various trainings including Poultry, Sustainable Agriculture, Organic Farming, Goat Breeding, Fisheries etc. At present more than 2100 students have been trained and 1010 students are working in various places.

10. *Madhya Pradesh* schools to reopen for classes 1 to 5 from today.

11.  *Odisha* Eminent litterateur, social worker and former editor of Odia daily 'The Samaja' Manorama Mohapatra passed away  on 19 Sep (Saturday). She was 87. She was honoured with Sahitya Akademi Award in 1984.

 12. *Punjab*: Charanjit Singh Channi has been unanimously elected as  leader of the Congress Legislature Party of Punjab, who would be state's next Chief Minister. He is MLA from the Chamkaur Sahib Assembly constituency. He was leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly from 2015 to 2016.

13.  *West Bengal* crosses milestone of administering more than 5 crore Covid vaccine doses. Cumulatively, 5 crore 6 lakh 57 thousand doses have been administered against Covid-19 till date.

××××× *DEFENCE* ××××××

The Border Roads Organisation is a road construction executive force in India that provides support to and is a part of the Indian Armed Forces. BRO develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighboring countries.

 *Director General* : Lt. Gen. Rajeev Chaudhary

 *Founded* : 7 May 1960

Border Roads Organisation (BRO) over the years has inducted a large number of women into its workforce. The BRO created history again on August 30, when Major Aaina of Project Shivalik took charge as Officer Commanding, 75 RCC at Pipalkoti in Chamoli in Uttarakhand. She is the first Indian Army Engineer Officer to command a road construction company.

Indian Army JAG Recruitment  2021: Indian Army has released short notice for JAG Entry Scheme 28th Course for Men & Women Law Graduates (Scheduled in April 2022) on its website. The candidates will be able to apply to the posts through the online mode from 29 September 2021 onwards. The last date for submission is 28 October 2021. Candidates who wish to apply for JAG 2021 Course should possess Bachelor’s Degree in Law from a recognized Board.

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✈ *INTERNATIONAL NEWS* ××××××××××××××××××××××××××

 

1. External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar met the visiting Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Farhan al Saud  at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on 19 Sep.

2. Both the Ministers discussed further steps to strengthen their partnership in trade, investment, energy, defence, security, culture, consular issues, health care and human resources & exchanged views on the developments in Afghanistan and other regional issues. 

××××××××××××××××××××××××××

🌎 *WORLD NEWS* 🌍

=========================

1. France has accused Australia and the US over a new security pact. Earlier, a trilateral security agreement was announced by the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. The Australia-UK-US( AUKUS) agreement has left France enraged, which has called it a “stab in the back”.

2. France is upset because it has lost a mega submarine deal to the US, and because it feels humiliated at being kept in the dark about what the other three democracies were planning. The pact, will see Australia being given the technology to build nuclear-powered submarines. The move thwarted a multibillion-dollar deal France had signed with Australia.

3. Bangladesh to vaccinate students aged 12-17 with Pfizer Corona vaccine - Health Minister Zahid Maleque said.

4. Myanmar court sets Oct 1 for Aung San Suu Kyi corruption trial. Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest since her National League for Democracy (NLD) Government was deposed by the military in a February coup that sparked a mass uprising and a brutal crackdown on dissent. She is currently being tried on other charges by the Special Court. She faces charges of sedition, two counts of flouting COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, illegally importing walkie-talkies that were for her bodyguards’ use and the unlicensed use of the radios.

5. The Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday spewing out lava, ash and a huge column of smoke after days of increased seismic activity,

6. Two people killed, 21 others injured in four separate explosions in Afghanistan on 18 Sep. No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts so far.

7. Russia is holding elections to the State Duma, the lower house of Parliament from Friday this week. The voting will take place till Sunday over a three-day period due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

8. The jail sentence for the former PM of Bangladesh Begum Khaleda Zia in two corruption cases has been suspended for 6 more months.  Family of Begum Khaleda Zia applied to the government seeking permission for her to go abroad for advanced treatment but it was turned down by the government saying that a convicted person can’t be allowed to go abroad for treatment. 

********************************

🚣🚴🏇🏊 *SPORTS* 

********************************

 *IPL* 

Chennai Super Kings VS 

Mumbai Indians

Match 30

CSK 156/6 (20.0 overs)

MI    136/8.(20.0 overs)

Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indians by 20 runs

M S Dhoni returned as captain for Chennai while Kieron Pollard is captaining Mumbai in Rohit Sharma's absence.

2. Match on Monday, 

20 Sept 2021

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

Vs

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE

19:30 IST (14:00 GMT), 18:00 LOCAL

Match 31 Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

3. 60th National Open Athletics Championships is scheduled  at J.N. Stadium, Hanamkonda, Warangal (Telangana) from 15-19 September 

2021 and  organized by Telangana Athletics Association.

 *The Results (Finals):* 

 *Men: 200m* : 1. Amlan Borgohain (As) 20.75s MR, OR 20.92, S Arunjith, 2007); 2. Balakumar Nitin (TN) 21.06; 3. N. Shamugha Srinivas (AP) 21.12.

 *10,000m:* 1. Kartik Kumar (Ser) 29:42.63s; 2. Dharmender (Ser) 29:49.56; 3. Shrawan Kumar (Har) 30:01.87.

 *Hammer Throw* : 1. Damneet Singh (Pun) 65.65m; 2. Bajinder Singh (Pun) 63.29; 3. Sukhdev Singh (Rly) 63.18.

 *Triple Jump* : 1. Praveen Chithravel (TN) 16.88m; 2. Abdulla Aboobacker (Ser) 16.84; 3. Karthik Unnikrishnan (Ser) 16.80.

 *4x400m Relay:* 1. Haryana (Pankaj, Sachin, Ayush Dabas, Vikrant Panchal) 3:087.86s; 2. Services 3:09.13; 3. Punjab 3:11.29.

 *Women: 200m:* 1. Archana Suseendran (TN) 23.58s; 2. Taranjeet Kaur (Del) 23.64; 3. Chandra Lekha (Rly) 24.35.

 *10,000m:* 1. Sanjivani Jadhav (Mah) 34:20.03s; 2. Kavita Yadav (Rly) 35:57.46; 3. Jyoti (UP) 36:37.90.

 *Hammer throw* : 1. Manju Bala (Raj) 64.42m MR, OR 61,67, Hardeep Kaur, 2002); 2. Sarita Singh (Rly) 59.58; 3. Jyoti Rana (Rly) 58.36.

 *Discus throw* : 1. Navjeet Kaur (Pun) 54.49m; 2. Nidhi Rani (Rly) 50.87; 3. Gurveer Kaur (Pun) 48.66.

 *4x400m relay* : 1. Haryana (Nancy, Nisha, Nanhi, Kavita) 3:42.82; 2. Police 3:43.01; 3. Delhi 3:43.13.

 *Best athletes:* Men: Praveen Chithravel (triple jump). Women: Harmilan Bains (1500m).

 *Championships: Overall* : 

Railways (253.5 pts). 

Men: Services (187.5 pts).

 Women: Railways (157 pts)

 

*==========================*

*USD 73.70 💷GBP 101.29*

 

 *CM of Maharashtra State* : Uddhav Thackeray

 *Governor of Maharashtra State* : Bhagat Singh Koshyari

*🥇Gold ₹47,705@10 gm 24 (Krt)*

🥈 *Silver ₹60,000@ Kg*

⛽ *Petrol ₹ 107.26* 

⛽ *Diesel ₹ 96.19* 

⛽ *CNG.   ₹ 49.40* 

 **LPG : ₹ 885/14.2 Kg** 

 **BSE Sensex**  59,015.89

**NIFTY** : 17,585.15

========================

🇮🇳 *FACTS ABOUT INDIA* 🇮🇳

==========================  

 *Indus Waters Treaty,* treaty, signed on September 19, 1960, between India and Pakistan and brokered by the World Bank. The treaty fixed and delimited the rights and obligations of both countries concerning the use of the waters of the Indus River system.

==========================

*😀Thought of the day*

==========================

It doesn't matter how slow you go. As long as you will not stop.

 ==========================

*JOKE OF THE DAY*

==========================

 *Pappu to his Frnd* :

Yeh doctor log operation karne se pehle Patient ko behosh kyun karte hen?

 *Pappu* : Kahen patient khud operation karna seekh na le....is liye……🤪🧐

==========================

*😳WHY❓❓❓*

==========================

 *Joining Both Palms Together To Greet🙏🏻 in Indian Culture. ..?* 

 Scientific reason in  joining both hands🙏🏻 ensures joining the tips of all the fingers together; which are denoted to the pressure points of eyes, ears, and mind. Pressing them together is said to activate the pressure points which helps us remember that person for a long time. And, no germs since we don’t make any physical contact!

===========================

*LEARN Sanskrit*

==========================

  *ललित* : Charming, lovely, gentle

*Bhukthvopa Visathasthandraa*

_Never sit idle after taking Food. Walk for at least half an hour._ 

==========================

 🤔 *HOW IT WORKS* ⁉ =========================

 *How snake venom used  medically* ?

Snake venom contains several neurotoxic, cardiotoxic, cytotoxic, nerve growth factor, lectins, disintrigrins, haemorrhagins and many other different enzymes. These proteins not only inflict death to animals and humans, but can also be used for the treatment of thrombosis, arthritis, cancer and many other diseases.

Snake venoms are classified into three main types, 

Hemotoxic, 

Neurotoxic, and Cytotoxic

==========================

💁🏻‍♂‍ *GK TODAY* 

==========================

(a). The jellyfish *Turritopsis dohrnii* has no brain and heart and is considered the only immortal creature on Earth; it lives in tropical waters. As scientists have proved, such jellyfish do not die of old age, living up to a certain age, they begin to get younger and return to their original stage. And from the stage of a young individual, she again begins to develop. Fortunately, there is no limit to the number of times they can do this! Thus, a creature can live an infinite number of cycles. Such jellyfish die, most often, due to predators or diseases. 

(b).Generally our shirt buttons are made by horns of animals

==========================

 *BORN TODAY* 🐣💐

==========================

  Kuladhar Chaliha (20 Sep1887  – 19 Jan 1963) was a freedom fighter and prominent leader of Assam from Indian National Congress.

Chaliha was one of the elected member of 1934 Indian general election from Assam state.

He was first president of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee when it was founded.

He was also first speakers of the Assam Legislative Assembly from March 1952 to June 1957.

==========================

  *IDIOMS & PHRASES* 

==========================

 *Keep an ear to the ground* 

Staying informed and updated about everything

Ravi had his ear to the ground when it came to news about the latest mobile  to buy

==========================

🛕 *VEDIK GYAN* 

(kindly inform, if given info is vary from actual facts) ==========================

*Kali* also known as Kālikā (कालिका) or Shyāmā is a 

 goddess. Kali is the chief of the Mahavidyas, a group of ten Tantric goddesses.

Kali's earliest appearance is that of a destroyer of evil forces. She is the most powerful form of Shakti, and the goddess of one of the four subcategories of the Kulamārga, a category of Tantric Saivism. She destroys the evil in order to protect the innocent. Over time, Kali has been worshipped by devotional movements and tantric sects variously as the Divine Mother.

Kali consumes Raktabija and his duplicates, and dances on the corpses of the slain. In Devi Mahatmya version of this story, Kali is also described as a Matrika

==========================

🧬 *HEALTH CARE: HOME REMEDIES*🩺

( *Note* : These home tips followed in villages/ancient traditions, it is up to you to use it or not) ==========================

 

 *Top things you need to do if you get bitten by a snake* 🐍

1. Call an ambulance immediately.

2. You should treat any snake bite as an emergency, regardless of whether you think the snake was venomous or not. ... 

3. Don't panic and don't move. ... 

4. Don't wash, suck, cut or tourniquet the bite. If you’ve got a pad or even a piece of plastic like cling wrap, put it over the bite site to either soak up or protect the venom for later testing

Current Affair and General Awareness Update, April 8, 2015

• Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ) has kept the policy rate unchanged in its monetry meeting review on Tuesday 7th April 2015, following are the rate of RBI Policy
• CRR 4%
• SLR 21.5%
• Repo Rate : 7.5%
• Reverse Repo : 6.5%
• FedEx to buy TNT for USD 4.8 Billion, FedEx is American Packaging firm and TNT Express is its Dutch rival.
• Microsoft has lanuched its new Mobile model under its Lumia brand, the new Model will be called Microsoft Lumia 640 and its priced around 12,000/-. MS is also planning to lanuch Lumia 640 XL with bigger screen size
• Sumit Mazumdar is new CII President, currently Sumit Mazumdar is Chairman and Managing Director of TIL Ltd , country's largest range of material handling equipment.
• Mudra Bank to be lanuched by Pm Modi today, as it seeks in getting cheaper credit for small and micro business firms.
• RBI survey pegs the economy growth to 7.9%.
• 20 Red sanders smugglers shot dead in Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh
• Royal Dutch Shell Plc  to buy BG Group Plc for about £47 billion ($70 billion) in cash and shares, the oil and gas industry’s biggest deal in at least a decade.
• Three of country top lenders ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI have reduced the base rate after RBI Governors wrath, which will result in lowering of EMI of existing and new borrowers.

Special General Awareness Package for RBI Assistant Exam 2014 ( 9/10 )

1. Commonwealth games held in GLASGOW
2. DIRHAM is the currency of UAE
3. Recently Navratna Status has been given to public sector companies - EIL, CONCOR & NBCC
4. Full form of NDC - NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
5. Currency of MYANMAR - KYAT
6. BANK RATE is rate at which RBI discounts bill of exchange
7. ASIA LARGEST SOLAR POWER PLANT has been recently set up in NEEMUCH in MP of 130 MW
8. Currency of Bahrain - DINAR
9. EXAMPLE OF CASH CROP Tobbacco, Cotton, Coffee and Tea
10. SBI INTOUCH is the new generation and digital branch of SBI
11. Amnesty International HQ in LONDON
12. ASEAN HQ in JAKARTA
13. Total number of members in EU IS 28
14. IPL champion KKR
15. INDIA becomes 3rd largest crude oil Importer

Special General Awareness Package for RBI Assistant Exam 2014 ( 8/10 )

1. Pultizer Prize 2014 given to

• Vijay Seshadri
• Govind Mishra
• Prabhat Kumar
• N K Jha
• Chandi Prasad Bhatt

2. Who became world number 1 in 10 mt air pistol event recently in April 2014

• Heena Sindhu
• Gareth Hopkins
• Anjli Bhagwat
• Nancy Powell
• Deepika Kumari

3. Present chairman of NASSCOM is ?

• K K Natrajan
• R Chandreshkran
• Kiran Karnik
• Rajni Razdan
• Kapil Duggal

4. Rank in India in HDI - Human Development Index 2014 is ?

• 141
• 135
• 161
• 88
• No Rank given to India

5. Xi Jin Ping is president of which asian country ?

• Japan
• North Korea
• South Korea
• China
• Mongolia

6. Bhartiya Mahila Bank - BMB has recently tied up with which public sector insurance company to provide insurance coverage plans to its customers ?

1. United India Insurance
2. New India Assurance
3. National Insurance
4. Oriental Insurance 
5. LIC

7. New Chairman of Multi Commodity Exchange - MCX is 

• Thomas Manthews
• K V Thomas
• Jayesh Shah
• Jignesh Shah
• Narendra Kothari

8. National award for best film has been given to which film recently  ?

• Ship of Thesus
• Jolly LLB
• Bhag Milkha Bhag
• Lions Dance
• 12 Years of Slave

9. State Bank Day is celebrated on which of the following day ?

• 1 July
• 1 June
• 1 May
• 1 April
• 1 August

10. Who has been recently appointed as new Deputy Governer of RBI ?

• R Gandhi
• Arvind Mayaram
• Hemanth Ghai
• M K Khan
• A K Joshi

---------------------------------------------------------------

Answers :-

• Vijay Seshadri
• Heena Sindhu
• K K Natrajan
• 135
• China
• New India Assurance
• Thomas Manthews
• Ship of Thesus
• 1 July
• R Gandhi

Special General Awareness Package for RBI Assistant Exam 2014 ( 7/10 )

1. Who is Minister of Agriculture in cabinet of central government ?

• Sharad Pawar
• Harsimrat Kaur Badal
• Dr Harsh Vardhan
• Smriti Z Irani
• Radha Mohan Singh

2. Present Railway Minister of cabinet rank in central government is 

• Ram Vilas Paswan
• Nitish Kumar
• Pawan Bansal
• Mukul Roy
• Sadananda Gowda

3. Kiren Rijiju is associated with 

• Indian Hockey Chairman
• Ministry of Railways
• Ministry of Home affairs
• Chief Minister of Sikkim
• CMD of State Bank of Patiala

4. Who is present President of ASSOCHAM ?

• Rana Kapoor
• Vijaya Mallya
• D V Mallya
• Leela Samson
• Rajiv Mathur

5. Chairman of 14th Finance Commission ?

• Vijay Kelkar
• Y V Reddy
• Arvind Mayaram
• Praful Patel
• Rohit Nandan

6. Who is newly elected chief of Central board of direct taxes ?

• R K Tiwari
• K V Choudhary
• S S Mantha
• Vijay Kelkar
• Rakesh Kumar Upadhaya

7. Matteo Renzi has been elected as youngest Prime Minister of which country at the age of 39 in February 2014 ?

• Spain
• Italy
• Scotland
• Germany
• Portugal

8. Michelle Bachelet has been sworn in as the new president of which country in March 2014 ?

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Chile
• Mexico
• Venezuela

9. New chief Minister of Bihar after resignation of Nitish Kumar is 

• Sharad Yadav
• Sushil Kumar Modi
• Ram Vilas Paswan
• Jitan Ram Manjhi
• Hemant Soren

10. Who has been sworn in as the new chief minister of Uttranchal in February 2014 ?

• Jatinder Bir Singh
• Harish Rawat
• V K Negi
• Virbhadra Singh
• Bhupinder Singh Hooda

---------------------------------------------

Answers :-

• Radha Mohan Singh
• Sadananda Gowda
• Ministry of Home affairs
• Rana Kapoor
• Y V Reddy
• K V Choudhary
• Italy
• Chile
• Jitan Ram Manjhi
• Harish Rawat

Indian Culture Awareness 25 August 2014

1. The sacred book of Parsis is called ?
2. Madhubani style of painting is a popular form of painting in India belongs to which state ?
3. Jana Gana Mana was officially adopted by constituent assembly as Indian National Anthem on 
4. Dandia is popular dance of which state of India
5. Kumbah Mela is held once in how many years ?
6. Shrimad Bhagwat Gita was originally written in which lagnuage
7. Kuchipudi dance belongs to which state 
8. Which state is known for its folk dance Garba ?
9. The Rath Yatra at Puri is celebrated in honour of which Hindu deity ?
10. Onam is a festival popular in which state of India
11. Yakhagan is the famous dance form of the state of 
12. Losoong is a festival which is celebrated in which state of India

.............///////////.............................//////////////////..................////////////////....................

Answers in Reverse Order

• Sikkim
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Lord Jagannath
• Gujarat
• Andhra Pradesh
• Sanskrit
• 12 Years
• Gujarat
• Jan 24 1950
• Bihar
• Zed Avesta

Important Banking Related GK (General Awareness) Questions II

Subbarao to be RBI Governor for 2 more years:The Government has given Dr D. Subbarao, two-year extension as the Governor of the RBI. He will hold office till 2013. “The Prime Minister has approved the extension of the term of Dr Subbarao as Governor of the RBI for a further period of two years with effect from September 5, 2011 up to September 4, 2013,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.This move is meant to give an impression of stability to the economy, sources told Business Line. Secondly, in the current global economic situation, bringing a new person at the helm would not be seen as a wise step, they said. (BL dt. 10.08.2011 p.1)

Foreign investors can invest in MFs:In a further liberalisation of the portfolio investment route incorporating the industry’s suggestions for a more vibrant debt market for the infrastructure sector, the Centre on Tuesday permitted a new category of qualified foreign investors (QFIs) to invest up to $13 billion in equity and debt schemes of mutual funds (MFs). Announcing this, for which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued separate notifications to set the investment norms as market regulators, a Finance Ministry statement said: “It has been decided that the aggregate investments by qualified foreign investors (QFIs) in equity schemes of the mutual funds under direct and indirect routes shall be subject to a ceiling of $10 billion.’’ (The Hindu dt. 10.08.2011 p. 19)

Signs MoU with PSU insurers:Vijaya Bank has signed an MoU with United Insurance Co. Ltd. Under MoU, it will distribute life insurance and general insurance products of United India Insurance Co Ltd. The bank will also distribute insurance products of LIC, the bank said in a statement. (BS dt. 09.08.2011 p. 5)

Plan FY 12: SBI to raise capital via rights issue:State Bank of India plans no further consolidation of its associate banks with itself during the current fiscal, Chairman Mr Pratip Chaudhuri has said. This comes even as the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, recently indicated that the Government would not be averse to considering merger proposals involving State Bank of India and its associate banks in 2011-12. The State Bank of India management's "time and bandwidth" during this fiscal would be devoted to raising additional capital of Rs 20,000 crore through a rights issue, besides addressing issues such as asset quality and international expansion, Mr Chaudhuri told reporters after a meeting of the bank's board. (BL dt. 07.08.2011 p. 1)

SBI to open 800 branches this fiscal:State Bank of India plans to open 800 more branches in 2011-12 taking its total network to over 14,000 branches. "We are planning to open 700-800 branches in the current financial year against 650 set up during the last fiscal," the SBI Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer, Mr Diwakar Gupta, told PTI. New branches would be spread across all the 14 circles, he said. At the end March,2011, the total number of branches was 13,542 while the number of ATMs stood 20,084 across the country. Besides, the bank is also looking at expanding its overseas network. The bank would look at increasing its presence in the neighbouring countries in CIS(Common wealth of Independent States)countries. SBI has 156 offices across 32 countries, including US, UK, Singapore, Canada and the Mauritius. The focus of these offices is India related business and the international needs of the bank's foreign customers, in addition to conducting retail operations. Currently, the overseas business contributes about 16% to the bank's total business. The number of foreign offices increased from 142 as on March 31, 2010 to 156 as on March 31, 2011 spread across 32 countries. (BL dt 08.08.2011 p.7)

Banks can now issue prepaid instruments to listed cos:In a bid to widen the scope of prepaid payment instruments, the Reserve Bank of India has permitted banks to issue such instruments to listed corporate entities for onward issuance to their employees. Currently, prepaid instruments are issued by banks to: government organisations for onward issuance to the beneficiaries of government sponsored schemes for loading of funds from such schemes; and financial institutions for loading of one-time/periodical payments by these entities to their customers. Banks also issue such instruments to beneficiaries under money transfer service scheme for loading of cross-border inward remittances received by them. Further, prepaid gift instruments are issued by banks, non-banking finance companies and other persons. (BL dt. 05.08.2011 p. 6)

SIDBI to widen refinance window:Banks’ appetite for refinance from the Small Industries Development Bank of India is expected to increase to about Rs 30,000 crore in the current financial year against Rs 22,900 crore last year, according to a top official of the development financial institution. With deposit rates rising by almost 250 basis points (a basis point is equivalent to 0.01 percentage point) in the last one year or so, banks are finding refinance from SIDBI comparatively cheaper. Lucknow-headquartered SIDBI gives refinance against term loans granted by banks to industrial concerns for setting up industrial projects in the small-scale sector as also for their expansion/modernisation/diversification. (BL dt. 02.08.2011 p. 6)
RBI to issue new Rs 10 notes:The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it will shortly issue Rs 10 denomination bank notes with inset letter 'B' in both numbering panels in Mahatma Gandhi series 2005 bearing the signature of RBI Governor Dr D Subbaro. Except for the change in the inset letter, the design of these notes to be issued now is similar in all respects to the banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi series 2005 issued earlier. All banknotes in the denomination of Rs 10 issued by the bank in the past will continue to be legal tender, the press release said. (DH dt 02.08.2011 p.15)

New bank licences on the back burner:Companies with ambition of setting up a bank will have to wait longer. The much-hyped grant of new bank licences has been put on the back burner, as the Government is not keen to go ahead. Sources familiar with the developments said the government had conveyed its view that the matter be set aside to Reserve Bank of India, the authority for issuing fresh licences. RBI had framed draft guidelines for new bank licences and submitted these to the Finance Ministry for its views. The ministry is yet to formally get back to RBI. “RBI and the government had reached a consensus on most of the important issues in the draft guidelines, including grant of licences to corporate houses. The government had also agreed to amend the RBI Act to vest more power with the regulator. Things have slackened after that,” said a source. (BS dt. 01.08.2011 p. 1)

Post offices to seek nod to convert into banks:The humble post office is all set to undergo a radical change with a proposal to convert over 1.5 lakh post offices across the nation into full fledged banks on the anvil. Telecom Minister Mr Kapil Sibal wants to reach out to the masses in the rural areas with modern banking facilities through the post offices. “We want to commercialise the department. We will seek a licence from the RBI to convert all our post offices into banks,” Mr Sibal told PTI. The post offices currently offer financial services like savings bank, postal life insurance, pension payments and money transfer services. Its total corpus stood at Rs 5,82,832.90 crore as on March 31, 2011. (DNA dt. 01.08.2011 p. 11)

Punjab & Sind Bank seeks Rs 990 cr from Centre:Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) has sought capital support of Rs 990 crore from the Central Government to fund business growth, a top official of the bank has said. “It will be pure equity. We have made a request to the Government for capital infusion through preferential allotment route. The capital infusion if done will be made at a premium and near market price,” Mr P. K. Anand, Executive Director, PSB, said. The last time Government infused capital in PSB was in 2005 and the amount pumped in was Rs 500 crore, officials said. Later on, the Government had converted equity capital of Rs 550 crore into preference shares as well as long-term debt. (BL dt. 31.07.2011 p. 18)

Important Banking Related GK (General Awareness) Questions I

Canara Bank gets new executive director:The Government of India has appointed Mr Ashok Kumar Gupta, General Manager of Punjab National Bank, as the Executive Director of Canara Bank. He succeeds Mr Jagdish Pai K.L., who retired on June 30. According to a press release from Canara Bank, Mr Gupta assumed office on Thursday. He started his career as management trainee in Punjab National Bank in 1976. He also served as the Managing Director of PNB GILTs, a subsidiary of PNB. Before his elevation to the post of Executive Director of Canara Bank, Mr Gupta was in Chandigarh as Field General Manager for Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh. (BL dt. 30.07.2011 p. 6)

PNB to accept 'cash' from door steps:Punjab National Bank said it would start accepting cash up to the value of Rs.2 crore from the premises of its customers, facilitating high value cash collection at their door steps. "We will soon start our new initiative in Chandigarh, where we will be accepting high amount of cash from customers' premises," GM Rohtash Kumar said. The minimum amount of cash to be collected from customers' premises would be Rs 1 Lakh, with maximum ceiling of Rs 2 crore without any charge. A dedicated team of bank officials will be set up which will look after door step banking services. The bank would also allow making payments to customers as per their requirement but within ceiling of Rs 2 crore. (DH dt 26.07.2011 p.15)

Canara Bank may hire 3,000 personnel this year:Canara Bank is likely to fill-up 3000 vacancies in various categories during this year, according to its Executive Director, Ms Archana S Bhargava. Speaking to newspersons on Friday, Ms Bhargava said apart from clerks, probationary officers, and agricultural officers, specialist positions in areas such as information technology would also be filled-up. “We have significant retirements which are to be replaced and branch expansion programme during the current year,’’ she said. Over 250 branches were likely to be added before March 2012 to the present network of 3,350 branches, she added. As part of its focus on microfinance and Self Help Group (SHG) linkage, three new microfinance branches would be opened in Andhra Pradesh. (BL dt. 23.07.2011 p. 15)

Canara Bank to open branches in 7 nations:Aiming to expand its overseas footprint, Canara Bank said on Thursday that it plans to open offices in seven countries, including Germany and US soon. The bank had already received the permission to open a branch in Germany, while in other countries including US, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and Australia, the process of getting permission has started, the bank’s ED Smt. Archana S Bhargava told reporters. Currently, the Bank has overseas branches in the UK, Hong Kong and China. It also has a joint venture with SBI in Moscow. The Bank, which has around 3,300 branches at present in the country, is also planning to add another 300 by end of this fiscal, she said adding that most of the new branches will be opened in rural and semi urban areas. She also said that the Bank has its presence in 452 districts of the total 644 districts in the country. As corporate social responsibility, bank has opened four computer training centres to impart free computer training to poor unemployed youth. Earlier, bank’s first specialised Government Business branch was opened at National Archives of India (NAI) office premises on Thursday. (DH dt. 22.07.2011 p. 17)

State Bank of Mysore, National Insurance join hands:State Bank of Mysore has announced three deposit schemes with free accident death insurance cover for savings bank and term deposit accounts. The bank has tied up with National Insurance Company. “This is an additional service we are offering for our customers. This will be on a trial basis, and we hope to come up with more such products in the future,” said Mr Dilip Mavinkurve, Managing Director, State Bank of Mysore. The schemes will offer insurance cover initially for one year and will be subject to review at the end of one year. These new products - MyBank Suraksha Savings account, MyBank Suraksha Savings Plus account and MyBank Suraksha Deposit account will be offered through the group insurance model to individuals, excluding NRI customers. (BL dt. 22.07.2011 p. 23)

Snag in your ATM? If unresolved, get Rs 100 a day:Ever thought that you could get paid by an ATM? Well, that is now a distinct possibility, thanks to RBI’s decision. If an ATM-related complaint isn’t redressed within seven days, it can potentially earn you Rs 100 a day. The Reserve Bank of India has reduced the mandatory time for resolving complaints related to ATM transactions to a week from the earlier 12 days, starting July 1. Complaints include wrong debits, non-receipt of cash and receipt of a lesser amount than specified in a withdrawal. It is important that one should immediately register his/her complaint with the bank, as the mandatory compensation after seven days is not applicable if the complaint is not brought to the notice of the bank within 30 days. (BL dt. 17.07.2011 p. 1)

SBI, ICICI Securities among four to manage PF corpus:State Bank of India, ICICI Securities Primary Dealership, Reliance Capital and HSBC Asset Management will manage the Rs 3.5 lakh crore-retirement corpus for three years, beginning September 1, 2011. The decision was announced on Thursday by the Central Board of Trustees, the tripartite decision-making body of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The selection was done after evaluating the bids on both financial and technical grounds. Eighty per cent weightage was given to technical qualifications and 20 per cent to financial quotations, an official release said. Expressing hope of getting good returns for close to 5 crore provident fund depositors this year, the Union Labour Minister, Mr Mallikarjun Kharge said, “We will see their performance for one year, and based on that, an appropriate decision will be taken by the trustees for extensions.” Sources said ICICI Securities had quoted the lowest rate of 3 paise annually for managing Rs 10,000. Reliance Capital quoted a rate of 4 paise, HSBC AMC 36 paise and SBI Re 1. (BL dt. 15.07.2011 p. 9)

BoB to open 10-12 overseas branches:Public sector lender Bank of Baroda plans to open 10 to 12 overseas branches in the current fiscal. “We have plans to open another 10 to 12 branches in the current financial year in our various overseas territories. That would take our branch and office network abroad to around 100 by March, 2012, Bank of Baroda C&MD Mr M D Mallya said. (BS dt. 11.07.2011 p. 2)

Cost of convenience:ATM Charges Changes Walking into any bank's ATM and checking your account balance will come at a cost now. From July 1, banks have clubbed together all the services, some which were being offered free earlier, and started charging from the sixth service. So whether you withdraw cash, go for balance enquiry or take a mini statement, there will be a cost.
• Cash withdrawal: Allows cash withdrawals up to specified limit. Maximum charge is Rs.20/-
• Balance enquiry: Check the existing balance on ATM screen or get a printout, maximum charge is Rs.8.50/-
• Mini Statement: Some banks list out the previous six or ten transactions in the account, Maximum charge is Rs.8.50/-
• Pin change: Change the pin number for one ATM card, maximum charge is Rs.8.50/-
(BS dt 08.07.2011 p.5)
State Bank of India pushing ahead with green channel counters:SBI has started over 5,000 green channel counters (GCCs) at its branches across the country, according to the Chairman, Mr Pratip Chaudhuri. The GCC aims at providing customers with a simple, secure and quick way of executing banking transactions without carry passbooks or filling in pay-in-slips/withdrawal forms, or drawing cheques. All that is needed is the ATM-cum-Debit-Card and PIN for identifying the customer and his account. Cash deposits, cash withdrawals and funds transfers to the tune of Rs 40,000 per transaction are enabled through GCC. Registration of mobile numbers for the bank’s Mobile Banking Service will be introduced shortly through GCCs. In the last one year, 16 lakh transactions have been routed through GCCs, said the SBI chief. (BL dt. 02.07.2011 p. 6)

Gurgaon fraud: Citi fined R25 lakh:The Reserve Bank of India has fined Citibank a sum of Rs 25 lakh under Section 47(A)(1)(b) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, which deals with the contravention of guidelines and instructions relating to know-your-customer (KYC) and anti money laundering (AML) regulations. In a statement on Monday, Reserve Bank of India said the bank’s failure to follow the KYC/AML guidelines, while opening accounts, led to the perpetration of a fraud at its Gurgaon branch. The Reserve Bank of India had issued a show cause notice to the bank on April 21st in response to which the bank submitted a reply dated May 6, 2011. After considering the facts and the bank’s reply, Reserve Bank of India concluded that the violations were substantiated and warranted imposition of the penalty.In December last year Citibank discovered a fraud at it's Gurgaon branch, perpetrated by an employee estimated at over Rs 400 crore. (FE dt. 05.07.2011 p. 18)

Post offices to offer core banking solution by next year:In its exercise to boost its profitability, the Department of Posts (DoP) plans to introduce core banking solution besides setting up India Post ATMs and debit cards for its customers. “We have set a target of bringing in core banking solution by 2012. It will ensure smooth online transactions. We are giving some e-payment services, but they are fragmented,” a DoP official said. He said the work for setting up 1,000 India Post ATMs was in advanced stage and DoP had held parleys with vendors on this front. “We will also issue debit cards to our existing savings account-holders,” the source added. (FE dt. 05.07.2011 p. 18)

19 banks to hold common exam for officers’ posts in Sept:The Institute of Banking Personal Selection (IBPS) has notified the Common Written Examination on behalf of the participating banks on Wednesday. Except SBI, almost all other major banks have come together for conducting the exam. SBI has its own set up for recruitment which is also being handled by IBPS. A score in the IBPS exam is now mandatory for selection of probationary officers/management trainees, as per the IBPS notification. (BL Dt. 07.07.2011 p.6)