02 Banking&FA Feb21

Banking & Economy PDF
Banking, Finance & Economy News: February 2021

RBI Cancels Licence of Shivam Sahakari Bank Ltd, Ichalkaranji, Kolhapur, Maharashtra
On January 28, 2021 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)cancelled the licence of Shivam Sahakari Bank Ltd, a co-
operative bank in Ichalkaranji, Kolhapur, Maharashtra. Following the cancellation of its license, the bank will stop to
carry on the banking business, which includes accepting and repaying deposits as defined in Section 5(b) read with
Section 56 of the Banking Regulation(BR) Act, 1949, with effect from the close of business on January 29, 2021.
• The bank can start the liquidation proceeding, with the cancellation of the license.
Note– RBI has also requested the commissioner for Cooperation and Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Maharashtra
to issue an order to wind up the bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank.
Reason for License Cancellation
i.The bank has no adequate capital and earning prospects and does not comply with the provisions of section 11(1)
and section 22 (3) (d) read with section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
ii.It failed to comply with the requirements of section 22(3) (a), 22 (3) (b), 22(3)(c), 22(3) (d) and 22(3)(e) read with
section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949;
iii.With its present financial position, it cannot pay the full deposit amount of its depositors.
iv.Public interest will be affected if the bank carries on its business.
Depositors will get a monetary ceiling of Rs 5 Lakhs
i.During the liquidation, every depositor is eligible to get the deposit insurance claim amount of his/her deposits up
to a monetary ceiling of Rs 5 lakhs from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) subject to
the provisions of the DICGC Act, 1961.
ii.Over 99% of the depositors of the bank are fully insured by DICGC.
Recent License Cancellation of RBI
Recently, RBI cancelled the license of Vasantdada Nagari Sahakari Bank, Osmanabad (Maharashtra).
Recent Related News:
On May 3, 2020, After the closure of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank, the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) cancelled the license granted to the 105-year-old CKP Co-operative Bank Ltd located in Mumbai (Maharashtra).
About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
Established – 1st April, 1935
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Governor– Shaktikanta Das
Deputy Governors– 4 (Bibhu Prasad Kanungo, Mahesh Kumar Jain, Michael Debabrata Patra, and M Rajeswar Rao)
About Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC):
i.It is a wholly owned subsidiary of RBI.
ii.It was established by merging Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd. (CGCI) and Deposit Insurance Corporation
(DIC).
Established– July 15, 1978
Chairman– Dr. M.D. Patra(Deputy Governor of RBI)
BSE Established ‘Innovation Sandbox’ Web Portal

BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) has set up an ‘Innovation Sandbox’ web portal, a workflow based platform.
It is a testing environment that enables FinTech firms and individuals to do offline testing of their applications.
• The innovation sandbox is set up as per the guidelines of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Aim: To create an ecosystem which promotes innovation in the securities market.
Applicants can Access APIs etc.,
The applicants can access the APIs, test data of stock exchanges, depositories and Qualified Registrar and Share
Transfer Agents (QRTAs) etc. through this portal.
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Selection Process of Applicants
After the approval from innovation sandbox committee, the applicant can access the portal to test its product or
solution
Guidelines for Regulatory Sandbox: SEBI
In June 2020, SEBI released guidelines for the regulatory sandbox to enable entities regulated by SEBI to test their
new solutions in a live environment and on a limited set of real customers with necessary safeguards.
After the commencement of Test Phase of First Cohort under the Regulatory Sandbox (RS) by Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) on November 17, 2020, click here to read, now the apex bank has announced the opening of the Second Cohort
on the theme of “Cross Border Payments”.
About BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange)
It is Asia’s first & the Fastest Stock Exchange in the world with the speed of 6 micro seconds and one of India’s leading
exchange groups.
Established– 1875
MD & CEO– Ashishkumar Chauhan
HeadQuarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Reliance Jio Becomes World’s 5th Strongest Brand; Wechat Tops: Brand Finance’s Global 500 2021
As per the Global 500 2021, an annual report on the most valuable and strongest global brands of Brand
Finance, Reliance Jio has been ranked in 5th position as world’s strongest brand with a Brand Strength Index
(BSI) score of 91.7 out of 100 and AAA+ brand strength rating. Reliance Jio enters the ranking for the 1st time.
i.The list is topped by WeChat with a BSI score of 95.4 followed by Ferrari with 93.9 BSI score.
ii.Russian bank Sber is spotted in 3rd rank with 92.0 BSI score followed by Coca-Cola with 91.7 BSI score.
List of World’s Strongest Brand
Rank Brand Country BSI Score
5 Reliance Jio India 91.7
1 WeChat China 95.4
2 Ferrari Italy 93.9
3 Sber Bank Russia 92
4 Coca-Cola US 91.7
Note
Reliance launched Reliance Jio in 2016, after which a phenomenon namely, ‘Jio effect’ came into picture.
Highlights of the Report
Verizon Re-enters the List
The world’s most valuable telecoms brand, Verizon (up 8% to US$68.9 billion), has re-entered the top 10 for brand
value following its absence in 2020.
Top 500 most valuable global brands 2021
i.In the list of Top 500 most valuable global brands, Apple is ranked 1st after 5 years. Amazon is ranked 2nd followed
by Google.
ii.Among the 500 brands, 12 brands from India have been mentioned in the list.
• Among the Indian brands Tata Group topped in the 500 Most Valuable Global Brand 2021
• 12 Brands include Tata Group(77th rank), LIC(206th rank), Infosys(212th rank) among others.
Top 100 CEOs in Brand Guardianship Index 2021
i.In the list of top 100 CEOs in Brand Finance Brand Guardianship Index 2021, Mastercard’s Ajay Banga secures the
1st rank, followed by Nvidia’s Jensen Huang
Netflix’s Reed Hastings and Alibaba Group’s Yong Zhang “Daniel”
ii.Of the 100 CEOs, 3 from India have been named.
• 3 CEOs: 5th rank- Rajesh Gopinathan(TCS), 6th rank- Mukesh Ambani(Reliance), 17th rank- Salil
Parekh(Infosys)

iii.It is to be noted that, of the 100 CEOs only 8 are female, Susan Patricia Griffith of Progressive ranked highest at
28th.
Click here to know more about the report
According to 56th Edition of the TOP500 project which ranks and details the 500 most powerful non-distributed
computer systems in the world, India’s Supercomputer – PARAM Siddhi-AI – Ranked 62 in the list of most powerful
non-distributed computer systems in the World. Japan’s Fugaku topped the list, the second & third rank were taken
by US (United States) Supercomputers “Summit” & “Sierra”.
About Brand Finance:
Managing Director – Richard Haigh
HeadQuarters– London, England
Rama Mohan Rao Amara Appointed as the MD and CEO of SBI Card; Succeeds Ashwini Kumar Tewari
On January 30, 2021 Rama Mohan Rao Amara took charge as the Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive
Officer(CEO) of SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd for a period of 2 years. He succeeds Ashwini Kumar Tewari,
who was appointed as one of the 4 Managing Directors(MDs) of State Bank of India (SBI).
• Prior to his appointment, Rama Mohan Rao Amara served as the Chief General Manager, SBI Bhopal Circle,
where he managed two key states, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
About Rama Mohan Rao Amara:
i.He started his banking career with SBI in 1991 as a Probationary Officer(PO).
ii.He is an expert in the field of credit, risk, and International Banking, both, in India and abroad.
iii.He has held foreign posts in Singapore and in the US as the CEO of the Chicago branch.
iv.Apart from this, he also served as the President and CEO of SBI California, US.
About SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd:
Headquarters– Gurgaon, Haryana
Launched– October 1998
India’s Transition towards EV in 2020-30 to cost around INR 19.7 Lakh Crore: NITI Aayog & RMI Report
According to the report ‘Mobilising Finance for EVs in India: A Toolkit of Solutions to Mitigate Risks and Address
Market Barriers, January 2021’ released by NITI Aayog & Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), India’s transition towards
Electric Vehicles (EVs) adoption between the years 2020-2030 will need a capital of INR 19.7 Lakh Crores (USD 266
Billion) they will be utilized for construction of vehicles, charging stations, and batteries & other infrastructures.
• Immediate steps needed to be taken for India’s EV transition are Mobilisation of Capital & Finance towards
EV assets & infrastructure.
• Projected size of the Annual Loan Market for EVs will be around INR 3.7 lakh crore (USD 50 Billion) in 2030.
Main Purpose of the report – To provide Landscape assessment, Barrier Assessment & Solution Identification.
Key Findings:
i.India’s EV Transition is taking place at a rapid rate due to
• Demand Creation
• State EV Policies &
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• Domestic Manufacturing
ii.Initiatives taken by Government to improve EV Sector in India
• Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, with a budget of INR 18, 100 Crore (USD 2.4 Billion) for Advanced
Chemistry Cell battery sector.
• To improve the Charging Infrastructure in India, Government has introduced the scheme ‘Faster Adoption and
Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME)’ with a budget of INR 1, 000 Crore (USD 135 Million)
• Promoting the Domestic manufacturing of EVs through National Mission on Transformative Mobility and
Battery Storage.
iii.Barriers towards EV adoption in India:
• Technology cost
• Policy Implementation

• Infrastructure availability
• Consumer behaviour
• Manufacturing and supply
• Capital amount needed for India’s transition is also a major hurdle
iv.The report listed 10 solutions that Financial Institutions (FIs), the EV sector, and government can adopt for
mobilising capital needed for India’s EV Transition. It includes 6 targeted instruments & 4 ecosystem enablers.
6 Targeted Instruments are
• Inclusion of EVs in Priority Sector Lending (PSL) to increase lending. RBI mandates 40% of net bank credit
to be used for deployment towards priority sectors.
• Interest Rate Subvention to improve the affordability of loans.
• Product guarantees and warranties – Reducing the uncertainties to improve their bankability.
• Risk-sharing mechanism (Government & multilateral led) for covering losses associated with financing EVs
• Risk-sharing mechanism (fleet operator-led): Fleet operators and final-mile delivery companies can
leverage their existing FI relationships to provide partial credit guarantees and utilisation guarantees to
driver-partners.
• Secondary Market Development – Industry-led buyback programmes & battery-repurposing schemes for
improving the residual value of EVs.
4 Eco-system enablers:
• Digital Lending
• Business Model Innovation
• Fleet and aggregator electrification targets
• Open data repository for EVs.
Vehicle Financing:
i.As of 2020, the flow of finance from the organised sector (i.e., banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs))
is about:
• 50 percent to four-wheeler passenger vehicles (PVs)
• 40 percent to commercial vehicles (CVs)
• 10 percent to tractors and two-wheelers.
ii.Loan tenures for different segments are generally similar (about three to four years, except for two wheelers, which
are shorter). Loan-to-value (LTV) ratios, i.e., the portion of asset value financed, vary—from 70 to 75 percent of the
vehicle for two wheelers to 80 to 90 percent for CVs.
Click here to read the full report
i.The Andhra Pradesh (AP) Government has decided to set up 400 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations across the
state to promote the usage of electric vehicles. The EV stations will be built under the first phase of the “Go Electric”
Campaign.
About Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI):
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Jules Kortenhorst
Headquarters – Colorado, United States of America
About NITI Aayog:
Chief Executive Officer – Amitabh Kant
Headquarters – New Delhi
India to emerge as 2nd most Resilient Economy in 2021, Germany tops the list:PHDCCI IER Rankings
According to the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) International Economic Resilience (IER) India is
set to emerge as the 2nd Most Resilience Economy in 2021 among top-10 leading economies showcasing the strong
recovery of Indian Economy in the Post COVID-19 era. Germany took the top spot & South Korea took the 3rd spot.
Indicators:
It is based on 5 Macroeconomic indicators such as
• Real GDP growth rate
• Merchandise export growth rate

• Current Account Balance (as percentage of GDP)
• General Government net lending/borrowing (as percentage of GDP)
• Gross Debt-to-GDP ratio
Overall Ranking:
—Real GDP growth rate -India ranked 1st with real GDP growth at 11.5% followed by China and France with their
real GDP growth at 8.2% and 6.0% respectively.
—Merchandise Export Growth – India ranked 1st with Merchandise Export Growth at 14.0%, this is followed by
Canada and U.S.A. at 9.9% and 9.7% respectively.
—Current Account Balance % of GDP – India ranked 6th Position.Germany topped the Current Account Balance &
followed by South Korea and Japan.
—General Govt. net lending / borrowing (% of GDP) – India ranked 8th Position.South Korea topped the General
Govt. net lending / borrowing & followed by Germany & Italy.
—Gross Debt to GDP ratio – India ranked at 4th Position. South Korea topped the Gross Debt to GDP ratio it was
followed by China & Germany.
Top 3 Ranking:
International Current General Govt. net
Economic Real GDP Account lending / Gross Debt
Resilience (IER) growth Merchandise Balance % of borrowing (% of to GDP
Rank Rank Rate Export Growth GDP GDP) ratio
1 Germany India India Germany South Korea South Korea
2 India China Canada South Korea Germany China
3 South Korea France USA Japan Italy Germany
The growth promising Sectors for the Indian economy in the new year 2021 include Agri & food processing, Real
estate, Infrastructure, Automobiles, Information Technology, E-Commerce, Health, FMCG, Telecom, Over The Top
(OTT) Market and Financial Technology (Fintech) industry.
i.According to the 12th edition of World Economic League Table 2021 (WELT) released by Centre for Economics &
Business Research Ltd (CEBR), India slumped 1 spot to 6th Largest Economy (out of 195 countries) in the world in
2020 from 5th in 2019 due to the impact of COVID19.
About PHDCCI:
President – Sanjay Aggarwal
Investment in Upskilling has potential to boost Global GDP by USD 6.5 Trillion by 2030: WEF Report
According to the report ‘Upskilling for Shared Prosperity’ – January 2021 released by World Economic Forum
(WEF) in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Investments in Upskilling can boost the Global Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) by USD 6.5 Trillion by 2030 also adding that it has the potential to boost India’s GDP by USD
570 Billion (INR 40 Lakh Crore) by 2030.
• Upskilling has the potential to create 5.3 Million new jobs by 2030 and will help in a more inclusive and
sustainable global economy.
• The report was released during WEF’s The Davos Agenda 2021.
• With proper upskilling & reskilling initiatives, India has the capacity for GDP gains equivalent to 6.8% of total
GDP.
Key Points:
• Reskilling & Upskilling will help people to get equipped with experience and skills needed for jobs created by
the Fourth Industrial Revolution, they will boost Global productivity by 3% on average by 2030.
• The report states that there is a disconnect between the current education programme & skill that employers
are looking for hiring.
• Upskilling i.e Learning new skills will be the key to recover from COVID-19.

• The report states that India has the 2nd Highest additional employment potential at 23 Lakhs, after the USA
which has the potential to generate 27 lakh jobs.
• 38% of additional GDP is set to be created in the business services & manufacturing sectors.
i.According to the Third Edition of “The Future of Jobs Report 2020” released by the WEF, COVID-19 and
Technological Advances will disrupt around 85 Million Jobs by 2025.
About World Economic Forum (WEF):
Founder and Executive Chairman – Klaus Schwab
Headquarters – Cologny, Switzerland
Government approves INR 945 Crore for ‘Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS)’ for 2021-25
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry has given the
approval for setting up of Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) with a Corpus of INR 945 crores for the period
2021-25. The Scheme will come into force from April 1, 2021 & DPIIT will be the implementing agency of the scheme.
• The scheme will provide funds to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market
entry & commercialization.
• The funds will be disbursed through selected Incubator facilities across India.
• During the Budget 2020-21, Union Finance Minister proposed the setting up of a National Seed Fund for
development of startups & provide Credit Guarantee for startups.
i.Experts Advisory Committee (EAC) will be constituted by DPIIT for execution & monitoring of SISFS. The EAC will
be led by an eminent individual, the committee will be responsible
• Evaluation and selection of Incubators for allotment of Seed Funds
• Monitoring progress
• Taking steps to ensure proper utilization of funds
ii.Criterias:
• Any startup recognised by DPIIT, incorporated not more than 2 years ago
• Preference will be given to startups who are working in sectors like Social Impact, Waste Management, Water
Management, Financial Inclusion, Education, Agriculture, Food Processing, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Energy,
mobility, defence, space, railways, oil and gas, textiles.
• The startups should also not have received more than INR 10 Lakh of monetary support from the Central or
State Government scheme (excludes prize money from competitions and grand challenges).
• Shareholding by Indian Promoters in the startup must be at least 51%.
• Startups who have already availed seed funds once will not be eligible.
Criteria for Incubators:
• It should be a legal entity
• Must have facilities to seat at least 25 individuals
• Should have at least five startups which are undergoing incubation physically.
• Must have a full-time Chief Executive Officer supported by a team.
Benefits
Selected Startups will receive an amount of up to INR 20 Lakhs after successful validation of their concepts, prototype
development & product trials.
• Amounts will be disbursed on anMilestone-based instalments.
• Startups would qualify for amounts of upto INR 50 Lakh through Convertible debentures or debt or debt-
linked instruments that can be used for market entry, commercialisation or scaling up process.
i.On September 11, 2020 DPIIT released the 2nd Edition of ‘States on Support to Startup Ecosystems 2019’. Gujarat,
Andaman & Nicobar Emerged as Best State &UT in providing Strong Ecosystem for Startups.
About Ministry of Commerce & Industry:
Union Minister – Piyush Goyal
Minister of State (MoS) – Hardeep Singh Puri, Som Parkash

India slips to 53rd Rank in EIU’s Democracy Index 2020; Norway tops the Index
According to the ‘Democracy Index 2020’ released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), India with a score of
6.61 slipped two places to 53rd Rank (out of 167 countries) in the Index due to decline in Civil Liberties. Norway
topped the index followed by Iceland & Sweden.
The handling of Coronavirus Pandemic has led to a further decline of civil liberties in 2020 in India, Asia and other
regions of the world.
i.The Rankings are based on 5 Categories
• Electoral Process & Pluralism
• Functioning of Government
• Political Participation
• Political Culture
• Civil Liberties
ii.India along with the US, France, Belgium & Brazil have been classified under ‘Flawed Democracy’ Category. Based
on scores on 60 Indicators, Countries have been classified into one of the four types of regime. They are
• Full Democracy – 23 Countries
• Flawed Democracy – 52 Countries, India has been classified under this category.
• Hybrid Regime – 35 Countries
• Authoritarian regimes – 57 regimes
Top 3 Countries:
Rank Country Score
53 India 6.61
1 Norway 9.81
2 Iceland 9.37
3 Sweden 9.26
Bottom 3 Countries:
Rank Country Score
165 Central African Republic 1.32
166 Congo 1.13
167 North Korea 1.08
Decline in India’s Ranking:
• India was ranked 51st in 2019 Democracy Index
• The index states the main reason behind India’s decline in rankings is due to Pressure on India’s democratic
norms by the Current Ruling Government.
• India’s score fell from 7.92 in 2014 to 6.61 in 2020 & its ranking from 27th in 2014 to 53rd in 2020.
Ranking of India’s Neighbours:
• Flawed Democracy – Sri Lanka (68th Rank)
• Hybrid Regime – Bangladesh (76th Rank), Bhutan (84th Rank) & Pakistan (105th Rank)
• Authoritarian Regime – Afghanistan (139th Rank)
Global Rankings:
• Japan & South Korea marked improvements as they returned to ‘Full Democracy’ for the first time since 2014.
• Taiwan attained the status of ‘Full Democracy’ for the First Time.
• Asia has only 5 ‘Full Democracies’ compared to Western Europe’s 13.
i.December 19, 2020, According to the ‘Human Freedom Index 2020: A Global Measurement of Personal, Civil, and
Economic Freedom’ – released by Cato Institute of United States & Fraser Institute in Canada, India ranked 111 in the
list of 162 countries.

ii.On March 5, 2020, According to the ‘Freedom in the World 2020” report, released by the Freedom House, a U.S
(United States) -based watchdog India was ranked 83rd in the report along with Timor-Leste and Senegal in ‘Free
Category’.
About Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU):
Managing Director – Robin Bew
Headquarters – London, United Kingdom
RBI Appointed External Professional IT Firm to Audit HDFC Bank’s IT Infrastructure

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed an external professional IT firm to carry out a special audit of the
entire IT infrastructure of HDFC bank under Section 30 (1-B) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The audit will be
conducted at the cost of the bank under Section 30 (1-C) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The name of the IT firm
was not disclosed.
Note– This appointment is part of RBI’s check to examine whether the bank has improved its digital capabilities
following recent issues.
Background
i.HDFC bank had multiple outages in its internet banking/mobile banking/payment utilities over the past 2 years.
• It is to be recalled that the bank has been penalised for two major outages, one in November 2018 and the
other in December 2019.
ii.Subsequent to this, RBI in December 2020 has asked the bank to temporarily stop the following:
• All launches under its Digital 2.0 initiative and other proposed business generating IT applications .
• Issuing new Credit Cards to customers.
Why RBI Halted Digital Banking?
More investment is required by all stakeholders for building robust IT platforms and technologies for operational
purposes as well as for fortifying public confidence in digital banking, especially when the financial landscape is
rapidly embracing new technologies.
iii.In order to address these issues, the bank has submitted a detailed plan of action to the RBI in January 2021. The
action plan will be implemented in 10 to 12 weeks and further duration will depend on the RBI’s examination.
• On the basis of the satisfaction level, RBI will lift the ban.
Recent Initiative of RBI to Enhance Digitalisation:
i.RBI had made the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) transaction available on a 24×7 basis from December 14,
2020.
ii.India with this new initiative became one of the few countries in the world to operate its RTGS system 24*7
throughout the year.
On January 19, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the 2020 list of Domestic Systemically Important
Banks (D-SIBs) on the basis of data collected from banks as on March 31, 2020. As per the list SBI (State Bank of
India), ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India), and HDFC (Housing Development Finance
Corporation Limited) continue to be D-SIBs or institutions which are ‘too big to fail (TBTF)’.
About HDFC Bank:
Incorporated– August 1994
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Sashidhar Jagdishan(Succeeds Aditya Puri)
Tagline– We understand your world
SEBI Revises Objective, Eligibility Criteria of Innovation Sandbox

On February 3, 2021 The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revised the objective and eligibility
criteria of innovation sandbox.
Aim: To encourage innovation and boost participation in the securities market

What is an Innovation Sandbox?
It eases access to an environment (testing facilities and test data) that is provided by Enabling Organizations like
StockExchanges,Depositories andQualified Registrar and ShareTransferAgents(QRTAs). The testing environment
enables the applicants to do offline testing of their applications.
Revisions of Innovation Sandbox:
Objective:
i.To promote innovation in terms of new products and services, besides as a new way to deliver existing products
and services for the following purpose:
• Create new opportunities in the securities market
• Make existing services more efficient, investor friendly and inclusive
ii.This can be achieved when access is given to Financial Institutions, FinTech firms, startups including
entities not regulated by SEBI including individuals
to test data and test environment
Stages & Eligibility Criteria:
Stage –I:
During this stage, limited access to the test environment will be given. Apart from this, there will be cap
on the utilization of resources in terms of processing power, memory, storage etc
Eligibility Criteria
i.The applicant must be an Indian Citizen or entities registered in India.
ii.The Know Your Customers (KYC)norms must be in accordance with the Central Know Your Customers Registry
(CKYCR)and KYC Registration Agency (KRA)KYC requirements.
• It is to be noted that the applicant must have a genuine need to test the solution using resources available in
the Innovation Sandbox.
Stage –II:
The cap on the utilization of resources shall be removed during this phase.
The removal is bound to the availability of resources at that point of time
Eligibility Criteria
An applicant if completed a minimum 60 days in the Stage-I of Innovation Sandbox testing will be eligible to enter
into stage 2 of the testing.The following are the eligibility criteria for Stage-II:
1.Purpose must Align with Objective
The purpose of the project must align with the objective of the innovation sandbox.
2.Demonstration
The applicant needs to demonstrate that they made adequate progress and are on track with their testing plan.
3.Post-testing plan
The applicant must present their post-testing plan.
4.Benefits to investors
The solution of the applicant must offer direct or indirect benefit to investors and the capital market and financial
sector as a whole.
Steering Committee:
Purpose– To drive the innovation sandbox and also to supervise its operations.
Members– It comprises representatives from the enabling organisations. In addition to them, SEBI representative
will also be a member.
Role– Process the applications submitted by applicants and approve or reject applications and assign lead enabling
organisations.
Note– This has been issued by SEBI in exercise of its powers conferred under Section11(1)of the Securities and
Exchange Board of India Act,1992 and Section 19 of the Depositories Act,1996 to protect
interest of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities market.
Click here to know more

On August 7, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) amended the clause 4 (2) of SEBI international
financial services centre (IFSC) guidelines, 2015 pertaining to eligibility criteria and shareholding limit for clearing
corporations that wish to operate in such centres.
About Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI):
Establishment– April 12, 1992 in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act,
1992.
Chairman– Ajay Tyagi
AMCs of Mutual Funds to Set Up LPCC by Contributing Rs 150 Crore: SEBI

On February2, 2021 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has released the guidelines to set up Limited
Purpose Clearing Corporation (LPCC) by Asset Management Companies (AMCs) of Mutual Funds(MFs). As per the
guidelines, AMCs needs to contribute Rs 150 crore towards share capital of LPCC.
Purpose of LPCC– To clear and settle the repo transactions in corporate debt securities.
Highlights about the Contribution:
Proportion to AUM
The contribution of AMCs is to be in proportion to the Asset Under Management (AUM)of open ended debt oriented
mutual fund schemes (excluding overnight,gilt fund and gilt fund with 10 year constant duration
but including conservative hybrid schemes) managed by them.
Basis of Calculation
Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) will calculate contribution as per Average AUM of debt oriented
schemes as mentioned above for Financial Year (FY) 2019-20
Networth to be Maintained
AMCs has to ensure that the net worth as prescribed under Regulation 21(f) of SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations,
1996 is maintained over and above the contribution.
Background:
Recommendation of Working Group
The Mutual Fund Advisory Committee (MFAC) of SEBI constituted a working group consisting of representatives
of various Mutual Funds, Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL)and AMFI for detailed deliberation.
Among others, the working group has suggested setting up LPCC by AMCs of MFs.
Approval of SEBI Board
The SEBI board in its meeting held on September 29, 2020 approved the proposal to set up LPCC.
Amendment
Consequently, Securities Contracts (Regulation) (Stock Exchanges and Clearing Corporations)
Regulations, 2018(SECC Regulations), have been amended on October 08, 2020
What are the Basic Functions of SEBI?
The basic functions of SEBI is to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of,
and to regulate the securities market and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
On November 6, 2020 In order to give more flexibility to the mutual funds, Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) introduced ‘Flexi Cap Fund’ as a New Category under Equity Schemes.
Federal Bank Launched FedFirst, a Special Savings Account for Children

On February 3, 2021 Federal Bank Ltd launched FedFirst, a special savings account for children up to age of 18
years (both Resident and Non Resident Indians-NRIs). The account is designed to help children learn about the
importance of money management. FedFirst contactless Debit Card is given to this account holder.
Aim:
• To enable children to inculcate savings habit and develop healthy spending habits
• To help children know about financial planning

Key Features FedFirst contactless Debit Card
Cash Withdrawal & Shopping Limit:
The daily cash withdrawal limit at Automated Teller Machines(ATMs) is Rs 2,500.
The daily shopping limit at Point of Sale-PoS / E-com is Rs. 10,000 (includes Daily Contactless transaction limit of Rs.
5000)
Other Benefits
The account holder will get free online facilities including access to internet banking, mobile alerts and e-mail alerts.
In addition to this, reward points, seasonal cashback can be got through their debit card.
On December 21, 2020, the occasion of Central Bank of India’s 110th foundation day, the bank in association with
National Payments Corporation of India(NPCI) launched ‘RuPay Select’, a unique variant of contactless debit card. It is
the bank’s one-of-its-kind health & wellness focused card.
About Federal Bank Ltd :
Late Kulangara Paulo(K.P.) Hormis, the visionary banker, took up the post of Chief Executive of the bank in 1945 and
built the bank a nationwide institution.
i.The Bank’s name was changed to The Federal Bank Limited on December 2,1949.
ii.The Bank was licensed under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, on July 11, 1959
iii.It became a scheduled commercial bank under the Second Schedule of Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 on July 20,
1970.
Founder– Late Kulangara Paulo(K.P.) Hormis
Headquarters– Aluva, Kerala
Managing Director(MD) & Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Mr. Shyam Srinivasan
Tagline – Your Perfect Banking Partner
Incorporated– April 23, 1931 as the Travancore Federal Bank Limited, Nedumpuram, Kerala under the Travancore
Companies Regulation, 1916.
PFC raises USD 500 Million: Largest Tenor Bond Issuance from India in 2021
Power Finance Corporation (PFC) has successfully raised USD 500 Million through issuance of USD Denominated
Bonds under ‘Reg S route’. The Bonds have a Fixed Coupon of 3.35% and will mature on May 16, 2031 making it
the Longest Tenor Bond Issuance from India since the start of 2021.
• Totally it has raised around USD 2.55 Billion, which is an oversubscription of 5.1 times.
• The funds will be used for the purpose of Lending to Power Sector Utilities.
• The proceeds will be utilized based on the External Commercial Borrowing regulations of the Reserve Bank of
India.
i.In January 2021, PFC had launched the maiden public bond sale for Retail Investors to raise INR 5, 000 Crore.
• It was the first such issuance since the State Bank of India floated public offer in 2010.
i.On November 26, 2020, Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC) & REC Limited signed a MoU with SJVN Thermal (P)
Limited (STPL) at for extending Term Loan of INR 8520.46 Crores for 2×660 MegaWatts (MW) Buxar Thermal Power
Project, Bihar.
About Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC):
It is a Government of India Undertaking company
Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) – Ravinder Singh Dhillon
Commerce Ministry Organised Udyog Manthan To Focus On Quality And Productivity in Indian Industry
On 3rd February 2021, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has organised Udyog Manthan under which a series
of webinars were conducted on 45 sectors which includes pharma and electronics. Udyog Manthan focuses on
quality and productivity in all the major sectors of manufacturing services. Udyog Manthan started on 4th January
2021 and concluded on 2nd March 2021.

Features of Udyog Manthan:
• The Udyog Manthan covers various sectors like pharma, medical devices, closed circuit camera, electronics
system design and manufacturing, new and renewable energy, robotics, aerospace and defence.
• During the 4 week event, 18 webinars on sectors including toys, leather, furniture, and drones were organised.
• Each webinar were on issues related to quality of products and productivity in one sector.
Ministry of Commerce and Industry:
Union Minister– Piyush Goyal
Minister of State – Hardeep Singh Puri , Som Parkash
RBI Issued Risk-Based Internal Audit (RBIA) Guidelines for Select NBFCs & UCBs
On February 03, 2021 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued guidelines on Risk-Based Internal Audit (RBIA) for
selected Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs). The
mentioned entities have to implement the RBIA framework by March 31, 2022. The guidelines also specified that
these entities may also set up a committee of senior executives to formulate a suitable action plan.
Aim: To strengthen the quality and effectiveness of the internal audit system of selected entities.
What is RBIA?
i.It is an audit methodology that links with an organisation’s overall risk management framework.
ii.This methodology provides assurance to the Board and its senior management about the quality and effectiveness
of the organisation’s internal controls, risk management and governance framework.
iii.Essential requirements of a strong internal audit function include, sufficient authority, proper stature,
independence, adequate resources and professional competence, etc.,
Note– At present, all institutions under the supervision of RBI have their own approaches to internal auditing,
resulting in some inconsistencies, risks and gaps in the system.
Guidelines of RBIA Framework:
Applicability
The RBIA framework is applicable for the following NBFCs and UCBs:
• All deposit taking NBFCs of all sizes
• All Non-deposit taking NBFCs (including Core Investment Companies) with asset size of Rs 5,000 crore and
above
• All UCBs that have asset sizes of Rs 500 crore and above.
Committee of senior executives
i.The committee can address the interim and change management issues.
ii.It also is liable to report about the progress to the Board and senior management periodically.
Implementation
The guidelines must be implemented within the limit under the supervision of the board.
Background
The RBIA system was mandated for all Scheduled Commercial Banks (except Regional Rural Banks) on December
27, 2002. Now, a decision has been taken to mandate the framework for the selected NBFCs and UBCs.
What are Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs)?
i.It is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956.
ii.It must have a Net Owned Funds of Rs 2 crore.
iii.It engages in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares among others but does not have a banking
license.
What are Primary (Urban) Cooperative Banks (UCBs)?
i.It is registered as cooperative societies under the provisions of, either the State Cooperative Societies Act of the
State concerned or the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002.
ii.Under the provisions of Section 11 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (As Applicable to Cooperative Societies)
UCBs must commence their business if the real or exchangeable value of its paid-up capital and reserves is more than
Rs 1 lakh.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its recent 4th Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) 2020-21 announced
to issue guidelines for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) with regard to distribution of dividend. Therefore
on December 9, 2020, the apex bank released the “Draft Circular on Declaration of Dividend by NBFCs” to ensure
greater transparency and uniformity in practice. It is open for comments by December 24, 2020.
IRDAI Releases Guidelines on Standard Vector Borne Disease Health Policy

On February 3, 2021 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of
India (IRDAI) issued guidelines on Standard Vector Borne Disease Health Policy to encourage all general and
health insurers to offer this product. They can offer this product by 1st April, 2021.
i.The product will offer a policy tenure of a year (12 Months).
ii.The nomenclature of the product should be in the name of the insurance company followed by “Mashak Rakshak”
Purpose– To make available Vector Borne Disease specific health insurance product for the public
What are Vector-borne diseases?
These are diseases that result from an infection transmitted to humans and other animals by blood-feeding animals,
such as mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas.
The vector-borne diseases include Dengue fever, West Nile Virus, Lyme disease, and malaria.
Guidelines on Standard Vector Borne Disease Health Policy
Regulations
The product will comply with all the provisions of IRDAI (Health Insurance) Regulations, 2016, all other applicable
Regulations and other applicable Guidelines.
Amount
• Insurers will determine the Price of the policy on the basis of the mentioned above regulation and guidelines.
• During a policy period, the total amount to be paid in respect of coverages offered must not exceed 100% of
the Sum Insured.
Minimum & Maximum Sum Insured
Under the standard product, the minimum sum insured will be Rs 10,000 and maximum will be Rs 2,00,000.
Age Category
• Minimum– 18years(for principal insured)
• Maximum– not less than 65 years of age( for all the insured members including principal insured)
Nomenclature
The insurer must also mention the meaning of “Mashak” in vernacular based on the region where the policy is sold.
Coverage
i.Hospitalization Benefit
• When positively diagnosed with the vector-borne disease(s), that requires hospitalisation for a minimum
continuous period of 72 hours, a lump sum benefit equal to 100% of the Sum Insured (excluding the amount
paid under-diagnosis cover) will be paid.
• The diseases include Dengue fever, Malaria, Filaria (Lymphatic Filariasis), Chikungunya, Japanese Encephalitis
and Zika Virus.
Diagnosis Cover
• On the 1st diagnosis during the Cover Period, 2% of the sum insured will be paid on positive diagnosis
(through laboratory examination and confirmed by the medical practitioner) of every covered vector-borne
disease.
• Under this cover the Policyholder has to pay for each disease only once in the policy year.
Termination
If payment has been made on 100% of sum insured, the policy will be terminated.
On October 15, 2020, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) released Guidelines for
Standard Life Insurance Product ‘Saral Jeevan Bima’.
The insurance scheme should be mandatorily offered by All Life Insurance Companies from January 1, 2021.

About Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI):
Chairman – Subhash Chandra(C.) Khuntia
Headquarters – Hyderabad, Telangana
Bharti AXA General Insurance Launches ‘Salute to Caregivers – Ek Naya Nazariya Campaign’ for Cancer
Survivors
Bharti AXA General Insurance has launched ‘Salute to Caregivers – Ek Naya Nazariya Campaign’ to support the
cancer survivors in the battle against cancer.
To commemorate the World Cancer Day(February 4, 2021) Bharti AXA General Insurance has collaborated with
poetess Priya Malik, who wrote a poem on the Campaign & she also expressed her experience as a caregiver.
Tagline of the Campaign– ‘Iss Jung Mein Hum Sang Hai’.
Data as per WHO
As per the World Health Organisation(WHO), 17 people die every minute from Cancer in the world.
About Bharti AXA General Insurance:
It is a joint venture company with a 51% stake from Bharti Enterprises and 49% stake of the AXA Group.
Established– 2008
Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Sanjeev Srinivasan
Tagline– Suraksha ka Naya Nazariya
Labour Ministry appointed SN Subrahmanyan, the CEO & MD of L&T Ltd as the Chairman of NSC
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has appointed SN Subrahmanyan, the CEO and Managing Director(MD) of
Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T Ltd) as the new Chairman of National Safety Council(NSC).
He will be holding the position for a period of 3 years.
Satish Reddy was the last chairman of the NSC who served from 2015 to 2018.
About SN Subrahmanyan:
i.SN Subrahmanyan, was appointed as the CEO & MD of L&T Ltd in 2017, prior to his appointment he served as the
Deputy MD and President of the infrastructure business of L&T and contributed in making it as India’s largest and
World 14th largest construction organisation.
ii.He joined L&T as a project planning engineer in 1984.
According to the All Asia Executive team survey conducted by the Institutional Investor, SN iii.Subrahmanian ranked
as the Top CEO (Sell Side) and 3rd Best CEO (overall).
iv.He was recognized as the CEO of the Year 2019 by CNBC.
Roles of NSC:
i.The major role of NSC is to ensure safety in workplaces under the new Occupational Safety, Health and Working
Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH Code, 2020).
ii.The NSC will assist the Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes(DGFASLI) to re-write the
regulations that govern Occupational Safety, Health(OSH) in India.
iii.The NSC also plays a major role in framing the scheme for 3rd party audit and certification under the OSH code.
Note:
The OSH code in India has not been updated for more than 50 years.
On May 20,2020, The appointments committee of the union cabinet appointed Govinda Rajulu Chintala as Chairman
of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). He was the successor of Harsh Kumar Bhanwala.
About NSC:
The NSC was established on 4th March, 1966 by the Ministry of Labour, Government of India.
Director General– Lalit Gabhane
Headquarters– Belapur, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra

A target of Rs. 16.50 Lakh Crore for Ground Level Credit (GLC) to Agriculture has been fixed for 2021-22
Government has fixed the target of Rs. 16.50 lakh crore for Ground Level Credit (GLC) to agriculture for 2021-
2022. It is an increase of 10% over the previous year’s Rs 15 lakh crore. The target has been fixed considering the
performance under GLC flow during 2013-14 to 2020-21.
Objective – This enhancement will further boost the efforts of concessional institutional credit to farmers and is
bound to act as an enabler in doubling farmers’ income by reducing the cost of credit.
Note– The target among others was mentioned in the Union Budget 2021-22 by Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman while making announcements for the agri-sector.
Background:
The Target of Rs.16.50 Lakh Crore was fixed by analysing the performance under GLC flow during 2013-14 to 2020-
21. (i.e.)GLC has nearly doubled from Rs.7.30 lakh crore to Rs.13.92 lakh crore during the period 2013–14 to 2019–
20.
Govt. is providing interest subvention to farmers through Interest Subvention Scheme(ISS), through which short term
crop loans of upto Rs.3 lakh are provided to farmers at an effective interest rate of 4% per annum. Initially the crop
loan is provided at 7% to farmers and additional 3% subvention is given on prompt repayment which brings down
the effective rate of interest to 4%.
Other Announcements for Agri-sector
i.The corpus for micro-irrigation has been doubled to Rs 10,000 crore from Rs 5,000 crore.
ii.The allocation for the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund has been increased from Rs 30,000 crore to Rs
40,000 crore.
iii.To encourage value addition, the Operations Greens Scheme that is presently applicable for Tomato, Onion and
Potato value chains will be expanded to 22 more perishable products.
iv.Decision has been made to integrate 1000 more mandis with e-National Agriculture Market(e-NAM).
v.The agriculture infrastructure fund has been available to the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) to
enhance their infrastructure facilities.
vi.Jal Jeevan Mission(urban) will be launched in all 4,378 Urban Local Bodies(ULBs) to provide universal water
supply with 2.86 crore household tap connections to be implemented over 5 years at a cost of outlay of 2 lakh 87
thousand crores.
During the National Conference for Rabi Campaign 2020 held on September 21, 2020, a target for the 2020-21 crop
year (July-June) or foodgrain production target was set at a record 301 million tones (MT), up nearly 1.5% from the
previous year’s output. This decision has been taken on the back of good monsoon rains and higher acreage in the
kharif season.
Piyush Goyal Co-Chaired 1st High-Level Dialogue on India-EU Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement
(BTIA) 2021 Virtually
On February 5, 2021 1st High-Level Dialogue(HLD) on India-European Union(EU) Bilateral Trade and Investment
Agreement (BTIA) 2021 Held virtually. It was co-chaired by Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and
Industry and Valdis Dombrovskis, EU Executive Vice-President & Trade Commissioner.
Background
This dialogue has been established as an outcome of the 15th India-EU Leader’s Summit held in July 2020, which aims
to provide ministerial-level guidance on bilateral trade and investment relations.
Highlights of 1st HLD on India-EU BTIA:
Meet within next 3 months
The Ministers agreed to meet within the next three months to sign agreement for many bilateral trade & investment
cooperation issues namely:
• A bilateral Regulatory Dialogue
• An India-EU Multilateral Dialogue to explore further possibilities of cooperation, etc.,
Deepen Trade & Investment Relations
The Ministers also agreed to further deepen the bilateral trade and investment relationship through a series of
regular engagements aimed to provide deliverables for the businesses in COVID-19 times.

Note– India-EU commercial and economic partnership was renewed.
Relations between India and EU
The relations between India and EU are currently defined by the 1994 EU-India Cooperation Agreement.
On January 19, 2021, the 1st India-EU IPR dialogue 2021 was held virtually between European Union (EU)
Commission and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to discuss key Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR) issues affecting businesses.
Ministry of Commerce and Industry:
Union Minister– Piyush Goyal(Constituency- Rajya Sabha, Maharashtra)
Minister of State-Hardeep Singh Puri(Constituency- Uttar Pradesh), Som Parkash(Constituency- Hoshiarpur, Punjab)
About European Union (EU):
Headquarters– Brussels, Belgium
European Parliament president – David-Maria Sassoli, Italy(Term: July 2019 – December 2021)
Member Countries– 27(The United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020)
ICICI Bank Signs MoU with MUFG Bank, Japan to Jointly Cater Banking Needs of Japanese Corporates in India
On February 05, 2021 ICICI Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MUFG Bank Ltd, Japan to
jointly cater the banking requirements of Japanese corporates present in India.
Key people
The MoU was signed by Vishakha Mulye, Executive Director, ICICI Bank and Mr. Junsuke Koike, Executive Officer and
Regional Executive for India and Sri Lanka, MUFG Bank at a virtual event.
Provisions of MoU:
i.It establishes a framework of partnership between the banks across various domains including trade, investment,
treasury, corporate and retail banking
ii.The 2 banks cater the needs of Japanese Corporates in India by combining their individual strengths.
FDI inflows in India:
i.Japan is the 5th largest investor in India’s economy with cumulative FDI inflows of $34.15 billion from April 2000 to
September 2020, contributing 7% to India’s total FDI inflows during the period.
ii.The maximum FDI Equity inflows during the period was from Mauritius, followed by Singapore, USA and
Netherlands.
ICICI Bank’s Recent Launch for Foreign Companies:
ICICI Bank Ltd launched ‘Infinite India’, an online platform for foreign companies who set up or expand business in
India. With this launch, ICICI bank becomes the 1st bank in India to offer such facilities. This initiative is an industry
first initiative.
On January 20, 2021 ICICI Bank launched a mobile app, ‘InstaFX’ that allows authorised money changers, who are the
partners of the bank to help customers of any bank to obtain ‘ICICI Bank Forex Prepaid Card’ quickly.
About ICICI Bank:
i.The bank was formed in 1955 at the initiative of the World Bank, the Government of India and representatives of
Indian industry.
ii.The consolidated total assets of the bank was Rs 15,19,353 crore at December 31, 2020.
Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Sandeep Bakhshi
Tagline– Hum Hai Na, Khayal Apka
Incorporated-1994
About MUFG Bank Ltd:
President & CEO– Kanetsugu Mike
Head Office– Tokyo, Japan

SEBI Releases New Norms of SEBI (Mutual Funds) (Amendment) Regulations, 2021
On February 4, 2021 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has released new norms of Securities and
Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) ( Amendment) Regulations, 2021. This regulation came into force by
amending, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996.
i.The amendment will come into force on the 30th day from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
ii.SEBI has amended the regulation in exercise of its powers conferred by section 30 read with clause (c) of sub-
section (2) of section 11 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992).
New Norms
Easy Profitability Criteria to Become a Mutual Fund Sponsor
i.Under new norms, sponsors who do not fulfill profitability criteria at the time of making an application will also be
considered to be eligible to sponsor a Mutual Fund(MF).
ii.This is subject to, where Asset Management Company(AMC) is required to have a net worth of Rs 100 crore and the
AMC shall maintain this networth till it has profits for 5 consecutive years.
iii.Currently, a sponsor has to have a profit after providing for depreciation, interest and tax in three out of the
immediately preceding five years, including the fifth year. Under the new norms, this requirement is not mandatory
for the sponsor of MF.
Note– As per SEBI, Any entity which holds 40% or more of the net worth of an AMC shall be deemed to be a sponsor
AMC can launch infrastructure debt fund schemes
The AMC of a MF is eligible to launch only infrastructure debt fund schemes, should have a networth of not less than
Rs 10 crore.
Maintain Minimum Networth
It is compulsory for all AMCs to maintain the minimum net-worth on a continuous basis. In addition to this, SEBI has
given the requirement to issue physical unit certificates
Dividend payments
MF needs to send the dividend payments to the unitholders within 15 days from the record date from the earlier
requirement of 30 days.
Issue units in dematerialized form
The AMC must issue units in dematerialized form to a unit holder in a scheme within two working days of the receipt
of request from the unit holder
Price
MFs must ensure that the repurchase price of an Open Ended Scheme is not lower than 95% of the Net Asset
Value(NAV), when determining the price of the units.
Segregate & Ring-fence Assets and Liabilities
In addition to the existing requirement of trustees and AMCs to segregate bank accounts and securities accounts, SEBI
has asked to segregate and ring-fence assets and liabilities of MF schemes.
What is Ring Fence?
A ring-fence is a virtual barrier that segregates a portion of an individual’s or company’s financial assets or profits
from the rest without being operated as a separate entity.
On September 10, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) publicized a partially modified portfolio
structure for multi-cap mutual funds category through a circular stating minimum investment in equity & equity
related instruments and definition of large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap.
Establishment– April 12, 1992 in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act,
1992.

India’s Nominal GDP Growth to Rise to ~17% in FY22: Moody’s
On February 3, 2021 Moody’s in its report titled ‘Government Policy – India: Budget provides broad support;
fiscal consolidation prospects still weak’ has increased India’s nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at
~17% for FY 22 from earlier 14.3%. The projection has been made on the basis of a ‘pro-growth’ budget. This
forecast is higher than 14.4% estimated in the Union Budget 2021-22.
• The report also highlighted the weak prospects of fiscal consolidation.
Highlights of the Report
Fiscal Deficit
i.Moody’s has forecasted India’s fiscal deficit for FY 21 at 7.5% of GDP and 5.5% for FY 22.
ii.While the budget has projected 9.5% for FY 21 and 6.8% for FY 22.
Budget
i.As per Moody’s the focus of the budget on the high capital expenditure, financial reforms and asser sales helps to
promote growth and supply broad-based credit support.
ii.But, the implementation risks will remain and the slow budgetary consolidation will limit fiscal strength over the
medium term.
On September 20, 2020 Krishnamurthy Subramanian, chief economic advisor in the finance ministry, Government of
India informed that as per the estimate of finance ministry, India’s nominal Gross Domestic Product(GDP) is expected
to grow by 19% in FY22(2021-22) on a low base.
About Moody’s:
Headquarters– NewYork, United States
President & CEO– Robert(Rob) Fauber.
Highlights of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Feb 5, 2021

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met on 3rd, 4th and 5th February, 2021 which
projected India’s gross domestic Product (GDP) growth at 10.5% for the FY2021-22, 26.2 to 8.3% in H1 FY22 and 6.0
% in Q3 FY22.This is 5th Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Committee Meeting for FY 2020-21.
• The projection of Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation has been revised to 5.2% for the Q4 FY21, 5.2 % to 5.0
% in H1 FY22 and declined to 4.3% by Q3 FY22.
• The MPC has given the mandate to maintain annual inflation at 4% until March 31, 2021 with an upper
tolerance of 6% and lower tolerance of 2% i.e. within a band of +/- 2 %,
The MPC kept the interest rates unchanged the fourth time in a row which are as follows:
Policy Repo Rate 4.00%
Reverse Repo Rate 3.35%
Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate 4.25%
Bank Rate 4.25%
Members of MPC:
Dr. Shashanka Bhide; Dr. Ashima Goyal; Prof. Jayanth R. Varma; Dr. Mridul K. Saggar; Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra;
and headed by Shaktikanta Das (RBI Governor).
–Central bank extends TLTRO scheme to NBFCs
On the request of India’s Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), RBI has included them under the Targeted Long
Term Repo Operations (TLTRO). Under this, funds will be provided to NBFCs through banks under the TLTRO on Tap
scheme for incremental lending to the specified stressed sectors.
The liquidity availed by the banks under this scheme is deployed in corporate bonds, commercial papers, and non-
convertible debentures. Sectors such as retail, micro, agri, infra, MSME, pharma, and healthcare are eligible for fund
deployment under the scheme.

Background:
In October 2020, Reserve Bank had announced TLTRO scheme worth Rs 1 trillion to provide liquidity support to
various sectors and banks. At that the time, NBFCs had written to the apex bank, requesting to include them as the
beneficiaries in the liquidity support scheme.
About TLTRO:
On tap TLTRO is conducted with tenors of up to three years for a total amount of up to Rs 1 lakh crore (Rs 1 trillion)
at a floating rate linked to the repo rate. The scheme is available till March 31, 2021.
• It was initially started with 5 sectors viz. agriculture; agri-infrastructure; secured retail; MSMEs; and drugs,
pharmaceuticals and healthcare.
• In addition to them on October 21, 2020, 26 stressed sectors identified by the Kamath Committee were also
brought within the ambit of eligible sectors sectors.
• The liquidity availed under the scheme can also be used to extend bank loans and advances to these sectors.
• Investments made by banks under this facility are classified as held to maturity (HTM). Notably the total
investment permitted to be included in the HTM portfolio is 25%. But this limit is eligible to TLTRO.
–RBI extends deadline for meeting last tranche of capital conservation buffer by 6 months
The RBI also extended the deadline for meeting the last tranche of capital conservation buffer (CCB) of 0.625% by
another six months i.e. from April 1, 2021 to October 1, 2021due to continuing stress on account of COVID-19
pandemic and to aid in the recovery process. This buffer ensures banks to have an additional layer of usable capital
that can be used when losses are incurred.
–RBI defers implementation of Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR)
Apart from above, it was also decided to defer the implementation of Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) from April 1,
2021 to October 1, 2021 amid COVID-19 stress. The NSFR reduces future funding risk by requiring banks to fund
their activities with sufficiently stable sources of funding in a time period of 1 year. It is a component of the Basel III
reforms along with Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR).
• The NSFR also defined as the amount of available stable funding relative to the amount of required stable
funding.
–Banks Can Deduct Loans to New MSME Borrowers from NDTL for CRR Purpose
The RBI has allowed banks to deduct loans disbursed to new micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) borrowers
from their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) for calculation of the cash reserve ratio (CRR). The decision has
been taken to incentivise new credit flow to MSME borrowers.
• Here new MSME borrowers are defined as those MSME borrowers who have not availed any credit facilities
from the banking system as on January 1, 2021.
• The exemption will be available maximum to Rs 25 lakh per borrower for credit extended up to the fortnight
ending October 1, 2021, for a period of one year from the date of origination of the loan or the tenure of the
loan, whichever is earlier.
— RBI extends SLR holdings in HTM category till March 2023
RBI also decided to extend the dispensation of enhanced HTM of 22% up to March 31, 2023 to include securities
acquired between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022.
• The Reserve Bank on September 1, 2020, increased the limits under Held to Maturity (HTM) category from
19.5% to 22% of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) in respect of statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) eligible
securities acquired on or after September 1, 2020, up to March 31, 2021.
–RBI to come out with paper on regulatory framework for lenders in MFI space
The apex bank is all set to come up with consultative document “harmonising the regulatory frameworks for
various regulated lenders in the microfinance space” in March 2021. It will cover various regulated lenders
NBFC-MFIs, banks, small finance banks (SFB) and NBFC — investment and credit companies in the microfinance
space.
• This decision came against the backdrop of the Assam Assembly passing the Assam Micro Finance Institutions
(Regulation of Money Lending) Bill, 2020 in December for controlling operations of the MFIs.
This decision by RBI has been welcomed by Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN). It should be noted that MFIN
already has a ‘Code of Responsible Lending (CRL) in Micro-credit’ to bring different regulated entities under a
uniform common code for customer conduct. The CRL has 113 signatories, representing 70% of the market.

–RBI to set up expert committee on urban co-op banks
The RBI has decided to set up an Expert Committee (EC) on Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) that will provide a
medium-term roadmap to strengthen the sector. The constitution of EC and its terms would be announced shortly
• This formation is a part of the additional measures announced by the RBI to revive the economy with
measures relating to enhancing liquidity support to targeted sectors, regulation and supervision, deepening
financial markets, upgrading payment and settlement systems and strengthening consumer protection.
–RBI allows Indian residents to make remittances to IFSCs
RBI has permitted Indian residents to make remittances to international financial services centres (IFSCs) established
here under the liberalized remittance scheme (LRS). Till now, only global participants were allowed to invest in funds
set up in Indian IFSCs.
The move is likely to benefit retail investors, and high net-worth individuals (HNIs).
• Under the LRS, an Indian individual can send up to $250,000 per year overseas for travel, education and
medical care as well as for the purchase of shares.
• Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Co. Ltd is India’s first IFSC.
–RBI Allows Retail Investors to Open Gilt Accounts; India becomes first country to do so
The retail investors are allowed to access government securities (G-Secs) market both primary and secondary –
directly through the Reserve Bank (‘Retail Direct’) along the facility to open their gilt securities account. With this,
India has become the first country to do so.
• A “Gilt Account” means an account opened and maintained for holding Government securities, by an entity or a
person including ‘a person resident outside India’ with a “Custodian” permitted by the RBI.
–RBI eases rules for FPI investments in defaulted bonds
In order to further promote investment by FPIs in corporate bonds, it is proposed foreign portfolio investors (FPIs)
deploying funds in defaulted corporate bonds will be exempted from the short-term limit and the minimum residual
maturity requirement under the Medium Term Framework (MTF).
• Currently, this exemption was limited for FPI who invest in security receipts and debt instruments issued by
Asset Reconstruction Companies and debt instruments issued by an entity under the Corporate Insolvency
Resolution Process (CIRP).
–RBI shall issue guidelines on outsourcing of digital payment, settlement related service
To manage the attendant risks in outsourcing and ensure that code of conduct adhered to while outsourcing payment
and settlement related service, RBI shall issue guidelines on outsourcing of such services by these entities
–All remaining 18,000 bank branches to be under CTS by September, 2021
It is propose to bring the remaining 18,000 bank branches under the coverage of Cheque Truncation System (CTS) by
September 2021 which has been has been extended to all legacy clearing houses by September 2020. This will
enhance customer convenience and bring in operational efficiency to paper based clearing system.
–RBI tells operators to set up 24×7 helpline for digital payments by Sep 2021
In order to enhance customer trust in the digital payments ecosystem, major payment system operators are required
to set up centralised industry-wide 24×7 helpline for addressing customer queries in respect of various digital
payment products. It will also give information on available grievance redress mechanisms.
–RBI announces integrated ombudsman scheme for bank customers
The apex bank has decided to collaborate the existing three separate Ombudsman schemes for banks, NBFCs and
non-bank prepaid payment issuers (PPIs) into Integrated Ombudsman Scheme w.e.f June 2021.Under this, centralised
processing of grievances will be ntroduced on the lines of ‘One Nation One Ombudsman’ approach.
• This decision has been taken to ease the process of grievances by enabling the customers to register their
complaints under the integrated scheme, with one centralised reference point.
i.On December 29, 2020, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released “Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India
2019-20” under the broad theme of impact of COVID-19 on banking and non-banking sectors, and the way forward.
This report for the year ended June 30, 2020 has been submitted to the Central Government in terms of Section 36(2)
of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
ii.On January 1, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced the RBI-Digital Payments Index (DPI) to measure a
growth in digital or cashless transactions across the country. It was released on the lines of the Statement on

Developmental and Regulatory Policies as part of the Sixth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2019-20 dated
February 06, 2020.
Formation– 1 April 1935
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Attended the 3rd Phase of Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Mela in
Guwahati
On 6th February 2021, Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister attended the 3rd phase of the Chah Bagicha
Dhan Puraskar Mela held in Guwahati, Assam. The event was organised at the Assam Veterinary College Playground
at Khanapara, Guwahati.
Key People:
Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister of Assam; Rameshwar Teli, Union Minister of State for Food Processing
Industries and Biswa Sarma, Finance Minister of Assam participated in the event.
3rd phase of Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Mela – Highlights:
i.The Finance Minister also distributed the 3rd tranche of financial assistance to the tea garden beneficiaries under
the Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Scheme.
ii.The government of Assam distributed a financial assistance of Rs.3000 to around 7.5 lakh people of the tea garden
areas.
Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Scheme:
The Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar scheme was launched by the Government of Assam in 2017-2018.
Aim:
To bring the tea labours closer to the banking sector and promote cashless transactions.
Benefits:
i.Around 6.3 lakh beneficiaries were provided financial assistance of Rs.2500 in their bank accounts as a part of the
first phase of the Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Mela 2017-2018.
ii.In the 2nd phase of the scheme in 2018-2019, another Rs.2500 was credited to the accounts of around 7.15 lakh
accounts, which were uninterruptedly operated for 6 months,
Note:
In the Union Budget presented in February 2021, Presented by the Finance Minister, Rs.1000 crore was announced
for the welfare of the tea workers of Assam and West Bengal.
On 4th September 2020, The Government of Assam relaunched its old scheme Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth
Empowerment (SVAYEM) worth Rs.1000 crore. The scheme is aimed to provide self-employment opportunities to
more than 2 lakh youths of the state.
About Assam:
Biosphere Reserve– Manas Biosphere Reserve; Dibru Saikhowa Biosphere Reserve
UNESCO Heritage sites– Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Kaziranga National Park
Market Size of Indian Pharma Industry is Expected to Reach US $130 Billion By 2030
On February 8, 2021 Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, D V Sadananda Gowda while addressing the Press
Conference on the 6th Edition of ‘India Pharma & India Medical Device 2021’ mentioned that the total market size of
the Indian Pharma Industry is expected to reach the US $ 130 billion(approximately Rs 9.47 lakh crore) by 2030.
He also mentioned that the medical devices industry in India is expected to reach $ 50 billion(approximately Rs
3.67 Lakh crore) by 2025.
In addition to him, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya also addressed the press
conference.
6th Edition of ‘India Pharma & India Medical Device 2021’
General Info: It is annual program on Pharmaceuticals & Medical Device sector
Scheduled on: 25-26 February & 1-2 March 2021.

Organised by: The Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, jointly with The Federation
of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry(FICCI) & Invest India
Theme:
• India Pharma- ‘Indian Pharma Industry: “Future is Now”
• India Medical Device- “India MedTech Future: Innovate & Make in India through Global Alliance”
Constituencies:
D V Sadananda Gowda– Bangalore North, Karnataka
Mansukh Mandaviya– Rajya Sabha, Gujarat
Bank of Maharashtra Entered into a Co-Lending Agreement with LoanTap Credit Products for MSME Loans
On February 8, 2021 Bank of Maharashtra(BoM) entered into a co-lending agreement with Non-Banking Financial
Company (NBFC), LoanTap Credit Products to extend credit to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise(MSME) loans.
• Under this agreement, 80% of the loan will be braced by the bank and the remaining 20% by the Loan Tap.
Benefit of the Tie-up
• Already, BoM has partnership with fintech company Atyati Technologies, but is limited to sourcing proposals.
• BoM with this partnership will get faceless sanctions and disbursals using mobile app.
What is a Co-Lending Model?
Introduced
On November 5, 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised the loan scheme of the Co-origination Model
between Banks and NBFC – Non-Deposit taking – Systemically Important (NBFC-ND-SIs) that was launched in
September 2018 and renamed as ‘Co-Lending Model (CLM)’.
Aim
To enhance the credit flow to the unserved and underserved sector and make available funds to the ultimate
beneficiary at an affordable cost
Purpose
To provide greater operational flexibility to the lending institution
Co-lend
Under the model, the bank can co-lend with all registered Non-Banking Financial Companies(NBFCs) including
Housing Finance Companies(HFCs) to priority sector borrowers based on a prior agreement.
Benefits
i.It enables banks to meet its priority sector lending target.
ii.It proves to be beneficial to all NBFCs that have wider outreach and customers, who will be facilitated with low cost
credit from banks.
iii.It paves way for a loan sanction that is done at the convenience of the borrower. The sanction is done through
digital lending platforms, from on-boarding of customers to loan disbursement and monitoring without manual
intervention.
Click here to know more about CLM
On January 16, 2021 IIFL Home Finance Ltd and Standard Chartered Bank entered into a co-lending arrangement to
extend credit to MSME loans (loan against property). It is to be noted that this is one of the 1st co-lending
arrangements in industry after Reserve Bank of India(RBI) launched Co-Lending Model (CLM).
About Bank of Maharashtra(BoM):
i.The Government of India holds 93.33% stake in the bank.
ii.It is the sponsor bank of Maharashtra Gramin Bank
• Aurangabad Jalna Gramin Bank & Thane Gramin Bank was amalgamated into Maharashtra Godavari Gramin
Bank.
• Maharashtra Gramin Bank came in to existence on 20th July 2009 after amalgamation of erstwhile
Maharashtra Godavari Gramin Bank and Marathawada Gramin Bank
HeadOffice– Pune, Maharashtra
Incorporated on– September 16, 1935

Commenced Operations– February 8, 1936
MD & CEO– A.S Rajeev
About LoanTap:
Headquarters– Pune, Maharashtra
CEO and Co-Founder– Satyam Kumar
RBI sees 387% rise in complaints against NBFCs, 57.54% rise against banks: Banking Ombudsman Annual
Report
On February 9, 2021, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the Annual Report of the “Ombudsman Schemes of the
Reserve Bank for the year 2019-20” i.e. the period covering July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. In accordance with the
report, the complaints received at Office of Banking Ombudsman (OBO) recorded an increase of 57.54% Year-on-Year
(Y-o-Y) in FY19-20. There were a total of 308,630 complaints in the FY20 as against 195,901 in FY19.
• Complaints against NBFCs increased by 387%. The ombudsman for NBFCs received a total of 19,432
complaints in the same FY20 as against 3,991 in FY 19.
• Of these, 85.65% were received electronically i.e. through the online portal CMS and through email, as against
72.19% in the previous year.
The Annual Report covers the activities under the Banking Ombudsman Scheme (BOS), the Ombudsman Scheme for
Non-Banking Financial Companies (OSNBFC) and the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (OSDT).
Key Highlights:
–There was an increase of 64.97% in the receipt of complaints under the three Ombudsman Schemes, from 2,00,362
complaints in 2018-19 to 3,30,543 complaints in 2019-20.
–The OBOs maintained a disposal rate of 92.36% in FY20 as against 94.03% in 2018-19.
— 72.27 per cent of the maintainable complaints were resolved through mediation and conciliation.
–The major grounds of complaints at OBOs were about digital modes of transactions viz. ATM/Debit Cards;
Mobile/Electronic banking constituting 44.66% of the total complaints received.
–The average cost of handling a complaint decreased by 23.31%, from Rs 3,145/- in 2018-19 to 2,412/- in 2019-20.
–The ombudsman disposed of 48,333 complaints against State Bank of India (SBI), 15,004 against HDCF Bank
Limited, 11,844 against ICICI Bank Limited, 10,457 against Axis Bank Limited and 9,928 against Punjab National
Bank.
• It should be noted that big banks will have more complaints as compared to others.
Complaints on Banks:
–The share of total complaints received against SBI and nationalised banks have decreased from 61.90% in 2018-19
to 59.65% in 2019-20, while the share of private sector banks increased from 28.04% to 31.96% in FY20.
–The highest number of complaints in NBFCs were against Bajaj Finance Limited followed by Indiabulls Consumer
Finance Limited, and HDB Financial Services Limited.
— The number of appeals received decreased from 78 in 2018-19 to 63 in 2019-20.
In accordance with the Monetary Policy Statement on February 5, 2021, the three Ombudsman Schemes are being
merged and integrated into a single scheme which will be rolled out starting from June 2021. Click Here to Read
about Highlights of MPC
Click Here for Official report
About Banking Ombudsman Scheme (BOS):
The Banking Ombudsman Scheme (BOS) was first notified by the Reserve Bank in 1995 under Section 35 A of the
Banking Regulation Act, 1949. It is administered by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) through 22 Offices of Banking
Ombudsman (OBOs) covering all states and union territories.
• It has undergone five revisions and also forms the basis for the launch of OSNBFC in 2018 and OSDT in 2019.
i.On January 1, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the January 2021 round of household surveys namely
“Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH)” and “Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS)” to represent
inflation expectations and consumer confidence.

ii.On January 5, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the introduction of Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) for
all payment transactions of Rs 50 crore and above undertaken by entities through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)
and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT).
PhonePe Partnered with Axis Bank on UPI Multi-Bank

The digital payment platform PhonePe has partnered with India’s third largest bank, Axis Bank on a Unified Payments
Interface (UPI) multi-bank model. It will enable the PhonePe users to create and use multiple UPI IDs with Axis
Bank’s “@axl” handle.
• Until now, the PhonePe’s key banking partner was Yes Bank.
• This collaboration will also give PhonePe access to the Axis bank’s merchant base.
Additional Info: PhonePe
–In accordance with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), PhonePe had emerged as the top UPI app in
January, 2021 processing 968.72 million transactions worth Rs 1.92 trillion.
-It has 265 million registered customers.
–Recently it granted employee stock option plans (ESOP) worth $200 million to all its full-time employees.
i.On January 19, 2021 Axis Bank Ltd launched ‘AURA’, a credit card with health and wellness benefits at an affordable
price for its individual users. The features of the card is powered by Poshvine , Decathlon, Practo, Fitternity,
IndushealthPlus, 1MG etc.,
ii.Competition Commission of India (CCI) has given approval to the deal between Max Life Insurance Company Ltd
and Axis entities (Axis bank Ltd, Axis Capital ltd and Axis Securities Ltd).
About Axis Bank:
Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Amitabh Chaudhry
Headquarter– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Tagline– Badhti ka Naam Zindagi
About PhonePe:
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Sameer Nigam
Headquarter– Bengaluru, Karnataka
West Bengal Budget: Mamata Banerjee Presented Rs 2,99,688 cr Budget for FY22
On February 5, 2021, West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee presented the state’s annual budget
worth Rs 2,99,688 crore (net) for FY2022 stating an increase of 17.21% over 2020. She has presented the budget in
place of Finance Minister Amit Mitra who is unwell. The state tax revenue is projected to increase to Rs 75,415.74
crore in FY22.
• As per the Budget, Gross state domestic product (GSDP) has increased by 2.7 times, state revenue has
increased 2.9 times, state plan expenditure has increased by 7.2 times, social sector expenditure by 5.6 times,
agri and allied sector expenditure by 6.1 times and physical infrastructure expenditure by 3.9 times.
• West Bengal’s debt to GSDP ratio is estimated to reduce to 34.81 in 2021-22.
• It should be noted that the state has allocated the maximum amount (highest) towards panchayat and rural
development at Rs 23,983.27 crore.
Infrastructure & Development projects:
The budget consisted of a host of infra projects which will entail investments around Rs 72,000 cr and provide jobs
to 3.29 lakh people. These include the following:
–The state has allocated Rs 500 cr for the construction of 46,000 km of rural roads in the next five years and for the
construction and repairing of 10,000 km rural roads in FY22 under “Pathashree scheme”.

–The state also budgeted Rs 2,475 crore for 16 new development projects which include flyovers and foot-over
bridges, improved road connectivity and expansion of city roads and bridges.
Setting up of West Bengal’s first Industrial Township in Purulia
The CM also announced the setting up of the first 2,483 acre Jangalmahal industrial town in Purulia’s
Raghunathpur with an outlay of Rs 100 crore. This project will boost employment generation in Jangalmahal and put
Jangalmahal on the industrial map of India.
• Notably, a proposal of Rs 62,000-crore investment for Jangalmahal Industrial Town has already come forward.
Schemes centered Around Netaji Subhash Bose:
The state budget proposed the setting up of community centres with libraries and photo galleries called Jai Hind
Bhaban at Rs 100 crore across districts. The other schemes are as follows:
• An Azad Hind Monument at a cost of Rs 100 crore.
• A state-level planning commission i.e. Netaji State Planning Commission at Rs 5 crore.
• Setting up of a ‘Netaji Batallion’ in the Kolkata police force at an outlay of Rs 10 crore.
Schemes for micro-constituencies:
There will be setting up of Alchiki-medium (a tribal language) schools with an outlay of Rs 100 crore in FY22. Over
5 years, 500 such schools will come up with 1,500 para-teachers being recruited.
• 100 English medium schools for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) are also proposed in the next
three years.
• Another 100 regional language-medium schools – like Nepali, Hindi Kamtapuri, Urdu and Kumali were also
proposed to be set up with an outlay of Rs 50 cr.
• The state government allocated Rs 50 crore for 100 new schools for Sadri language in tea gardens and another
Rs 50 crore for 200 schools of Rajbangshi language. The total allocation for schools would be more than Rs 200
cr.
• In this regard the number of Madrasas will be converted into government-aided ones and 200 Rajbanshi
language schools will also be given government recognition.
Housing Projects:
Nearly Rs 1,650 crore were allocated for housing projects in the tea garden areas and amongst the tribal populace.
About two million new pucca houses for SC and ST will be built over the next five years.
Agriculture:
The State Government proposed an increased financial aid for farmers from Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 (divided in two
categories including Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000-Rs 6,000) under Krishak Bandhu Scheme. This will cost the
government Rs 500 cr.
Launch of new Scheme- Matri Bandana:
A new scheme “Matri Bandana” is announced during the budget under which 10 lakh new SHGs (Self Help Groups)
will be formed for poor women. Rs 25,000 crore loan will be provided to these SHGs in the next five years from
banks- mainly cooperative banks.
Other Highlights:
–Upgradation of Andal Airport to international standard within 2023, for which Rs 150 cr have been allocated,.
–There will be expansion of Silicon Valley financial hub in phased manner, and deep sea port at Tajpur (East
Midnapore) for which Rs 7,000 cr have been set aside.
–Gas and coal exploration in Deocha-Pachami (Birbhum district), regional flight connectivity from Balurghat, Malda
and Cooch Behar and special financial aid for tourism sector, for which loans will be provided ranging from Rs 50,000
to Rs 10 lakhs though banks.
–Nearly Rs 450 crore has been allocated towards financial support for schemes covering construction workers and
migrant labourers.
— The Taruner Swapna project will be continued under which 9 lakh students appearing for higher secondary have
been given tab.
—Juvashakti, a new project launched by the state government where 10,000 students will be inducted into different
government organisations as interns every three years and they will be given opportunity to work in government
organisations.
—Swastha Sathi card can be renewed every three years and anyone can become a part of it at any time.

• It is a Basic health cover for secondary and tertiary care up to 5 lakh per annum per family.
–All kinds of road tax lifted from January 21 to June 21, 2021.
–Free ration system will continue till June 21.
–Government will create a common kitchen where people can have their food at a very low cost.
–The Government will allocate Rs 100 crore under which 1.5 lakh refugees will be given land documents in steps.
–45 lakh Construction and transport workers will be given Rs 1,000 under the social security scheme.
–Tourism industries will receive loans between Rs 50 thousand to Rs 1 lakh.
i.On 8th January 2021, Mamata Banerjee Chief Minister of West Bengal inaugurated the 7 day 26th edition of the
Kolkata International Film Festival(KIFF) 2021 (From 8th to 15th January 2021). Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan,
the brand ambassador of West Bengal virtually attended the inaugural ceremony from Mumbai.
ii.On January 5, 2021, Government of India (GoI), Government of West Bengal (WB)& World Bank signed USD 105
Million Project (approximately INR 767 Crores) for the West Bengal Inland Water Transport, Logistics and Spatial
Development Project. The Loan for the project is provided by International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (IBRD).
About West Bengal:
In 2020, West Bengal was impacted by the Amphan Cyclone.
Capital– Kolkata
Governor – Jagdeep Dhankhar
IEPF Authority signs MoU with IGNOU for Telecast of IAP

Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPF Authority), Ministry of Corporate Affairs signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for collaboration in
using the Tele-Lecturing Facility of Gyan Darshan Channel (EMPC – Electronic Media Production Centre) for telecast
of Investor Awareness Programmes (IAPs) through distance learning mode.
Objective – To spread the Investor Education and Awareness messages
i.This is the 1st time that IEPF Authority is entering into a pact for using electronic and digital platforms for
conducting IAPs.
ii.Initially 26 Tele Lecturing programmes have been planned for telecast
iii.Prior to this IEPF Authority has collaborated with various banks for spreading messages about Investor Awareness
and Protection on digital platforms.
IGNOU’s Reach:
IGNOU caters to the needs of 3 Million students in India & other countries, it also has 21 schools of studies and a
network of 67 Regional Centres, around 2, 000 Learner Support Centres and 20 overseas institutions.
IEPF Authority:
In September, 2016 the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority was established for the administration of
Investor Education and Protection Fund Government of India under the provisions of section 125 of the Companies
Act, 2013.
Its responsibilities are
• Administration of Investor Education Protection Fund (IEPF).
• Make refunds of shares, unclaimed dividends, matured deposits/debentures etc.
• To promote awareness among investors.
i.Indian Air Force and Institute of Defence Studies and Research (IDSR), Autonomous Institution of Gujarat University
signed a MoU to enable IAF officers to enroll for higher studies in the IDSR Institute.
About IEPF Authority:
Chairperson – Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (Rajesh Verma)
About IGNOU:
Vice-Chancellor – Professor Nageshwar Rao
Location – New Delhi

Government of India allocates Rs. 16000 crore for PMFBY for FY22
On February 7, 2021, the Central Government has allocated Rs 16000 crores for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima
Yojana (PMFBY) for FY22, an increase of around Rs 305 crore as compared to FY21.
The reason behind an increase in the amount is to boost the safety of farmers’ crops and ensure maximum benefit of
crop insurance.
• Notably, the scheme covers the entire cropping cycle from pre-sowing to post-harvest which include loss
coverage due to prevented sowing and mid-season adversities.
About Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana(PMFBY):
Launched on January 13, 2016 this scheme was approved by the Government under the aegis of Ministry of
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW) as a risk coverage solution with lowest premium for Indian farmers.
Currently, this scheme became the largest crop insurance scheme in terms of farmer participation and 3rd largest in
terms of premium.
• Under this farmers can report crop loss within 72 hours of occurrence of any event through the Crop
Insurance App, CSC Centre or the nearest agriculture officer. Claim benefit is then provided electronically into
the bank accounts of eligible farmer.
• Its other features include Crop Insurance mobile-app for easy enrollment of farmers and usage of technology,
remote-sensing technology, drones, artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess crop losses.
• Over 5.5 crore farmer applications are received on year-on-year basis. As of now. out of total farmers enrolled
under PMFBY, 84% are small and marginal farmers. Thus, financial assistance is provided to most vulnerable
farmers.
About Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW):
Union Minister– Narendra Singh Tomar (Constituency- Morena, Madhya Pradesh)
Minister of State– Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala, Kailash Choudhary
RBI Observes Financial Literacy Week 2021 from February 8 to 12

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) observes Financial Literacy Week(FLW) annually since 2016 to promote & spread
awareness about financial education messages on a particular theme through a focused campaign across India. FLW
2021 is being celebrated from February 8 to 12. The 5 day event was launched by Ajay Kumar, Regional Director,
RBI.
Theme of FLW 2021– Credit Discipline and Credit from Formal Institutions
About Theme 2021:
The theme selected for 2021 is one of the strategic objectives of the National Strategy for Financial Education(NSFE)
2020-2025.
The messages spread during the week focuses on the following:
• Responsible borrowing;
• Borrowing from formal institutions
• Timely repayments.
Gist about FLW 2021:
i.RBI has asked all the banks to spread the information and create awareness among its customers and general
public.
ii.During February 2021, the central bank will also commence a centralized mass media campaign to broadcast
necessary financial awareness messages to the general public.
What is the NSFE 2020-2025?
Preparation
i.It has been prepared by the National Centre for Financial Education (NCFE) in consultation with all the Financial
Sector Regulators, namely RBI, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
ii.It also got consultation from Department of Financial Services (DFS) and other Ministries of Govt. of India under the
aegis of the Technical Group on Financial Inclusion and Financial Literacy (TGFIFL) chaired by Deputy Governor, RBI.
5 C Approach
The strategy recommends the ‘5 C’ approach to disseminate financial education in the country.

5 C– Content, Capacity, Community, Communication and Collaboration.
Click here to Know more
AGSTTL & Mastercard Partnered to Introduce 1st-Ever ‘Contactless’ Cash Withdrawals on ATMs in India
On February 9, 2021 AGS Transact Technologies Ltd (AGSTTL) entered into partnership with Mastercard to
introduce First-Ever ‘Contactless’ Cash Withdrawals on Automated Teller Machines(ATMs) in India. The partnership
enables the Mastercard cardholders to withdraw cash at ATMs by scanning the Quick Response(QR) code that is
displayed on the ATM screen. The Cardless ATM is powered by Mastercard’.
Purpose: To offer more secured banking experience to the customers in India.
About the Partnership:
The partnership allows Mastercard cardholders to access any participating Bank ATM in India. They can carry out 3
transactions without any additional charges.
Highlights about Contactless QR Based Cash Withdrawal:
i.This withdrawal is enabled through Mastercard’s Masterpass and AGS QRCash.
ii.AGSTTL, in a phased manner, enables this withdrawal on all ATMs in its network.
iii.The cardholders of Mastercard can digitally locate the nearest enabled ATM and withdraw cash by scanning a QR
code using their banking app on the mobile phone.
iv.It eliminates the need to insert the physical debit/credit card into the ATM or entering an ATM Personal
Identification Number(PIN).
What is Masterpass?
Masterpass is a digital payment service that allows the customer to check out faster by storing all of your payment
and shipping information in one secure location.
On January 19, 2021 Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) partnered with Suryoday Small Finance Bank(SFB) Ltd to
enable its account holders to avail Fixed Deposit(FD) services. It is to be recalled that PPBL has been offering FD
services in partnership with Induslnd bank with a minimum investment of Rs. 100.
PPBL with the partnership with Suryoday SFB has become the 1st payments bank in India to launch the multi-
partner FD service.
About AGS Transact Technologies Ltd (AGSTTL):
Chairman & MD– Ravi B Goyal
About Mastercard:
Executive Chairman– Ajay Banga
CEO– Michael Miebach
Headquarters – New York, United States
IRDAI panel okays the launch of Index-Linked Insurance Policies

The Working Group Committee (WGC) set up by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India
(IRDAI) has recommended the introduction of index-linked insurance policies (Ilips). The report is opened for
comments till March 8, 2021.
• The committee has been formed in August 2020 under Dinesh Pant, Appointed Actuary of the Life Insurance
Corporation (LIC) of India on the lines of the requests from insurers for reintroducing Ilips. It was banned by
IRDAI in 2013.
• The committee was responsible to examining the need of index-linked products in India.

Key Points:
–With this, the new product ILIP will join the other two life insurance categories viz. unit-linked insurance plans
(ULIP) and traditional plans.
–The returns from Ilips will be linked to benchmark indices.
–Most probably, this plan will be offered as the pension plan product.
–Ilips can be an alternative or complementary option to the current conventional guaranteed products (including
annuities and savings products) and unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips)
What are index-linked insurance policies (Ilips)?
Index linked policies are subject to change as the returns are linked to the benchmark indices such as the 10-year
Sovereign Bond Index, Sensex or Nifty. If it is linked with Gvernment bonds then it is less risky and those that are
linked to the equity-based indices mostly in returns have fluctuations based on the performance of the stock market.
• The index-linked insurance plan provides a lock-in period of five years.
• The ILIPs can be regarded as a life insurance policy under Section 10(10D) and taxability of the Insurance
Policy Act.
i.IRDAI has mandated General Insurance Companies to offer 3 standard Insurance Products namely – Bharat Griha
Raksha, Bharat Sookshma Udyam Suraksha & Bharat Laghu Udyam Suraksha to cover risk of fire & allied perils from
April 1, 2021.
ii.India’s Insurance regulator IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) formulated a 10-
member advisory committee to improve the product quality and coverage of the health insurance in the country. The
committee will be chaired by IRDAI chairman.
Chairman – Subhash Chandra Khuntia
NPCI launched Global Hackathon – ‘NPCI PayAuth Challenge’ on APIX

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched a Global level Hackathon ‘NPCI PayAuth Challenge’, to find
out the alternatives for the authentication of UPI (Unified Payments Interface) transaction for eg: Biometric. This
Challenge is supported by APIX, world’s first cross-border, open architecture API marketplace and sandbox platform.
• The Challenge is an open for global Fintechs, solution providers and developers and can submit unique
solutions that simplify authorization.
• UPI is a unique payment system through which customers can link their bank account to a mobile application
and make easy, safe and instant money transfers.
Aim: To explore the feasibility of alternative payment authentication methods in UPI
Key Points:
–The mandate for the challenge is that the solutions should be UPI integrated which can showcase end-to-end
onboarding of customers and authorization of transactions.
–The challenge gives participants a chance to work with NPCI for developing a solution and win a prize money of
USD20,000. The runner up will receive USD10,000 with other winning teams get an opportunity to work on a Proof of
Concept (PoC) with NPCI.
–Interested participants can log in to https://hackolosseum.apixplatform.com/hackathon/npcipayauth for
registering themselves and submit their proposals by February 28, 2021.
i.India’s largest Hyperlocal fintech startup, PayNearby Technologies Pvt. Ltd., in collaboration with YES Bank and
NPCI launched the “PayNearby shopping card” powered by RuPay for its retail partners to provide maximum benefits
of e-commerce in a risk-free mode over mass market category.
ii.NPCI has completed private placement of 4.63% of its equity shares worth Rs 81.64 crores. This placement has
enabled small finance and payment banks, as well as fintechs to be its shareholders up to 0.44%. With this placement,
now the total shareholder entities for NPCI stand at 67.

About National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI):
It is an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the
Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
Establishment– 2008
Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Dilip Asbe
Bharti AXA General Insurance Introduced Health AdvantEDGE, an Innovative Health Insurance Plan
Bharti AXA General Insurance introduced Health AdvantEDGE, an innovative health insurance plan. It is
specifically designed to cater the healthcare and wellness needs of customers.
• The insurer has launched the Bharti AXA Wellness Cuppa portal for its customers to boost customer
engagement and experience.
About Health AdvantEDGE:
Cover: It provides cover from pre-hospitalization(60 days) to post-hospitalization(90 days)
Sum Insured: From Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 crore(with cashless facility and seamless claim procedure)
Age: The plan covers persons in the age group 91 days to 65 years, provides hospital cash benefits, air and road
ambulance with an additional premium.
Benefits:
Restore Benefit
i.The basic sum insured will automatically restore, if the basic sum insured expires within the policy year.
ii.Even if the policyholder makes full use of the sum insured, the company will restore 100% of the basic sum insured,
if the policyholder falls ill for the same or other illness or condition during the same year.
iii.This reduces the need for multiple policies and also ensures that policyholders have essential coverage at all times.
Reward points
i.The policyholder will get reward points for inculcating healthy habits, under the wellness program.
ii.The reward points can be redeemed for discounts on policy premiums or concession on medical bills or consulting
fees among others.
Ayush benefits
It provides Ayush benefits, that includes all expenses incurred on treatment in a hospital under Ayurveda, Yoga and
Naturopathy Unani, Sidha and Homeopathy, and organ donor expenses.
Bonus
Upon renewal, a 20% guaranteed cumulative bonus for policyholders will be given in a claim-free policy year.
Optional maternity benefits
It also offers optional maternity benefits for insured females between the age of 18 to 45 years, opting for a three-
year policy term.
Bharti AXA Wellness Cuppa portal
i.The policyholders through this wellness portal and app can avail full range of wellness features and services in a
single place.
ii.Besides the health rewards, the features also include video/teleconsultation, pharmacy, and diagnostic services,
online chat with doctors, doctor’s appointment, doctor on call, and medical second opinion.
On December 9, 2020 Max Life Insurance Company Limited launched ‘Max Life Critical Illness and Disability Rider’ is
a health insurance rider that offers customers protection from upto 64 critical illnesses. The company also launched
‘Max Fit’ , a comprehensive wellness programme(app).
About Bharti AXA General Insurance:
It is a joint venture company with a 51% stake from Bharti Enterprises and 49% stake of the AXA Group.
Established– 2008
Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Sanjeev Srinivasan
Tagline– Suraksha ka Naya Nazariya

HDFC Bank invites start-ups to apply for SmartUp grants
Private sector lender HDFC Bank is inviting applications from start-ups and individual entrepreneurs for its SmartUp
grants. SmartUp grants are a part of the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR)
India’s FY21 GDP to Contract by 7% from -7.4%: SBI’s Ecowrap Report

On February 10, 2021 Ecowrap report of the State Bank of India (SBI) has estimated that India’s Gross domestic
Product(GDP) for FY 21 will contract by 7%(-7%) from -7.4% projected earlier. The GDP growth in FY22 will remain
at 11%.
Nowcasting Model
The bank has revised the GDP estimates on the basis of SBI ‘Nowcasting Model’ with 41 high frequency indicators
associated with industry activity, service activity, and global economy. This model is developed by SBI and State Bank
Institute of Leadership(SBIL), Kolkata.
Highlights of the Report:
i.The GDP growth for Q3 will be around 0.3% (with upward bias) and for Q4 it will be approximately 2.5%.
ii.The gross tax collections in 2021-22 will be higher than the Budgeted Rs 22.17 lakh crore, or 9.9% of GDP
Other GDP Prediction
i.FY 21
National Statistics Office (NSO): Real GDP is estimated at -7.7%
Reserve Bank of India(RBI): -7.5%
Economic Survey: -7.7%
Union Budget: In Budget 2020-21,the Nominal growth of GDP for FY 21 was estimated at 10% but during the Budget
2021-22, the GDP for FY 21 was revised to -13%.
ii.FY 22
RBI: 10.5%
Economic Survey:11.5%
Union Budget: In Union Budget 2021-22, The nominal GDP is estimated to grow at a rate of 14.4%.
According to the Global Economic Prospects (GEP-January 2021) report released by the World Bank (WB), India is
expected to grow at 5.4% in the Financial Year (FY) 2021-22 & 5.2% in FY 2022-23 after an expected contraction of
9.6% in FY 2020/21. The report also highlighted that the Global Economy is expected to expand by 4% in 2021.
About SBI (State Bank of India):
Founded– July 1, 1955 as SBI
Chairman– Dinesh Kumar Khara
Tagline– The banker to every Indian; With you all the way; Pure banking nothing else; The nation banks on us; A
bank of the common man
GAIL Acquires 5% Stake of Indian Energy Exchange in Indian Gas Exchange

GAIL (India) Limited has acquired a 5% stake of Indian Energy Exchange Ltd (IEX) in Indian Gas Exchange
Ltd (IGX). GAIL becomes the 3rd strategic investor in IGX after Adani Total Gas & Torrent Gas. With this
disinvestment, IEX will hold 85% stake in IGX.
5% Equity Stake Acquisition by Adani Total Gas and Torrent Gas
Recently, Adani Total Gas and Torrent Gas acquired 5% stake each in IGX. This was the 1st time stakes of IGX were
sold, as it was wholly-owned by the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). The total 10% stake has been sold for about Rs
7.38 crore
About IGX:
Launched: On June 15, 2020 by Dharmendra Pradhan Union minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Operates under: The regulatory framework of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).
Firsts:
• It is India’s first automated national level trading platform for physical delivery of natural gas.

• It is the 1st gas exchange to receive authorization from Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB)
under recently notified Gas Exchange Regulations 2020
Purpose: It is an online trading platform to make physical delivery of natural gas and provides a neutral and
transparent marketplace to trade.
Director– Rajesh Kumar Mediratta
Headquarters-Noida, Uttar Pradesh
About Indian Energy Exchange Ltd (IEX):
It is the first and largest energy exchange in India providing a nationwide, automated trading platform for physical
delivery of electricity, Renewable Energy Certificates and Energy Saving Certificates.
Headquarters-Noida, Uttar Pradesh
About GAIL (India) Limited
Chairman & Managing Director– Manoj Jain
Headquarters– New Delhi, Delhi
Odisha Cabinet approves Implementation of ‘REWARD’ project with Assistance from World Bank
On February 9, 2021, Odisha Cabinet headed by its Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved the proposal for
implementation of the ‘Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development
(REWARD)’ project. The estimated expenditure for the project is INR 500 Crores, of which the World Bank will
provide assistance of INR 350 Crores.
The project is being implemented to ensure efficient water management & enhanced cropping area.
• The implementation period of the project is 6 years beginning from April, 2021.
• Around 1.9 Lakh People including 10, 000 Landless People will be benefited because of the ‘REWARD’ Projects.
• It will be implemented in 7 districts of Odisha – Sambalpur, Dhenkanal, Nayagarh, Deogarh, Koraput,
Nabarangpur & Sundargarh.
• Odisha’s Agriculture & Farmers Empowerment Department will implement the project with assistance from
Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Directorate.
‘REWARD’ Project:
i.Objectives:
• To improve land and water conservation and climate resilience in selected watersheds
• Strengthening capacities of national and state institutions to deliver effective science-based watershed
development programs.
ii.It is an initiative of Department of Land Resources, Government of India & World Bank
iii.The project will be funded in 70:30 proportion, where 70% will be funded by the World Bank & 30% by the State
Government.
iv.It is being implemented in the Indian States of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh
v.The total allocation for the project is ~ USD 250 Million (~ INR 1,821.25 crore) of which USD 178.5 Million is
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loan from World Bank & balance is funded by
Government of India & State Governments.
Expected Outcomes:
• Increase in productivity and net income of farmers
• Prevention of soil run-off
• Regeneration of natural vegetation
• Rain water harvesting
• Recharging of the ground water table
• Enables multi-cropping and introduction of diverse agriculture based activities
i.On September 5, 2020, the state cabinet of Karnataka approved INR 600 crore REWARD project with World Bank
(WB) assistance.
About Odisha:
Tribes – Bonda (also known as the Bondo), Gadabas, Sora (also known as saora)
Mountains & Peaks – Mahendragiri (Mountain), Deomali (Mountain Peak), Malayagiri (Mountain Peak)

About World Bank:
President– David Robert Malpass
Headquarters– Washington, D.C., United States
CCEA approves Grant-in-aid of Rs 100 cr to BVFCL, Assam

On February 10, 2021, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra
Modi has approved Grant-in-aid of Rs.100 crore to Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizers Corporation Limited (BVFCL),
Namrup (Assam) for the strengthening of it’s urea manufacturing units.
• This approval has been made on the lines of the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of
Chemicals and Fertilizers (MoC&F).
Why has this grant been made?
BVFCL is India’s first gas based urea manufacturing unit equipped with relevant infrastructure and feedstock
availability. But due to their old technology it is becoming difficult to attain reasonable production level from the
existing units in a cost effective manner. Therefore, to overcome this scenario there is a need to replace certain
equipment and machineries for which an estimated expenditure will be of Rs.100 crores. For this purpose the Grant-
in-aid has been made and to ensure the safe, sustainable and economic operation of the plants.
How will this grant be beneficial?
This grant will restore the urea production capacity of 3.90 Lac MT per annum and ensure timely availability of Urea
to Tea Industry & Farming Sector in the entire North Eastern region specially Assam.
• It will also continue the existing employment of about 580 employees on a permanent basis and another 1500
persons on ad-hoc basis.
• Further, 28000 people get benefits indirectly by this establishment thereby strengthening the Atma Nirbhar
Bharat campaign.
i.The CCEA has approved industrial corridor nodes at Andhra Pradesh’s Krishnapatnam and Karnataka’s Tumakuru
under Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) and Multi Modal Logistics Hub and Multi Modal Transport Hub
(MMTH) at Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
ii.CCEA has approved a modified scheme to enhance ethanol distillation capacity in the country for producing
1st Generation, 1G ethanol from feed stocks such as cereals like rice, wheat, barley, corn and sorghum and sugarcane,
sugar beet etc.
About Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers (MoC&F):
Union Minister– Devaragunda Venkappa Sadananda Gowda(Constituency – Bangalore North(Karnataka))
Minister of State (MoS)– Mansukh Mandaviya(Rajya Sabha Member – Constituency – Gujarat))
IRDAI Annual Report 2019-20: LIC’s claim settlement ratio deteriorated in FY20 to 96.6%
In accordance with the data by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s (IRDAI) annual report
2019-20, the claim settlement ratio of Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) declined in FY20 to 96.6% from 97.7% in
FY19. On the other hand, Private Insurers has increased their settlement ratio to 97.18% for FY20 from 96.6% in
FY19. LIC was ranked 17th among the 24 life insurers.
• Among, private sector life insurer Max Life had the highest claim settlement ratio for the industry at 99.2%
followed by HDFC Life and TATA AIA – with a settlement ratio above 99%.
• On the front of overall life insurance sector 8.46 lakh claims were paid on individual policies, with a total
payout of Rs 18042 crore in the FY20.
It should be noted that the annual report of IRDAI is prepared in accordance with the provisions of section 20 of the
IRDAI Act, 1999.
What is claim settlement ratio?
It is a percentage of life insurance claims an insurer has settled during a financial year against the number of claims it
receives in the period. The higher ratio represents better performance of insurer in addressing the claims.
Key Points:
–For FY20 the life insurance industry repudiated 8,927 claims worth Rs 555 crore and rejected 2,262 for an amount
of Rs 20 crore.

–Edelweiss Tokio Life and Sahara Life had among the worst settlement ratios at 83.4% and 89.4% respectively
–In the group life business, out of 10.26 lakhs total number of the group claims, life insurance industry paid a total of
9.98 lakh claims constituting 97.27%.
Growth Projection between Public & Private Insurers:
Public sector insurers reported a growth of 6.71 per cent in 2019-20, over the previous year’s growth rate of 1.28
per cent. The private general insurers registered a growth rate of 11.63 per cent, as against 24.25 per cent during the
previous year.
The standalone health insurers registered a growth rate of 27.47 per cent in FY 20 as against 36.56 per cent in FY19
and the Specialised insurers registered a growth rate of 28.08 per cent in FY20 as against a negative growth of 10.79
per cent recorded during the FY19.
Based on Insurance Sector:
Motor business continued to be the largest general insurance segment with a share of 36.50 per cent in 2019-20
(38.08 per cent in 2018-19), followed by the health segment with 30.10 per cent market share (30 per cent in 2018-
19).
• The motor segment reported a growth rate of 6.86 per cent in 2019-20 (8.91 per cent in 2018-19).
Click Here for Official Report
i.On November 11, 2020 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India(IRDAI) gave its final approval for
the merger of HDFC ERGO Health Insurance (formerly Apollo Munich Health Insurance Co Ltd) with HDFC ERGO
General Insurance Co Ltd (HDFC ERGO).
ii.On September 24, 2020, IRDAI has identified Life Insurance Corporation of India(LIC), General Insurance
Corporation of India(GIC) and The New India Assurance Co. Ltd.(New India Assurance) as Domestic Systemically
Important Insurers (D-SIIs) for 2020-21.
Chairman – Subhash Chandra Khuntia
RBI Restricts Withdrawals from Independence Cooperative Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in exercise of powers vested in it under sub section (1) of Section 35 A of the
Banking Regulation (BR) Act, 1949 read with Section 56 of the BR Act, 1949 has issued certain Directions to
Independence Co-operative Bank Limited based in Nashik, Maharashtra due to it’s present liquidity position.
• These directions will remain in force for a period of six months w.e.f. February 10, 2021.
In accordance to the directions, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the bank is restricted on the following:
• To grant or renew any loans and advances without prior approval of RBI in writing.
• Make any investment
• Incur any liability including borrowal of funds and acceptance of fresh deposits
• Disburse any payment whether in discharge of its liabilities and obligations or otherwise
• Enter into any compromise or arrangement and sell or transfer
Also, no amount from the total balance across all savings bank or current accounts or any other account of a
depositor is allowed to be withdrawn, but are allowed to set off loans against deposits subject to the above mentioned
conditions.
Is consumer Interest Protected?
Yes, 99.89% of the depositors are fully covered by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC)
insurance scheme. Under the DICGC Act, 1961, every depositor is entitled to repayment of his/her deposits up to Rs
5,00,000 from the DICGC.
i.On January 8, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cancelled the licence of Osmanabad (Maharashtra)-based
Vasantdada Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd.to carry on banking business with immediate effect under Section 22(1) read
with Section 56 of Banking Regulation (BR) Act, 1949.
ii.Banking Licence of Subhadra Local Area Bank at Kolhapur, Maharashtra under Section 22 (4) of the Banking
Regulation Act, 1949 was cancelled by RBI with immediate effect from December 24, 2020.

About Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation(DICGC):
Chairman– Michael Debabrata Patra (Deputy Governor, RBI)
Establishment – 1 April 1935
BRICS’ New Development Bank commits USD 100 Million to NIIF Fund of Funds;1st Ever Investment in FoF
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL) has stated that New Development Bank (NDB)
(formerly known as BRICS Development Bank) has committed to invest USD 100 Million (~ INR 727 Crore) into the
NIIF Fund of Funds (FoF). This is the NDB’s 1st Equity Investment into India & the 1st ever Investment in an FoF.
• With this investment, FoF has secured USD 800 Million in commitments.
• The other investors in FoF apart from NDB are Government of India, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and
Asian Development Bank.
• FoF pumps capital into Indian private capital funds and will help Indian Companies which are looking for
equities to achieve long-term growth.
NIIF FoF:
i.It was established in 2018 for providing Indian private equity fund managers access to an India-focused
Institutional investor.
• Through FoF, NIIF aims to support private equity fund managers who have a good track record of delivering
returns to investors.
• The sectors in which FoF invests are Green Energy, Social Infrastructure, Mid-Income and affordable housing,
consumer services, financial services, technology and others.
ii.Until Now, FoF has made commitments of about INR 2, 750 Crore (~ USD 370 Million) into Four Funds which
focus on
• Green Energy and Climate
• Middle-income and Affordable Housing
• Entrepreneur-driven mid-market growth companies
• Affordable Healthcare
The managers of 4 funds have successfully raised ~ USD 1.1 Billion equivalent funds alongside NIIF’s commitments.
Benefits to Indian Economy:
• The Investments will hugely benefit the Indian economy which is facing difficulties due to pandemic.
• It will also support India’s efforts to boost investment in infrastructure.
• NDB’s support will further address issues like investment gaps, availability of institutional funding for
domestic private equity funds.
NIIF’s Funds:
• Totally, NIIF manages three funds – Master Fund, Fund of Funds and Strategic Fund.
• The funds have been established to make infrastructure investments in India by raising capital from domestic
and international investors.
Note: –
NIIFL is India’s 1st Infrastructure specific investment fund or a sovereign wealth fund.
• It was set up by the Government of India in February, 2015.
i.On December 21, 2020 NIIFL announced closure of NIIF Master Fund, as it had completed raising of the Fund by
achieving a rupee equivalent size USD 2.34 Billion exceeding its target of USD 2.1 Billion.
About National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL):
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Sujoy Bose
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra

About New Development Bank (NDB):
Chairperson of the Board of Governors – Anton Siluanov (Russia)
Vice Chairperson of the Board of Governors – Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance Minister of India)
Headquarters – Shanghai, China
PNB, IOCL sign 1st of its Kind MoU for providing up to INR 2 Crore Loan to Dealers
Punjab National Bank (PNB) has signed a First-of-its-kind Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Oil
Corporation Ltd (IOCL) for providing up to INR 2 Crore Loan to IndianOil dealers through the PNB e-Dealer
scheme (PNB electronic dealer finance scheme).
• Under the scheme Dealers can avail loan of upto INR 2 Crore at lower interest rates, nil margin and with
minimum or Zero Collateral requirements.
• Collateral Security will not be asked to Individuals who are having dealerships with IndianOil for 5 years or
more.
Beneficiaries:
Existing Proprietorships, partnerships, LLP (Limited Liability Partnership) Companies, Trusts or Society entities
having dealership agreement with IndianOil can avail the scheme.
India’s MSME sector:
The agreement will be beneficial to the Indian MSME sector as it is gearing up to serve India’s rising demand in the
post-pandemic era.
i.On December 24, 2020 Punjab National Bank (PNB) introduced PNB e-Credit Card which is a digital imitation of a
physical Credit Card.
About Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL):
Chairman – Shrikant Madhav Vaidya
About Punjab National Bank (PNB):
Managing Director & CEO – S S Mallikarjuna Rao
Established – May 19, 1894
Tagline – The name you can bank upon
Sri Lanka Settles $400 million Currency Swap Facility with India
On February 4, 2021 The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) repaid USD 400 million currency swap to the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI). RBI and Sri Lanka entered into this facility in July 2020 under the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) currency swap framework. This facility was got for an initial period of 3 months to
cope with the severe economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Further, RBI provided a three-month rollover at CBSL’s
request, until February 1, 2021.
SAARC currency swap framework
Came into operation- November 15, 2012
Purpose– To provide funding for short term foreign exchange liquidity requirements or for short-term balance of
payments until longer term arrangements are made.
India’s Real GDP will grow at 10.4% in FY22: Ind-Ra

On February 10, 2021 India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra)Ltd estimated that India’s real Gross Domestic
Product(GDP) will bounce back to 10.4% in FY22, primarily based on the base effect. The GDP growth of Q1 to Q3 of
FY 21 was negative, the agency expects that the growth will be positive in Q4 at 0.3% .Earlier, Ind-Ra had projected
the GDP for FY 21 as -7.8%.
Note– The full recovery will be visible in FY23.

Highlights of the Projection:
Govt & Private Final Consumption Expenditure:
The government final consumption expenditure is expected to grow at 10.1% in FY22, while private final
consumption expenditure is expected to grow at 11.2% in FY22
Agricultural GVA:
The agricultural Gross Value Added(GVA) to grow at 3.0% in FY22. This estimate is made on the expectation that
there will be a normal and well-distributed rainfall in 2021.
Other Projection in FY 22:
Industrial sector- 11.5%
Service sector- 11.4%
Retail Inflation- 4.3%
Wholesale inflation- 2.8%
On January 13, 2021, CARE Ratings downgraded its projection of the Centre’s fiscal deficit to 7.8% of GDP (Gross
Domestic Product) during FY21 against its earlier estimate of 9-9.5%. As per this the Fiscal deficit is likely to be
around Rs 15.3 lakh crores.
About India Ratings and Research(Ind-Ra):
It is a 100% owned subsidiary of the Fitch Group.
CEO & MD– Rohit Karan Sawhney
CCI Approves BOI- BAIM & BATS Deal, SHS GmbH- Varian Deal & Ecom-CDC Deal
On February 10, 2021 The Competition Commission of India(CCI) has approved following deal:
BOI Acquires 49% Stake each in BOI AXA Investment Managers & BOI AXA Trustee Services
The CCI under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002 gave approval for the acquisition of 49% stake each in BOI
AXA Investment Managers Private Limited (BAIM)& BOI AXA Trustee Services Private Limited (BATS) by Bank of
India(BOI).
Note- Currently, BOI holds 51% equity shares each in BAIM and BATS.
Post Acquisition:
i.After the acquisition, BOI will become sole owner of BAIM & BATS and also the sole sponsor of BOI AXA Mutual
FUnd.
• Total Asset Under Management (AUM) of BOI AXA Mutual Fund was Rs 2,426 crore as of 30 November, 2020.
ii.In addition to this, BOI shall do banking business and continue to distribute Mutual Fund products including that of
the target entities.
Background:
For this purpose, BOI entered into a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with AXA Investment Managers Asia Holdings
Pvt Ltd (AXA IM), a part of AXA Group.
• AXA IM is a promoter of BAIM and BATS.
About Bank of India(BOI):
It is constituted under the Banking Companies (Acquisition & Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970.
Incorporated– September 7 1906 by group of eminent businessman from Mumbai
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Shri Atanu Kumar Das
Tagline-Relationship Beyond Banking
HeadOffice– Mumbai, Maharashtra
About BOI AXA Investment Managers Private Limited(BAIM):
CEO– Sandeep Dasgupta
Siemens Healthineers Holding I Gmb Acquires 100% Shares of Varian Medical Systems, Inc
i.CCI gave approval for the acquisition of 100% shares of common stock and sole control of Varian Medical Systems,
Inc. (Varian) by Siemens Healthineers Holding I Gmb (SHS GmbH)
• The approval was given under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002.

ii.For this acquisition, both the parties had entered into an agreement, where SHS GmbH will acquire all shares for
USD 177.50 per share in cash of Varian. This equals a purchase price of approximately USD 16.4 billion.
About Siemens Healthineers Holding I Gmb (SHS GmbH):
It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens Healthineers AG (Siemens Healthineers) which is ultimately part of the
Siemens AG Group.
About Siemens Healthineers AG:
CEO– Dr. Bernd Montag
Headquarters– Erlangen, Germany
About Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (Varian):
CEO– Dow R. Wilson
Headquarters– California, United States
CDC Group plc Subscribes Securities of Ecom Express Private Limited
CCI gave approval for the subscription of securities of Ecom Express Private Limited(Ecom) by CDC Group plc (CDC).
About CDC Group plc (CDC):
CEO– Nick O’Donohoe
Headquarters– London, United Kingdom
About Ecom Express Private Limited(Ecom):
It engages in the business of providing third party logistics (3PL) services in India.
Headquarters– Gurugram, Haryana
On January 20, 2021 Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the following deal:
i.The acquisition of 7.8% minority stake in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) by Flipkart Investments
Private Limited (FIPL), subsidiary of Flipkart Private Limited (FPL) on a fully diluted basis. The deal is worth Rs 1,500
crore.
ii.The acquisition of Altico Capital India Ltd (Altico) by Ares SSG Capital Management (Singapore) Pte. Ltd (Ares SSG).
iii.The deal between Max Life Insurance Company Ltd and Axis entities(Axis bank Ltd, Axis Capital ltd and Axis
Securities Ltd).
• About9% stake in Max life insurance will be acquired by Axis Bank.
• Axis Capital and Axis Securities will acquire 2% and 1% stake respectively in Max Life Insurance.
About Competition Commission of India (CCI):
Established by– The Central Government with effect from 14th October 2003
Headquarters– New Delhi, India
Chairman– Ashok Kumar Gupta
BPCL to Buyout 36.62% Stake of BORL from OQ S.A.0.C. for Around Rs 2,399.26 crore
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) to buyout 36.62% stake (88.86 crore equity shares) of Bharat Oman
Refineries Limited (BORL) from OQ S.A.0.C. (formerly known as Oman Oil Company S.A.0.C.) for approximately Rs
2,399.26 crore.
• BORL built and operates a 7.8 million tonne oil refinery at Bina in Madhya Pradesh.
Key Info
i.Currently, BPCL holds a 63.38% stake in BORL
ii.After the acquisition is completed, BPCL will hold 100% of the equity share capital(on a non-diluted basis) in
BORL.
iii.The Government of Madhya Pradesh holds 26,900,000 convertible share warrants in BORL.
BPCL to sell its 61.65% share to a consortium of Oil India Ltd and Engineers India Ltd & Govt of Assam
i.BPCL has announced that it will sell its 61.65% stake. Of the total, around 49% stake will be sold to consortium of
Oil India Ltd(OIL) and Engineers India Ltd and the rest around 13% to the government of Assam.
ii.The value for 61.65% in NRL is around Rs 7,000 crore.
iii.Currently OIL holds 26% equity in NRL and the government of Assam has around 12.35%.
iv.After the sale, BPCL will have 3 refineries in Mumbai, Maharashtra; Kochi, Kerala and Bina, Madhya Pradesh.

Privatisation of BPCL:
i.The government is selling its entire 52.98% stake in BPCL
ii.NRL sale is the 1st step towards the disinvestment of BPCL.
iii.The government expects to complete the BPCL privatisation by the first half of the fiscal beginning April (2021-22).
iv.This sale is crucial to achieve Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target set for 2021-22.
About Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL):
Director(HR), Chairman and Managing Director(CMD)– K. Padmakar
IDBI Bank has entered into the final stage of selling the 23% stake in IDBI Federal Life Insurance Company Limited
(IFLI) to Ageas Insurance International NV for a consideration of Rs 507 crore.Following this transaction, the joint
venture has been rebranded as Ageas Federal Life Insurance Company Ltd.The deal is expected to be completed by
December 31, 2020.
NVIDIA to Acquire SoftBank Group’s Arm Ltd for USD 40 Billion

US based NVIDIA will acquire UK based Arm Holdings, a designer of chips for mobile phones, from SoftBank
Group in a deal worth $40 billion. This deal was signed in September 2020 & became the largest-ever deal in the
semiconductor industry.
Why in News Recently?
• The acquisition is in news recently because both the British and European competition watchdogs opening “in-
depth” investigations into the deal and will look at whether the deal would break any competition rules.
Key Info about Acquisition:
i.The acquisition is subject to approval by authorities in several jurisdictions, including Britain, China, the United
States and European Union(EU).
ii.This acquisition will combine NVIDIA’s leading Artificial Intelligence(AI) computing platform with Arm’s vast
ecosystem to form the foremost computing company for the age of artificial intelligence, accelerating innovation as it
expands into large, high-growth markets.
iii.NVIDIA will expand Arm’s R&D presence in Cambridge, UK, by establishing a world-class AI research and
education center, and building an Arm/NVIDIA-powered AI supercomputer for groundbreaking research
About NVIDIA:
Headquarters– California, US
Founder, President and CEO– Jensen Huang
About SoftBank Group Corp. (SBG):
Chairman & CEO– Masayoshi Son
Headquarters– Tokyo, Japan
About Arm Holdings:
Cheif Executive Officer – Simon Segars
Headquarter – Cambridge, United Kingdom(UK)
Meghalaya Police signs MoU with SBI for Implementation of e-challan

Meghalaya Police has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with State Bank of India (SBI) for
implementation of e-Challan in the jurisdiction of Shillong Traffic Police (STP).
• e-Challan system is a digital traffic enforcement solution through which penalties for violators of traffic
rules & generation of challans will be carried out digitally.
• The e-Challan system has been integrated with VAHAN & SARATHI, which are the flagship applications of
MoRTH (Ministry of Road Transport & Highways).
• The Integration with VAHAN & SARATHI will help traffic officials in gathering the information of traffic
violations such as Vehicle & Driver’s details.
• Traffic violators can pay fines using instant card payments by swiping at Point of Sale (PoS) machines or by
producing e-Challan at the respective Traffic Unit.

About Meghalaya:
Festival – Nongkrem Dance Festival, Wangala Festival, Shad Suk Mynsiem
Dances – Wangala Dance, Lahoo Dance
About State Bank of India (SBI):
Chairman– Dinesh Kumar Khara
Founded– July 1, 1955 as SBI
Tagline– The banker to every Indian; With you all the way; Pure banking nothing else; The nation banks on us; A
bank of the common man
EXIM Bank to provide $400 mn funding for Maldives project

On February 12, 2021, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has notified The Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) of
Maldives will get a $400 million funding from Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank), the agreement for the same
is effective for January 28, 2021.
• The terminal utilisation period is 60 months after the scheduled completion date of the project
• The 6.7 km Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) will be the largest civilian infrastructure project in
Maldives, connecting Male with three neighbouring islands of Villingili, Gulhifahu and Thilafushi.
Indian Support to Maldives:
–In September 2020, the first Ever Direct Cargo Ferry Service between India and Maldives was launched to boost the
business communities of both nations.
–In September 2020, India also provided a financial assistance of US$250 million (Indian Rupees of around 1837
crores) at favourable terms to the Government of Maldives in the form of symbolic cheque.
–In August 2020, India and Maldives signed a contract for the development of five eco-tourism zones in Addu atoll of
Maldives.
--The Government of India is also supporting the Hanimaadhoo International Airport expansion project under the
USD 800 million Line of Credit from EXIM Bank of India.
–In July 2020 State Bank of India (SBI) provided liquidity support of USD 16.20 million as a COVID-relief for the
Government of Maldives to overcome liquidity shortage.
i.India is planning to set up Coastal Radar Stations in Maldives, Myanmar & Bangladesh as part of its plan to expand
the area under Coastal Surveillance Network (CSN).
ii.From December 2-3 2020, UNESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific)
South Asia and Pacific & Government of Maldives organized 4th South Asian Forum of Sustainable Development Goal
(SDG) 2020 virtually.
About Maldives:
President– Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
Capital– Male
Currency– Maldivian Rufiyaa
About Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank):
Managing Director (MD)– David Rasquinha
Regulated By– Reserve Bank of India
RBI announces Rs 20,000cr Open Market Operations on February 10

In order to boost liquidity in the economy, On February 10, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) purchase Rs 20,000
crore ($2.74 billion) of government securities under Open Market Operations (OMO).
• This purchase will also boost government’s borrowing programme worth Rs 12.06 lakh crore which will
initiate in April 2021.
• This decision has been taken due to the increasing yields on government securities.
Following table shows the Government Securities (GS) to be bought by RBI:

Security Date of Maturity

6.18% GS 2024 4-Nov-2024
7.17% GS 2028 8-Jan-2028
5.77% GS 2030 3-Aug-2030
6.19% GS 2034 16-Sep-2034
What is OMO?
OMO is a part of “Operation Twist” to ease pressure evolving liquidity and market conditions. The main purpose of
the OMO is to bring down the yields at the longer end.
Key Points:
–RBI uses its Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) for accepting bids in electronic format on such purchases.
–The government will be borrowing Rs 80,000 crore more in the February-March 2021 period. The gross borrowing
programme next year is of the order of Rs 12-lakh crore.
Additional Info:
–In the recent monetary policy by RBI kept the policy rates unchanged. The bank repo rate remains at 4.25% while
the reverse repo rate is 3.35 per cent. The policy repo rate is 4 per cent.
–RBI projected India’s GDP to grow at 10.5% in 2021-22.
i.On January 1, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the January 2021 round of household surveys namely
“Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH)” and “Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS)” to represent inflation
expectations and consumer confidence.
ii.On January 5, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the introduction of Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) for
all payment transactions of Rs 50 crore and above undertaken by entities through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)
and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT).
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Launched its 1st Corporate India Risk Index 2020
On February 11, 2021 ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd launched its 1st ‘Corporate India Risk Index
2020’.India’s Corporate India Risk Index stands at 57.The HealthCare Sector topped among the sectors with the
highest score of 70, which indicates that it manages the risk well.
i.The Corporate India Risk Index 2020 uses a risk measurement tool that has been developed by ICICI Lombard in
partnership with Frost and Sullivan, a leading management consulting firm.
ii.The Corporate India Risk Index 2020 covers top 150 companies from its own investment portfolio across 15 Key
Sectors.
Aim: The index will enable companies to understand the level of risk and current readiness their business is facing.
To Help them to create successful risk mitigation plans.
Corporate India Risk Index 2020
Highlights of Corporate India Risk Index 2020
i.BFSI is in second place with the score of 65 followed by IT-ITES with the score of 64.
ii.The Only Company that scored below 50 was Logistics & it scored 47.
Scores obtained by Each Sector:
Sector Score Sector Score
Health Care 70 Chemical 55
Fast-Moving Consumer
Banking, Financial Services and Insurance(BFSI) 65 Goods(FMCG) 54

Information Technology(IT)/Information Technology enabled
Services(ITeS) 64 Energy 52
Media and Telecommunications 60 Pharma 52
Metals and Mining 60 New age 51
Automotive 59 Hospitality 50
Infrastructure and Realty 57 Logistics 47
Manufacturing 57
Scores and their Explanation:
i.Below 30 (Ineffective)– Very high exposure or very poor risk management practices
ii.Between 30-50(sub-optimal)– Does not handle risk effectively and the risk management practices are inefficient
iii.Between 50-60 (Optimal)– Most of the current risks are handled effectively. More attention is needed to the
emerging risks associated with strategic initiatives
iv.Between 60-80 (Superior)– Good risk management practices. Can handle current and future risks across
dimensions.
v.Over 80 (Over-prepared)– Companies has invested heavily in risk mitigation.
Note– It also highlighted that most of the risk management strategies are focusing on operational and natural hazard
risks in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. They also need better management of market/economic, technological and
crime/security risks.
Calculation
The risk index is computed after calculating the corporate house’s exposure and management of various risks
including, physical risks, risks related to technology, security, and those associated with natural hazards. The index
also looks at market and macro factors
Parameters
i.The risk is measured across 4 parameters namely
• Awareness
• Probability
• Criticality
• Preparedness
ii.The parameters will be separated into risk exposure and risk management.
Risk Elements
The framework that comprises 32 risk elements across 6 broad dimensions.
On January 1, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced the RBI-Digital Payments Index (DPI) to measure a
growth in digital or cashless transactions across the country. It was released on the lines of the Statement on
Developmental and Regulatory Policies as part of the Sixth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2019-20 dated
February 06, 2020.
About ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd:
Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Bhargav Dasgupta
Established– 2001
Star Health and Allied Insurance Launched its Arogya Sanjeevani Policy on PhonePe
On February 12, 2021 Star Health & Allied Insurance Co. Ltd launched its Arogya Sanjeevani policy on PhonePe.
This launch enables all the users of PhonePe to protect their families from financial burdens in case of any medical
emergency. This policy has been designed to cover the most necessary aspects of any kind of hospitalization in the
family.
Aim: To provide easy access to Star Health’s Arogya Sanjeevani health insurance policy, particularly to the
millennials.

About Star Health’s Arogya Sanjeevani policy:
Annual Premium
To avail this policy the user has to pay an annual premium of Rs. 2985/- (excluding Goods and Service Tax- GST) for
sum insured of Rs. 1 lakh.
Coverage
It covers any person upto the age of 65 and also has sum insured options upto Rs. 10 lakh.
Avail
PhonePe users through the PhonePe app can avail this policy instantly without the need of any medical screening
Benefits
It covers all day care procedures, lifelong renewals, cumulative bonus, Cataract treatment and Ayush Treatment to
the limit of sum insured.
Note: Star Health has partnered with more than 10,200 hospitals across India as part of its cashless network where
its customers can avail hassle free claim services.
On November 9, 2020 Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Company Limited launched, ‘Covid Shield+’, India’s First
Individual Covid-19 Life Insurance Policy. The comprehensive solution provides financial protection against the
impact of COVID-19 diagnosis.
About Star Health & Allied Insurance Co. Ltd:
Commenced operations– 2006 as India’s first Standalone Health Insurance provider.
Chairman & CEO– Mr. V. Jagannathan
HeadQuarters– Chennai, TamilNadu
About PhonePe:
CEO– Sameer Nigam
Headquarters– Bengaluru, Karnataka
4 French Companies Signs LoIs with TN Govt to Invest Rs 200 crores

During the IFCCI Indo-French Investment Conclave 2021, french companies namely, A.Raymond Fasterners, Cryolor,
Precia Molen and Timac Agro signed 4 Letter of Intents (LoIs) with the Tamil Nadu government to invest Rs 200
crore in the state.
Special Focus sectors for which LoIs given– Aerospace & Defence, Mobility, Electronics & Hardware and Ease of
Doing Business.
What is Letter of Intent (LoI)?
i.It is a document that declares the preliminary commitment of one party to do business with another.
ii.It outlines the key terms of a deal. It is commonly used in major business transactions.
iii.It is similar in content to term sheets, but the major difference between the two, is that LOIs are presented in letter
formats, while term sheets are listicle in nature.
On 14th December, 2020 Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edapaddi K Palaniswami signed 18 Memorandum of
Understandings (MoU) for 24 projects with multiple companies attracting investment in the state, which has the
potential to create 54,218 jobs in the state.
About TamilNadu:
Festival– Pongal, Thiruvaiyaru Festival, Thaipusam, Tamil New Year, Chithirai Thiruvizha, Karthigai Deepam
Dance– Bharatanatyam, Mayil Attam(peacock dance), Puliyattam or Tiger Dance, Kummi, Kai Silambu Attam,
Karakattam
Flipkart Signs MoU with Maharashtra Govt to Boost Growth of Small Scale Enterprises in State
On February 11, 2021 Flipkart signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maharashtra Small Scale
Industries Development Corporation (MSSIDC) and Maharashtra State Khadi & Village Industries Board (MSKVIB) to
bring Maharashtra’s artisans, weavers, craftsmen and Small and medium-size Businesses (SMBs) of the state into the
e-commerce strata. The MoU is signed under the Flipkart Samarth initiative.
• This partnership boosts the ‘Vocal for Local’ efforts of the Government of India.

Purpose– To boost the growth of Small scale enterprises in State.
Key People
The MoU was signed in the presence of State Industries Minister Subhash Desai and Minister of State, Industries, Aditi
Tatkare.
This partnership helps the state’s local artisans, weavers, craftsmen and smaller industries to display their hallmark
products like Khadi, Paithani sarees, wooden toys, handmade artifacts among others to the customers across the
country.
Gist about Flipkart Samarth:
Launched: 2019
Aim: To empower sections of society that are less privileged or bodies that are committed to a greater good by
providing them with opportunities that will help them to attain financial independence.
Business on Flipkart Marketplace: This program enables skilled local artisan communities to establish
their business on the Flipkart Marketplace in an efficient, transparent and affordable manner.
Purpose: To eradicate the entry barriers for the local artisans by providing them time-bound incubation support.
This will create ways to increase business and trade inclusion opportunities for these very important segments of
society.
Other Benefits
i.It will also provide long term sustainable livelihood support.
ii.In addition to this, it also encourages artisans to conserve & pass on the local arts & crafts skills from generation to
generations.
On 8th August, 2020 E-commerce platform Flipkart signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Uttar
Pradesh Government’s One District, One Product (ODOP) scheme. As part of the MoU, artisans, weavers and
craftsmen under the One District, One Product (ODOP) scheme will be brought into the ‘Flipkart Samarth’ initiative.
About Maharashtra State Khadi & Village Industries Board (MSKVIB):
CEO– Dr. M. Neelima Kerketta
About Maharashtra Small Scale Industries Development Corporation (MSSIDC):
MD– Pravin Darade
‘India Tunisia Business Council’ Launched for Boosting Trade Relations

On February 9, 2021, ‘India Tunisia Business Council’ (ITBC) was launched for boosting the trade relations between
the two countries. The main objective of the ITBC will be to focus on development in both countries.
i.The Bilateral Trade between India and Tunisia was USD 376 Billion in 2019-20
• Indian Exports to Tunisia during the same period were USD 245 Million
• India’s Imports from Tunisia were USD 231 Million during the same period.
Background:
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for launching ITBC was signed between ‘Tunisia India Business Council’
(TABC) & ‘Indian Economic Trade Organization’ (IETO) by Dr.Asif Iqbal, President of IETO & Anis Jaziri, President of
TABC which took place during the India Tunisia Economic Forum 2020 held virtually on December 22, 2020.
India Tunisia Economic Forum 2020:
The discussions during the forum were chaired by Mohit Srivastava, Director of IETO.
• It was organized by IETO with the support of Indian Africa Trade Council.
• Theme of the Dialogue – ‘India Tunisia-Promoting Equitable Growth’
• Participants – Officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Foreign Ministry of Tunisia,
Indian Ambassador to Tunisia, Indian and Tunisian business owners and Industrialists.
Key Points:
• Both sides highlighted the importance of ‘Tunisia India Centre for Innovation in ICT’ in Tunis, Capital of
Tunisia.

• They also highlighted the Steel Plant which is being established in Tunisia.
• The two sides stated that they can boost trade in areas of Agriculture, Olive Oil, Dates & Pharmaceuticals
• For the First Time in History, India and Tunisia will be sitting together in the UN Security Council in 2021.
i.On July 28, 2020, Tunisian President Kais Saied appointed Hichem Mechichi, Interior Minister as its new Prime
minister.
About Tunisia:
Capital – Tunis
Currency – Tunisian Dinar (TND)
President – Kais Saied
About Indian Economic Trade Organization (IETO):
President – Asif Iqbal
Headquarters – Bengaluru, Karnataka
India to Fund NR 142 million for Restoration of 3 Cultural Heritage Projects in Nepal
On February 12, 2021 India committed to Nepal that it will fund Nepali Rupees(NR) 142 million to restore 3
cultural heritage projects in Nepal. These projects are implemented as part of the US $50 million grant assistance
committed by the Government of India for post-earthquake reconstruction of the Cultural Heritage sites across 8
districts of Nepal.
3 Cultural Heritage Projects:
• Conservation and furnishing of Seto Machindranath Temple(Total cost- NRs 626 million)
• Construction of Dharamshala at Budhanilkantha (Total cost- NRs. 334 million)
• Conservation and development of Kumari Chhen and Kumari Niwas in Lalitpur district (Total cost- NRs 456
million)
Key People:
For this purpose, 3 contract agreements were signed by the Shyam Kishor Singh, Project Director of Central Level
Project Implementation Unit-CLPIU(Building) of National Reconstruction Authority(NRA), government of Nepal and
contractors of the heritage sites.
Key Info:
Seto Machindranath temple and Kumari Chhen & Kumari Niwas will be conserved as per Nepal’s Ancient Monument
Preservation Act 2013.
Implementing agencies
The Project Management Consultant of these 2 projects is Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage
(INTACH). It will supervise the work in close collaboration with the authorities of the Government of Nepal.
The implementing agency of Dharamshala is CLPIU (Building) of NRA
Gist about the Projects
Seto Machindranath Temple
It is a significant living heritage site located in Jana Bahal in central Kathmandu, Nepal.
It is one of the main shrines of the protector God of Kathmandu Valley.
It is worshiped by both Hindus and Buddhists.
Kumari Chhen & Kumari Niwas
Kumari Chhen lies south-west of the Kathmandu Durbar Square and is located inside Ratnakar Mahavihara.
It is the historic house of Living Goddess Kumari.
It is also called Kumari Bahal or Kumari Temple or Kumari Ghar.
The living goddess is central to culture and traditions of the Newar Buddhist community.
Kumari Niwas has an important place in the rituals associated with the living goddess
Dharamshala
It lies within the heritage area of Budhanilkantha temple locally known as Narayanthan
Note: In November 2019, India also built Mathadish building for Budhanilkantha temple at a cost of NRs 21.8 million.

On November 2, 2020 The new building of Bhimsen Adarsha Higher Secondary School, Nawalpur District, Nepal
constructed with the Government of India’s financial assistance of NRs(Nepalese Rupees) 25.83 million, under the
Nepal-Bharat Maitri Development Cooperation has been virtually inaugurated. The project was implemented by the
District Coordination Committee(DCC), Nawalparasi, Nepal.
About Nepal:
Capital– Kathmandu
President– Bidhya Devi Bhandari
ESFBL Partnered with MSRDC & Ocean Highway Facilities and Solutions to Launch India’s 1st FASTag
Powered Truck Terminal
On February 12, 2021 Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd (ESFBL) has partnered with Maharashtra State Road
Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC) and Ocean Highway Facilities and Solutions Pvt Ltd. to launch India’s
first FASTag powered truck terminal at Khalapur, Maharashtra on the Yashwantrao Chavan Mumbai – Pune
Expressway.
About FASTag:
Launch
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) launched FASTag for Electronic Toll Collection on Toll Plazas
Brand Name
FASTag is a brand name owned by Indian Highways Management Company Ltd. (IHMCL), which carries out electronic
tolling and other ancillary projects of NHAI.
Features
RFID technology
It uses Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology to make toll payments directly from the prepaid account
linked to it.
Reloadable tag
It is a reloadable tag that enables automatic deduction of toll charges and allows people to pass through the toll plaza
without the need to stop for the cash transaction.
Payment mode
The National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC)’s common set of processes, business rules and technical specifications
enables the customer to use their FASTag as payment mode on any of the toll plazas regardless of who acquired the
toll plaza
What is NETC?
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has developed the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program
to meet the electronic tolling requirements of the Indian market.
Benefits
It offers convenience of cashless payment.
It also offers benefits like, savings on fuel and time as the customer is not required to stop at toll plaza.
Key Info about ESFBL:
i.It was originally incorporated as ‘V.A.P. Finance Private Limited’ on June 21, 1993.
ii.The bank was converted into a small finance bank (SFB) and commenced its operations on September 5, 2016.
iii.It is the 1st Private Sector Bank from Tamil Nadu to commence operations post Indian Independence.
iv.As per the CRISIL report, ESFBL is the largest small finance bank in India in terms of number of banking outlets as
of March 31, 2019.
On December 28, 2020 ICICI Bank collaborated with Google Pay to issue FASTag through Unified Payments Interface
(UPI) on the payments app. This allows Google Pay users to order, track and recharge ICICI Bank FASTag digitally on
the payments platform. With this partnership, ICICI Bank FASTag is now available on Google Pay.
About Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited(ESFBL):
MD and CEO– Vasudevan Pathangi Narasimhan (P N)
Headquarters– Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Commenced the business of SFB– September 5, 2016
Tagline– It’s Fun Banking
About Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC):
Chairman– Eknath Shinde, Maharashtra Minister for Public Works(Public Undertaking),
Vice Chairman & Managing Director– R.L.Mopalwar (I.A.S)
HeadOffice– Mumbai, Maharashtra
CREDAI, IPPB ink pact to Open Bank Accounts for Construction Workers
On the lines of the labour welfare initiatives by the Central Government, the Confederation of Real Estate
Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) has inked memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian
Payments and Postal Bank (IPPB) to facilitate opening of bank accounts for construction workers.
• This MoU will ensure accessible financial services for construction workers along with financial literacy and
digital inclusion.
Key Points:
–The aim of the pact is to cover around 10 lakh workers in a year from around current 3 crore workers engaged in
construction activities across real estate projects.
–This program will be implemented in coordination with contractors.
i.On January 12, 2021, IPPB has collaborated with the leading payment processor and provider of integrated payment
products, Financial Software and Systems (FSS) to promote Financial Inclusion in underserved and unbanked
segments of India.
ii.The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the signing of a Memorandum of
Cooperation (MoC) between the Indian and Japan that pertains to sending Indian “Specified Skilled Worker” to Japan.
About Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI):
Chairman– Jaxay Shah
Headquarter– New Delhi
About India Post Payments Bank (IPPB):
Director and Chairman– Pradipta Kumar Bisoi
Tagline– Aapka Bank, Aapke Dwaar
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Launched a New Savings Product, ‘ICICI Pru Guaranteed Income for
Tomorrow’ (GIFT)
On February 9, 2021 ICICI Prudential Life Insurance launched a new goal based savings product ‘ICICI Pru
Guaranteed Income for Tomorrow’ (GIFT). The non-participating savings product helps customers to eliminate the
uncertainty of future income streams to a large extent. It also provides financial security to the family.
Purpose: In order to help policyholders to achieve their long-term financial goals, it offers guaranteed income to
policyholders
Variants: Income, Early income, Single pay lump sum
‘Save The Date’ feature– Customers through this unique feature can choose to start receiving income on special
dates like their wedding anniversary, etc.,
RIL Gets world’s 1st Carbon-Neutral Oil from Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, US
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has received 2 million barrels cargo of ‘carbon-neutral oil’ from Oxy Low Carbon
Ventures (OLCV), a division of US oil major Occidental on January 28, 2021 at Jamnagar, Gujarat. It is the world’s 1st
consignment of carbon-neutral oil and is also the energy industry’s 1st major petroleum shipment.
Purpose: RIL to become a net zero-carbon company by 2035.
Points to be Noted:
i.The transaction was arranged in conjunction with Macquarie Group’s Commodities and Global Markets group
(Macquarie).

ii.Occidental produced this oil in the US Permian Basin and shipped to RIL using Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Sea
Pearl.
Making of Carbon-Neutral Oil
i.Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Macquarie will offset the carbon dioxide equal to that associated with the production,
delivery and refining of the crude oil.
ii.The use of the resulting product through the retirement of carbon offset credits will make the oil ‘carbon-neutral’.
Note: The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are associated with the entire crude lifecycle will be offset with
Carbon-Neutral Oil.
About the Transaction:
i.This transaction is regarded as the 1st step to create a new market for climate-differentiated crude oil
ii.It also acts as a bridge to develop further differentiated petroleum products, net-zero oil, which Occidental aims
to produce by capturing and isolating atmospheric CO2 through industrial-scale direct air capture (DAC) facilities
and geological isolation.
Key Info:
The offsets were sourced from a variety of projects verified under the Verra Verified Carbon Standard meeting
eligibility criteria for the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for
International Aviation (CORSIA).
Additional Info
Occidental was the first U.S. based international energy company to announce an ambition to achieve net-zero GHG
emissions associated with the use of its products by 2050.
India’s retail inflation at 16-month low of 4.06% in January 2021: NSO

The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is released the
All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January 2021. As per the index, India’s retail inflation eased to a 16-
month low at 4.06% in January 2021. The retail inflation was 4.59% in December 2020. The food inflation fell to
a 20-month low of 1.89% in January 2021 . The retail inflation in rural India was 3.23% and in urban India
was 5.06%.
Recykal Becomes 1st member from India for WEF’s The Circulars Accelerator Programme 2021
Recykal has been selected as the 1st Indian company to be a cohort member for the World Economic
Forum(WEF)’s Circulars Accelerator Programme 2021. The company has been selected for the category
‘Recovering Value’. This is Circulars Accelerator’s 1st cohort of leading circular innovators from around the world.
i.The 6 month program is headed by Accenture, in partnership with Anglo American, Ecolab and Schneider Electric,
and in collaboration with UpLink and the World Economic Forum(WEF).
ii.The programme will connect 17 circular economy entrepreneurs to upgrade the disruptive, cross-sector value
chain innovation.
iii.The other category of the programme include, Transforming Consumption & Innovating Products & Production.
Click here to know about other members
Circulars Accelerator Program
Transition
The Circulars, the world’s premier circular economy awards has now been transitioned to a Circulars Accelerator
program.
What Happens in the Program?
i.It connects innovators and entrepreneurs with industry leaders and circular experts who provide targeted
mentorship.
ii.The innovators will receive deep expertise through the key program elements including, workshops among others.
iii.It also supports innovators to develop plans to improve their circular solutions, championed and guided by cross-
industry leaders.

Gist about Recykal:
i.It is India’s first digital waste-commerce (w-commerce) company that connects waste generators with waste
processors and recyclers, and brand owners to solve some of the biggest challenges faced by the industry including
demand-supply mismatch and lack of transparency and traceability
ii.It is an end-to-end digital solutions provider, that ensures high rates of waste collection, recycling and facilitates
transactions for all stakeholders across India’s waste management and recycling value chain.
This provides an opportunity to the circular economy to ensure that more materials are being entered in the
recycling streams and less moving to landfills.
iii.The company through its digital platforms channels more than 10,000 tonnes of recyclables every month and plans
to increase it to 2 million tonnes of plastic annually by 2025.
On September 14, 2020, India & Afghanistan were elected as Members of the United Nations (UN) Commission on
Status of Women, a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The Commission on the Status of Women is a
UN organ promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.
About Recykal:
Founder– Abhay Deshpande
HeadOffice– Hyderabad, Telangana
IETO Signs MoU with Govt of Karnataka for SDGs

On February 9, 2021 The Indian Economic Trade Organization (IETO) and the Government of Karnataka signed a
Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) at Bengaluru, Karnataka to work closely to implement the Sustainable
Development Goals(SDGs) more effectively in the state and to expand the scope of the sustainable future.
Purpose: To implement SDG more effectively in the State
Key People
i.Dr Asif Iqbal, President of IETO and Ms Shalini Rajneesh (IAS), Principal Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka signed the
MoU.
ii.The MoU was signed in the presence of Ms Jette Bjerrum, the Consul General of Denmark in Bangalore, Mr Chris
Pohl, Vice Chairman of the India Africa Trade Council, Mr B. Ramakrishnan India Africa Trade Council(IATC) Director
Comesa region among others.
Benefit of the Partnership
This partnership will improve Karnataka’s ranking at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Note: Karnataka has a vision to achieve SDGs in 2030
Highlights of the Event:
i.A roundtable discussion was held to discuss the feasibility of ground implementation with the IETO national board
members across the country
• Discussion was held in presence of Ms Shalini Rajneesh and Ms Jette Bjerrum
ii.The latest edition of Diplomatist Magazine was launched during the event. Along with this, SDG Booklet was
released by Karnataka government and the Karnataka planning and statistics products availability book by the
dignitaries.
What are Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)?
Launch– It 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that includes 17 SDGs was launched by the United Nations
General Assembly(UNGA) in 2015.
Purpose– SDG or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals that are designed to be a blueprint to
achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.
17 SDGs:
1- No Poverty, 2- Zero Hunger, 3- Good Health and Well-being, 4- Quality Education, 5- Gender Equality, 6- Clean
Water and Sanitation, 7- Affordable and Clean Energy, 8- Decent Work and Economic Growth
9- Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, 10- Reduced Inequality, 11- Sustainable Cities and Communities, 12-
Responsible Consumption and Production, 13- Climate Action, 14- Life Below Water, 15- Life on Land, 16- Peace and
Justice Strong Institutions, 17- Partnerships to achieve the Goal

On 20th November 2020, SDG Finance Facility platform at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in
partnership with Invest India launched the SDG Investor Map Report for India, which presents 18 investment
opportunities areas (IOAs) in 6 Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) enabling sectors that will support India to
advance in sustainable development.
About Indian Economic Trade Organization (IETO):
President– Dr Asif Iqbal
NickName of Karnataka Cities:
Bengaluru– Garden City of India, Silicon Valley of India, Space City of India, Science City of India, IT Capital of India
Kolar- Golden City of India
Chikmagalur- Coffee land
Central Government raises Upper Ceiling for Family Pensions to INR 1, 25, 000 per month
Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions stated that the upper
Ceiling for 2 Family Pensions has been increased to INR 1, 25, 000 per month from INR 45, 000 per month.
• The amount of 2 family pensions that a child can draw has been restricted to INR 1, 25, 000 per month after
taking into account the changes after the implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC)
recommendations, in which the highest pay has been revised to INR 2, 50, 000.
• According to the sub-rule (11) of rule 54 of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules 1972, in case both
wife & husband are Government servants and are governed by the provisions of that rule, on their death, the
surviving child is eligible for 2 family pensions in respect of the deceased parents.
• Reflecting the recommendations of the 7th CPC, the amount prescribed in CCS (Pension) Rules has also been
revised to INR 1, 25, 000 per month ( 50% of 2, 50, 000) & INR 75, 000 per month (30% of 2, 50, 000).
i.The clarification was provided by the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW).
ii.Previously, the restrictions on the total amount of two family pensions in such cases were INR 45, 000 per month &
INR 27, 000 per month determined based on the Highest pay of INR 90, 000 as per 6th CPC recommendations.
• If both parents are Government servants & one of them dies while in service or after retirement, the family
pension will be payable to the surviving spouse, after death of the spouse, the surviving child will be granted
two family pensions.
iii.The announcement will bring ‘Ease of Living’ for family members of the deceased & provide ‘Financial Security’ to
them.
About Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions:
Union Minister – Narendra Modi (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh)
Minister of State – Dr Jitendra Singh (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Udhampur, UT of Jammu & Kashmir)
ESIC Partners with NHA to Upgrade Medical Infrastructure Available under AB PM-JAY in Maharashtra
The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has partnered with National Health Authority (NHA) to upgrade
the medical infrastructure available under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) in
the state of Maharashtra.
Purpose: To ensure better access to medical facilities for the beneficiaries of ESIC.
i.Initially, the partnership with PM-JAY was implemented on a pilot basis in Maharashtra in the district of
Ahmednagar.
ii.Now, it has been extended to the entire state except the south Mumbai region, Pune and Kolhapur districts.
iii.This means that, now 807 PM-JAY empanelled hospitals will be available to the already existing empanelled
hospitals in the state.
iv.This will provide medical care to the insured beneficiaries of the ESI Act, 1958 and their dependants.
What is Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana?
General Info: It is the second component of Ayushman Bharat after Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs). It is
the largest health assurance scheme in the world.

Launch: It was launched on 23rd September, 2018 in Ranchi, Jharkhand by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra
Modi.
Health Cover:It provides a health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care
hospitalization across public and private empanelled hospitals in India.
Beneficiaries:More than 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable entitled families (approximately 50 crore
beneficiaries) that form the bottom 40% of the Indian population are eligible for these benefits.
Implementation Agency: NHA(national level), State Health Agencies-SHAs(State level)
On December 14, 2020, Union Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHF&W) has
approved the health data management policy of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) to protect and manage
personal data of patients using the digital services of the scheme.
About Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC):
It is under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.
Director General– Anuradha Prasad I.D.A.S.
About National Health Authority (NHA) :
i.It is the successor of the National Health Agency, which was functioning as a registered society since 23rd May, 2018
ii.National Health Agency was reconstituted as the National Health Authority on 2nd January 2019.
CEO– Dr. Ram Sewak Sharma(Replaced Indu Bhushan)
With 1% of World’s Vehicles, India accounts for 11% of Global deaths in Road Accidents: World Bank report
According to the report ‘Traffic Crash Injuries and Disabilities:The Burden on Indian Society’ released by the World
Bank with 1% of World’s vehicles, India accounts for 11% of Global Road Accident deaths & 6% of total road crashes.
i.In India, annually around 4.5 Lakh road crashes take place out of which 1.5 Lakh people die.
ii.The World Bank report was prepared in association with Save LIFE Foundation (SLF).
• According to WHO, India topped the world in road crash deaths with more than 400 fatalities per day and
witnesses 53 road crashes every hour.
• In the last decade (2011-20), road crashes were the cause of death of 1.3 million people & has injured around 5
million in India.
• 76.2% of people who are killed in road crashes are in the prime working-age i.e 18-45 years.
• The report puts the total value of Crash costs due to accidents at INR 5.96 Lakh Crore or 3.14% of Gross
Domestic Product (GDP).
iii.Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs) is the 8th leading cause of death globally.
Socio-Economic Status & Road Use Pattern:
The report states that there is clear correlation between socio-economic status & road user patterns in low-and-
middle income countries like India.
• The report states that Poor People are more likely to be involved in road crashes.
• In India, Vulnerable road users are forced to share space with other less Vulnerable road users.
• The income level of an individual has a direct effect on the mode of transport used, which determines the
level of risk faced by a particular road user.
• Daily Wage Workers, Workers employed as casual labourers in Informal activities have been defined as a
Vulnerable group in the report.
Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs):
Male road-users of working age (18-45) represent the category of Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) in India.
• VRUs face a large burden of road crashes & account for more than half of all road crash deaths & serious
injuries in India.
• Road crash injuries and deaths of individuals impose severe financial burdens, pushing the entire (non-poor)
households into poverty and already poor into further debts.

Comparison with Global Level:
According to the report, the Road Crash Fatality rate is 3 times higher in low-income countries compared to high-
income countries.
• India’s Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways stated that there could be a saving of INR 90 Lakh per
person by preventing deaths and reducing injuries to small minor ones in accidents.
• He also said that the estimated cost of a death in a road accident is around INR 91.16 Lakhs.
• Globally, Road crashes kill 1.35 Million people and injure 50 million people each year (3000 persons each day)
Decade of Action for Road Safety:
• The United Nations General Assembly had declared 2011-2020 as the ‘Decade of Action for Road Safety’.
• There are 2 important targets on road safety in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Other Estimates:
• According to the 2019 World Bank report, Road Crash and serious injury cost accounted for 7.5% of India GDP
or INR 12.9 Lakh Crore for 2016.
• According to a study commissioned by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), the socio-
economic costs of road crashes stands at INR 1, 47, 114 crores in India which is equal to 0.77 % of India’s GDP.
i.On March 16, 2020, Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari revealed that the number of deaths
caused due to road accidents has been reduced by 10% in India after the Motor Vehicles(Amended) Act 2019.
ii.On 1st September 2020, The National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB), Ministry of Home Affairs released an annual
report titled “Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India(ADSI) 2019”.
About World Bank:
Headquarters- Washington, D.C., United States
President- David R. Malpass
About Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH):
Union Minister – Nitin Gadkari (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Nagpur, Maharashtra)
Minister of State – Vijay Kumar Singh (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh)
RBI Tightens Norms for Investments in NBFCs from 17 Non-FATF Countries

The 17 countries (or jurisdictions) flagged by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) under its publications of ” High-
risk jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action “, and “jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring” will face restrictions on
the fresh investments in India’s Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs).
• The restrictions put in force by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will not treat the FATF-flagged countries at par
with the compliant jurisdictions.
Countries under High-risk jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action:
Albania, Barbados, Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Syria,
Uganda, Yemen, and Zimbabwe
Countries under Increased Monitoring:
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and Iran
Key Points:
—New Investors: The threshold for new Investors from FATF-flagged jurisdictions
as a whole should be smaller than 20% of the voting power (including potential 1 voting power) in the existing NBFCs
or in the NBFCs seeking Certification of Registration (COR).
• The potential voting power could arise from instruments that are convertible into equity, other instruments
with contingent voting rights, and contractual arrangements that grant investors voting rights in the future.
—Existing investors: The existing investors of NBFCs that now belong to FATF- flagged can continue to invest or
make additional investments under existing regulations. This provision is in lieu of encouraging business continuity
in India.
What is the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)?
Initiated in 1989, FATF is the inter-governmental watchdog for global money laundering and terrorist financing. It
periodically identifies jurisdictions with weak measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

• President– Dr. Marcus Pleyer (Germany)
• Member Countries– 39
• Observer– Indonesia
• Headquarters– In Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris.
Kotak Mahindra Bank Launches Kotak Remit, its Outward Forex Remittance Service
On February 15, 2021 Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd launched its outward forex remittance service, Kotak Remit. In
an industry-first move, Kotak Remit is live on the Kotak Mobile Banking App. With this the Kotak Mahindra Bank’s
customers for the 1st time can transfer the money internationally to their beneficiaries from their mobile.
Highlights about Kotak Remit
No physical documentation upto a Certain Amount
No physical documentation is required for transactions up to US$ 25,000 or equivalent, with Kotak Remit
Remittances
It offers remittances in 15 currencies.
Through the Kotak Remit, Customers can remit upto US$ 25,000 or equivalent per day and up to US$ 250,000 or
equivalent in a financial year.
Note: It caters to the growing mobile-first preferences of customers
Info about Outbound Remittances:
i.The outbound remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for Resident Individuals has declined for
FY 21 due to pandemic.
ii.Remittance from India has been constantly growing prior to FY 2020-21.
iii.In 2019-20, outbound remittances from India grew by about 36% from about USD 13.8 billion in 2018-19 to about
USD 18.8 billion in 2019- 20.
On May 19, 2020, In view of the ongoing lockdown in the country due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), Kotak Mahindra
Bank has become the 1st bank in India to allow video Know your customer (KYC) facility for its customers
openingsavings account (SA) on Kotak 811 platform.
About Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited:
i.Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd(KMFL) was established in 1985
ii.In February 2003, KMFL received banking license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), becoming the 1st non-
banking finance company in India to convert into a bank – Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd
Founder, MD & CEO– Uday Kotak
Head Office– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Mastercard Launched “Priceless™ India”, to Provide the Rich Heritage of India to Domestic & Global
Travellers
On 11th February 2021, Mastercard launched its Flagship ‘Priceless’ program – “Priceless India”. The Priceless India
will enable the mastercard holders both domestic and global travellers to get exclusive access to various experiences
in the iconic cities of India. The program will be executed in 2 phases:
• Mastercard will launch 16 short films which showcase the unique aspects of the iconic cities.
• The card holders can get the experiences in real time through selected packages over online.
India needs USD 500 Billion to reach 2030 RE Target of 450 GW: IEEFA Report
According to the report ‘Capital Flows Underpinning India’s Energy Transformation’ released by Institute for Energy
Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), India needs an Investment of USD 500 Billion to reach its target of 450
Gigawatts (GW) of Renewable Energy (RE) by 2030.

i.Out of USD 500 Billion,
• USD 300 Billion should be utilized for building Wind and Solar Infrastructure
• USD 50 Billion on Grid Firming Investments like gas-peakers, hydro power and batteries
• USD 150 Billion on expanding and modernising transmission and distribution
ii.The report also states that the RE sector in India has received investments worth USD 42 Billion since 2014.
iii.The report was authored by Tim Buckely, Director Energy Finance Studies & Saurabh Trivedi, Research Analyst.
Pull Factors:
The factors which are attracting Investors to invest in RE Sector in India are
• India’s Solar Power Tariffs hitting record Lows (at present it is INR 2 per unit)
• Declining solar module costs
• Low interest Rates (On commercial lending rates for solar projects)
• 25-year Power Purchase Agreements (PPA)
India’s Untapped Renewable Potential & Funding:
• At 900 GW India has the largest untapped Renewable potential in the World.
• India’s peak power demand will rise to 295 GW by 2021-22 & 690 GW by 2035.
• Domestic & Global Institutions across financial, corporate, energy, utility & government sectors will contribute
the majority of investments needed for achieving India’s targets.
• The fundings include capital cost of adding more than 300 GW of new renewables infrastructure, producing
low-cost but intermittent renewable power generation, and expansion & modernization of grid transmission
and distribution.
Source of Capitals:
The sources of capital would be private equity, global pensions funds & sovereign wealth funds, to oil and gas majors,
multinational development banks & India state-owned enterprises & Billionaires
Domination of India’s RE sector by Private Companies:
• The report stated that Indian renewables sector is being dominated by major private Independent Power
Producers (IPPs) like ReNew Power, Greenko, Adani Green, Tata Power, Azure Power, and Hero Future
Energies.
• They are facing competition from Government Corporations like NTPC Limited (formerly known as National
Thermal Power Corporation) & NLC India, Coal India Limited & Indian Railways.
• Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and KKR, the world’s largest private equity firm, are now
major foreign investors in the Indian RE sector and leading the way, according to the report. In December
2020, CPPIB acquired an 80 percent equity stake in SB Energy India at a valuation of USD 525 million and KKR
acquired major stakes in the IndiGrid InvIT in 2019.
Fact:
India Targets 175 GW Renewable Energy by 2022 – 100 GW Solar, 60 GW Wind, 10 GW Bio-Energy, 5 GW Small
Hydro. 89.63 GW of Renewable Energy has already been installed by India.
i.November 13, 2020, According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) report, Renewables 2020 – Analysis and
Forecast to 2025, India will double its green energy capacity addition in 2021 compared to 2020 levels.
ii.November 30, 2020, The 3rd Global RE-INVEST Renewable Energy Investors Meet & Expo 2020 organised by the
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) took place virtually from November 26-28, 2020.
About Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA):
Executive Director – Sandy Buchanan
Headquarters – Cleveland, Ohio, USA
DoT to set up Digital Intelligence Unit & TAFCOP to tackle UCC, Financial Frauds
Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications has set up a New Nodal Agency called
‘Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU)’ & Consumer protection mechanism called ‘Telecom Analytics for Fraud
Management and Consumer Protection (TAFCOP)’ for tackling Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC),
financial frauds involving telecom resources.

• The decision to set up DIU & TAFCOP was taken at a high level meeting chaired by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union
Minister of Communications.
• The main purpose of DIU will be to coordinate with various Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA), Financial
Institutions & Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to investigate Fraud activities which involve the telecom
resources.
• The TAFCOP system will be set up at 22 License Service Area Level.
Key Points discussed during the Meeting:
• During the meeting, concerns regarding Unsolicited Messages on mobile phones, harassment through SMS,
promising fraudulent loan transactions were discussed.
• The main aim of the meeting was to make all digital transactions safe and secure.
• Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad proposed to impose Financial Penalty & disconnection of resources
against tele-marketers who repeatedly violate rules and disturb the citizens.
• He also proposed to develop a web/mobile application & SMS based system for addressing grievances
regarding UCC.
Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC):
• Any Commercial Communication (excluding messages from Central/State Government) which a subscriber
opts not to receive are called UCC.
• In 2018, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) notified the ‘Telecom Commercial Communications
Customer Preferences Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018’ to curb the problem of UCCs.
i.December 10, 2020, According to the 4th Edition of Global Insights Report for 2020 released by Truecaller, a
Swedish Caller ID and Spam Blocking app, India ranked 9th in the list of countries affected by spam calls in 2020.
About Ministry of Communications:
Union Minister – Ravi Shankar Prasad (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Patna Sahib)
Minister of State – Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Akola, Maharashtra)
RBI Formulates EC for Strengthening & Consolidating UCBs; Headed by N S Vishwanathan

On the lines of the “Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies” released with the Monetary Policy
Statement on February 05, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) formulated an 8-member Expert Committee (EC)
on Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs). The former Deputy Governor of RBI, N. S. Vishwanathan, is the chairman of the
committee. The Committee is required to submit its report within three months.
• The committee will examine the issues faced by the UCBs and will also be responsible for preparing a road
map for its strengthening.
• The measures to be recommended by the committee will adhere to the recent amendments to Banking
Regulation Act, 1949.
• RBI’s Department of Regulation (DoR) will provide secretarial assistance to the Committee.
Members of the Committee:
1.Harsh Kumar Bhanwala
Designation- Former Chairman, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)
2.Mukund M Chitale
Designation- Chartered Accountant (CA)
3.NC Muniyappa
Designation- IAS-Indian Administrative Service (Retired)
4.RN Joshi
Designation- IAS (Retired)
5.Prof M. S. Sriram
Designation- Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore
6.Jyotindra M. Mehta
Designation- President, National Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks and Credit Societies Ltd. (NAFCUB)
7.Neeraj Nigam
Designation- Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Regulation, RBI

Other Terms of Reference (ToR) of Committee:
–To suggest effective measures for faster rehabilitation of UCBs.
–To assess the impact of regulatory measures taken by RBI for UCBs to identify key constraints and enablers.
–To consider differential regulations and examine prospects in order to provide more scope in permissible activities
for UCB.
–To prepare a blueprint of a vision document for a resilient urban co-operative banking sector. It should be premised
upon Principles of Cooperation, depositors’ interest and systemic issues.
i.On January 1, 2021, RBI launched the January 2021 round of household surveys namely “Inflation Expectations
Survey of Households (IESH)” and “Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS)” to represent inflation expectations and
consumer confidence. Both surveys will be conducted by the Mumbai (Maharashtra) based agency, M/s Hansa
Research Group Pvt. Ltd., on behalf of the RBI.
ii.On January 5, 2021, RBI announced Operationalization of the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF)
Scheme with an initial corpus of INR 345 Crores for three years starting from January 1, 2021 & may be extended for
two more years depending upon the progress.
ADB Signs Rs 100 Crore Debt Financing Agreement with Medanta to Support COVID-19 Response in India
On February 15, 2021 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed Rs 100 crore(USD 13.7 million) debt financing
agreement with Multi-Specialty medical institute, Medanta to provide essential health care services and medical
equipment to India.
Purpose: To Support COVID-19 Response in India
About the funding:
i.This financing is part of the $20 billion assistance package announced by ADB in April 2020 to help its developing
members manage the pandemic.
ii.The funding enhances the sovereign support of ADB to India, including a $1.5 billion loan approved in April 2020 to
Combat COVID-19
Key People
Aniruddha Patil, head of Health and Education Investments at ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department, and
Naresh Trehan, Chairman and Managing Director of Medanta signed the agreement.
About the Project:
The project will support the following:
• Purchase of personal protective equipment, basic hygiene products, and patient care equipment such as
ventilators and beds.
• Training programs on Infection prevention and control for Staff.
On January 15, 2021, The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) initiated a Clean
and Sustainable Ocean Partnership to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the climate goals as advised
in the Paris Agreement. In this regard, both entities will support the initiatives in Asia and the Pacific.
About Medanta:
The Global Health Private Ltd. operates and manages hospitals across India under the Medanta brand.
Headquarters– Gurgaon, Haryana
Chairman & Managing Director– Dr. Naresh Trehan

About Asian Development Bank (ADB):
Headquarters– Mandaluyong, Manila, Philippines
Membership– 68 countries(Including India)
President of ADB and Chairperson of ADB’s Board of Director– Masatsugu Asakawa
Bank Credit Growth at 90% of FY20 level: RBI Data

In accordance with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data on Scheduled Banks’ Statement of Position in India,
bank credit growth in FY21 up to January 29, 2021 has reached about 90% of the same period of FY20.
• This states that credit demand is coming back to normalcy after severe economic impact amid COVID-19.
• It should be noted that RBI has projected real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth at 5% in FY22.
Key Points:
–Year-to-date (YTD) credit growth of all scheduled banks at Rs 3,39,147 crore was about 90% of the year-ago YTD
credit growth of Rs 3,74,938 crore.
–On a year-on-year basis, credit growth decreased to 5.92% as against 7.41% as of January-end 2020.
–YTD deposit growth at Rs 12,36,944 crore was about 1.5 times the year-ago growth of Rs 8,26,394 crore.
–On a year-on-year basis, deposit growth was at 10.85% as of January-end 2021 against 10.42% as of January-end
2020.
Static points about Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
-It was established on the recommendation of the Hilton Young Commission.
-RBI is responsible only for printing the currency notes. Minting of coins is done by the Government of India.
-Dr. Manmohan Singh is the only Prime Minister to have also served as the Governor of RBI.
Kerala Financial Corporation Becomes 1st Govt Financial Institution in Kerala to Launch Debit Card
On February 15, 2021 Kerala Financial Corporation(KFC) announced that it will introduce its own debit card. KFC
becomes the 1st government financial institution in Kerala to launch debit card. This 5 year Rupay platinum card
will be co-branded in association with public sector banks.
The card will be issued in accordance with the guidelines of Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
Note– Introduction of Debit card is a step to facilitate transition from currency transactions to a fully digitalised
system
About KFC Debit Cards
Usage: It can be used at Automated Teller Machine(ATMs), Point of Sale(PoS) machines, and online transactions like
other debit cards.
Linked to KFC Mobile App: To make high-value transactions, the card can be linked to KFC mobile app.
Loans: The disbursement of loans to KFC entrepreneurs and repayment will be done through this channel.
• KFC will be able to directly monitor when loans are disbursed through debit cards.
Repayments can be simplified
Earlier, every month the repayment of KFC loans was done. Now, repayments on major loans have been changed to a
weekly or daily basis by using Google Pay or other apps.
With the introduction of the card, such repayments can be further made simpler.
Issue debit cards to its employees:
KFC plans to issue debit cards to its employees, where their salaries and other allowances will be paid through the
card.
On January 7, 2021 Indian Oil Corporation Limited(IOCL) in partnership with State Bank of India (SBI) launched
‘IndianOil – SBI co-branded RuPay Debit Card’. This contactless card can be used anywhere in India.
About Kerala Financial Corporation(KFC):
i.It was established as the Travancore Cochin Financial Corporation on December 1, 1953.
ii.It was renamed as Kerala Financial Corporation in 1956.
iii.It is the first Public Sector Undertaking(PSU) in Kerala and first State Financial Corporation(SFC) in India to initiate
Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) activity.

Incorporated under– State Financial Corporations Act of 1951
Headquarters– Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Chairman & Managing Director– Tomin J Thachankary IPS
Mastercard and Razorpay partner to make digital payments more accessible for MSMEs and startups
Mastercard and Razorpay have joined hands to empower Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and
startups especially in tier 2 and 3 cities in digitising their operations, maintaining business continuity in the
challenging environment, and preparing them for cashless future.
• It should be noted that Razorpay is India’s youngest unicorn (Company valuation exceedes $1 billion).
Reason behind this partnership:
Before COVID-19, around 90% of India’s retail payments were conducted in cash. This scenario has seen a massive
reform as the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies.
• This provided opportunity to merchants, consumers, acquirers and fintech companies for collaborations in
expanding digital payments sector.
• SMEs and startups are front-runners in this. Now this partnership will aid them in in building their customer
base and meet demand for secure, convenient and touch-free transactions.
i.On December 17, 2020 IndusInd Bank in partnership with Mastercard launched its 1st metal credit card, ‘Pioneer
Heritage Credit Card’. This Contactless Credit Card is designed to meet the needs of High-Net-Worth-Individuals
(HNWIs), especially of the affluent Indian professionals and entrepreneurs.
ii.On January 18, 2021 Mastercard launched Digital Acceleration for Small Businesses Microsite across most of its
Asia Pacific websites. The one-stop resource site provides information and resources for Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs) to digitize and operate their business more efficiently.
About Mastercard:
Executive Chairman– Ajay Banga
CEO– Michael Miebach
Headquarters– New York, United States
About Razorpay:
CEO– Harshil Mathur
India’s GDP to grow at 13.5% : Nomura & States’ fiscal deficit is 4.3% of GDP in FY22- IndRa
In accordance with Nomura, India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow at 13.5% in FY22 as Nomura India
Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) increased to 98.1 for the week ending February 14, 2021 from 95.9% in the
preceding week.
• The real GDP to contract by 6.7% in FY21 and grow by 13.5% in FY22.
• Labour participation rate marginally decreased to 40.5% from 40.9% in the week before.
• Year-on-year GDP growth projected at 1.5% in Q4FY20 (from -7.5% in Q3) and 2.1% in Q1F21.
States’ fiscal at 4.3% of GDP in FY22: India Ratings & Research
On the other hand, India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) projected aggregate fiscal deficit of States for FY22 at 4.3% of
GDP compared to 4.6 %(Revised) in FY21. In this regard, the agency has revised the outlook on State finances for
FY22 from stable to negative.
• It had earlier forecast FY21 fiscal deficit of States to be at 4.5%.
• This revision was made due to severe contraction of 6.1% in the nominal GDP for FY21.
Key Points as per Ind-Ra Projections:
–The aggregate revenue receipt of the States to grow at 8.4% in FY22.
–The revenue deficit of States is estimated at 1.5% of GDP in FY22
–The states’ aggregate debt/GDP to rise to 33.9% in FY22 from 32.8% in FY21.
–The gross market borrowings of states will increase to Rs 8.38 lakh crore in FY22 from Rs 8.2 lakh crore in FY21.
–The net market borrowings will stand at Rs 6.4 lakh crore in FY22, up from Rs 6.8 lakh crore in FY21.
–The nominal GDP to grow 14.5% in FY22.

–The share of capital expenditure (capex) in the total expenditure is projected at 15.5% in FY22 than 10.5% in FY21.
–The Union government financed Rs 5.50-lakh crore to States in FY21 as against the Budget estimate (BE) of Rs 8.03-
lakh crore amid economic disruption caused by COVID-19.
The 15th Finance Commission (FC) has submitted its report for the period FY22 to FY26. As per its recommendations,
the government in its FY22 Budget has committed to retain the vertical share of States in central taxes at 41%.
i.In accordance with the data released by the Controller General of Accounts(CGA), India’s April-November fiscal
deficit stood at Rs 10.75 lakh crore at the end of November 2020 which is 135.1% of the Budget Estimate(BE) for
FY21, The fiscal deficit at the end of November 2019 had stood at 114.8% of 2019-20 BE.
ii.In accordance with the report by rating agency ICRA (formerly Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of
India Limited), India’s real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) will expand by 10.1% in FY2022 with multi-speed
recovery. However in absolute terms India’s GDP will “mildly” surpass the levels of FY20.
About Nomura:
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Kentaro Okuda
Headquarter– Tokyu, Japan
About India Ratings & Research (Ind-RA)
Managing Director & CEO– Rohit Karan Sawhney
Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Appointed as 7th DG of WTO; Becomes the First Woman and First African to
Head WTO
On 15th February 2021, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from Nigeria was appointed as the 7th Director General of the World
Trade Organisation(WTO), multilateral trade body. She will hold the position from 1st March 2021 to 31st August
2025. She succeeds former Director-General Roberto Azevêdo who announced his retirement 1 year before the
expiry of his tenure.
• With this appointment, Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala became the first woman and the first African to head the
WTO.
About Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala:
i.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has twice served as the Finance Minister of Nigeria between 2011 and 2015 and she has also
served as the Foreign Minister of Nigeria in 2006, the first woman to hold both the positions.
ii.She served as the Managing Director of the World Bank overseeing an 82 billion USD portfolio in Africa, South Asia,
Europe and Central Asia.
iii.She is the Co-Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate and she is also a member of the Boards
of Standard Chartered PLC and Twitter Inc
iv.She has served as the Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance from 2016 to 2020 and African Risk
Capacity(ARC) from 2014 to 2020.
v.She was also appointed to the Special Envoys of the African Union (AU) on COVID-19 and World Health
Organisation WHO COVID-19 Special Envoy (ACT-Accelerator).
Books:
She has authored numerous articles on Finance and development.
She has also authored various books which includes,
• ‘Women and Leadership – Real Lives, Real Lessons’ (2020) co-authored with Julia Gillard
• Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines
• Reforming the Unreformable: Lessons from Nigeria
• ‘The Debt Trap in Nigeria’ co-edited with Charles Soludo and Mansour Muhtar
Awards and Honours:
i.She has received the International Service Award 2020 of the World Affairs Councils of America and the Aminu Kano
Award for Leadership (2020).
ii.She was named Forbes African of the year 2020.

On May 21, 2020, The World Bank named former Bear Stearns executive Carmen Reinhart as its new Vice President
(VP) and chief economist, tapping an expert on financial crisis who also serves on the advisory board of the New York
Federal Reserve. Reinhart’s appointment is effective on June 15, 2020.
About World Trade Organisation:
WTO deals with the global rules of trade between the countries.
Objective:To ensure that trade flow as smooth, predictable and free as possible.
Location– Geneva, Switzerland
Established– 1 January 1995
Created by– Uruguay Round negotiations (1986-94)
Member– 164 members
Preeti Sinha, Indian Origin Investment Banker was Appointed as the Executive Secretary of UNCDF
The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) appointed Preeti Sinha, an Investment and development
Banker of Indian Origin as the New Executive Secretary of UNCDF. Sinha succeeds Judith Karl, who retired in
February 2021.
Preethi Sinha started her tenure on 15th February 2021.
Roles of Preeti Sinha as Executive Secretary:
i.Preeti Sinha will be overseeing the efforts of UNCDF in delivering scalable impacts to enable the international
financial architecture work for the world’s frontier and pre-frontier markets.
ii.She will focus on the sustainable development for women, youth and small and medium sized enterprises,
smallholder farmers and other underserved communities.
iii.She will also focus on harnessing the untapped growth potential of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to
support the communities, local government and small businesses to address the impacts of COVID-19.
iv.She will also oversee the “last mile” finance model of UNCDF which will unlock the public and private resources at
domestic level to reduce poverty and enhance local economic development.
About Preeti Sinha:
Preeti Sinha has served as the CEO & President of FFD Financing for Development LLC.
She has also served as the Senior President and Global Convenor of the YES Bank Institute.
Recent Related news:
Jayati Ghosh (65 years), Indian development economist has been appointed by the United Nations to its 2nd term of
High-level Advisory Board (HLAB-II) on Economic and Social Affairs.
She has been appointed for a 2-year term on the board of 20 prominent individuals which will provide
recommendations for the U.N. Secretary-General to respond to the current and future socio-economic challenges in
the post-COVID-19 world.
About UNCDF:
Executive Secretary– Preeti Sinha
Headquarters– New York
Established in 1966
RBI permits Residents to Make Remittances to IFSCs under LRS

On February 16, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted resident individuals to make remittances under
Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) to International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) set up in India under the
Special Economic Zone Act, 2005. In this regard, Authorized Dealer (AD) Category 1 Banks allow resident individuals
to make these remittances subject to the following conditions:
• The remittance shall be made only for making investments in IFSCs in securities, other than those issued by
entities/companies resident (outside IFSC) in India.
• Resident Individuals can open a non interest bearing Foreign Currency Account (FCA) in IFSCs, for making the
investments under LRS.
• Any funds lying idle in the account for a period upto 15 days will be immediately repatriated to domestic INR
account of the investor in India.

• Resident Individuals shall not settle any domestic transactions with other residents through these FCAs held in
IFSC.
Purpose of the RBI regulation :The decision of the RBI is aimed at deepening the financial markets in the IFSCs and
providing an opportunity to resident individuals to diversify their portfolios.
Key Point:
–Any person resident in India (outside IFSC) entering into any transaction with a person/entity in IFSC should be
governed by RBI and should adhere to the rules notified under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.
Liberalised Remittance Scheme:
LRS is a scheme introduced by RBI as liberalisation measure to facilitate Resident Individuals (RI) to freely remit
funds (transfer money to abroad) upto USD 2,50,000/- outside India in a financial year (April to March).
Note – There is no such limit on sending money from other countries to India, It will be based on the particular
country regulation.
i.In accordance with RBI data, the annual growth (y-o-y) in all-India House Price Index (HPI) remained moderate at
1.1% in Q2FY21 (July-September) as compared to 2.8% in the Q1FY21 and 3.3% in Q2FY20.
ii.On January 11, 2021, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the 22nd issue of its bi-annual Financial Stability Report
(FSR) 2021. It stated that gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) may rise to 13.5% by September 2021, from 7.5% in
September 2020 under the baseline scenario.
RBI issues draft guidelines on Credit Default Swaps

On February 16, 2021, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the Draft Reserve Bank of India (Credit
Derivatives) Directions, 2021 in exercise of the powers conferred under section 45W of the RBI Act 1934 read
with section 45U.
• The guidelines are for allowing derivatives trading in the credit default swaps (CDS) in over-the-counter (OTC)
markets and on recognised stock exchanges in the country.
• RBI invited comments on the Draft Directions by March 15, 2021.
What is CDS?
It is a credit derivative contract in which the protection seller commits to compensate the protection buyer for the
loss in the value of an underlying debt instrument resulting from a credit event. In return, the protection buyer makes
periodic payments (premium) to the protection seller until the maturity of the contract or the credit event, whichever
is earlier.
Key Points:
–As per the draft, the debt instruments eligible to be a reference or deliverable obligation in a CDS contract are
commercial papers, certificates of deposit and non-convertible debentures of original maturity up to one year, rated
corporate bonds (listed and unlisted) and unrated rupee bonds issued by the special purpose vehicles set up by
infrastructure companies.
–In CDS transaction, at least one of the parties should be market-maker or a central counterparty authorised by the
RBI which can scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) and primary dealers
with a minimum net worth of Rs 500 crore, Exim Bank, NABARD, National Housing Bank and SIDBI.
i.On January 13, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has formulated a 6-member Working Group (WG) to study all
aspects of digital lending activities(including lending through online platforms and mobile apps) in the regulated
financial sector as well as by unregulated players so that an appropriate regulatory approach can be put in place. The
group will be chaired by Jayant Kumar Dash, Executive Director, RBI and will submit its report within three months.

ii.In accordance with an article ‘Small Finance Banks: Balancing Financial Inclusion and Viability’ published in
Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monthly bulletin on January 21, 2021, the assets of Small Finance Banks (SFBs)
between financial years (FY) 2017-18 and 2019-20 have grown 150% annually.
Static points about Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
-It was established on the recommendation of the Hilton Young Commission.
-RBI is responsible only for printing the currency notes. Minting of coins is done by the Government of India.
-Dr. Manmohan Singh is the only Prime Minister to have also served as the Governor of RBI.
Flipkart Partners with ICICI Lombard to Offer Group SafeGuard Insurance

On February 17, 2021 Flipkart partnered with ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd to offer Group
SafeGuard insurance, a group insurance policy to its consumers and their families.
i.Through this partnership Flipkart consumers will get Hospicash benefit under Group SafeGuard insurance.
ii.The benefit helps consumers to get a fixed daily amount for their hospitalisation, enabling them to pay for
incidental medical or emergency expenses.
Target– Flipkart consumers
Features of the Policy:
Daily cash benefit- The Customers will get a Hospicash benefit from Rs. 500 to Rs. 2,000 per day
Included Hospitalisation- It will include accident and illness related hospitalisation.
Lump sum benefit on hospitalization– Cover for up to 90 days of hospitalization
Minimum hospitalisation– It requires hospitalisation of 24 hours
Hospital network– More than 6,500.
According to a study by the Union ministry of Statistics and Programme, the direct average out-of-pocket expenditure
during hospitalization in India ranges between Rs.4,452 to Rs.31,845 for a person, whereas the average loss of
income due to hospitalization is estimated to be around Rs.8,164.
HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation) Life and HDFC Ergo joined hands to launch a combi insurance
product ‘Click 2 Protect Corona Kavach’ which offers a complete financial protection package in the current pandemic
environment. This policy will provide all the benefits and features of HDFC Life’s Click 2 Protect 3D Plus and HDFC
Ergo’s Corona Kavach policies.
About ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd:
MD and CEO– Bhargav Dasgupta
Established– 2001
About Flipkart:
CEO – Kalyan Krishnamurthy
Headquarters – Bengaluru, Karnataka
PHDCCI Signs a MoU with SIDBI to Facilitate Credit Schemes for its MSME Members
On February 16, 2021 PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry(PHDCCI) signed a Memorandum of
Understanding(MoU) with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to offer various credit &
other schemes of SIDBI to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which is member of PHDCCI in India.
They can get the schemes with comparative ease and better terms.
Aim: To make available the SIDBI schemes to the MSMEs, which is member of PHDCCI.
Key Info:
i.PHDCCI has set up a specialized MSME Centre to provide mentoring & guidance to MSMEs
ii.It is entering into partnership with various organisations like Banks, Financial Institutions, Government e-
Marketplace (GeM), Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS), etc., to enable the member MSMEs to avail the
schemes of these organisations.

On December 19, 2020 The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)signed Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Assam to develop the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)
ecosystem in the State.
About PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry(PHDCCI):
PHDCCI was established in 1905. It is a proactive National Apex Chamber working at the grass-root level and with
strong national and international linkages.
President– Sanjay Aggarwal(Chair & CEO, Paramount Communications Ltd)
About Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI):
HeadOffice– Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Deputy Managing Director– V Satya Venkata Rao
Set up– 2nd April 1990 under an Act of Indian Parliament
India’s Growth to Rebound in FY22 at 10%: S&P

On February 16, 2021 S&P (Standard & Poors) Global Ratings released a report titled, ‘Cross-Sector Outlook:
India’s Escape From Covid’, where it estimated that India will have an economic recovery at 10% in FY22, on a
lower base. Earlier, it had revised India’s Real GDP Forecast for FY21 to -7.7%(contract by 7%) from -9%.
Highlights of the Report:
S&P Relies on the following for Recovery in FY 22, as these support the economy:
• Good agriculture performance that is consistent
• COVID-19 infection curve to flatten
• Pickup in government spending
i.In addition to this, India also needs to vaccinate about 1.4 billion people
ii.It also mentioned that, the 91st Union Budget 2021-22, that is India’s 1st Digital Budget will also support the
recovery
Risks & Permanent Loss
Still Indian economy faces important risks as it transitions from stabilisation to recovery.
India also faces permanent loss of output against its pre-pandemic path, suggesting a long-term production deficit of
about 10% of GDP.
Banking
Weak loans ratio is estimated at 12% of gross loans and credit cost will remain elevated at 2.2-2.7%.
The performance of banking sector is expected to improve materially in FY2023
About Standard & Poors(S&P) Global Ratings:
President– John Berisford
Headquarters– New York, United States
ICICI Bank to Buy 5.40% Stake in CityCash & 9.65% Stake in Thillais Analytical Solutions for Rs 6.03 Crore
On February 16, 2021 ICICI Bank announced that it will buy 5.40% stake in Tap Smart Data Information Services Pvt
Ltd (CityCash) for Rs 4.93 crore (Rs 49.34 million) and 9.65% stake in Thillais Analytical Solutions Pvt Ltd for Rs
1.1 crore (Rs 11 million).
Note: It is expected that both deals will be completed by the end of March 2021
Acquisition
ICICI Bank will buy the stakes through the following:
In CityCash– by acquiring 5,492 equity shares.
In Thillais Analytical– by acquiring 10 equity shares and 100 Compulsory Convertible Preference Shares(CCPS)
About CityCash:
It is a bus transit-focused payments technology company that provides ticketing system technology to state transport
corporations.
Founder & CEO– Vineet Toshniwal

On January 12, 2021, IT services major, Tech Mahindra is set to acquire 100% share of Hong Kong based Payments
Technology Service Ltd (PTSL) a subsidiary of Fidelity Information Services (FIS) for $9 million (about Rs.66 Crore)
to scale its enterprise payments and banking capabilities.
About ICICI Bank:
The bank was formed in 1955 at the initiative of the World Bank, the Government of India and representatives of
Indian industry.
Incorporated-1994
GoI to sell its 26.12% Stake in Tata Communications Ltd by March 20, 2021
Government of India (GoI) is set to sell its entire stake of 26.12% in Tata Communications Ltd (TCL) (formerly
known as VSNL) through an offer for sale and strategic sale route by March 20, 2021. Several Merchant Bankers like
Goldman Sachs, ICICI Securities, SBI Capital Markets & others have expressed interest in buying the stake and are
making presentations before the officials of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management.
India recorded $1422 mn FDI inflow from UK in 2019-20; Maharashtra Tops

In accordance with the 7th edition of Grant Thornton Bharat’s Britain Meets India report, the Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) inflow from the United Kingdom (UK) to India has increased from $898 million in 2015- 16 to
$1,422 million in 2019-20.
• The report is prepared in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and with the support of
the UK’s Department of International Trade
• It should be noted that Maharashtra is the top investment destination for UK companies, followed by
Haryana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka.
Point to be Noted – The UK is currently the sixth largest investor in India, with a cumulative inflow (2000–2020)
estimated at USD 29.5 billion, which represents about 6% of the total FDI into India.
Key Points
–In accordance with the report, there are 572 UK companies in India.
–They have a combined turnover of around Rs 3,390 billion, tax payment of around Rs 173 billion and they have
employed 416,121 people directly.
i.On January 13, 2021, India’s Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) under the Ministry of Defence and the United
Kingdom’s Thales signed a ‘Teaming Agreement’ to develop STARStreak Air Defence system in India under the ‘Make
in India’ programme. This partnership will be supported by both Governments.
ii.14th meeting of the India-United Kingdom Joint Working Group (JWC) on Counter-Terrorism 2021 was held
virtually on 21st and 22nd January, 2021 where both nations emphasised for strengthening international cooperation
to combat the global menace of terrorism. Discussions were held to combat terrorism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About United Kingdom (UK):
Capital– London
Currency– Pound sterling
Prime Minister– Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson
Google Partners with EIF, Inter-American Development Bank & Kiva to Invest $75 million in COVID-19 Hit
Small Businesses
Google has partnered with European Investment Fund (EIF), Inter-American Development Bank(IDB) and Kiva,
an organisation that crowdfunds loans to unlock capital for the underserved around the world to invest $75
million(about Rs. 545 crore) to small and medium-sized companies outside U.S who are suffering from the impact
of COVID-19.

i.The funds are part of $800 million (about Rs. 5,820 crores)commitment announced by Google in March 2020 to
support small businesses in response to COVID-19 pandemic.
ii.Google also plans to invest $15 million in India to support the small and micro enterprises across the country.
Investment:
European Investment Fund(EIF):
i.In Europe, Google will invest in EIF
ii.Google will invest in two EIF funds and becomes the 1st company to do so.
EIF funds
i.$15 million(about Rs. 110 crores) in loan capital- Will support over 1000 European small businesses
ii.$10 million(about Rs. 73 crores) in EIF’s Life Sciences Fund, a venture capital fund- Will support about 200 life
sciences companies
• The European Commission’s European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) also supports this Life Sciences
Fund.
What is EIF?
It is a part of the European Investment Bank group.
Its central aim is to support Europe’s micro, small and medium-sized businesses by helping them to access finance.
Chief Executive– Alain Godard
Headquarters– Luxembourg
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB):
In latin America, Google allocates $8 million (about Rs. 58 crores) to enhance the capital available in the region for
small businesses.
This is done with the help of a long-term partnership with the IDB through its innovation lab.
Headquarters– New York, Washington, D.C.
Presidency– Mauricio Claver-Carone
Kiva:
In Africa, the Middle East and Indonesia, Google has established a $26 million(about Rs. 190 crores) loan initiative
with Kiva.
Separately, Google is giving a $1 million grant to Kiva to build its capacity for their local partnerships and research the
impact of this program.
CEO– Neville Crawley
Headquarters– San Francisco, California, US
On 13 July, Alphabet Inc. & Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai had announced an investment of $10 billion
(Rs 75,000 crore) in India through the “Google for India Digitisation Fund” at the 6th Annual, Google for India Event
2020 and also a First virtual event of Google in India.
About Google:
Headquarters– California, United States
CEO– Sundar Pichai
RBI issues Master Directions for Housing Finance Companies

On February 17, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued “Master Direction – Non-Banking Financial
Company – Housing Finance Company (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2021” in exercise of the powers conferred under
sections 45L and 45MA of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and Sections 30, 30A, 32 and 33 of the National
Housing Bank Act, 1987.
These directions are come into force with immediate effect.
• These are applicable to every Housing Finance Company (HFC) registered under Section 29 A of the NHB Act,
1987.

Key Points from Guidelines:
Guidelines on Liquidity Risk Management Framework:
All non-deposit taking HFCs with asset size of Rs 100 crore and above and all deposit taking HFCs (irrespective of
asset size) require liquidity risk management. It will be the responsibility of the Board of each HFC to ensure that the
guidelines are adhered to.
Guidelines on Maintenance of Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR):
HFCs need to maintain a liquidity buffer in terms of LCR to ensure sufficient High Quality Liquid Asset (HQLA) to
survive any acute liquidity stress scenario lasting for 30 days.
• In this regard, all non-deposit taking HFCs with an asset size of Rs 10,000 crore and above, and all deposit
taking HFCs irrespective of their asset size will have to achieve a minimum LCR of 50% by December 1, 2021
and gradually to 100% by December 1, 2025.
• Non-deposit-taking HFCs with an asset size of Rs 5,000 crore and above, but less than Rs 10,000 crore will
have to reach a minimum LCR of 30% by December 1, 2021 and to 100% by December 1, 2025.
Guidelines on Maintenance of loan-to-value (LTV):
–HFCs lending against the collateral of listed shares should maintain a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 50%.
–For loans granted against the collateral of gold jewellery, HFCs should maintain an LTV ratio not exceeding 75%.
Guidelines on Housing Loans:
–The housing finance company should not grant housing loans to individuals up to Rs 30 lakh with LTV ratio
exceeding 90% and above Rs 30 lakh and up to Rs 75 lakh with LTV ratio exceeding 80%.
–They also cannot offer housing loans to individuals above Rs 75 lakh with LTV ratio exceeding 75%.
Guidelines on Minimum Capital Ratio
Every housing finance company should maintain a minimum capital ratio on an ongoing basis consisting of tier-I and
tier-II capital, which shall not be less than 13% as on March 31, 2020, 14% on or before March 31, 2021, and 15% on
or before March 31, 2022, and thereafter.
Exposure in Group Companies:
HFC exposure in group companies, directly or indirectly, cannot be more than 15% of owned fund for a single entity
in the group and 25% of owned fund for all such group entities.
Other Guidelines:
–The central bank barred HFC to accept or renew public deposit unless it has obtained a minimum investment grade
rating for fixed deposits from any one of the approved credit rating agencies, at least once a year.
–The central bank also barred HFCs to lend against their own shares.
–HFCs should ensure full cover available for public deposits accepted by them.
–An HFC also cannot lend to any single borrower exceeding 15% of its owned fund, and any single group of
borrowers exceeding 25% of its owned fund.
–It also cannot invest in the shares of another company exceeding 15% of its owned fund and in shares of a single
group of companies exceeding 25% of its owned funds.
Click Here for Full Guidelines
What is HFC?
HFC is an Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) whose financial assets, in the business of providing finance for
housing, constitute at least 60% of its total assets.
i.According to a recent Nov. 2020 report of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Uttar Pradesh (UP) has been ranked fifth
by providing employment under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) during Corona pandemic.
ii.On October 1, 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) excluded six public sector banks (PSBs) from the Second
Schedule of the RBI Act, 1934 following their merger with other banks with effect from April 01, 2020. The six banks
are Syndicate Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), United Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Corporation Bank, and
Allahabad Bank.

Piramal Group Gets RBI nod to Acquire DHFL

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given approval to the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation(DHFL) resolution
plan from Piramal Capital and Housing Finance (PCHFL), a company of Piramal group. Committee of Creditors(CoC)
has approved the resolution plan in its 18th meeting ended on January 15, 2021. The resolution plan will revive the
debt-ridden DHFL.
i.This approval paves way for Piramal group to acquire DHFL.
ii.After RBI’s Approval, Piramal Group has to seek approval from The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to
acquire DHFL.
Note: The total debt of DHFL is around Rs 89,000 crore.
About the Resolution Plan:
As per the plan, Piramal group will merge PCHFL with DHFL, which involves a total payment of around Rs 35,000
crores.
It is expected that the merged entity will focus largely on the retail real estate and lending space.
Key Info:
i.RBI, in 2019 referred DHFL to NCLT for insolvency proceedings.
ii.It is to be noted that DHFL was the 1st finance company to be referred to NCLT by the RBI using special powers
under Section 227 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code(IBC), 2016.
About Dewan Housing Finance Corporation(DHFL):
i.RBI in November 2019, superseded the Board of Directors of the corporation under Section 45 IE of the Reserve
Bank of India Act, 1934.
ii.RBI also appointed Shri R. Subramania Kumar as its Administrator with effect from 20th November, 2019.
iii.In addition to this, RBI also constituted a 3-member committee under Section 45 IE of the Reserve Bank of India
Act, 1934, to act as advisors to the Administrator.
Members of Committee:
• Rajiv Lall, Non-Executive Chairman, IDFC First Bank Limited;
• Shri N S Kannan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ICICI-Prudential Life Insurance Co. Limited
• Shri NS Venkatesh, Chief Executive, Association of Mutual Funds of India
In exercise of powers vested in it under sub section (1) of Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 read with
Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed restrictions on withdrawals
from Jalna, Maharashtra-based Mantha Urban Cooperative Bank for six months from November 17, 2020.
About Piramal Group:
Chairman– Ajay Piramal
Exim Bank Extended LOC of 15 Million USD to Republic of Sierra Leone

On 18th February 2021, the Export-Import (Exim) Bank, government of India, extended a Line of Credit(LOC) of 15
million USD (around Rs. 109.11 crore) to the government of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
The agreement to this effect was signed by Saroj Khuntia, General Manager, Exim Bank, and Jacob Jusu Saffa, Finance
Minister, Government of Republic of Sierra Leone on 5th February 2021.
Features of LOC:
i.The LOC will be used for the expansion of the projects for the rehabilitation of existing potable water facilities in 4
communities of Sierra Leone.

ii.This will also be used for the implementation of the projects by Indian companies which will benefit more than 1
lakh residents of those 4 communities.
Key Points:
i.With this LOC the Exim bank has signed a total of 5 LOC’s worth 168 million USD to the Republic of Sierra Leone.
ii.These extended LOC’s cover the projects of various sectors like power, agriculture and potable water.
Other LOC’s of Exim Bank:
As of now the Exim Bank has around 267 LOC’s in place, covering around 62 countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America
and Commonwealth of Independent States(CIS) with a credit commitment of 26.59 billion USD which is available for
financing exports from India.
On 12th October 2020, The Export-Import(Exim) Bank of India has extended a 400 million USD (around Rs.2933
crore) line of credit(LoC) to the Republic of Maldives for the Greater Malé connectivity project. The LoC was signed by
Nirmit Ved, The General Manager of Exim Bank and Ibrahim Ameer, Finance Minister, Government of Republic of
Maldives in Malé, Maldives.
About Sierra Leone:
President – Julius Maada Bio
Capital– Freetown
Currency– Sierra Leonean Leone
About Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank):
Managing Director– David Rasquinha
Regulated by – Reserve Bank of India
Established in– 1982
Govt to Infuse Rs 1,500 Crore into EXIM Bank in FY 22

The government has decided to infuse Rs 1,500 crore capital into Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) in FY
22. This equity support/subscription is to maximise the paid up capital of the bank to the level of its authorised
capital.
Amount is Higher than amount earmarked in FY 21
This amount is Rs 200 crore higher than the amount(Rs 1,300 crore) earmarked by the government to be infused in
the bank in FY 21.
Note:
The government had doubled the authorised capital of the bank from Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore in 2019.
Benefit of Infusing Amount into EXIM Bank:
Exim Bank is the principal export credit agency in India and the capital infusion will give an impetus to new initiatives
such as supporting Indian textile industry, likely changes in the concessional finance scheme, likelihood of new letters
of credit in future in view of the country’s active foreign policy and strategic intent.
About Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank):
It is wholly owned by the Government of India.
Established– 1982 under The Export-Import Bank of India Act, 1981
MD– David Rasquinha
Regulated by– Reserve Bank of India(RBI)
Tata Group to Acquire 68% Stake in BigBasket for About Rs 9,500 Crore; Tata Communications Partners with
Google Cloud in India
Tata Group has signed a deal to acquire 68% stake in bigbasket for about Rs 9,500 crore. The stake will be
acquired by Tata Digital, a subsidiary of Tata Sons. Post acquisition, the enterprise value of BigBasket becomes more
than Rs 13,500 crore.
Tata Communications has partnered with Google Cloud in India to drive cloud adoption and transform Indian
businesses.

Tata Group to Acquire 68% Stake in BigBasket
Key Investors of BigBasket:
i.Alibaba Group Holding Ltd holds 29% stake in BigBasket. The other key investors include Abraaj Group, Ascent
Capital, Helion Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Mirae Asset-Naver Asia.
ii.The deal provides an exit route for a host of investors of BigBasket.
Tata Communications Partners with Google Cloud
Provisions of the Partnership:
i.Tata Communications, through its IZO Managed Cloud platform will offer Google Cloud services. This will enable
organisations to deploy and access Google Cloud services.
ii.End-to-end services, including cloud architecture planning, workload migration and ongoing operational support
will also be provided.
iii.In addition to this, Tata Communication illa also provide organisation with services across infrastructure
modernisation, data centre transformation, application modernisation, smart analytics, multi-cloud deployments
among others.
Cloud capabilities of Tata Communications
The cloud capabilities of Tata Communications are supported by 14 cloud nodes and its tier-1 network, that carries
around 30% of the world’s Internet routes.
Note: Tata Communications has partnerships with leading Internet Service Provider (ISP) and major cloud providers.
Adani Total Gas & Torrent Gas has acquired 5% stake each in the Indian Gas Exchange (IGX). This is the 1st time
stakes of IGX are sold, as it was wholly-owned by the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). The total 10% stake has been
sold for about Rs 7.38 crore.
About Tata Digital:
CEO– Pratik Pal
About Tata Communications:
MD & CEO– Amur Swaminathan Lakshminarayanan (Lakshmi)
Arun Kumar Authors a New Book, ‘Indian Economy’s Greatest Crisis: Impact of Coronavirus and the Road
Ahead’
Arun Kumar has authored a new book titled, ‘Indian Economy’s Greatest Crisis: Impact of Coronavirus and the
Road Ahead’. The book is published by Penguin Random House.
Essence of the Book:
The book attempts to answer the following questions among others:
• People have experienced viral attacks-H1N1, Ebola and Nipah, but what is strange about Coronavirus?
• What are Ways through which COVID-19 has affected India and the world?
• How has India responded to COVID-19?
• Is life or livelihood important?
• What are the ways and means through which India can recover itself from the sudden economic shock caused
by the pandemic?
About Arun Kumar:
i.He is a veteran Indian economist.
ii.Currently, he is the Malcolm S. Adiseshiah chair professor at the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi.
iii.His popular books include:
• Indian Economy Since Independence: Persisting Colonial Disruption (2013), Understanding the Black
Economy and Black Money in India: An Enquiry into Causes, Consequences and Remedies (2017).
• Demonetization and the Black Economy (2017) and The Ground Scorching Tax (2019).

“Louiz Banks: A Symphony of Love”, the Biography of Louiz Banks Authored by Ashis Ghatak
“Louiz Banks: A Symphony of Love”, authored by Ashis Ghatak is the biography of Louis Banks, the Godfather of
Indian Jazz. Ustad Zakir Hussain, the tabla maestro has written the foreword of this book.
The book published by Rupa Publications was released on 11th February 2021, the 80th Birthday of Louiz Banks.
About the book:
i.The book of 15 chapters each named after a song by Banks provides a detailed narrative about the life incidents and
experiences of Louiz Banks.
ii.The book features the mastery of banks in Jazz and fusion music along with his expertise as a jingle composer who
contributed to many iconic commercials of Britannia, Vico, Liril, among others, and Doordharshan’s ‘Freedom Run’,
“Mile Sur”.
iii.The book also traces back to the roots of Indian Jazz during the colonial period of India and provides a glimpse of
the sociopolitical and cultural scenario of that period.
About Louiz Banks:
i.Louis Banks started his career as a pianist in a Band in Kolkata.
ii.He has worked as a pianist with RD Burman, Bappi Lahiri and Laxmikant Pyarelal.
iii.In 1980 he did his first European tour as the leader of Sangam, a fusion bank with Ramamani ,Ranjit Barot ,Karl
Peters ,TAS Mani with KCP and saxophone giant Charlie Mariano.
About Ashis Ghatak:
i.Ashis Ghatak, English teacher of a government aided school, Kolkata is a film and music enthusiast, a photographer
and a traveller.
ii.He has contributed to numerous travelogues in various travel magazines.
iii.He has various academic books to his credit.
Bank of Maharashtra Partnered with Vayana Network Launches its Mahabank Channel Financing Scheme for
MSMEs
On February 18, 2021 Bank of Maharashtra(BoM) in partnership with Vayana Network, India’s largest Supply
Chain Financing (SCF) platform, launched its Mahabank Channel Financing Scheme, a Channel Financing solution
for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSMEs).
This partnership enables BoM to provide short term credit to meet funding requirements of corporate dealers and
vendors through its channel.
Purpose: To provide financial support to MSMEs
Provisions of the Partnership:
i.Under the partnership, Vayana Network will provide SCF solutions to more than 1,870 branches of BoM through its
technology and service knowledge. SCF solutions include vendor and dealer financing programs.
ii.The proprietary technology platform of Vayana assists to digitise the transactions of Supply Chain Financing, at the
same time helps market services to increase penetration in the under-served MSME segment.
On January 28, 2021 Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Karnataka and Amazon India has signed
a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to help enhance e-commerce exports from the state and also to elevate
MSMEs in state to a global level through Amazon Global Selling, an exports program of Amazon.
About Bank of Maharashtra(BoM):
i.The Government of India holds 93.33% stake in the bank.
ii.It is the sponsor bank of Maharashtra Gramin Bank
• Aurangabad Jalna Gramin Bank & Thane Gramin Bank was amalgamated into Maharashtra Godavari Gramin
Bank.
• Maharashtra Gramin Bank came in to existence on 20th July 2009 after amalgamation of erstwhile
Maharashtra Godavari Gramin Bank and Marathawada Gramin Bank
HeadOffice– Pune, Maharashtra
Incorporated on– September 16, 1935
Commenced Operations– February 8, 1936
MD & CEO– A.S Rajeev

About Vayana Network:
Founder & CEO– R. N. Iyer
Headquarters– Pune, Maharashtra
Indian Bank signs MoU with SID of IISc to Provide Credit Facility to Start-ups and MSME
On February 19, 2021 Indian Bank signed Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with Society for Innovation and
Development (SID), an initiative of Indian Institute of Science(IISc), Bengaluru to provide exclusive credit
facility to start-ups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSMEs). This initiative is a part of the Bank’s scheme
‘Ind Spring Board for financing Start-ups’
Objective– To empower start-ups & MSMEs to realise their research efforts by providing them financial support from
the Bank and offer incubation facilities offered by SID.
Key People:
Sudhakar Rao (GM, MSME, Indian Bank) and Prof B Gurumoorthy, Chief Executive, SID signed the MoU.
Provisions of MoU:
i.SID will identify the start-ups and MSME on the basis of credentials and past experience. After which they will refer
to the list of such members who require financial assistance to the Bank.
ii.The bank will provide loans up to Rs. 50 crores to these start-ups to cater their working capital requirements or to
purchase of machinery, equipment etc
How does SID support MSMEs?
It provides the joint Research and Development(R&D) arrangements with industries and also technical & financial
support to incubate and accelerate high end technology products under its department named ‘TIME2’(Technology
Innovation for Midsized Enterprises).
On October 6, 2020, Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, launched “MSME Prerana” an
online business mentoring programme for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by Indian Bank in
collaboration with Poornatha & Co, at the bank’s headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
About Society for Innovation and Development (SID):
Chief Executive– Prof B Gurumoorthy
About Indian Bank:
On April 1, 2020, Allahabad Bank amalgamated with Indian Bank.
MD & CEO– Padmaja Chunduru
Tagline– Your Own Bank
Headquarters– Chennai, TamilNadu
PMs of India & Australia felicitated winners of Circular Economy Hackathon (I-ACE), 2021 virtually
On February 19, 2021, the valedictory session of India-Australia Circular Economy (I-ACE) Hackathon, 2021 was held
where Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison have felicitated the
participants of I-ACE at a virtual award ceremony.
• The I-ACE Hackathon was organized jointly by Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, India and Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia with the aim of enabling students and start-
ups/MSMEs from both countries to present innovative solutions for the development of a circular economy
across the food system value chain.
• The Hackathon was held between 8th February, 2021 and 11th February, 2021 which saw a participation of
72 teams comprising of students and startup/ MSME from both India and Australia under four broad areas.
The Themes of the India-Australia Circular Economy (I-ACE) Hackathon, 2021 is
• Theme 1: Innovation in packaging reducing packaging waste
• Theme 2: Innovation in food supply chains avoiding waste
• Theme 3: Creating opportunities for plastics waste reduction
• Theme 4: Recycling critical energy metals and e-waste
Click Here to Read about I-ACE

–PM addresses the Convocation Ceremony of Visva-Bharati University
The PM also virtually addressed the Convocation Ceremony of Visva-Bharati University. Governor of West Bengal and
Rector of Visva-Bharati, Jagdeep Dhankhar, Union Education Minister Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Union MoS
for Education Shri Sanjay Dhotre were also present on the occasion.
• Visva-Bharati was founded by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in 1921 and it is the oldest Central university in
the country. PM Modi is also the Chancellor of the University.
• It is closely associated with the ideals of the great Gurudev Tagore.
i.On January 4, 2020, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the National Metrology Conclave
2021on the theme ‘Metrology for the Inclusive Growth of the Nation’ and also delivered the inaugural address.
ii.On January 5, 2020, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the 450 Km Long Kochi-Mangaluru
Natural Gas Pipeline. The pipeline has been constructed by GAIL (India) Ltd at a cost of INR 3, 000 crores. The
pipeline will carry natural gas from Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) regasification terminal at Kochi, Kerala to
Mangaluru, Karnataka.
RBI Puts Rs 1000 Withdrawal Cap on Deccan Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd. for Next 6 Months
On February 18, 2021 The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on considering the present liquidity position of Deccan Urban
Co-operative Bank Ltd., has imposed a withdrawal cap of Rs 1,000 on the customers of the bank. But, customers
are allowed to set off loans against deposits subject to conditions. This is for the period of 6 months from the close of
business on February 19, 2021.
• This is part of certain directions given by RBI to the bank
Note: This direction has been imposed by RBI in exercise of powers vested in it under sub section (1) of Section 35 A
of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
Other Directions for the Bank:
CEO of the bank only with prior approval from RBI in writing shall do the following:
i.Granting or renewing any loans and advance
ii.Make any investment, incur any liability including borrowing of funds and accepting of fresh deposits
iii.Disburse any payment whether in discharge of its liabilities or otherwise, or dispose of any of its assets except as
notified in the RBI direction.
99.58% of Depositors are fully covered by the DICGC Insurance Scheme
RBI also mentioned that 99.58% of the depositors are fully covered by the insurance scheme of Deposit Insurance
and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of RBI. It provides insurance cover up to Rs 5
lakh on bank deposits.
What is DIGCC?
Purpose– To provide insurance of deposits and guarantee of credit facilities.
Functions are Governed by– The provisions of ‘The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961’
(DICGC Act) and ‘The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation General Regulations, 1961’
The Internal Working Group (IWG) of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which was formulated on June 12, 2020 to review
extant ownership guidelines and corporate structure for Indian private sector banks has submitted its report on
November 20, 2020. It has recommended an increase in the promoters’ stake in Private Banks to 26% from 15% of
the paid-up voting equity share capital of the bank in 15 years.
About Deccan Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd.,
Headquarters– Vijayapura, Karnataka
SBI Payments Services Launched ‘YONO Merchant App’ to Expand digitization of Merchant Payments in India
On February 20, 2021 SBI Payment Services Pvt. Ltd launched YONO Merchant App to expand the digitization of
merchant payments in India. Through the app, merchants can turn their Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled
Android smartphones into payment acceptance devices.
i.It is a brand extension of State Bank of India(SBI)’s YONO(You Only Need One) platform.
ii.SBI has also partnered with Visa on the Tap to Phone feature to boost acceptance infrastructure across India .

Aim:
• To provide low-cost digital payments infrastructure to merchants
• To enhance user experience and bring convenience to the merchants
Note: The launch is in line with RBI’s recent announcement to create a Payments Infrastructure Development Fund
(PIDF) to encourage acquirers to deploy Point of Sale (PoS) infrastructure (both physical and digital) in low
penetration areas of the country
YONO Merchant App
In addition to accepting payments through the app, merchants can also get access to the details of transactions,
generate reports, and upload transactions for processing, among others
SBI to Deploy low-cost acceptance infrastructure across India
SBI intends to deploy low-cost acceptance infrastructure across India over the next 2 years, targeting 20 million
potential merchants across India in the retail and enterprise segment.
Purpose– To enable merchants to accept digital payments through mobile-led technology,
Benefit– It will help to enhance the digital payments acceptance infrastructure in tier 3, 4 and in north eastern cities.
YONO Platform:
Launch– 2017
Purpose– The integrated digital banking platform enables users to access to a variety of financial and other services
such as flight, train, bus and taxi bookings, online shopping, or medical bill payments
Registered users– About 35.8 million
On November 11, 2020 HDFC Bank in Partnership with Visa launched ‘SmartHub Merchant Solutions 3.0’, India’s first
comprehensive banking and payment solution for merchants.
About SBI Payment Services Pvt. Ltd:
i.It is a Joint Venture(JV) between State Bank of India(SBI) and Hitachi Payment Services Pvt. Ltd.
ii.SBI became the 1st public sector bank to form an exclusive JV for merchant acquiring business and commence the
journey to create a state-of-the-art acceptance ecosystem in all geographies of the country and enable the merchants
to accept payments digitally across various form factors.
Chairman– Swaminathan Janakiraman
MD & CEO– Mr. Girikumar M Nair
Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra
UP Signed MoU with IKEA; IKEA to Invest Rs.5500 Crore in UP in 5 years

On 19th February 2021, the Government of Uttar Pradesh(UP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IKEA, a
Swedish furniture and home applications company, which is set to invest Rs.5500 crore in the state during the next 5
years.
The MoU was virtually signed in the Presence of Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of UP.
IKEA outlet in Noida:
i.The government of Uttar Pradesh has allocated 47,833 square meters of land in Noida for IKEA Outlet, which will be
one of the largest IKEA outlets in the World (at present the largest IKEA outlet is in Stockholm, Sweden which is
55,221 square meters).
ii.IKEA will pay Rs 850 crores for the purchase of the land which will generate a revenue of Rs.56 crore in the form of
Stamp duty.
iii,The outlet will commence its operations by 2025.
iv.IKEA also plans to open 3 major outlets in Purvanchal and Central UP.
Key Points:
i.CM stated that the opening of IKEA in the state is expected to generate various job opportunities and to support and
provide opportunity to the farmers, artisans and artists.
ii.IKEA plans to open around 25 center’s in India by 2025 by investing Rs.10500 crore, most of these stores will be in
UP.

Government approves 8 Toy Manufacturing Clusters worth Rs 2,300 crore
On February 22, 2021, the Central Government approved 8 toy manufacturing clusters at a cost of Rs 2,300 crore viz.
three clusters in Madhya Pradesh, two in Rajasthan, and one each in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• This decision has been taken on the lines of “National Action Plan for Indian Toy Story” that seeks to reduce
import dependence of toys which was around $1.5 billion in FY2020 of which 90% of imports was from China
and Taiwan.
• In this regard, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the Ministry of Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) will develop toy clusters under existing schemes such as the Scheme of
Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (Sfurti) which is currently being implemented in Karnataka
and Andhra Pradesh.
• The plan is to have 35 toy clusters under the scheme.
Key Points:
–These clusters will manufacture toys made of wood, lac, palm leaves, bamboo and fabric to boost India’s traditional
toys industry.
–Currently, the toy industry in India is primarily unorganised, comprising around 4,000 MSMEs.
–Also, as per the Quality Council of India (QCI), 67% of imported toys failed a testing survey.
— India’s first virtual India Toy Fair-2021 will be held from February 27 to March 2, which will offer opportunities to
explore and buy toys from over 1,000 exhibitors across the country.
About Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI)
It is an initiative by Ministry of MSME to promote Cluster development by merging the following schemes:
• The Scheme for Enhancing Productivity and Competitiveness of Khadi Industry and Artisans
• The Scheme for Product Development, Design Intervention and Packaging (PRODIP)
• The Scheme for Rural Industries Service Centre (RISC) and
• Other small interventions like Ready Warp Units, Ready to Wear Mission, etc.
Focus:
The scheme offers incentives such as skill development, capacity building, creation of facilities such as common
facility centres, rehousing facilities and marketing and e-commerce assistance to local industries.
Financial Assistance:
The financial assistance provided under this scheme for any specific project is at a maximum cap of Rs 8 crore to
support Soft, Hard and Thematic interventions.
Initiation:
The Revamped SFURTI scheme was started on 1st August 2014 with an outlay of Rs. 149.44 crore for developing 71
clusters (including coir) with coverage of 44500 artisans (approx.) in the first phase. The guidelines were further
revised on June 30, 2015.
• The Nodal Agencies include KVIC (Khadi and Village Industries Commission), Coir Board, IIE (Indian Institute
of Entrepreneurship) Guwahati, NIMSME (National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises)
Hyderabad, NIESBUD (National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development) Noida, all
MSME DIs (Development Institute) and all DICs (District Industries Centre of State Government).
i.On January 15-16, 2021, a two-day event ‘Prarambh’ – Startup India International Summit 2021 was virtually
organized by DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India from New Delhi. It was inaugurated by
Piyush Vedprakash Goyal, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
ii.On January 19, 2021, the 1st India-EU IPR dialogue 2021 was held virtually between European Union (EU)
Commission and DPIIT to discuss key Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues affecting businesses.
About Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT):
Parent Ministry– Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Secretary – Guruprasad Mohapatra
Kotak Standard Multicap Fund Renamed as Kotak Flexicap Fund

On February 17, 2021 Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company Limited (KMAMC) announced that Kotak
Standard Multicap Fund is being renamed as Kotak Flexicap Fund.

This is in line with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)’s Modification in Multi-Cap Mutual Funds
Category, where multicap funds are required to invest at least 25% of their corpus in large, mid and small cap stocks
each.
65% of assets in equity and equity-related investments
Recently SEBI introduced ‘Flexi Cap Fund’ as a New Category under Equity Schemes, where Flexicap funds must hold
at least 65% of assets in equity and equity-related investments, with no cap on how much to be invested in large,
medium or small caps.
What is Flexi Cap Fund?
It is an open-ended dynamic equity scheme that invests in large, mid or small cap company stocks, i.e., there is no
restriction in terms of allocation to any market cap.
Kotak Flexicap Fund
i.The fund will continue to follow the top-down sector approach in addition to bottom-up stock options.
ii.It will also continue to take diversified concentrated sector allocation at a stock level.
iii.It is to be noted that the current portfolio has a mixture of cyclical and defensive stocks, and the large-cap
allocation is approximately 3/4th of the total corpus (as on 29th January 2021).
About Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company Limited (KMAMC):
KMAMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (Kotak) and is the Asset Manager for Kotak
Mahindra Mutual Fund (KMF).
It started its operations in December 1998
Group President & Managing Director (MD)– Nilesh Shah
RBI has Brought State Bank of Sikkim Under its Regulatory Purview
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has brought the State Bank of Sikkim under its regulatory purview. The bank only
operates within Sikkim and is wholly-owned by the state government. The bank is also responsible to handle the
treasury function of the State. With this regulatory purview, the ownership structure of the bank will not be changed
and will be regulated by the RBI on a par with other banks.
Purpose: To protect the interest of depositors.
Why is the State Bank of Sikkim not under the RBI?
i.The bank was established in 1968 under the State Bank of Sikkim Proclamation, 1968.
ii.But in 1975, Sikkim was merged with India, by which the bank was given a special status under Article 371 F of the
constitution.
Benefits:
i.Consequent to which, the Banking Regulation Act 1949 and the Companies Act do not extend to Sikkim or the
residents of Sikkim.
ii.The people are not subject to Income Tax like the rest of Indian Citizens.
Risks:
i.The basic safety measures for depositors like provisions of the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee
Corporation(DICGC) that offers an insurance cover of up to approximately 5 lakh does not apply to this bank.
ii.So in the event of a crisis, there is no fallback available.
Note:
i.The State Government transactions are carried out by RBI as per the agreement between RBI and with state
governments in terms of section 21 A of RBI Act 1934.
ii.As of now, such agreements exist between RBI and all the State Governments except Government of Sikkim
Future Enhancement:
RBI will expand the role of State Bank of Sikkim by which it can offer a variety of services to the north-eastern states,
which have low banking penetration.
On November 26, 2020 Reserve Bank of India(RBI) advised Lakshmi Vilas Bank(LVB) to fully write off the Series VIII,
Series IX and Series X Basel-III complaint tier -2 bonds worth Rs 318.20 crore, before its amalgamation with DBS

Bank India Ltd(DBIL) comes into effect from the appointed date i.e., 27th November 2020. It is to be noted that it is
the 1st time a Tier II bond is being written off and so RBI has set a priority to the proposed write off.
About State Bank of Sikkim:
Head Office– Gangtok,Sikkim
MD– Phurba Wangdi Bhutia
Chairman– Dal Bahadur Gurung
LIC of India launches Individual Savings Plan, ‘Bima Jyoti’ Plan

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India launched a new Individual Savings Plan, ‘Bima Jyoti’ Plan (Plan No. 860)
which will be effective from February 22, 2021. Bima Jyoti is a Non-linked, Non-Participating, Individual, Limited
Premium Payment, Life Insurance Savings Plan.
• The Plan offers a Guaranteed addition at a rate of INR 50 per thousand (i.e 5%) Basic Sum Assured at the end
of each policy year throughout the policy term.
Policy Term & Premium Paying Term
• The Policy Term can be taken for a term of 15-20 years.
• Premium Paying Term will be calculated as policy term minus 5 years (i.e for 15-year policy term, PPT will be
10 years & for 18-year policy it will be 13 years).
• Premium Payment options are Yearly, Half Yearly, Quarterly & Monthly.
Sum Assured Limits
• The Minimum Basic Sum assured in INR 1, 00, 000 & multiple of INR 25, 000 after that.
• There is no maximum limit.
Age Limits
• The Minimum entry age is 90 days (completed) & maximum age at entry is 60 years
• Minimum age at maturity will be 18 years & maximum age at maturity will be 75 years.
Benefits
• Maturity Benefits & Death Benefits
• Other included riders in ‘Bima Jyoti’ are Accidental Death & Disability Rider Benefit, Accident Benefit Rider,
Term Assurance Rider, New Critical Illness Benefit Rider & Premium Waiver Benefit Rider.
Returns
• The returns will be calculated based on the amount of Basic Sum Assured & not on the amount of premium.
• The Returns Are Tax free.
Gist of the Plan
Minimum Basic Sum INR 1, 00, 000
Maximum Basic Sum No Limit
Policy Term 15-20 years
Premium Paying Term policy term minus 5 years
Minimum Entry Age 90 days
Maximum Entry Age 60 years
Minimum Age at Maturity 18 years
Maximum Age at Maturity 75 years
Guaranteed Additions at the end of each policy year Rate of INR 50 per Thousand basic sum assured (5%)
i.On May 26, 2020 Life Insurance Corporation of India(LIC) announced the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Vaya
Vandana Yojana-PMVVY (Modified- 2020) Scheme for those over and above 60 years.
ii.On 1st September 2020, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched “Chhavni COVID: Yodha Sanrakshan Yojana” a
group life insurance scheme through LIC, for more than 10000 employees working in the military cantonment areas
across India.

About Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India:
Chairman – M R Kumar
Central Office – Mumbai, Maharashtra
RBI Ropes in Punjabi Singer-Rapper Viruss to Drive its Public Awareness Campaigns on Cyber Frauds
Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has roped in Punjabi Singer-Rapper Viruss to drive its public awareness
campaigns on cyber frauds. On February 19, 2021 RBI in its official twitter handle, launched the campaign, featuring
Viruss. This is part of its awareness campaign ‘RBI Kehta Hai’: Jaankar Baniye, Satark Rahiye!(RBI Says: Be
knowledgeable, Be cautious) that was launched in 2016 and has been running in social media accounts on Twitter,
Facebook and Youtube .
• The latest campaign was different from others as it used peppy rap music to provide information to people.
Note: Viruss has done a video with peppy music for RBI. Viruss is popular for his original rap Bam Bhole in 2017,
which was recreated for the Akshay Kumar- Kiara Advani starred film Laxmii(2020).
About Awareness Campaign
i.The latest campaign of RBI with peppy music provides latest instructions to people about how they can and should
protect themselves against cyber crimes including those on the UPI and identity theft.
ii.The campaign encourages the public, especially tech-savvy netizens who show preference to transact online safely.
What is the ‘RBI Kehta Hai’ awareness campaign?
Launched– It was initiated and launched by RBI in 14 languages.
Purpose– To create awareness and educate the public about safe banking and financial practices.
Firsts– It was the 1st even 360 degree campaign initiated by RBI using all mass media, including media such as
television, radio, newspapers, hoardings, web banners, gifs, social media and SMS
On September 27, 2020 The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) roped in Indian Film Actor Amitabh Bachchan for the
customer awareness campaign to prevent naive account holders from being deceived by fraudsters.
About Reserve Bank of India(RBI):
E-Kuber Payments System of RBI Launched in Jammu and Kashmir

On February 18, 2021 Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, IAS, Financial Commissioner, Finance Department, Govt of Jammu and
Kashmir(J&K) formally launched e-Kuber payments system of Reserve Bank of India(RBI) in J&K.
i.J&K is the 1st Union Territory to implement version 2.9 of e-Kuber payments system
ii.The system will be initially e implemented in the Civil Secretariat treasury on pilot basis and shortly will be
launched in for other treasuries.
Highlights of e-Kuber payments system:
Replace– It will replace the existing system for all types of Government payments including employee’s salaries and
pensioner’s pensions
Capability– It is capable of making 50,000 transactions at a time.
Access– The e-Kuber payment platform can be accessed by Treasury Net, all treasuries through a web-based
integrated system.
No need for an intermediary bank– All financial transactions related to the government will be dealt directly with
RBI without any intermediary bank.
Benefit:
i.It enables that beneficiaries receive the payment without delay and also eliminate the risk of paper vouchers being
lost in transit.
ii.The fully automated process flow in this model ensures that the end-to-end message processing, accounting,
generation and dispatch of scrolls is done seamlessly.

What is E-Kuber?
i.E-Kuber is the Core Banking Solution (CBS) platform of RBI.
ii.It enables each bank to connect their single current account across the country.
iii.G-Secs are issued through auctions conducted by RBI on E-Kuber
On August 18, 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a draft framework for grant of recognition to an
industry association as a Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO) for Payment System Operators (PSOs). This draft
framework is released on the lines of an announcement in the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory policies
issued as part of the Monetary Policy statement dated February 6, 2020.
About Jammu & Kashmir:
Bird sanctuary– Hokersar bird sanctuary
Forts– Bahu Fort, Hari Parbat Fort, Akhnoor Fort, Ramnagar Fort
Goa to become India’s First Fisheries Hub with an investment of INR 400 Crore
Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Giriraj Singh has stated that the Central Government is
set to Invest INR 400 crore in Goa to transform the state into India’s First Fisheries Hub.
• Of the INR 400 Crore Investment, The Union Minister has already sanctioned INR 41.7 Crores to Goa under the
Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
• Goa has the required coastline, inland waterways & saline Khazan lands for producing the large quantity of fish
in the country.
Planned Activities for making Goa as Fisheries Hub
Ornamental & Seaweed Clusters
• INR 30 Crore to be allocated for setting up Aquarium Cluster under ornamental fisheries for generating
employment and income. A Seaweed complex will also be set up for the same purpose.
• Globally, seaweed is a 15 Million dollar business. It is being dominated by Indonesia & China.
Fish Vending Kiosks, Hatchery & Diagnosis Lab
• INR 5 Crore for setting up 50 fish vending kiosks which will be beneficial for women and for further
development of retail fish markets.
• INR 50 Crore for upgrading the Margao Wholesale Fish Market.
• INR 2.5 Crore for construction of a marine hatchery
• A disease diagnosis referral lab for livestock will be set up at a cost of INR 10 Crore.
‘Sagar Mitra’
Sagar Mitras to be set up in 70 fishing villages of Goa for educating the population dependent on fishing.
Fishing Jetties & Harbour
• Creation of 30 Fish Landing Jetties to enable fishermen to anchor their boats near their villages. At present
there are 9 landing jetties in Goa which are being used for Tourism & Fishing purposes.
• A New Fishing Harbour is also set to be developed in Vasco bay with support from the Ministry of Shipping. It
will benefit around 300 fishing boats & 1, 200 people in the area.
Development of ‘Cage Culture’
CSIR-NIO (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-National Institute of Oceanography), Dona Paula, Goa has
highlighted the enormous potential of Cage Culture fishing in Goa.
• Cage Culture is a kind of aquaculture production system in which fishes are reared in floating net pens.
• Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute has stated that around 72 Square Kilometres in Goa will be
brought under the Cage Culture.
• In the 72 Square Kilometre area, around 30 lakh cages can be installed, which will raise the capacity of fish
production in the state.
• The high production of fishes will also support the Goa-based fish processing units as they have always been
dependent on Maharashtra & Karnataka for the raw materials.

i.On October 9, 2020, Goa has become the first ‘Har Ghar Jal’ state in the country under Central Governments Jal
Jeevan Mission (JJM) by providing 100% tap water connections in Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs)
covering 2.30 lakh households.
About Goa:
Chief Minister – Pramod Sawant
Governor – Bhagat Singh Koshyari
MPEDA Signed a MoU with NCDC to Bring Better Value to Stakeholders

On 22nd February 2021, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), under the Ministry of
commerce and Industry, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Cooperative Development
Corporation (NCDC) to coordinate their programs in export oriented captures and culture of fisheries and allied
sectors to bring better value to the stakeholders.
• K S Srinivas, Chairman of MPEDA and Sundeep Kumar Nayak, Managing Director of NCDC, signed the MoU in
Kochi, Kerala.
Features of MoU:
ii.Under this MoU, along with its Societies NETFISH(Network for Fish Quality Management & Sustainable
Fishing), NaCSA(National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture) & RGCA (Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture) and
NCDC, MPEDA will formulate programs to provide technical knowledge to cooperatives.
ii.This will enhance the infrastructure created for primary production and poor harvest management in the marine
products export sector.
iii.MPEDA will share a list of all the clusters across various states with NCDC, which may approach the clusters to
achieve scale and aggregation with export orientation.
iv.This will also ease exports by the cooperative which are identified by NCDC.
Both MPEDA and NCDC will work towards capacity development of various stakeholders, organise outreach and
awareness programmes and workshops for the stakeholders.
v.MPEDA and its societies and NCDC will work together to showcase the Indian and global market, the products,
technologies, processes, knowledge and services by the stakeholders through various modes, that are identified by
them.
vi.Both will also work towards achieving the export targets and the government’s goal of doubling the farmer’s
income by 2022.
Key Points:
i.The nodal officer to manage and implement the objective of the MoU will be nominated by MPEDA and NCDC.
ii.The joint coordination committee (JCC) will have the representatives of both MPEDA and NCDC.
iii.The JCC will meet at least once every quarter and monitor and review the progress periodically.
iv.The expense of implementation will be met by NCDC and MPEDA through the respective enabling provisions of
their financial assistance scheme.
On 12th September 2020, Government of Odisha signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National
Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) to promote and manage the farmer producer organisations with the
central sector scheme.
About Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA):
Chairman– K.S. Srinivas
Headquarters– Kochi, Kerala
About National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC):
Managing Director– Sundeep Kumar Nayak
Head Office– New Delhi
NBFCs in India need to plan for effective IBOR transition: EY India

In accordance with the new EY (Ernst & Young) India report titled “Impact of IBOR transition on NBFCs in India”,
Indian Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) require an effective plan for Inter Bank Offered Rate (IBOR)

transition, as majority of London Inter Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) rates are likely to be phased out by the end of
2021.
What is LIBOR?
It is one of the most common series of benchmark rates for determining short-term interest rates across the world
which are measured in trillions of dollars across global currencies.
• Simply, it indicates the average rate at which large banks in London can borrow unsecured short term loans
from other banks.
• About $350 trillion worth of contracts across the globe are pegged to LIBOR, which is the key interest rate
benchmark for several major currencies.
Key Points:
–The key challenges that will need to be addressed by NBFCs, banks and other institutions are contract amendments,
financial reporting, tax and other risks due to cessation of LIBOR rates after 2021.
–NBFCs should inventorise their LIBOR-linked borrowings to develop a roadmap to assess the impact on their
financial statements, bottom line and their ability to raise overseas borrowings at a competitive rate.
–NBFCs can transit to Alternative Reference Rates (ARR), also known as Risk free rates (RFR).
–Incidentally, the Mumbai Interbank Forward Offer Rate (MIFOR), widely used by banks in India for setting prices on
forward rate agreement and derivatives, has USD LIBOR as its core component. This may now be linked with Secured
Overnight financing rate (SOFR), the ARR used for US dollar denominated derivatives and loans.
–There is an estimated overseas foreign currency borrowings of $13 billion and notional derivative exposure
covering forward rate agreements, interest rate swaps and cross currency swaps to the tune of $18 billion across the
top 10 NBFCs.
i.According to the ‘International Migration 2020-Highlights’ report released by the United Nations Department of
Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), In 2020, 18 Million persons from India were living outside of their country of
birth thus making it the World’s Largest Transnational Community.
ii.The International Labour Organization (ILO) in its report titled ‘Working from home from invisibility to decent
work’ has highlighted the need to adopt Global Labour Standards and improve national-level labour registries for
home-based workers (Industrial home-based workers, Teleworkers, Digital Platform workers) & organisations.
About EY India:
Chair– Rajiv Memani
Headquarter– New Delhi
GoI, World bank sign USD 68 Million Project for Improving Education in Nagaland
Government of India, Government of Nagaland & the World Bank signed a USD 68 Million (~ INR 490 Crore) Project
for improving the governance of schools across Nagaland. The program is called ‘Nagaland: Enhancing Classroom
Teaching and Resources Project’.
• The project will also improve teaching practices and learning environments in select schools of Nagaland.
• Around 1, 50, 000 students & 20, 000 Teachers in the government education system in Nagaland will benefit
from the reforms.
• The project will support Nagaland Government’s efforts to develop a strong education system in the state.
Signatories:
• C S Mohapatra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of
Government of India
• Shanavas C, Principal Director, Department of School Education on behalf of Government of Nagaland
• Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, India on behalf of the World Bank.
Mission of the Project:
• To improve Classroom instructions
• Create Opportunities for professional development of teachers
• Build Technology systems for providing students & teachers with access to both offline & online learning
systems
• Better Monitoring of policies & Programs.

• The new approach will complement the existing conventional delivery models & will help in reducing the
challenges posed by COVID-19.
Key Points:
• It will address the current challenges faced by Nagaland such as weak school infrastructure, lack of
opportunities for professional development of teachers.
• COVID-19 has further increased the challenges faced by schools by creating stress & disruptions to Nagaland’s
School Education System.
i.On December 15, 2020 the World Bank has approved 4 India projects worth over $800 million. The projects will
support a range of development initiatives that supports the efforts of India to rebuild itself by creating a sustainable
and resilient economy.
About Nagaland:
Capital – Kohima
Governor – RN Ravi
About World Bank:
HeadQuarters– Washington, DC, New York, United States(US)
President – David Malpass
Founded– 1944
Member Countries– 189 (including India)
Woochong Um appointed as new Managing Director General of ADB

On 22nd February 2021, Woochong Um of Republic of Korea was appointed as the new Managing Director General of
Asian Development Bank (ADB). He assumed office on 22nd February and will be reporting to Masatsugu Asakawa,
President of ADB.
Roles of Managing Director General:
i.He will assist the President of ADB to institute the bank wide coherence on various key initiatives and issues.
ii.He will also work on enhancing the internal and external communications of ADB across all the activities that
involve: operations, knowledge, fund raising, and institutional reforms.
About Woochong Um:
i.Woochong Um joined ADB in 1993 and has around 27 years of experience at ADB.
ii.He served as ADB Secretary from 2014 to 2018.
ii.He has served as the Director General of the sustainable development and climate change department of ADB and
concurrently Chief Compliance Officer since June 2018.
iii.He monitored the administration of the trust funds and global fundings initiatives and served as the focal point of
ADB for COVID-19 response.
iv.He has also worked with Pfizer Inc. in New York and Pitney Bowes Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, United States.
On September 14, 2020 The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
approved the appointment of Rajesh Khullar as the Executive
Director of World Bank and Sameer Kumar Khare as Executive Director of Asian Development Bank (ADB).
About ADB:
ADB is owned by 68 members(49 from Asia and the Pacific and 19 from others)
President– Masatsugu Asakawa
Headquarters– Metro Manila, Philippines
Established in 1966
UP FinMin Suresh Kumar Khanna presented Rs 5,50,270.78cr state budget for FY21-22 targeting
“Atmanirbhar”
On February 22, 2021, the Finance Minister of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Suresh Kumar Khanna, presented Rs 5,50,270.78
crore in the presence of UP Chief Minister (CM) Yogi Adityanath. Notably, this was the state’s and Adityanath

government’s first paperless budget and also the largest budget in the history of UP in terms of fund allocation. It
marks an increase of around Rs 37,000 cr from the previous year’s budget size.
• This was the 5th budget of the present government.
• The budget’s target is to make Uttar Pradesh “Aatmanirbhar” and ensure all round development of the state
including new schemes worth Rs 27,598.40 crore.
Rs 100cr budgeted for new migrant workers scheme “Mukhyamantri Pravasi Shramik Udyamita Vikas
Yojana”
With a budget of Rs 100 crore, the UP government has announced Mukhyamantri Pravasi Shramik Udyamita Vikas
Yojana under which employment or self employment will be provided to the migrant workers who had come from
other States. Notably, around 40 lakh were transported to their native districts during the lockdown in 2020.
Budget aims boost to Agri Sector with Rs 1800cr allocation
In order to boost the agriculture sector and for the farmer’s welfare the UP government earmarked Rs 1,800 crore
under various schemes. Additionally, the government allocated Rs 3,098 crore for completion of canal linking
projects. Following are the key allocations under agriculture:
• Under the Atma Nirbhar Krishak Samanvit Vikas Yojana Rs 100cr allocated for doubling the farmers’ income
by 2022.
• For the Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana, an outlay of Rs 600cr is proposed. This scheme
provides financial assistance to family of farmers who die or become handicapped while working in fields
covering age group of 18-70 years.
• A provision of Rs 700cr has been made for free water facility to farmers.
• A provision of Rs 400cr has been made to provide crop loan to farmers at concessional rates.
Agriculture Targets in FY22:
• Setting up of 15 thousand solar pumps in FY22.
• 644 lakh MT of food grain production and 13 lakh MT of oil seeds production.
• Distribution of 62 lakh 50 thousand quintal seeds.
• 3% of Mandi Parishad’s annual earnings will be set aside for cow protection.
Pipraich sugar mill to be the North India’s 1st to manufacture ethanol directly from sugarcane juice
In the sector of cane development and sugar industry, distillation of 120 kilolitres per day capacity will be established
in Pipraich sugar mill which will start in December 2021. It will be the first sugar mill in North India to manufacture
ethanol directly from sugarcane juice.
Uttar Pradesh Gaurav Samman
The UP government also decided to confer ‘Uttar Pradesh Gaurav Samman’ on eminent writers and artists who have
not been given any other award by the state. Under this scheme, a maximum of five people will be honoured and
given a sum of Rs 11 lakh each on an annual basis.
Others:
–Under fisheries, two lakh fishermen are proposed to be covered for free Premium under the Machhuwa Durghatna
Beema Yojana.
—Rs 243cr has been allocated for the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) that envisages sustainable
development of fisheries sector.
–In Horticulture & Food Processing, a provision of Rs 400cr is made for the Pradhanmantri Sookshm Khadya Udyog
Unnayan Yojana.
–In the Irrigation and Water Resources sector, budget aim is to complete 8 projects in FY22 worth Rs 3,098
crore including Rs 1,137crore for the Madhya Ganga Nahar project, Rs 976 crore for the Rajghat Nahar project, Rs
610 crore for the Saryu Nahar project, Rs 271 crore for Purvi Ganga Nahar project and Rs 104 crore for the Ken Betwa
Link Nahar project.
—A provision of Rs 40 crore is made for the implementation of Uttar Pradesh Food Processing Industry Policy, 2017.
–For Animal Husbandry, the budget aims at upgrading breed, along with animal health, disease control, livestock
insurance, construction of new veterinary hospitals and establishment of cow-protection centers as well as setting up
of temporary cow-shelter sites are aimed.
• Under the Rashtriya Pashu Rog Niyantran Karyakram, a target has been fixed to eliminate the mouth and
foot disease by the year 2030 in the state.

— A sum of Rs 101cr has been earmarked for an upcoming airport in Ayodhya that has been named Maryada
Purushottam Shri Ram Airport.
–A sum of Rs 300cr is proposed for the construction of approach roads to the Ram temple being built in Ayodhya.
–A sum of at least Rs 640 crore is allocated for the development and beautification of Ayodhya including Rs 200
crore for Chief Minister Tourism Fiscal Scheme.
–A sum of Rs 15 crore for the year-long commemoration of the Chauri-Chaura incident centenary.
–The budget has also proposed Rs 8cr for the construction of a tribal museum in Lucknow and Rs 4 cr for the
construction of freedom fighters’ gallery in Shahjahanpur.
i.On January 6, 2021, Yogi Adityanath launched a 3 week long campaign namely “Kisan Kalyan Mission” for the state’s
farmer welfare and to double their income. It will be organised in every development block of all 75 districts.
ii.On December 7, 2020, CZA granted recognition to 2 New Zoos – Rajgir Zoo Safari in Nalanda, Bihar & Shaheed
Ashfaque Ullah Khan Prani Udyaan in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
About Uttar Pradesh:
Governor – Anandiben Patel
Capital– Lucknow
Odisha FM presents State Budget for FY 2021-22 with an outlay of INR 1.7 Lakh Crores
On February 22, 2021, Odisha’s Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari presented the State Budget for the Financial Year
2021-22 with an budget outlay of INR 1, 70, 000 Crores.
• The Budget was presented through the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) & Odisha Budget Mobile App.
• It was presented in 2 parts – ‘Agriculture Budget’ & ‘General Budget’.
The Major emphasis of the budget was ‘New Odisha-Empowered Odisha’. The major areas of focus were health,
agriculture, education, livelihoods, infrastructure & industries.
Key Points:
During the Budget presentation, Niranjan Pujari launched or introduced many key initiatives. Some of them are
• Introduction of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Budget document.
• Conversion of SCB Medical College, Cuttack into ‘AIIMS plus Institute’ for providing world-class health care
facilities by spending INR 3500 Crores over 3 years.
• Allocation of INR 542 Crore under ABADHA (Augmentation of Basic Amenities and Development of Heritage
and Architecture (ABADHA)) scheme to transform Puri into a World Heritage City.
• Establishment of a New World Class Hockey Stadium in Rourkela with an outlay of INR 90 Crore.
• Introduction of Fiscal risk statement for managing risk exposures.
• INR 795 Crores for the construction of ‘In-stream Storage Structures (ISS)’ in all major rivers of Odisha
• Provision of INR 450 Crore under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).
Sector-wise Highlights
Education and Skill Sector
Education and skill development has received the highest allocation in the Budget for 2021-22 fiscal with the State
government earmarking a whopping Rs 24,370 crore with a major thrust on holistic development of schools, colleges
and skill training institutes.
• The budget for education sector this fiscal will focus on imparting quality education and providing employable
skills.
• An allocation of Rs 253 crore has been made under Mo School programme, six times more than the previous
fiscal.
• Department wise, budget provision of Rs 18.279 crore has been made for the SME department, while Rs
2,416.63 crore is allocated for Higher Education department and Rs 664 crore for Skill Development and
Technical Education department.
Health
The sum allocated for the Health Sector was INR 9, 164 crore, which was an increase of 19% from the budget of 2020-
21.

• INR 1, 353 Crore allocated under the scheme Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana for free Medical facilities. It will
provide coverage of up to INR 5 lakh per family in case of male members & INR 10 Lakh in case of female
members.
• In order to build up the health infrastructure & services, a provision of INR 1, 572 crore was made under the
Mukhyamantri Swasthya Seva Mission.
• INR 370 crore was allocated under the Nirmal Scheme for maintaining quality of sanitation, laundry, security,
gardening & lift service in public health facilities.
Drinking Water Supply
The state budget has also announced an investment of INR 12, 000 Crore for piped drinking water supply projects
across Odisha
Agriculture
• Allocation of INR 17, 469 Crore to Agriculture and allied activities.
• Outlay of INR 1, 800 crore under the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA).
KALIA scheme involves payments to encourage cultivation and associated activities
• The budget has provided INR 819 Crore towards Interest Subvention on crop loans to Co-operative &
commercial banks.
Industry
• INR 465 Crore allocated to promote the MSME sector.
• An outlay of INR 163 Crore for handloom, handicrafts, sericulture and textile sectors.
Sports
Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, Rourkela which is one of the venues for Men’s Hockey World Cup
2023 is set to be developed as India’s Largest Hockey Stadium at a cost of INR 120 Crores.
Disaster management
• The Finance Minister has allocated INR 3, 050 crore for disaster management.
• The FM has also set aside INR 100 Crore for the World Bank-assisted Odisha Disaster Recovery Project.
Livelihood
A Provision of INR 3, 000 Crore for the year 2021-22 for the construction of 5 lakh pucca houses through convergence
of PMAY-Gramin (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) & Biju Pucca Ghar Schemes.
WASH Initiatives – Water Access, Sanitation, and Hygiene
An investment of INR 12, 000 Crore for piped drinking water including the INR 6, 300 Crore under Jal Jeevan Mission
for operation & maintenance of water supply systems.
Click here to read the full Budget
About Odisha:
Chief Minister – Naveen Patnaik
Governor – Ganeshi Lal
Defence Acquisition Council approves Procurement worth INR 13, 700 Crore
On February 23, 2021, The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath singh approved 3
Acceptance of Necessities (AoNs) worth INR 13, 700 Crore for procurement of various
weapons/platforms/equipment/systems for the Indian Army, Indian Navy & Indian Air Force.
• All 3 AoNs have been placed under the ‘Buy [Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and
Manufactured)]’ Category of India’s new Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.
• All equipment, systems, weapons & platforms to be procured will be indigenously designed, developed and
manufactured by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Components cleared by DAC
i.Out of INR 13, 700 Crore, (~) INR 8, 300 Crore will be sent for procuring 118 indigenously developed Arjun Main
Battle Tank (MK-1A) placed order with OFB.
• The new tank will come with 71 upgrades over the existing variant including 14 major improvements.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over a prototype of the Arjun Mk-1A tank to army chief General Manoj
Mukund Naravane in Chennai on February 14 2021 .

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Chennai-based Combat Vehicles Research and
Development Establishment (CVRDE) has designed and developed the tank. The tanks will be manufactured at
the OFB’s Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi, Chennai.
• The Arjun Mk-1A Tanks are upgraded versions of the Arjun Mk-1 which is currently in service in the Indian
Army.
ii.The proposals cleared by the DAC include 293 Nag anti-tank missiles developed by DRDO, 13 modified ICVs (called
the Nag missile carrier or Namica), eight medium power radars called Arudra and practice ammunition for T-90 and
T-72 tanks
iii.Separately, Bharat Forge announced that it has received a ₹117.95-crore order from the Defence Ministry to
supply its Kalyani M4 Kalyani M4 armored vehicles to the Army under the emergency procurement route.
INR 70, 000 Crore to be set aside for domestic procurements
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated that 63% of the Defence outlay for the year 2021-22 will be set aside for
Domestic Procurements (INR 70, 000 Crore out of INR 1.35 Lakh Crore allocated in Defence budget.
• Government is also preparing a second negative list of Defence items which is expected to be released in
March, 2021.
• Negative list is a set of products/systems which cannot be imported from Foreign Countries & should be
procured only from Domestic Manufacturers.
• In August 2020, the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh restricted the import of 101 defence items.
• Rajnath Singh also stated that the deal for Light Combat Helicopters is expected to be signed shortly & the deal
for Light Utility Helicopters is expected to be completed by August, 2022.
i.On December 17, 2020, DAC meeting under the Chairmanship of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved 7
Capital Acquisition proposals regarding military hardware worth Rs. 28,000 Crore.
ii.On September 28, 2020, the DAC under the Chairmanship of Rajnath Singh in New Delhi Released and approved the
Final document of Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP)- 2020.
About Ministry of Defence:
Union Minister – Rajnath Singh (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh)
Minister of State (MoS)– Shripad Yesso Naik (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – North Goa)
GoI & AIIB sign agreement for $304mn for Assam Intra-State Transmission System Enhancement Project
On February 24, 2021, the Government of India (GoI) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) signed a
loan agreement of $304 million (mn) for Assam Intra-State Transmission System Enhancement Project to strengthen
the quality, capacity and security of the 24*7 power supply in Assam along with reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• The agreement was signed by Baldeo Purushartha, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry
of Finance on behalf of GoI and Rajat Misra, Acting Director General, Investment Operations on behalf of the
AIIB.
Terms of Agreement:
Total estimated cost of Project- $365mn
AIIB Funding (Loan)- $304mn
Assam Funding- $61mn
Loan Maturity- 24 years
Grace Period- 5 years
How will Assam’s electricity transmission be strengthened under this agreement?
–By constructing 10 transmission substations and laying transmission lines with the associated infrastructure.
–By upgrading 15 existing substations, transmission lines and existing ground wire to optical power ground wire.
–By providing technical assistance to support project implementation.
Need for this Project:
There is power deficit scenario in Assam due to congestion of the electricity distribution and transmission networks.
Assam Electricity Grid Corporation Limited (AEGCL) is the sole transmission utility in Assam is responsible for the
operation, maintenance and development of the transmission system in the State.

• It currently operates 66 substations with 6,882 megavolt-ampere capacity comprising 5,701 circuit kilometers
of transmission lines.
i.Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by PM Narendra Modi approved the revised cost estimate of
the North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) for six states at an estimated cost of Rs
6,700 crore. The 6 states are Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.
ii.On December 30, 2020, Asian Development Bank (ADB) & Government of India (GoI) signed a USD 231 Million
(~INR 1688.5 Crores) Loan Agreement for the Assam Power Sector Investment Program (APSIP) for the construction
of Lower Kopili Hydroelectric Power (LKHEP) plant.
About Assam:
Tiger Reserve– Manas Tiger Reserve, Nameri Tiger Reserve, Kaziranga Tiger Reserve
Ramsar site– Deepor Beel
About Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
India, which was among the AIIB’s 57 founding members in 2016. It is also the second-largest shareholder (with
7.62% voting shares) after China (26.06%) and the largest recipient of AIIB’s funds.
Established in – 2016
Headquarters – Beijing, China
Member Countries– 103
President – Jin Liqun (China)
Stellapps Signs MoU with IPPB to Digitise Milk Procurement

On February 23, 2021 Stellapps, an IIT(Indian Institute of Technology) Madras incubated dairy-tech startup signed a
Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to digitize the dairy milk
procurement value chain and improve banking facilities at milk collection centres.
Purpose: To expand access to a range of financial services for millions of unbanked and underbanked dairy farmers.
Provisions of MoU:
Pilot Project in Tamil Nadu
Under the MoU, a pilot project has been launched in 4 villages in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu with 200 farmers
at a greenfield dairy.
Financial Mainstream
Stellapps through this partnership aims to bring dairy farmers across villages in Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Bihar, and
Rajasthan shortly into the mainstream of finance.
Access to Cash & other Services
IPPB will enable small dairy farmers in rural areas to have access to cash and other banking services like deposits,
Aadhar enabled payment services (AePS), domestic money transfer, bill payments, and other related services.
Avail
Under the partnership, the local post office will appoint an official who will visit the respective milk collection centre
to provide banking services to farmers.
• IPPB’s distribution network has over 136,000 post offices and nearly 190,000 postmen and Grameen Dak
Sevaks, equipped with smartphones and biometric devices.
Points to be Noted
i.Recently, Stellapps launched mooPay in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan.
ii.It is a first-of-its-kind fully automated direct payment platform for dairy processors, including cooperatives.
On January 27, 2021, Bharti AXA General Insurance launched Krishi Sakha App, a one-stop-shop for Indian farmers
that offers them relevant information to cater their daily farming needs.
About Stellapps
It is the first of its kind startup in India working towards the digitization of the dairy supply chain.
Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Ranjith Mukundan
HeadQuarters– Bangalore, Karnataka

About India Post Payments Bank (IPPB):
It was set up under Department of Post, Ministry of Communications with 100% equity owned by Govt of India.
Director and Chairman– Pradipta Kumar Bisoi
MD & CEO– J Venkatramu
Tagline– Aapka Bank, Aapke Dwaar
NTPC Signs Share Purchase Agreement with GAIL to Buy GAIL’s 25.51% stake in RGPPL
On February 23, 2021 NTPC Ltd(formerly- National Thermal Power Corporation Limited) signed a share purchase
agreement with GAIL (India) Ltd. As per the agreement NTPC will buy GAIL’s 25.51% in Ratnagiri Gas and Power
Pvt Ltd (RGPPL), which is commonly known as Dabhol project. Apart from this, NTPC will sell its 14.82% stake in
Konkan LNG Ltd (KLL) on a fully diluted basis to GAIL.
Post Transaction
After the transaction, NTPC’s shareholding in RGPPL will stand at 86.49%. In addition to this, NTPC will exit from
KLL.
Note:
• Initially, NTPC and GAIl had 25.51% stake each in RGPPL.
• In January NTPC announced that it will acquire a 35.47% stake in RGPPL from its lenders.
About Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL):
i.It was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 on 08th July, 2005.
ii.It is promoted by NTPC Limited and GAIL (India) Limited.
iii.It was established to takeover and revive the assets of Dabhol Power Company Project.
iv.It is to be noted that RGPPL owns an Integrated Power generation and Re-gasified LNG facility. v.The power station
is one of India’s large gas based combined cycle power stations.
HeadOffice– New Delhi, Delhi
Chairman– Chandan Kumar Mondol
Konkan LNG Ltd
i.It is formerly known as Konkan LNG Private Limited – KLPL
ii.It was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of RGPPL.
iii.It was formed to own the LNG assets at Ratnagiri after a demerger scheme for RGPPL was approved by the
National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in February 2018.
iv.It became the subsidiary of GAIL and also become Government Company i.e.Central Public Sector Enterprise
(CPSE) in March 2020
Headoffice– Noida,Uttar Pradesh
CEO– Pankaj Patel
On May 23, 2020 ITC Limited entered into a Share Purchase Agreement(SPA) to acquire 100% of the equity share
capital of Sunrise Foods Private Ltd(SFPL), which is primarily engaged in spices under the trademark ‘Sunrise’. The
value of the deal is not disclosed but expects to be around Rs 1,800 crores to Rs 2,000 crores.
About NTPC Limited:
India’s largest energy conglomerate with roots planted way back in 1975 to accelerate power development in India.
Headquarters– New Delhi, India
Chairman and Managing Director(CMD)– Gurdeep Singh
About GAIL (India) Ltd:
CMD– Manoj Jain
Tamil Nadu FM O Panneerselvam presents Interim State Budget for the year 2021-22
On February 23, 2021, Tamil Nadu’s Finance Minister O Panneerselvam presented the Interim State Budget for the
year 2021-22 at Chennai’s Kalaivanar Arangam. It was Paneerselvam’s 11th Budget presentation.

Financial Points
• Tamil Nadu’s (TN) Debt is set to increase to INR 5.7 Trillion from INR 4.85 Trillion.
• The revenue for the year 2021-22 has been projected at INR 1, 80, 700.62 crore.
• The State’s Fiscal Deficit is expected to be at 4.99%
Growth & sector-wise performance
• TN is expected to register a positive GSDP(Gross State Domestic Product) growth of 2.02% in 2020-21
compared to 7.7% negative growth project at all-India level.
• The sectors which recorded the strongest growths were Agriculture at 5.23%, livestock & fisheries sectors also
recorded a strong growth.
• The growth in the secondary sector is 1.25% & in the service sector it was 1.64%.
Major Approvals
• INR 1, 738.81 Crore allocated for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
• The budget has provided accident-cum-life insurance cover for 55.67 lakh breadwinners (single source of
income) from Below the Poverty Line (BPL) families & enhanced medical insurance cover for government
employees.
• Approval was granted for construction of an Industrial park at Kallapalayam in Coimbatore.
• INR 1276 Crore allocated for Tribal sub-projects in the state
• 62 Investment projects worth INR 39, 941 crores granted approval
• INR 6448 Crore for the Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial route project
• INR 200 Crore allocated for Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation
• INR 22, 218.58 crore has been set aside for the rural development sector
Metro Rail in Coimbatore
A report is being prepared for Establishing Metro Rail in Coimbatore at a cost of INR 6, 683 crore
Adi-Dravidar Community
• INR 100 Crore allocated for improving the residential accommodations of people belonging to the Adi
Dravidar community.
• A Budget of INR 1932 Crores has been allocated for improvement of the community.
Stimulus from World Bank
Tamil Nadu has received INR 1492 crore from the World Bank for financing TN’s housing sector.
Health
• INR 19, 420.54 Crore has been allocated for the health sector
• INR 144 Crore has been set for Amma Mini Clinics which provides basic healthcare facilities like checking
blood pressure, blood oxygen & body temperature.
Education
• INR 5, 478.19 crore has been allocated for the Higher Education Department.
• The Budget speech also highlighted that TN’s Gross Enrolment Ratio stands at 49% which is twice the national
average.
• It also states a Gender Parity Index of 0.97 in 2018-19 highlighting the equitable access of women.
Click here to read the full Budget document
About Tamil Nadu:
Chief Minister – Edappadi K Palaniswami
Governor – Banwarilal Purohit
AP Cabinet approves ‘EBC Nestam’ Welfare Scheme for providing Financial Assistance to Women
On February 23, 2021, the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy approved a new
welfare scheme called ‘Economically Backward Classes (EBCs) Nestam’ for providing Financial Assistance to
women belonging to the EBCs.
• An assistance of INR 15, 000 per year will be extended to women in the age group of 45-60 for a period of 3
years.
• The scheme is set to be implemented from November, 2021 and will benefit 6 lakh women.

• The state government has allocated INR 670 crore per annum for the scheme, totalling to INR 2, 010 crores for
3 years.
• The scheme is an addition to a similar scheme called ‘Cheyuta’ being provided by the AP Government for
women belonging to the SC, ST, BC, Kapu & Minority communities.
Other Major Approvals
• Decision to allocate 5% of land in private layouts for the poor.
• Approval given for launch of Kadapa Steel Plant works at a cost of INR 10, 282 Crore.
• Cabinet has approved a decision to reduce time for probe into Anti-Corruption Bureau cases against
employees from 2 years to 100 days.
i.On September 11, 2020 To empower women economically and socially, YS Jaganmohan Reddy, Chief Minister of
Andhra Pradesh(AP), launched ‘YSR Aasara’ scheme.
About Andhra Pradesh:
RAMSAR Site – Kolleru Lake
Forts – Kondapalli Forts, Chandragiri Fort & Vizianagaram fort
India hosts First Meeting of BRICS Finance and Central Bank Deputies under its 2021 Chairship
On February 24, 2021, India hosted the meeting of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) finance and
central bank deputies. Notably it was the first meeting on the BRICS Financial Cooperation under India Chairship in
2021.
• It was co-chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj and RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra along
with the participation of BRICS countries’ finance and central bank deputies.
• Notably, India assumed the chairship in the year of 15th anniversary of BRICS i.e. 2021.
Key Point:
–During the meeting, discussions were held on the issues Global Economic Outlook and Response to COVID-19, Social
Infrastructure Financing and Use of Digital Technologies, New Development Bank (NDB) Activities, Fintech for SME
and Financial Inclusion, BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), among others.
— India’s approach is focused on strengthening collaboration through Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus
List of central banks of BRICS countries:
Brazil– Banco Central or Central Bank of Brazil
Russia– Central Bank of the Russian Federation or Bank of Russia
India– Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
China– People’s Bank of China
South Africa– South African Reserve Bank
i.On January 28, 2021, India & Japan held the 5th Joint Meeting of the India-Japan Act East Forum (AEF) at New Delhi.
Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Foreign Secretary of India & Suzuki Satoshi, Ambassador of Japan to India were the co-chairs
of the meeting.
ii.The 51st Edition of 2021 World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting called ‘The Davos Agenda 2021’ took place
virtually from January 25-29, 2021 on the theme “Davos Agenda – A Crucial Year to Rebuild Trust”.
About BRICS:
Theme for India’s Chairship: BRICS @ 15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus
The 13th BRICS Summit is going to be held under India’s Chairship in 2021. It will be the third time that India will be
hosting the BRICS Summit after 2012 and 2016.
MCA & CBIC Signed MoU for Exchange of Data to Enhance Ease of Doing Business in India
On 25th February 2021, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs(MCA) and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and
Customs (CBIC), under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance signed a Memorandum of
Understanding(MoU) for data exchange between the two organisations.
The MoU was signed by Manoj Pandey, Joint Secretary, MCA, and B. B. Gupta, ADG, CBIC.

Key People:
Rajesh Verma, Secretary of MCA and M. Ajit Kumar, Chairman of CBIC were present during the signing of the MoU.
Objective:
The MoU will ease the sharing of data and information between MCA and CBIC on an automatic and regular basis for
enhancing the ease of doing business in India.
Note – India Ranked 63 in the 17th edition of WB report ‘Ease of Doing Business 2020-Comparing Business
Regulation in 190 Economies’ report, New Zealand placed at the top.
Features of the MoU:
i.The MoU is in line with the vision of both the organisations, to harness data capabilities to ensure effective
enforcement.
ii.This will also enable the sharing of specific information like details of Bill of Entry (Imports), Shipping Bill (Exports)
Summary from CBIC and financial statements filed with the Registrar by corporates, returns of allotment of shares.
iii.This MoU ensures the MCA and CBIC will have an uninterrupted linkage for the regulatory purposes.
iv.In addition to the data shared on a regular basis the MCA and CBIC will share data on the basis of request of any
data available on the respective database.
Advantages:
i.The data sharing arrangement will benefit with the development of MCA21 version 3 which utilises the state of the
art technology to enhance the ease of doing business in India and improve the regulatory enforcement and similar
steps by CBIC like the launch of ADVAIT (Advanced Analytics in Indirect Taxation) a 360-degree taxpayer profiling
tool.
ii.Under this MoU both the organisations will benefit through the access of each other’s database which includes
details of import-export transactions and consolidated financial statements of companies registered in India.
Key Point:
i.The MoU came into force from the date of the signing and it is an ongoing initiative of MCA and CBIC.
ii.A Data Exchange Steering Group has been set up for the initiative. This group will meet periodically to review the
data exchange status and will take measures to improve the effective data sharing mechanism.
About Ministry of Corporate Affairs:
Union Minister– Nirmala Sitharaman
Minister of State– Anurag Singh Thakur
About Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC):
Chairman- M. Ajit Kumar
Headquarters– New Delhi
SEBI to introduce Pre-Expiry Margins to Curb Negative Price Scenarios

In order to strengthen the risk management framework, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will
introduce pre-expiry margins on cash settled contracts with effect from April 1, 2021. Under this underlying
commodities are deemed to be susceptible to possible near zero or negative prices.
• These margins will be levied during the last five trading days prior to expiry date, wherein they will increase
by 5% every day.
• These will be applicable on certain commodities under the Alternate Risk Management
Framework (ARMF).
Key Points:
–The decision to have pre-expiry margin has been taken after consultations with clearing corporations (CCs).
–These margins are aimed at encouraging significant reduction of open interest as the contract approaches the expiry
date.
Background:
Due to the unprecedented event of negative final settlement price in the crude oil futures markets in 2020, the Risk
Management Review Committee (RMRC) of SEBI reviewed the issues for the same. After that, it was suggested that
Indian Exchanges should introduce some mechanism to encourage significant reduction of open interest as the
contract approaches the expiry date. This led to the introduction of pre-expiry margins.

i.SEBI has given approval to the deal between Future Group and Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd(RRVL), where Future
group will sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and warehouse businesses to Reliance Retail for Rs 24,713 crore.
ii.On November 11, 2020 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India(IRDAI) gave its final approval for
ICICI Bank in Partnership with GCC and CSCL Launched ‘Namma Chennai Smart Card’
On February 23, 2021 ICICI Bank in partnership with the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and Chennai Smart City
Limited (CSCL) launched ‘Namma Chennai Smart Card’, a Common Payment Card System (CPCS). The Rupay
powered co-branded, contactless prepaid card was unveiled by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister(CM) Edappadi K.
Palaniswami.
Aim: To enable residents of Chennai, Tamil Nadu to make seamless payments for various services within the city.
Note: The new proposition is a step towards transforming Chennai into a Smart City. It also has made Chennai a part
of the list of international cities that offer a Common Payment Card platform
Features of ‘Namma Chennai Smart Card’
Pay at GCC centres:
The residents can make tax/ utility bill payments using the card at the GCC centres. This option will be available
shortly.
Shopping
The card facilitates retail payments within Chennai and in retail stores and e-commerce websites across India.
Manage card:
• The card has many features to manage cards online including, card block/unblock, activation, pin-reset etc.
• In addition to this, the residents can also reload the card digitally through UPI on the customer portal or the
iSmart City app shortly.
Discounts:
The customers will also get exciting discount offers on the card.
About Contactless Payment:
• The term contactless payment refers to a secure method for consumers to purchase products or services using
a debit, credit or another payment device by using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and near-
field communication (NFC).
• The Reserve Bank of India has hiked the limit for contactless payments from ₹2,000 to ₹5,000 effective from
January 1, 2021.
About Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC):
It is the civic body that governs the city of Chennai, TamilNadu. It is headed by the Mayor.
On January 28, 2021 StashFin entered into partnership with SBM Bank (India) Ltd to launch their co- branded
prepaid card, ‘StashFin SBM card’. The card is powered by Visa and has a contactless Europay, MasterCard, and
Visa(EMV) chip, enabling cardholders to have 24×7 access to funds. It has been designed through collaboration.
About Chennai Smart City Limited (CSCL):
Chairman and Director– G.Prakash, I.A.S.
CEO– Raj Cherubal
Headquarters– Chennai, TamilNadu
About ICICI Bank:
i.The bank was formed in 1955 at the initiative of the World Bank, the Government of India and representatives of
Indian industry.
ii.The Bank’s consolidated total assets stood at Rs 15,19,353 crore at December 31, 2020.

Incorporated-1994
Social Alpha and SIDBI Partnered to Set up 1st of its Kind Swavalamban Divyangjan ATMA Fund
Social Alpha, a multistage innovation curation and venture development platform has partnered with Small
Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to set up the Swavalamban Divyangjan Assistive Tech Market
Access (ATMA) fund, a Social Impact fund.
It is a first of its kind inclusion fund that offers financial grants to Social Alpha-incubated startups that work in the
Assistive Technology(AT) sector.
Purpose: To promote innovation and reduce the expenses for persons with disabilities to procure new technologies
What are Assistive Technologies?
It is an assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative device, software, or equipment for people with disabilities or the elderly
population.
Note: About 40 to 80 million in India are Persons-With-Disabilities (PWDs). In other words, one in 12 households
has a family member with a disability.
About Swavalamban Divyangjan Assistive Tech Market Access (ATMA) fund:
i.Under the fund, each incubatee will get access to implementation support of up to Rs 20 lakh.
ii.The fund will finance upto 50% of product price for the initial users.
iii.The startups can apply for Social Alpha incubation throughout the year.
iv.Assistive Technologies that require support will be identified by Social Alpha and their business plan will be
evaluated
v.The incubatees will also be eligible for Social Alpha follow-on investment, subject to further due diligence.
On December 7, 2020, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company Limited (KMAMC) or Kotak Mutual Fund
launched India’s first diversified REIT (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Mutual Fund namely “Kotak International REIT
Fund of Funds”.
HeadOffice– Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Deputy Managing Director– V Satya Venkata Rao
Set up– 2nd April 1990 under an Act of Indian Parliament
About Social Alpha:
Co-Founder, CEO– Manoj Kumar
Headquarters– Bangalore, Karnataka
IRDAI Forms 14 Member Committee Headed by Janakiram to Review its Information & Cyber Security
Guidelines
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has formed a 14 member committee to
review its information and cyber security guidelines. The committee is headed by Prof Janakiram, chairman of
Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT). A R Nithiyanantham, CGM-IT, IRDAI will be
a member convenor of the working group.
• IRDAI issued cyber security guidelines in April 2017
Purpose: To address the cyber attacks in the financial sector and to have a structured reporting to analyse the issue
at industry level.
Need: The cyber attacks across the world have increased, especially in the financial sector due to the economic
situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Note: The committee is required to submit its report in 2 months.
What are the Guidelines on cyber security in April 2017?
i.Among others it mandate:
• Information Security Committee (ISC),

• Board-approved information and cyber security policy,
• Appointment of Chief Information Security Officer(CISO)
• Cyber Crisis Management Plan(CCMP)
ii.In addition to this, the guidelines also mandate that the risk management committee of insurers must be
responsible for an annual comprehensive assurance audit.
iii.This includes conducting of Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Test (VA&PT) and the findings should be
reported to the authority.
Review to be made by the Committee
Among others, the following are the review to be made by the committee:
i.If there is a need to extend the applicability of guidelines for insurers to other entities which are regulated by IRDAI,
with or without modification.
ii.How to apply these guidelines to entities which access insurers’ IT system
iii.How to find out if the minimum security standards are followed by the accessors of the insurers’ IT
systems, though they are not regulated by IRDAI
iv.If there is a need to update the guidelines to cover cyber security issues of fintech solutions, mobile-based
applications, work from remote locations and cloud sourcing, among others.
v.To address basic needs for Critical Information Infrastructure(CIIs) to sync with National Security Council of
India(NCSI) Guidelines.
vi.To address the applicability of Guidelines for Foreign Reinsurance Branches(FRBs) that have interfaces with
overseas parent companies and other Global reinsurers.
vii.To prepare a Comprehensive audit checklist and certification model.
On October 19, 2020 In an effort to set up Data Culture through Data Democratizationin the Indian securities market,
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has constituted a Market Data Advisory Committee(MDAC),
Standing Committee. The committee is headed by Madhabi Puri Buch.
IRDAI Gives Nod to Acquisition of upto 12% Stake in Max Life Insurance by Axis Entities
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has given its formal approval to acquisition
of up to 12% stake in Max Life Insurance company ltd by Axis entities(Axis Bank ltd and its subsidiaries, Axis
Capital Ltd and Axis Securities Ltd ).
Note: In January 2021 CCI gave approval to this deal. The total premium generated through this deal has aggregated
to over Rs. 40,000 crore.
Proposed Transaction
i.Under the proposed transaction, Axis entities can acquire up to 19% stake in Max Life, of which Axis bank will
acquire up to 9% in Max Life.
ii.While, Axis Capital and Axis Securities will acquire up to 3% of the share capital of Max Life.
iii.In addition to this, Axis entities have the right to acquire an additional stake of up to 7% in Max Life, in one or more
tranches.
Background:
i.Axis entities agreed into a revised agreement with Max Financial Services (MFS) Ltd to acquire up to 19% of the
equity share capital of Max Life Insurance Co Ltd (Revised Agreements) on october 30, 2020.
ii.Prior to this, Axis bank was to acquire upto 17% in Max Life Insurance.
On November 11, 2020 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India(IRDAI) gave its final approval for

About Max Life Insurance Company Ltd:
Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)– Prashant Tripathy
About Axis Bank Ltd:
MD and CEO– Amitabh Chaudhry
Tagline– Badhti Ka naam Zindagi
Founded– 1993
Tarkishore Prasad presented Bihar Govt Rs 2,18,302.70cr budget for FY22

On February 22, 2021, the Deputy Chief Minister (CM) of Bihar Tarkishore Prasad, who holds the finance portfolio,
presented his maiden Rs 2,18,302.70 crore revenue-surplus state budget of Bihar for FY22, which is Rs 6,541.21
crore more than the FY21 estimates of Rs 2,11,761.49 crore.
• The state’s fiscal deficit in the budget has been estimated at Rs 22,510.78 crore which is 2.97% of the Gross
State Domestic Product (GSDP), estimated at Rs 7,57,026 crore. The budget proposed to keep the fiscal deficit
target within the 3% limit.
• Notably, no new taxes are imposed and it is proposed to develop infrastructure and social sectors, and
entrepreneurship.
• Bihar has consistently claimed to be a revenue-surplus state since 2004-05.
Key Points:
–The highest allocation of Rs 38,035.93 crore has been made for education, followed by Rs 16,835.67 crore for rural
development, Rs 15,227.74 crore for roads, Rs 13,264.87 crore for health and Rs 8,560 crore for energy.
–A sum of Rs 200 crore has been allocated for the industries department on the lines of the state government
promise to create 20 lakh employment opportunities by 2025.
–An allocation of Rs 4,671 crore was made for the second phase of ‘Saat Nischay’ (seven resolves) programme
• ‘Saat Nischay’ scheme include Promotion of entrepreneurship, enhancement of skill, improvement of irrigation
facilities, strengthening of health infrastructure, better connectivity and development of clean and prosperous
villages and cities.
–There is also a proposal of setting up of universities for imparting higher learning in medical, engineering and
sports.
—Rajgir, one of the state’s most popular tourist destinations, has been proposed as the site for the sports university
besides an international cricket stadium and sports academy.
Creation of separate department for skill development and entrepreneurship
To ensure better coordination for running ITIs (Industrial Training Institutes) and polytechnic colleges the state
government proposed to set up skill development and entrepreneurship. Currently, ITIs run by the labour
department and polytechnic colleges are administered by the science and technology department.
• To encourage entrepreneurship, grants will be given by the government for startups upto 50% of one’s project
cost or up to Rs 5 lakh. Loans up to Rs 5 lakh at a nominal 1% interest rate also provided.
• Women entrepreneurs will be given special incentives in the form of interest-free loans of up to Rs 5 lakh.
Bihar registers 10.5% growth rate
In accordance with the 15th Bihar Economic Survey 2020-21, the state recorded a 10.5% growth rate (at constant
prices) in 2019-20, higher than the growth rate of the Indian economy (estimated to be around 5%).
• He also tabled the Bihar Settlement of Taxation Disputes (Second) Ordinance, 2020, while Parliamentary
Affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary tabled the Bihar State Higher Education Council (2nd Amendment)
Ordinance, 2020.
Key Points from Survey:
–The share of revenue expenditure in the total expenditure has increased from 74.4% in 2015-16 to 86% in 2019-20,
while the share of expenditure in the capital account has declined from 25.6% to 14% during the same period.
–The tertiary sector (the service sector including retail, financial services, hospitality, real estate, etc.) recorded a
noticeable increase in its share—up from 57.3% in 2013-14 to 60.2% in 2019-20, largely due to growth in road
transport and other services.

–The report shows financial management in the state was within the prescribed limits of the Fiscal Responsibility and
Budget Management Act (FRBMA), 2006.
i.Bihar’s 1st state level bird festival ‘Kalrav’ was held from January 15 to 17, 2021 in Nagi bird Sanctuary & Nakti bird
Sanctuary, Jamui district, Bihar. It was formally inaugurated by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on January 16,
2021.
ii.According to a study conducted by State Bank of India (SBI) Research, North-Eastern (NE) states (All NE
statescombined as one) topped the list of states in managing Pandemic, Bihar came second, followed by Uttar
Pradesh.
About Bihar:
Chief Minister– Nitish Kumar
Capital– Patna
Governor– Phagu Chauhan
Omega Seiki to Set up EV Manufacturing Facility in Bangladesh with Investment of Rs 100 Crore
Omega Seiki Pvt Ltd has announced that it will set up an Electric Vehicle(EV) manufacturing facility, known
as OSM-Bangladesh near Dhaka in Bangladesh with investment of Rs 100 crore.
This will be the 1st project of any Indian EV company in international markets. The EV manufacturing company will
be registered in Bangladesh.
i.The vehicles of Omega Seiki will be powered by Li-Ion batteries and with powertrains built in Bangladesh, with
technology transfer from India.
ii.The project will be a modern greenfield facility.
Focus: To manufacture two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and electric bicycles.
Note – Bangladesh has a zero-tax policy for exports to 39 countries including India.
Highlights about manufacturing Facility:
i.Under the OSM brand the vehicles that are manufactured in Bangladesh will be sold through local partners and
franchises.
ii.Omega Seiki intends to reduce traffic jam and pollution by manufacturing EVs
Key Info:
i.Omega Seiki Mobility is the mobility arm of the Omega Seiki Pvt Ltd will provide smart, green solutions for e-
commerce, cargo and logistics companies.
ii.Currently, Omega Seiki Mobility has 2 manufacturing plants in India, located at IMT Faridabad and IMT Manesar,
Haryana.
iii.Omega Seiki Mobility Ltd launched its 1st electric vehicle in India, Singha & Singha Max, a three-wheeled cargo
vehicle.
iv.It will also invest Rs 200 crore in India to focus on R&D and manufacture all cutting-edge technologies and IT-
driven businesses in the e-mobility segment. But now it focuses on electric mobility.
Ola Electric acquired the Netherlands-based Etergo BV, an innovative electric scooter company for an undisclosed
sum, as the former has planned to set its own line of premium electric two-wheelers, both globally and nationally. Ola
electric will launch its global electric two-wheeler in India in 2021.
About Omega Seiki Private Limited:
It is a member of the Anglian Omega Network.
Managing Director– Deb Mukherji, PhD
IRDAI Issues Guidelines on Standard Personal Accident Insurance Product

On February 25, 2021 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) issued guidelines
on Standard Personal Accident Insurance Product named ‘Saral Suraksha Bima’, succeeded by name of
insurance company under the provisions of Section 34 (1) (a) of Insurance Act, 1938.

IRDAI has directed all the general and Health Insurers to offer this product from April 1, 2021. The product can be
offered as a group product.
i.The policy tenure of the standard product will be for a period of one year.
ii.Insurers can use the name of the product for the group policy by adding the word “group”.
Purpose: To offer a standard product with common coverage and policy wordings.
Guidelines on Standard Personal Accident Insurance Product
Minimum & Maximum Sum Insured
Under the product, the minimum sum insured will be Rs.2.5 lakhs and maximum sum insured will be Rs.1 Crore.
Multiples– The sum insured offered will be in multiples of Rs 50,000
Limit exceed- Beyond the limit mentioned above, insurers can provide on their own and can use the name of the
product, if all terms and conditions remain the same
Family– If the product is offered as a family cover, the chosen sum insured will be applicable to each family member
separately.
Regulations
i.The product will comply with all the provisions of IRDAI (Health Insurance) Regulations, 2016, and all other
applicable Regulations & Guidelines.
ii.The insurer may determine the price on the basis of the mentioned above regulation and guidelines.
Age Category
The minimum entry age will be 18 years, while maximum will be at least 70 for the insured members including
principal insured.
Can Fix Maximum Age– Insures have an option to fix the maximum age at entry beyond 70 years, subject to
underwriting policy.
Dependent will be covered– Dependent Child / children will also be covered from 3 months of age to 25 years
subject to the definition of ‘Family’ and underwriting policy.
Covers
Base Covers: There are 3 base covers namely, Death, Permanent Total Disablement, Permanent Partial Disablement.
• The basic mandatory covers will be uniform across the market.
Optional Covers: There are 3 optional covers namely, Temporary Total Disablement, Hospitalisation Expenses due
to Accident and Education Grant.
Category of Cover
i.The base covers and optional covers temporary Total Disablement and Education Grant will be offered on a benefit
basis.
ii.While, Hospitalisation Expenses due to Accident will be offered on indemnity basis.
Guidelines issued for Policy Covers:
• According to the guidelines, under the base cover benefit equal to 100% of sum insured will be payable on
death of the insured person, due to an injury sustained in an accident during the policy period.
• Similarly, 100% sum insured will have to be paid if the insured person suffers Permanent Total Disablement,
“solely and directly due to an accident during the policy period.”
• The permanent total disablement clause will apply to a number of conditions, including loss of sight or injury
that disabled the insured person from engaging in any employment or occupation.
• Hospitalization expenses due to the accident will also be subject to claim which shall be indemnified up to the
limit of 10 percent of base sum insured.
• A one-time educational grant of 10 percent of the base sum insured shall be payable to all dependent children
till the age of 25 of the insured following an admissible claim made of the insured person towards death or
total permanent disability.
Claim
Intimation about an event or occurrence that may lead to a claim under this policy must be provided within 30 days
of its happening.

On December 28, 2020 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India(IRDAI) issued an exposure
draft on guidelines for standard travel insurance policies that is to be offered from April 1, 2021 by every general
insurer and stand-alone health insurer.
Exim Bank to Support Construction of Social Housing Units in Maldives Through USD 130 Million Funding
Export-Import Bank of India (India Exim Bank) is set to support the construction of social housing units in
Maldives, through its USD 130 million loan to Fahi Dhiriulhan Corporation Limited. The funding is set to be
provided through the credit programme of the buyer under the National Export Insurance Account (NEIA Scheme).
The project is proposed to be executed by the NBCC (India) limited (formerly National Buildings Construction
Corporation Limited).
Background:
i.On 20th February 2021, India Exim Bank exchanged the Letter of Intent (LoI) with Fahi Dhiriulhan Corporation Ltd.,
the government of Maldives for the design and construction of 2000 social housing units in Hulhumale, Maldives at
the cost of USD 130 million.
ii.The LoI was exchanged in Male city, during the visit of S Jaishankar, External Minister of India, to Maldives.
NEIA Scheme:
The NEIA scheme is a unique financing mechanism that enables a safe mode of financing option to Indian project
exporters backed by cover from NEIA Trust.
Key Points:
Under the NEIA scheme India’s Exim Bank has supported various projects in different sectors like water, power,
railway and road in various countries like Ghana, Zambia, Cameroon, Mauritania and Senegal in Africa, Sri Lanka in
Asia as well as Suriname in Latin America.
About Export-Import Bank of India (India Exim Bank) :
Established in 1982
India to Grow at 13.7% in FY 22: Moody’s

On February 25, 2021 Moody’s projected India’s growth at 13.7% for FY 22. Earlier it was estimated at 10.8%. The
revision has been made due to normalisation of activity and growing market confidence in the market with the
introduction of COVID-19 vaccines.
i.Moody’s also projected that Indian economy will contract by 7%(-7%) in FY21, which is lower than the previous
estimate of -10.6%.
ICRA Projected India’s Economy to grow 10.5% in FY-22:
i.ICRA Limited (formerly Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency) expects the Indian economy to contract
by 7%(-7%) in FY 21. The growth will be rebounded to 10.5% in FY 22.
Note: ICRA also expects a 0.3% growth in 3rd quarter (October-December) of FY 21.
Moody’s
As per Moody’s, the fiscal deficit for FY2021 and FY2022 of the central government is required to be low than
projected, supported by stronger revenue generation in the 4th quarter of FY2021 and higher nominal GDP growth in
fiscal 2022.
Other Recent Estimates:
i.RBI Projects India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at 10.5% for FY 22. It projected GDP for FY 21 as -7.5%
ii.Nomura projects India’s GDP at 13.5% in FY22. The real GDP to contract by 6.7% in FY21.
iii.India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra)Ltd estimated that India’s real GDP will bounce back to 10.4% in FY22. Earlier,
Ind-Ra had projected the GDP for FY 21 as -7.8%.

iv.Ecowrap report of the State Bank of India (SBI) estimated that India’s GDP for FY 21 will contract by 7%(-7%) from
-7.4% projected earlier. The GDP growth in FY22 will remain at 11%.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest World Economic Outlook, titled ‘Policy Support and Vaccines
Expected to Lift Activity’ has projected India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to contract by 8%(-8%) in FY20-21.
About Moody’s:
Headquarters– NewYork, United States
President & CEO– Robert Fauber(Succeeds Raymond McDaniel, Jr.)
About ICRA Ltd:
Registered Office– New Delhi, Delhi
MD & Group CEO– N. Sivaraman
HDFC Bank & Kotak Mahindra Bank to Pick up 9.99% Stake Each in Ferbine Pvt Ltd
On 25th February 2021, the HDFC bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank acquired 9.99% stakes each in Ferbine Private
Limited, a company promoted by Tata Sons, which plans to apply to the Reserve Bank of India to set up a Pan India
Umbrella entity(PUE) for retail payments.
HDFC Bank:
i.HDFC bank has executed an agreement to subscribe 4995 equity shares each of face value Rs.10 each fully paid up
issued by Ferbine for a consideration of Rs.10 per equity share.
ii.The acquisition of cash consideration of Rs.49950 will be completed by the end of February 2021.
Kotak Mahindra Bank:
Kotak Mahindra Bank has also subscribed 4995 equity shares for Rs.49950 which translated into an equity
shareholding of 9.99% on 25th February 2021.
Umbrella Entity:
• Umbrella Entity shall be a company authorised by RBI under Section 4 of the Payment and Settlement Systems
Act, 2007
• The umbrella entity shall have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs.500 crore.
• A minimum net-worth of Rs.300 crore shall be maintained at all times.
• RBI guidelines mandate that applicants have at least three years of experience in the payments space.
• Umbrella Entity will be entitled to set up, manage and operate new payment systems in the retail space
including ATMs, PoS, Aadhaar-based payments and remittance services.
• The PUE is expected to develop systems that able to interact and be interoperable to the extent possible with
the existing systems operated by NPCI.
• Unlike NPCI, the PUE can be a for-profit entity. No single promoter is allowed to have more than 40 percent
investment in the capital of the PUE, as per RBI guidelines.
• The promoter shareholding can be diluted to a minimum of 25 percent after five years of the commencement
of business of the umbrella entity.
Key Points:
i.Ferbine Private Limited was incorporated on 18th January 2021 to make an application to RBI for the PUE license.
ii.The main business of the company is to operate a pan India PUE for retail payment systems.
iii.The RBI’s last day for applying for an umbrella entity for retail payments
On May 30, 2020, Private sector lender Yes Bank Limited has acquired a 24.19% stake in Dish TV India Ltd, a
company providing Direct to Home (DTH) television service in India, following invocation of 44.53 crore pledged
shares due to default in payment of debt by Dish TV and some other companies.
It is to be noted that as of March 31, 2019, Dish TV’s debt stood at Rs 2,758 crore.
About HDFC Bank:
MD & CEO– Sashidhar Jagdishan
Tagline– We Understand your World

About Kotak Mahindra Bank:
MD & CEO– Uday Kotak
Tagline– Let’s Make Money Simple, Ab Kona Kona Kotak
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot presents State Budget for the year 2021-22
On February 24, 2021, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot who holds the Finance Portfolio presented the
state’s 1st Paperless Budget. Rajasthan is the 2nd State after Uttar Pradesh to table a paperless budget.
Fiscal Indicators
• Revenue Expenditure – INR 1, 89, 701.80 Crore
• Revenue Deficit – INR 41, 721.61 Crore
• Estimated Revenue Deficit – INR 23, 750.04 Crore in FY 2021-22
• Estimated Fiscal Deficit – INR 47, 652.77 Crore which is 3.98% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in FY
2021-22
Major Announcements
• A New Universal Health Care scheme worth INR 3, 500 Crore was announced, under the scheme every
family in the state will get medical insurance benefit of up to INR 5 Lakh.
• Launch of Indira Gandhi Urban Credit Card Scheme for self-employment & employment needs of street
vendors of urban areas & youth and unemployed people of all areas. An Interest free loan of up to INR 50, 000
will be provided to 5 lakh needy people.
• Announcement of Jeevan Rakshak Yojana, under which a prize of INR 5, 000 & citation will be given to good
citizens who save lives in road accidents.
• Increase in unemployment allowance to eligible youth by INR 1, 000 under the Chief Minister Youth Sambal
Yojana.
Other key allocations – Sector wise
Medical & Health
• Nursing colleges to be built at 25 district headquarters
Education
• Around 1, 200 Mahatma Gandhi Government Schools to be constructed in Villages with a population of 5, 000
in the next 2 years.
• A Fintech Digital University to be constructed at Jodhpur.
Sports
• Announcement of Major Dhyan Chand Stadium Scheme under which each block in the state will have its
own stadium
• INR 30 Crore has been allocated for organizing sports like Kabaddi, Volleyball, Cricket & Hockey at gram
panchayat, block & state-level.
Energy
• The CM also announced a new Energy Policy 2021-50.
• Green Corridor of 6.3 Gigawatts by Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Ltd. (RVPN)
Forest & Environment
• Development of Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur as Wetland Birds Habitat Conservation Centre.
• Wildlife Management Training Centre at Talchapar Sanctuary, Churu
Special Package for COVID Management
During the budget, CM Gehlot announced a Special Package for COVID Management under which
• INR 2000 each to be provided to 33 Lakh Destitute families
• INR 50 Crore interest subsidy to 10, 000 entrepreneurs
• INR 5 Lakh as seed money to start-ups
• INR 470 Crore for Back to School programme, free uniform & textbooks
• 200 days of employment to Shahariya, Kathodi & specially-abled labourers.

Ghar Ghar Aushadi Yojana
He also announced the launch of ‘Ghar Ghar Aushadi Yojana’ for encouraging the use of herbs like tulsi & giloy in
every household.
Click here to read the full document
About Rajasthan:
Dams – Ranapratap Sagar Dam (Chambal River), Mahi Bajaj Sagar Dam (Mahi River)
SIDBI Signed MoU with Government of AP to Develop MSME Ecosystem in AP

On 25th February 2021, the Small Industries Development Bank of India(SIDBI), signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Andhra Pradesh(AP) to develop the micro, small and medium
enterprises (MSME) ecosystem in AP.
The MoU was signed by JVN Subramanyam, director of industries, commerce and export promotion, Andhra Pradesh
and Sanjay Jain, general manager, regional head, SIDBI, Hyderabad.
Key People:
The mou was signed in the presence of Mekapati Goutham Reddy Industries minister of Andhra Pradesh.
Features of the MoU:
i.As a part of this association, SIDBI will set up a project management unit (PMU) which will design schemes and
programmes in the areas like equity support, interest subvention resolution of stressed MSME and supporting MSME
entrepreneurs.
ii.The PMU will study the existing framework of the schemes, interventions, initiatives and projects that are currently
available for the benefit of MSME and suggest modification.
iv.SIDBI has appointed an expert agency to set up the PMU’s in 11 states which includes Assam, New Delhi, Haryana,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu on a plot
basis.
v.The proposed development initiatives were in line with the visions of RBI appointed UK Sinha committee on MSME.
On November 25, 2020 Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with Tamil Nadu(TN) government to develop the MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises) ecosystem in the state. Under the MoU, a Project Management Unit (PMU) will be set up by SIDBI in
Tamil Nadu.
SIDBI is a Principal Financial Institution established to promote, finance and develop MSME sectors.
Deputy Managing Director- V Satya Venkata Rao
Headquarters– Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Exim Banks Extended LOC of USD 7.35 Million to Republic of Nicaragua

On February 26, 2021 The Export-Import Bank of India(Exim Bank), on behalf of the Government of India, extended
Line of Credit(LOC) of USD 7.35 million(about 54 crore) to the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua.
Purpose: To replace and supply equipment of the High Technology Centre of Hospital Antonio Lenin Fonseca at
Managua, Nicaragua.
Key People
An agreement to this effect was signed between Jose Adrian Chavarria Montenegro, Vice-Minister General of the
Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, Government of Republic of Nicaragua and Mr. Nirmit Ved, General Manager,
Exim Bank on February 18, 2021
About the project:
i.The project under the LOC will improve the quality of life of the patients and provide a modern hospital
infrastructure in Nicaragua.
ii.It will also enable export of medical equipment from India.
Total LOC Agreement Between Exim Bank & Republic of Nicaragua:
i.With the aforementioned LOC agreement, Exim Bank has extended 5 LOC to the Government of the Republic of
Nicaragua, with a total value of USD 94.98 million.

ii.These LOCs cover projects in the Power and Healthcare sectors in Nicaragua.
Total LOC Agreement Exim Bank:
i.Till now, Exim bank has signed total 269 LOC, covering 62 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), with commitments of around USD 26.64 billion which is available for
financing exports from India.
ii.Apart from promoting India’s exports, the LOCs also help to demonstrate India’s expertise and project and project
execution capabilities in emerging markets.
On December 12, 2020, Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), on behalf of the Government of India, has extended
a Line of Credit (LOC) of $448 million to the Government of Republic of Uzbekistan for financing the latter’s various
projects in the Roads & Transport, Water and Technology & Communication sectors.
About Export-Import Bank of India(Exim Bank):
Established– 1982
Regulated by – Reserve Bank of India
About Republic of Nicaragua:
Capital– Managua
President– Daniel Ortega
Currency– Nicaraguan córdoba
Matam Venkata Rao Appointed as MD & CEO of the Central Bank of India, replaced the incumbent Pallav
Mahapatra
The Central Government has appointed Matam Venkata Rao, the Executive Director of Canara Bank as the new
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Central Bank of India for a period of 3 years.
• He replaces Pallav Mahaparta, the MD & CEO of Central Bank of India who retires on 28th February 2021.
• With this appointment of MV Rao, Canara bank will have only 2 executive directors.
About M V Rao:
i.Matam Venkata Rao took charge as one of the 3 executive directors of Canara Bank on 9th October 2017 for a period
of 3 years.
ii.The central government extended his term as the executive director of Canara Bank for a period of 2 years on the
completion of his 3 year term which ended on 8th October 2020.
iii.He has served as the General Manager of Allahabad Bank prior to his appointment in Canara Bank.
About Central Bank of India:
Central Bank of India was the first Indian commercial bank which was wholly owned and managed by Indians.
MD & CEO – Matam Venkata Rao
Headquarter – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Tagline – Central to you since 1911
Established – 1911

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Banking, Finance & Economy News: February 2021

BSE Established ‘Innovation Sandbox’ Web Portal

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RBI Appointed External Professional IT Firm to Audit HDFC Bank’s IT Infrastructure

SEBI Revises Objective, Eligibility Criteria of Innovation Sandbox

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AMCs of Mutual Funds to Set Up LPCC by Contributing Rs 150 Crore: SEBI

Federal Bank Launched FedFirst, a Special Savings Account for Children

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IRDAI Releases Guidelines on Standard Vector Borne Disease Health Policy

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Highlights of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Feb 5, 2021

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PhonePe Partnered with Axis Bank on UPI Multi-Bank

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IEPF Authority signs MoU with IGNOU for Telecast of IAP

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RBI Observes Financial Literacy Week 2021 from February 8 to 12

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IRDAI panel okays the launch of Index-Linked Insurance Policies

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NPCI launched Global Hackathon – ‘NPCI PayAuth Challenge’ on APIX

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India’s FY21 GDP to Contract by 7% from -7.4%: SBI’s Ecowrap Report

GAIL Acquires 5% Stake of Indian Energy Exchange in Indian Gas Exchange

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CCEA approves Grant-in-aid of Rs 100 cr to BVFCL, Assam

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RBI Restricts Withdrawals from Independence Cooperative Bank

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India’s Real GDP will grow at 10.4% in FY22: Ind-Ra

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NVIDIA to Acquire SoftBank Group’s Arm Ltd for USD 40 Billion

Meghalaya Police signs MoU with SBI for Implementation of e-challan

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EXIM Bank to provide $400 mn funding for Maldives project

RBI announces Rs 20,000cr Open Market Operations on February 10

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