Current Affairs Sectionwise PDF

Banking & Finance Awareness January 2017

RBI Extends the Demonetized Currency Exchange Date for NRIs to June 30
i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken a relief providing decision for the Non-Resident
Indian and Indian Citizens who were staying abroad since November 9 to December 31post
demonetization decision.
ii. As per the decision, the Indian Citizens can exchange their demonetized notes up to March
31, 2017 while the Non Resident Indian (NRIs) citizens can avail this facility up to June 30,
2017.
iii. The bank informed that there would not be any limit for Indian residents while for
the NRIs the maximum limit would be Rs 25,000 as per the FEMA regulations 2015.
iv. They can avail this facility only once during the period on submission of valid ID documents
and evidence proof of being abroad. The decision also states that third party tender will not be
accepted.

Govt permits 12 PSU banks to raise Rs 3,000 cr from market

i. The Central government had infused a sum of Rs 25,000 crore in 19 PSBs during FY 2015-
16.In this Rs. 22,915 crore was allocated to 13 PSBs on July 19, 2016.
ii. The remaining amount Rs 2,914.038 crore will be released on assessment of performance of
12 PSBs, the Department of Finance in its year-end review for 2016
iii. The Finance Minister ArunJaitleyhas granted its approval to 12 proposals of PSBs to raise a
sum of Rs 2,914.038 crore through preferential allotment and permission given to raise Rs 200
crore by United Bank of India through QIP mode.

26 crore accounts open under Jan Dhan Yojana across country

i. According to latest data released by Finance Minister ArunJaitley, 26 crore three lakh
accounts have been opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) across the
country till date.
ii. 15.86 crore accounts are opened in rural area and 10.17 crore accounts opened in urban area.
iii. Over 71 thousand 500 crore rupees have been deposited in these accounts and zero balance
accounts has come down to 23.86 per cent.

Bank of Baroda ties up with CNX Corporation

i. Public sector lender Bank of Baroda has announced a partnership with CNX Corporation (CNX)
to provide collateral management services towards the loans against warehouse receipt

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sanctioned to the farmers through the network of the banks branches across the country.
ii. This will benefit the farmers from distress sale of their commodities

Banks cuts lending rates, home, corporate loans to be cheaper

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an interest subvention for home loans of up
to Rs. 12 lakh and asked banks to keep the poor and middle class at the focus of their activities
many PSUs and private banks reduced their benchmark lending rate by up to 1.48 percent on
January 3, 2017.
The reduction in lending rates may lead to an increase in credit taking frequency which
has moderated substantially putting burden on balance sheet of banks. Housing, auto
and corporate loans are all set to become cheaper.
The three state-owned banks, State Bank of India (SBI) and Punjab National
Bank (PNB) and Union Bank of India on January 1, 2017, reduced the lending rate by a
good 0.9 per cent.
While SBI reduced its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 90 basis
points for all maturities, Union Bank of India reduced its MCLR by 65-90 basis points for
loans of various tenures while PNB cut its MCLRs by 70 basis points for 1, 2 and 3 year
tenures.
Following the reduction, lending rate of SBI for a one-year loan, has come down to 8%
from 8.90%.
Following State Bank of India, other lenders including largest private sector lender ICICI
Bank and state-owned Oriental Bank of Commerce and Andhra Bank too announced cut
in marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR).
Home loan rates for ICICI Bank will come down between 0.45% and 0.6%, depending
on quantum and category.
Oriental Bank of Commerce has reduced the one-year MCLR rate by 0.8% to 8.60%,
while Andhra Bank has brought it down by a similar percentage point to 8.65%,
effective January 3, 2017
Kotak Mahindra Bank, too reduced the MCLR rate by up to 0.45%. The bank has
reduced MCLR by 0.20% to 9% from 9.20% for one-year tenor. However, the MCLR for
the three-month period has been reduced by 0.45 percentage points to 8.40%, while
the lending rate for two and three years, has been brought down to 9% from 9.25%.
Bandhan Bank has cut its MCLR by 1.48%, to 10.52%, effective from January 3, 2017.
With this, the bank has cut its loan rate for small borrowers by almost 4 percentage
points, since it started operations in August 2015.
Dena bank has reduced the MCLR by 0.75%, to 8.55%, for 1 year tenor.
RBI Directs Banks to Supply 40 Percent Notes in Rural Areas
The Reserve Bank of India on January 3, 2017, directed all the banks to supply atleast 40
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percent of the notes to the rural branches since currency notes in rural areas was not
adequate to meet the requirements of the population.

HDFC Ties with Niki.ai to Launch OnChat to make Payments via Facebooks Messenger
i. HDFC has tied-up with artificial intelligence firm Niki.ai to launch a chatbot
called OnChat on Facebooks Messenger platform, that will allow users to recharge phones,
pay utility bills, book cabs from Ola or Uber etc., through a chat.
ii. The chatbot is available for non-HDFC bank users as well. The chat opens a payment
gateway through which transactions can be made using any bank account.

Coca-Cola India partners the State Bank of India to enable digital transactions
i. Coca-Cola India and its largest bottling partner Hindustan Coca-Cola beverages have
partnered the SBI to enable over 2.6 million retailers and 5000 distributors in conducting
business transactions digitally.
ii. SBI will educate retailers on digital transactions and will be developed a customized payment
solution for retailers and distributors.

Munich Re to open reinsurance branch office in Mumbai

Germany based Munich Reinsurance Company is planned to open its branch office
in Mumbai to provide the property-casualty, life, health reinsurance markets across India.
Munich Re is one of the first foreign reinsurers to receive approval for a dedicated branch in
India following the 2015 amendment of the Insurance Bill.

Yes Bank ties-up with Bajaj Electricals for vendor financing using block chain
i. Yes Bank has entered into a tie-up with Bajaj Electricals for vendor financing using
blockchain solution.
ii. There is an over 70 per cent cost reduction because of blockchain and the payback for our
investments is 6-8 months.

Rs 5 discount on online payment of LPG cylinder

i. Cooking gas customers can now avail an upfront discount of Rs 5 on every refill booked and
paid for online.
ii. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have begun offering the price
discount to cooking gas customers.

Paytm Gets final approval from RBI to Start Operating as Payment Bank
i. Mobile commerce and payments company, Paytm received the final approval from the Reserve
Bank of India on January 3, 2017 to launch Paytm Payment Bank.
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ii. Paytm Payments Bank Ltd is expected to start its operation in next 30-60days with its first
branch in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
iii. Paytm Payments Bank is held 51% by Sharma and 49% by One97 Communications Pvt. Ltd. It
has already received investments of Rs 220 crore from One97 Communication and its Vijay
Shekhar Sharma.

Karnataka Bank launches group Personal Accident Insurance Scheme named KBL
Suraksha
i. Karnataka Bank has launched has launched a group Personal Accident Insurance
Scheme for all its Saving Bank(SB) Account holders. The insurance scheme is named KBL
Suraksha and provides insurance cover for accidental death.
ii. All the SB Account holders within the age group of 18-70 years can register themselves for
the insurance scheme. The KBL Suraskha Scheme comes in two variants.
iii. Plan A provides an accidental insurance of Rs 5 lakh on payment of Annual premium of Rs
50(plus service charge). Plan B provides an accidental insurance of Rs 10 lakh on payment of
Annual premium of Rs 100(plus service charge). The maximum renewal age for the policy will
be 75 years.
iv. Karnataka Bank has launched the insurance scheme in association with Universal Sompo
General Insurance. The bank has launched a month-long campaign to promote its KBL
Suraksha scheme.

SIDBI ties up with LIC for capital support to enterprises

i. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has tied up with Life Insurance
Corporation of India (LIC) to give a boost to the venture capital ecosystem for MSMEs.
ii. LIC and SIDBI signed Contribution Agreements with 7 Venture Capital Funds (VCFs) with an
aggregate commitment of Rs 99.50 crore from LIC on January 03 in New Delhi. This is over and
above commitment of Rs 162.75 crore already given to these funds by SIDBI.

16th Financial Stability and Development Council Meeting Held in New Delhi
The 16th edition of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) meeting was
held on January 5, 2017 in New Delhi under the Chairmanship of
the Union Finance Minister ArunJaitley.
Aim: The FSDC meeting was held to discuss about the obstacles faced by the economy and to
bring out the solution to tackle them. Besides, it also aimed at bringing new suggestions and
outcomes in order to benefit the upcoming Budget 2017-18.
Key Discussions Held During the Meeting
i.While chairing the meeting, the Union Finance Minister, ArunJaitley emphasized the significance
of demonetization decision saying that the governments measures to eliminate the shadow
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economy and tax evasion are expected to have a positive impact both on GDP and on fiscal
consolidation in the long run.
ii.The Council, which has heads of all financial sector regulators as its members, reviewed the
major issues and challenges facing the economy and noted that India appears to be much better,
placed today on the back of improvement in its macroeconomic fundamentals.
iii.Financial regulators gave suggestions to promote financial stability and also discussed the
measures and initiatives to establish and promote the financial stability. Also, the regulators
offered their suggestions for the upcoming Budget for 2017-18, which were discussed by the
Council.
iv.In the meeting, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian made a presentation on the state
of the economy.
v.FSDC discussed about the various initiatives taken by the government and regulators for
promoting financial inclusion/ financial literacy efforts and discussed further measures for
promoting the same.

Droom Partners with Axis Bank for quick sanction of loans

i. Online automobile marketplace Droom has tied up with Axis Bank to provide quick sanction of
loans on both new as well as used cars.
ii. Loans will be provided for up to 85% of the value of the car with a tenure of 1-5 years.
iii. Furthermore, loans on Used Cars can be availed on vehicles upto the age of 10 years.

Indias GDP growth estimated at 7.1% this year & Per capita net national income rises
by over 10%
i. According to the Central Statistical Office data Indias Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth
is estimated at 7.1 per cent in 2016-17 as compared to 7.6 per cent in 2015-16.
ii. The CSOs projection on the per capita net national income during 2016-17 is projected to be 1
lakh three thousand seven rupees displaying an increase of 10.4 per cent as compared to 93
thousand two hundred ninety three during 2015-16 with the growth rate of 7.4 percent.
iii. The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector and manufacturing sector are likely to show a
growth of 4.1 per cent and 7.4 percent respectively during 2016-17, as against the previous
years growth rate of 1.2 per cent and 9.3 percent in 2015-16.
iv. The wholesale price index (WPI), of food articles has risen by 6.9 per cent,and the consumer
price index has shown a rise of 5.0 per cent during April-November, 2016-17.

SEBI eases rules for foreign fund managers & Sebi relaxes rules for angel funds to boost
start-up funding
i.The Market Watchdog SEBI has released rules allowing foreign fund managers to act
as Portfolio Managers under a relaxed regulatory regime.
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ii.This new rule will make it easier for foreign fund managers to enter India also provides
significance of taxation incentives for the offshore fund managers willing to relocate to India.
iii. In another development the market regulator also relaxed its rules for investment by angel
funds, including permitting them to invest in up to five-year old entities which will boost startup
funding.
iv.Consequently the lock-in condition has been cut down from 3 years to 1 year for angel funds
and their minimum investment threshold has been slashed from Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh.
v. Angel funds are permitted to invest in overseas venture capital undertakings up to 25 per
cent of their investible corpus in agreement with other Alternative Investment Funds.

RBI to provide rupees 1 billion in Rs 100 notes to Nepal Rashtra Bank

i. Indias central Bank RBI has decided to provide Rs 1 billion in Rs 100 denomination
notes to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to ease the acute shortage of Rs 100 notes faced by the
landlocked nation.
ii. In the wake of demonetization RBI has asked the NRB to wait till the situation normalizes. RBI
provides Rs 6 billion exchange facility to Nepal every year.
iii. After the Indian governments move to demonetize Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes the NRB had
also lowered exchange limit of Indian banknotes in Nepal.
iv. The NRB provides exchange facility up to Rs. 2000 and Rs. 10, 000 to those who submit a
copy of air or train ticket to travel to India. This limits is likely to extend till the time the RBI is
able to provide regular exchange facility.

Forex reserves up by $625.5 mn to $360.296 bn : RBI

i. The Reserve Bank in its press release stated that foreign exchange reserves rose by $625.5
million to $360.296 billion in the week to December 30, 2016.
ii. The Central Bank also said that Foreign Currency Assets which us major component in the
Forex Reserves surged by 612.4 million USD to 336.582 billion USD. However the Forex reserves
had touched all-time high of USD 371.99 billion in September 30 last year.

UCO Bank launches Suvidha prepaid card

i. Kolkata based UCO Bank has launched its prepaid card UCO Suvidha by R.K. Takkar, MD &
CEO, UCO Bank, and Executive Directors, Charan Singh and G. Subramania Iyer.
ii. The prepaid card can be used for cash withdrawals, purchase at Points of Sale (POS) or over
the Internet.
iii. The prepaid card offers the flexibility to load/ reload amount as and when required and is
targeted at corporates, government departments, institutions and other organisations.

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HDFC Bank Launches Humanoid Robot IRA

i. Indias second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has launched a human shaped robot
named IRA at its Mumbai branch to help the assist the customers in banking activities.
ii. Initially the role of the robot will be limited to that of receptionist that will greet the customers
entering the bank and display the services and banking facilities like withdrawal, deposit, forex,
fixed deposits and demat. The robot would also be installed with the map of the bank branch with
a button Take me there to help the customers in easy service.
iii. IRA which stands for Intelligent Robotic Assistant aims to provide smoother customer
service, marketing, employee assistance and automate the banking process. Depending on
customer reaction the Bank would install more such robots across its branches in the country.

SBI waives MDR charges for small merchants for one year
i. SBI has waived Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on debit card transactions for all small
merchants with annual turnover of up to Rs 20 lakh for one year.
ii. The bank has decided to waive completely, the MDR charges on debit card transactions for all
small merchants for a period of one year upto December 31, 2017.

Axis Bank Becomes Third Lender to Use Block Chain Solution

i. Following ICICI and Yes bank, the private sector lender Axis Bank has also joined the group as
the third bank to use block chain solutions in its operations.
ii. Third largest Private sector bank led by Shikha Sharma has tied up with fintech firm Ripple to
offer the solution.

Indias GDP Growth Decelerates to 7 percent for fiscal 2016-17: World Bank
i. The World Bank on January 11, 2017 cut the Indias GDP growth for 2016-17 fiscal ending on
March 31, 2017 to 7 percent from its previous estimate of 7.6 percent due to demonetization.
ii. The bank cited the immediate withdrawal of a large volume of currency in circulation and
subsequent replacement with new notes as the main reason behind the deceleration of the GDP
growth rate.
iii. However, the bank also asserted that India is expected to regain its momentum with GDP
growth at 7.6 percent in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19 and strengthening to 7.8 per cent in FY
2019-20.

Indian Standards on Gold Hallmark Revised by Bureau of Indian Standards

i. Indian Standard on gold hallmarking has been revised by the Bureau of Indian Standards
(BIS) on January 9, 2017 and has been made effective for implementation with effect from
January 1, 2017.
ii. From now the hallmarked gold jewellery will be available in three grades: 14 carat, 18 carat

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and 22 carat. These caratage would also be mentioned on the jewellery besides the fineness for
the convience of the customers.

HDFC ERGO Launches Credit Insurance Policy to Safeguard Business

i. HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company launched a new policy, Trade Credit Insurance
Policy, on January 9, 2017 to which safeguards businesses against the risks of non-payment for
the goods or services delivered to the buyers.
ii. Indias third largest private sector non-life insurance provider informed that the policy would
offer cover against payment defaults and insolvency, apart from providing political risk cover to
exporters.
iii. Under the new policy, the insurer covers a portfolio of buyers and pays an agreed percentage
of the invoice or receivables that remain unpaid as a result of insolvency, bankruptcy or
protracted default.

Citibank Launches Voice Biometrics Authentication for Phone Banking

i. Citibank India has launched a Voice Biometrics Authentication for its phone banking
customers on January 10, 2017 that would allow clients to use their voiceprints for authentication
rather than remember multiple PINs or respond to questions through current practice of
interactive voice response (IVR) used for verifying their identities.
ii. The voice biometrics authentication uses unique voiceprint which is similar to fingerprint for
each person.

NITI Aayog Estimates the GDP Growth of 8 Percent for 2016-17

i. NITI Aayog has projected the GDP growth rate of 8 Percent for 2016-17 based on the
appraisal document for the Twelfth Five-Year Plan.
ii. The estimate does not take into account the impact of demonetization.
iii. The policy think tank laid that overcoming the lack of reforms in land acquisition, labour, skill
development and simplification of regulatory cum administrative procedures can lead to growth
prospect of above 8 percent.

Airtels Payments Bank Starts Operation with Initial Investment of Rs. 3000
i. Airtel Payments Bank started its nationwide operations on January 12, 2017 with an initial
investment of Rs 3,000 crore and offering an interest rate of 7.25 per cent for savings
accounts. The bank was launched by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
ii. This is the first payments bank which will be opened across 29 states in India to provide
financial services to the millions who are outside the banking system.

SBI Signs $ 50 mn Pact with Omans SGRF

i. State Bank of India has signed a pact with the State General Reserve Fund

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of Oman (SGRF), a Sovereign Wealth Fund to infuse $50 million in private

equity fund Oman India Joint Investment Fund (OIJIF) while the SGRF would infuse $150
million.
ii. The SBI aims at backing the private equity fund for its second offering (Fund II).

Tax department, Japanese company sign advance pricing pact

The tax department signed a Bilateral Advance Pricing Agreement (BAPA) with Indian subsidiary
of a Japanese trading company to include rollback provisions to reduce litigations by providing
certainty in transfer pricing on January 13, 2017
Now the total number of BAPAs entered into by the CBDT is increased to 8.
Highlights :
i. BAPA is an important step towards ascertaining transfer pricing matters of multinational
company cases and dispute resolution.
ii. Under BAPA, certainty in tax treatment is provided for the next five years while rollback
provides dispute redressal for a maximum of four past years preceding APA years.

SEBI Lowers Broker Fees by 25 Percent to Rs 15 Per Transaction

i. The SEBI Board on January 14, 2017 announced its decision to reduce the fees payable by
broker by 25 percent as a part of calibration of various other fees collected by the regulator from
different market intermediaries.
ii. It has decided to lower the fees from Rs 20 per crore of turnover to Rs 15 per crore of
turnover to reduce the overall cost of transaction.
iii. The SEBI Board has also decided to give an option to all market intermediaries and companies
to make their regulatory payments in digital mode to help in speedy and easy transactions and
reduce failures due to payment gateway issues.

NPCI declares Rs 54.90 crore prize money for NITI Aayogs lucky draw schemes
i. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has declared Rs 54.90 crore prize money to
over 3.42 lakh winners for NITI Aayogs lucky draw schemes Lucky Grahak Yojna (LGY) and
Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojna (DVY).
ii. There are 15,000 daily winners qualifying for total prize money of Rs. 1.5 crore and
over 14,000 weekly winners qualifying for total prize money of over Rs. 8.3 crore every week.
It will run till April 14, 2017
iii. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka emerged as the top
five states with maximum number of winners under the age group of 21 to 30 years.

BSNL Launches Aadhar Based e-KYC Project

i .BSNL has launched its Customer Acquisition and Customer Communication Management

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(CACMS) project that aims to digitalize business process to ensure faster service, accurate
customer responses and customer satisfaction.
ii. The project provides an Aadhar based e-KYC (Know Your Customer) service for
immediate activation of new mobile connections across the country.
iii. The state-run telecom has selected Intense Technologies to deliver the CACMS project on a
Pan India basis for all lines of business of BSNL as per the terms and conditions of the tender.

Market Regulator SEBI Tightens Mergers & Acquisitions Norms Among Unlisted Firms
The Capital market regulator of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on
January 14 tightened the norms associated to Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) of Indian
companies.
Aim: The main objective behind the move is to prevent large number of unlisted
company to get listed by merging with a very small company for personal motive and
protect the interest of the Public shareholders in the listed companies and give them a
greater say in the merger with unlisted subsidiaries.
Directives Rolled Out by SEBI
SEBI directed after the unlisted company merge with listed company and gets automatically
listed, the effective total public shareholding of the listed entity plus the qualified
institutional buyers (QIBs) of the newly listed company has to be at least 25%.
The public shareholding of the resultant entity created by the merger of an unlisted and
a listed company has to be more than 25 per cent.
The unlisted entity can only merge with those companies that are listed on exchanges such
as the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE.
The market regulator also directed companies to follow the pricing formula specified under
the Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements (ICDR) regulations. This aims to
prevent companies to issue shares to select group of shareholders instead of all shareholders
during mergers and amalgamations between listed and unlisted entities.

Mysuru Printing Press Breaks Record by Printing Highest No. of Currency Notes in a
Month
i. As per the data released by the President of Note Mudran Limited Employees Union, A Ramdass,
the RBI Note Mudran printing press in Mysuru printing highest number of currency
notes in December breaking all its past record.
ii .It printed 10.9 million currency note in a day that even broke the world record made an
American currency printing press of printing 8.7 million notes in a day.

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India Signs Financing Agreement with World Bank for US$ 48 Million for Nagaland
Health Project
The Joint Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs, Mr. Raj Kumar and Acting Country Director
of the World Bank Mrs. Genevieve Connors are signed s financing agreement for IDA credit of US$
48 million for the Nagaland Health Project on January 16, 2017.

Central & SBI Card launch premium co-branded card

i. Future Groups fashion and lifestyle departmental store Central joined with SBI
Card launched a second co-branded credit card to offer benefits to consumers in the premium
lifestyle and fashion space on January 16, 2017
ii. The Central SBI SELECT and SELECT+ Cards will offer an accelerated reward points structure
1.20 reward points for every Rs 100 spent in Central stores.
2.10 reward points per Rs 100 spent spent in dining and entertainment
3.2 reward points per Rs 100 in other categories

IRDAI forms panel to review life insurance product norms

i. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has formed a 8 member
committee headed by Amitabh Chaudhry, CEO of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company to
review life insurance product regulations on January 16, 2017
ii. The committee will analysis the existing framework of IRDA-linked and non-linked
insurance product regulations
iii. IRDAI instructed to the committee to submit its report before March 15, 2017.
Committee Members :
Head : Amitabh Chaudhry, CEO of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company
K S Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Aegon Religare Life Insurance, Sai Srinivas, Appointed Actuary, Bajaj
Allianz Life Insurance and Sandeep Bakshi, CEO, ICICI Prudential Life

Study by Oxfam Shows Richest 1% in India Holds 58% of Total Wealth

i. As per a report titled An economy for the 99 per cent released by rights group Oxfam on

January 16, 2017, the richest 1 percent of the population in India holds 58 percent of the

countrys total wealth which is higher than the global figure of 50 percent.

ii. The report found that since 2015, the richest 1 percent population in India has continued

to own more wealth than the rest of the countries.

iii. Besides, it also discovered that 57 billionaires in India having collective wealth of USD 216

billion was equal to the wealth that lowest 70 percent population held. However, when taken

globally only 8 billionaires have the same amount of wealth as the poorest 50 percent of the world

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population.

iv. The study stated that India has 84 billionaires with a collective wealth of USD 248

billion. The total Indian wealth in the country was calculated at USD 3.1 trillion. Top 3 billionaires

comprised of Mukesh Ambani (USD 19.3 billion), Dilip Shanghvi (USD 16.7 billion) and Azim

Premji (USD 15 billion).

iv. In contrast, the total global wealth in 2016 was USD 255.7 trillion. Of this, the top three global

billionaires held about USD 6.5 trillion which comprised of Bill Gates (USD 75 billion), Amancio

Ortega (USD 67 billion) and Warren Buffett (USD 60.8 billion).

IMF Lowers Indias GDP Growth Rate to 6.6% from 7.6% for FY17

i. According to the World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund

(IMF) on January 16, 2017 has lowered the Indias GDP growth rate for the current fiscal year

by one point to 6.6 percent from its previous estimate of 7.6 percent due to the effect of

demonetization on consumption and expenditure.

ii. IMF also cut Indias GDP forecast for 2017-18 by 0.4 points to 7.2 percent as against previous

forecast of 7.6 percent. For the year 2018-19, the projected growth rate remained unchanged

at 7.7 percent.

iii. Besides, IMF estimated the growth rate of China at 6.7 percent for 2016-17, 6.5 percent for

2017-18 and 6 percent for 2018-19.

iv. The global growth for 2016 was estimated at 3.1 percent that remained unchanged from

previous forecast while for 2017 the global forecast is estimated at 3.4 percent for advanced and

3.6 percent for developing economies.

Yes Bank Launches Business Accelerator Program Yes Fintech

i. Private sector lender YES BANK in collaboration with T-Hub, Anthill and Lets Talk

Payments launched a unique business accelerator program YES FINTECH to provide start-ups

a platform for creating sustainable and market ready products as well as provide innovative

banking solutions to the customers.

ii. YES FINTECH has invited start-ups applications from across the global community, till February

3, 2017 on its website www.yesfintech.com. It would select top 12 start-ups for 15 week dual

destination program to be held in Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Yes Bank Launches Indias First Customisable Savings Account

i. YES Bank has launched a first of its kind unique Customizable Savings Account to enable the
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customers to design an account as per their convenience.

ii. Mumbai based bank has become the first bank in India to launch such type of account that

enables the customer to choose various features of a savings accounts that suits ones own

lifestyle.

RBI Hikes Cash Withdrawal Limit from ATMs to Rs. 10,000 per Day
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from January 16, 2017 has increased the limit of cash
withdrawal from ATMs to Rs 10,000 per day from the current Rs 4,500 with immediate effect

Karang Island in Manipur Becomes Indias First Cashless Island

i. Contributing to the Governments Digital India Campaign, a small lake island Karang in
Manipur has been declared as the countrys first cashless island by the Union Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology on January 13, 2017.
ii. The island fulfilled the Centres necessary criteria to be named as the cashless island. A
campaign was organized from January 9 to 12 by the Karang Island Boat Association and
Panthoibi Khoyol Standard Association in the island to promote cashless transactions.

30 More Countries to Join Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank

The Foreign Ministry spokesperson of China, Hua Chunying on January 17, 2017 informed
that thirty more countries have applied for joining the Asia Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB) besides 57 founding members.

UN Report Estimates Indias GDP to grow by 7.7% in 2017

i. Based on the United Nations report on World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP)
2017 released on January 17, 2017, Indias economy is projected to grow by 7.7 percent in
the fiscal 2017 because of being the fastest growing large developing economy.
ii. Besides, the growth estimate for 2018 has been projected at 7.6 percent. However, it also
stated that low capacity utilization and stressed balance sheets of banks and businesses will have
negative effect on strong investment revival in the short term.
iii. The report estimated the growth prospect of China to remain stable at 6.5 percent for fiscal
years 2017 and 2018 due to favourable domestic demand and accommodative fiscal measures.
iv. Earlier the International Monetary Fund cut Indias growth rate for the current fiscal year
to 6.6 percent from its previous estimate of 7.6 percent while the World Bank too lowered
Indias GDP growth for 2016-17 fiscal to 7 percent from its previous estimate of 7.6 percent.

CBDT Clarifies No TDS or Advance Tax Credit for Income under PMGKY
i. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on January 18, 2017 cleared that income

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declared under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) would not be entitled to get any
credit by way of advance tax paid or the tax deducted at source (TDS) or tax collected at
source (TCS)
ii. This is in contrast to the earlier Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) under which these credits
were allowed.

Lloyds Gets Final Approval from IRDAI to Open First Branch in India
i. Londons insurance giant Lloyd has received the final approval from the Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) on January 19, 2017 to set up its first branch
in India.
ii. The specialist insurance and reinsurance company would open its first branch office in India
before April 2017 and will be located at Mumbai.

PNB and IPPB team up for technology support

New Delhi based Punjab National Bank signed a memorandum of understanding(MoU)
with India Post Payments Bank(IPPB) to provide technology platform for pilot launch of IPPB
on receipt of regulatory nod from the Reserve Bank of India.

World Bank Sanctions Rs 1,376 Cr For Tripura Power Upgradation

i. Washington based World Bank has sanctioned Rs 1,376
crore for upgradations and improvement of the Tripura power system network on January
19, 2017. This was announced by Tripuras power minister Manik Dey.
ii. The Power Upgradation project is divided into 5 phases. SPML Infra Ltd has got the contract of
the first phase with the budget of Rs 461 crore .
iii. A large number of 132 KV and 33 KV substations will be constructed and upgraded under the
project across Tripura.

IT Department Expands Deposits & Transactions List under Scrutiny

i. The Income Tax Department released its detailed guidelines on January 17, 2017 expanding
the list of high end deposits and transactions made during the demonetization period to be
reported by the banks, companies, post offices and businesses for scrutiny.
ii. As per the guidelines, banks need to report deposits made by individuals upto Rs. 2.5 lakh or
more in savings account during the demonetisation period. Besides, for current account
holders, this limit is Rs 12.5 lakh.

RBI imposes Rs 75 lakh penalty on Bombay Mercantile Co-operative Bank

Indias central banking institution, Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs
75lakhs on Bombay Mercantile Co-operative Bank for violations of norms related to KYC and

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anti-money laundering.
RBI had issued a notice regarding this to the bank and the bank has submitted its written reply.

Union Cabinet approves Excluding States /Union Terrotries from Investments of

National Small Savings Fund
i. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its
approval on January 18, 2017 to exclude States/Union-Territories (with
Legislature) except Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh from National
Small Savings Fund (NSSF) investments effective from April 1, 2016.
ii. Besides, it also approved to provide a one-time loan of Rs. 45,000 crore to Food
Corporation of India (FCI) from NSSF to meet its food subsidy requirements.

Kerala Gramin Bank to propagate financial literacy among school children

i. Kerala Gramin Bank has launched a novel programme called FI@School at Assisi
Vidyanikethan Public School, Kakkanad to propagate financial literacy among school children on
January 20, 2017
ii. Every branch of the bank has to tie up with nearest school to organise various programmes to
literate school students
iii. The bank has appointed magician Gopinath Muthukad as the brand ambassador
for FI@School.

GST Decides Tax Evasion Upto rs. 2 Cr Bailable Offence

i. The Centre and State Government has in a meeting decided to reduce some of the penal
provisions of the GST regime in order to make it less burdensome.
ii. The GST Council has decided that tax evasion of upto than Rs. 2 crore would be bailable
offense to ensure that the trader gets immediate bail while the non-bailable offenses would be
limited to forgery and non- deposit of collected taxes with the exchequer within the
stipulated time frame.

Cooperative Banks Barred From Accepting Deposits under PMGKDS

i. The Cooperative banks have been barred by the Government on January 20, 2017 from
accepting deposits under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme (PMGKDS) to
stop any misuse of the deposited amount.
ii. The decision comes after the income tax department revealed that a large number of
cooperative banks were manipulating and laundering undisclosed money after the
government scrapped the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes on November 8, 2016.

Kwality Ltd Signs MoU with Bank of Baroda for Rs 4000 Cr Loan to Farmers
i. Mumbai based dairy firm Kwality Ltd has signed an MoU with Bank of Baroda on January
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20, 2017 to provide Rs. 4000 crore loans to one lakh farmers out of the established networks
from whom the company procures milk.
ii. The MoU aims to provide financial assistance to improve socio-economic lives of farmers
and encourage them towards digitisation.

Punjab National Bank Launches Contactless Credit Card

i. Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched a Contactless Credit Card named PNB Wave N
Pay on January 21, 2017 in New Delhi to further enhance its digitalization initiative.
ii. The new card was launched by the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of PNB,
Usha Ananthasubramanian and is developed on Visa Platinum platform.

Utkarsh Micro Finance Launches its Small Finance Bank

i. Varanasi-based Utkarsh Micro Finance started operating its banking business as Utkarsh
Small Finance Bank on January 23, 2017 to cater to the needs of the poor mainly in the
northern belt. UKs Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) has infused Rs. 150
crore in the tier II capital in the company.
ii. Utkarsh Small Finance Bank has started its operation with five full-fledged branches. It has
removed the 1 percent processing fees for new borrowers and looks forward to reducing the
lending rates to capture the market. At present, it lends at 15-25 percent annually.
iii. The bank will offer 6% interest on savings bank accounts while deposit rates for one
year would be 8.25-8.50% which is about 150 basis points higher than State Bank of India.

Rescheduled Education Loan will not be Considered for Computing NPAs:RBI

i. In a bid to encourage banks to provide loans for education, the Reserve Bank of Indiahas
declared that rescheduling the period of payment of education loans due to the inability of the
borrower because of unemployment will not be treated as restructured accounts for
computing NPAs.
ii. Banks can allow three rounds of extension periods, each not more than 6 months, during
the entire lifecycle of the education loan, to be applicable only on
unemployment/underemployment borrowers.

IRDAI okays Swiss Re move to open Mumbai branch

i. Wholesale reinsurance provider Swiss Re has received approval from the Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to open a branch in the city.
ii. With the composite branch license, Swiss Re will be able to operate in India and it can offer
both non-life and life and health reinsurance solutions directly to clients and brokers in the
country.
iii. Swiss Reinsurance Company, India Branch, will begin its operation from February 1.

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BCSBI Launches Know Your Rights Programme

i. The Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) has announced an initiative as
per which it would organise Know Your Rights programme in select urban and rural areas of
the country to enhance awareness on Banking Codes at the grassroot level among the people.
ii. The move aims to create awareness among the people about the commitment of the banks
towards their customers.
iii. The programme would be conducted at three levels including Tier II cities, metros and
other backward areas.
iv. The CEO of BCSBI, Anand Aras informed that the first such programme was organized by
BCSBI in Kochi on January 23, 2017 in association with Kudumbashree for less privileged women
in Kerala.
v. The programme, interalia involved skit and a puppet show to describe the banking codes to
over 100 participating women in simple language. It also addressed about 300 educated section
of the society to increase their awareness about banks commitment towards them.

Cabinet Permits NABARD to Raise Rs. 20,000 crore for on-lending to Co-Op Banks
i. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave its post-facto
approval on January 24, 2017 allowing National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development
(NABARD) to raise approx. Rs. 20,000 crore from the market for on-lending to Cooperative
Banks.
ii. It permitted the bank to make the short term borrowing at the prevailing market rate and lend
to Co-op Banks at 4.5 Percent rate of interest. The move will support the famers by providing
them loans to boost agricultural production.

France Issues First Green Bonds With Record Sale of 7 Billion Euro
i. France on January 24, 2017 issued its first Green Bonds with a record sale of worth seven
billion euro (USD 7.5 billion) thus leading a significant way towards establishment of a genuine
market in renewable energy bonds.
ii. The proceeds from the bonds will be used by France to finance projects to address climate
change.
iii. The 22-year bonds coupon has been set at 1.75 percent which is same as the interest rate
on conventional borrowing for the same time frame. This will enable France to finance expenditure
on green projects at the same price as traditional borrowing.

RBI Prohibits FDI in Non-Cooperative Countries

i. The Reserve Bank of India has prohibited the Indian entities on January 25, 2017 from
making direct overseas investments in any entity that is located in 'non co-operative countries
and territories', as identified by the inter-governmental body Financial Action Task Force

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(FATF).
ii. The move aims to bring down the global terror financing and thus prevent, detect and prohibit
money laundering

SBI Launches Wealth Management Product SBI Exclusif in Kochi

i. The State Bank of India has launched a new wealth management product named SBI
Exclusif in Kochi, Kerala. Later it will be rolled out in other cities of the state during the course
of the year.
ii. The product was launched by Chief General Manager, SBI, Kerala Circle, S Venkataraman on
January 24, 2017.
iii. SBI Exclusif is targeted at fast growing affluent and high net worth customer segments of the
bank.

Karnataka Bank Signs MoU with Tirth Agro Technology

Mangaluru based private sector bank Karnataka Bank Ltd signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with the leading agricultural equipment/implements manufacturer Tirth Agro
Technology Pvt Ltd, Rajkot, on January 25, 2017 in to finance farmers for agri mechanisation.
Aim of the MoU
i. To establish a platform for co-operation between the two in identifying farmers in need of
buying agricultural implements/equipment and financing them by the bank on its terms.
ii. To promote agriculture mechanization in India by utilizing banks experience in agricultural
finance through its branches across India.

Government to Launch Aadhar Pay for Cashless Transactions through Biometrics

i. The Government on January 27, 2017 informed about its plan to launch the biometric
based Aadhaar Pay payment platform in few weeks for BHIM App.
ii. Aadhaar Pay service will enable people to make and receive payments using their Aadhaar
number and biometrics.
iii. The government enabled the Bharat Interface for Mobile (BHIM) app with
Aadhaar number on January 26, 2017.

CASHe integrates Paytm Wallet for direct cash transfers

i. Indias fastest loan giving app for young salaried professionals, CASHe has partnered with
Paytm on January 27, 2017 to allow its users to deposit cash transfers from CASHe to
their Paytm wallets.
ii. With this integration, users of CASHe will have an option to transfer their loan amounts into
their Paytm Wallets in part or in full and credit the rest of the amount into their bank accounts.
This is an industry-first innovation from CASHe.

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iii. CASHe offers multiple loan options ranging from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 1,00,000 payable over 15,
30 and 90 days.

Indias Foreign Exchange Reserves Rises by $ 932.4 million to $ 360.775 billion

i. The Reserve Bank of India on January 29, 2017 informed that the Foreign Exchange
Reserves of India rose by 932.4 million dollars to 360.775 billion dollars for the second
consecutive week ended January 20.
ii. In the previous week, Indias forex reserve increased by 687.9 million dollars to 359.843 billion
dollars.

FGII Enters Into Bancassurance Tie-Up With Bank Of Maharashtra

i. Future Generali India Insurance Company (FGII) announced an agency tie-up with Pune
based Bank of Maharashtra on January 30, 2017.
ii. Aim: To immensely benefit our customers by providing them an ease of access while choosing
from a diverse range of non-life insurance products, all under one roof
iii. It has tie-up with over 100 banks in India for bancassurance.Now it accounts for 5 per
cent of Future Generalis total busines.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Presented Economic Survey 2016-17 in the
Parliament
The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley presented the Economic Survey 2016-17 in the
Parliament on January 31, 2017 that provides a base for the government to prepare the annual
Budget.

The survey has been authored by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian.The
Economic Survey depicts the state of the economy and is generally presented in
Parliament a day before the presentation of the annual Budget.
Important Highlights of the Economic Survey 2016-17
GDP Growth
The Economic Survey has estimated that the GDP growth rate for FY18 will be in the range
of 6.75 percent to 7.5 percent.
Demonetization and rising oil prices have been identified as the major risk to the growth
rate. However, remonetization and sufficient circulation of currency notes may return the
growth rate to normal position.
The growth rate for the current fiscal has been estimated at 7.1 percent from the previous
7.6 percent by the Central Statistics Office. This estimate does not take into account the
effect of demonetization.

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Fixed investment (gross fixed capital formation) to GDP ratio (at current prices) is estimated
to be 26.6 per cent in 2016-17 as compared to previous 29.3 percent.
Government Revenues
The survey stated that the indirect taxes grew by 26.9 percent during April-November 2016.
Besides, the revenue expenditure experienced a boost in the same period due to
increase in the salaries of government employees by 23.2 percent with the Seventh Pay
Commission and 39.5 percent increase in the grants for creation of capital assets.
Inflation
As per the Consumer Price Index (CPI), inflation remained under control for the third successive
financial year. The average CPI inflation was 5.9 percent in 2014-15, 4.9 percent in 2015-16
and 4.8 percent during April-December 2016.
Based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI), inflation was 2.0 per cent in 2014-15 and lowered to
(-)2.5 percent in 2015-16. During April-December 2016 it averaged to 2.9 percent. As per
the report pulses contributed major risk to food inflation.
Trade Growth
The survey stated that the growth in export was increased by 0.7 percent during April-December
of 2016-17 amounting to USD 198.8 billion.
Similarly, during April-December of 2016-17, imports declined by 7.4 per cent
to USD 275.4 billion.
Besides, trade deficit declined to USD 76.5 billion in 2016-17 (April-December)
compared to USD 100.1 billion in the previous year.
The current account deficit (CAD) too lowered in the first half (H1) of 2016-17 to 0.3
percent of GDP from 1.5 percent in H1 of 2015-16 and 1.1 percent in 2015-16 full year.
In the first half of 2016-17, Indias Foreign Exchange Reserves increased by USD 15.5
billion.
External Debt
Indias external debt declined from March 2016 by USD 0.8 billion to USD 484.3 billion in
September 2016.
The short-term debt that contributed major share in total external debt declined to 16.8
percent at end-September 2016 and foreign exchange reserves provided a cover of 76.8
percent to the total external debt stock.
Agriculture Sector Growth
As per the survey, the agriculture sector is estimated to grow at 4.1 percent in the current fiscal
as compared to 1.2 percent in 2015-16 due to better monsoon.
The total area coverage under Rabi crops was recorded to be 616.2 lakh hectare on
January 13, 2017 which is 5.9 percent higher than previous year.

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Similarly the area coverage under wheat as on January 13, 2017 is 7.1 percent higher
while the area coverage under gram is 10.6 percent higher than that in the
corresponding week of last year.
Industrial Growth
The survey estimates a growth rate of the industrial sector to be moderate at 5.2 percent in
2016-17 from 7.4 percent in 2015-16.
Services Sector
The Service sector has been estimated to grow at 8.9 percent in 2016-17 which is almost similar
to that in 2015-16.
Social Infrastructure, Employment and Human Development
The survey highlighted that the Parliament has passed the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act,
2016 to enhance the rights and entitlements of Persons with Disabilities. It envisages increasing
the reservation in vacancies in government establishments from 3 percent to 4 percent for those
persons with disability.
The Survey says Apparel and Leather industry have immense opportunity for job creation for
the weaker sections, especially for women and can lead to social transformation in the
country.
It points out that the capacity of the State to provide essential services such as health and
education to weaker section of the society is weak due to low capacity, with high levels of
corruption, clientelism, rules and red tapism.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank Partners with Fisdom for Mission FINFIT

i. The private sector lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank in partnership with Bangalore based fin-tech
startup firm Fisdom, has launched a mobile application Mission FINFIT to offer the customers
of the bank financial planning and personal wealth management services based on Robo
advisory.
ii. The mobile app would enable the customer of the bank to plan their finances in an effective
manner using the online platform for wealth management thus encouraging them to invest
smarter.

Reserve Bank Lifts ATM Withdrawal Limits Effective From February 1

i. As per the announcement by Reserve Bank of India on January 30, 2017, the daily
withdrawal limit from ATM will be removed with effect from February 1, 2017. However the
weekly limit to withdraw Rs. 24000 from savings account will still continue.
ii. Earlier, the RBI had hiked the daily withdrawal limit from savings account on January 16, 2017
to Rs. 10000.
iii. Besides, the Central bank has also removed the cash withdrawal limit from current
accounts/ cash credit accounts/ overdraft accounts with immediate effect.
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India Post Payment Bank Begins Pilot Service in Ranchi & Raipur
i. India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) started its operations on January 30, 2017 with the pilot
services launched in Raipur and Ranchi.
ii .The total paid up capital of the bank is Rs. 800 crore and the government has already
infused Rs. 275 crore.
iii. IPPB will offer an interest rate of 4.5 percent on deposits up to Rs.25,000; 5 percent
on deposits of Rs.25,000-50,000 and 5.5 percent on Rs.50,000-1 lakh.
iv. The main of IPPB is to encourage financial inclusion rather than promoting commercial
interests. It would work jointly with the Department of Post to offer the benefits of the
government schemes and financial services which is not easily available to rural people and
marginal population of urban area.
v. IPPB would enable 3 lakh postmen to aid in bank functions. Besides, 1000 ATMs of India Post
will be transferred to IPPB. The bank has made plans to launch 650 branches across the country
by September 2017.

FICCIs Economic Outlook Survey Projects GDP to grow 6.8 Percent in FY 17

i. Based on the latest Economic Outlook Survey report released by FICCI on January 30, 2017,
the Indias GDP is projected to grow 6.8 percent this fiscal which is 0.5 percent points less than
FICCIs previous estimate of 7.3 percent.
ii. FICCI conducted the last round of survey between December 2016 and January 2017 and
collected responses from leading economists representing industry, banking and financial services
sectors.
iii. A slowdown in the estimate is due to the decrease in services and infrastructure sectors
post demonetization.

ICRA Estimates Banks Credit Growth to Remain Subdued at 5-6 percent in FY17
As per the report of the rating agency, ICRA, the bank credit growth rate is likely to float
between 5-6 percent in the current fiscal year.The reason cited includes weak loan demand as
the rate of return offered by debt market is better in comparison to banks.
Besides, the deposit rate was also projected to drop to 12 percent from the current 14.7
percent this fiscal ending March 2017 due to better cash flow in the system and cut in the deposit
rate by the banks.

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