Kapil Kathpal

28th Edition of Status Report on

India’s External Debt 2021-22 Released
• The External Debt Management Unit in the Department of economic
Affairs, Ministry of Finance, has released 28th edition of the Status Report
on India’s External Debt 2021-22. India’s external debt, at US$ 620.7
billion as at end-March 2022, grew by 8.2 per cent over US$ 573.7 billon
as at end-March 2021. While 53.2 per cent of it was denominated in US
dollar, Indian rupee denominated debt, estimated at 31.2 per cent, was
the second largest.

• External debt as a ratio to GDP fell marginally to 19.9 per cent as at end-
March 2022 from 21.2 per cent a year ago.

• Foreign currency reserves as a ratio to external debt stood slightly lower

at 97.8 per cent as at end-March 2022 than 100.6 per cent a year ago.

• The long-term debt estimated at US$ 499.1 billion, constituted the largest
chunk of 80.4 per cent, while the short-term debt, at US$ 121.7 billion,
accounted for 19.6 per cent of the total.
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• As at end-March 2022, sovereign external debt (SED) amounted to US$
130.7 billion, increasing by 17.1 per cent over the level a year ago,
reflecting the additional allocation of SDRs by the IMF during 2021-22.

• The debt service ratio fell to 5.2 per cent during 2021-22 from 8.2 per cent
during 2020-21 due to buoyancy in current receipts and a decline in debt
service payments. The debt service payment obligations arising out of the
stock of external debt as at end-March 2022 are projected to trend
downwards over the coming years.

• In a cross-country perspective, India’s external debt is modest,

occupying 23th position globally. In terms of various debt vulnerability
indicators, India’s sustainability was better than the Low-and-Middle
Income Countries (LMICs) as a group and vis-à-vis many of them
individually.
SC Judge DY Chandrachud named Kapil Kathpal

as new Chairman of NALSA

• Supreme Court judge Justice DY Chandrachud has been appointed as
the next executive chairperson of the National Legal Services
Authority. The post was previously held by the Chief Justice of India UU
Lalit.

• President Droupadi Murmu has appointed Justice D.Y. Chandrachud as

the executive chairman of the NALSA.

• The NALSA has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities
Act, 1987 to provide free Legal Services to the weaker sections of the
society.

• Its purpose is to provide free legal services to eligible candidates, and to

organize Lok Adalats for the speedy resolution of cases.

• While the CJI is the Patron-in-Chief, the second senior most judge of the
Supreme Court of India is the executive chairperson of the Authority.
 Kapil Kathpal
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank named Krishnan
Sankarasubramaniam as new MD & CEO
• The Tuticorin-based Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) Ltd has
announced the appointment of Krishnan Sankarasubramaniam as
the Managing Director and CEO with effect for three years.

• Krishnan served as the MD & CEO of Punjab & Sind Bank

• Krishnan was also the Executive Director of Canara Bank

 Kapil Kathpal
Mushfiqur Rahim Announces Retirement
from T20 International cricket
• Mushfiqur Rahim announces his retirement from T20 international cricket.
Mushfiqur Rahim Bangladesh wicketkeeper announced his retirement on
4th September.

• The decision came after Bangladesh faced defeat in Asia Cup 2022
match against Sri Lanka.

• Mushfiqur Rahim was the former captain and vice-captain of the

Bangladesh national cricket team.

• . He is the first and only wicketkeeper-Batsman in the history of Test

cricket to score two doubles hundreds.

• He is the only Bangladeshi Batsman to score three double-hundreds in

Tests and the only Bangladeshi player to win 150 international matches.
 Kapil Kathpal
BEL tie-up with Smiths Detection
to manufacture scanning systems
• Bharat Electronics Limited (has signed a Memorandum
of Understanding with Smiths Detection, a global
leader in threat detection and security inspection
technologies, for offering advanced, high-energy
scanning systems to the Indian market.

• The MoU, signed for a period of five years

 Kapil Kathpal
IIT Madras joins Inspire Institute of Sports
• IIT Madras researchers and Inspire Institute of Sports in Karnataka have
joined forces to create the analytics platform “Smartboxer.”

• To boost India’s boxing medal total at the 2024 Olympics, advanced

boxing analytics software is being created. IIT Madras’ Center of
Excellence for Sports Science and Analytics is responsible for creating the
multi-version software.

• It will use wearable sensors and cameras with Internet of Things

(capabilities to deliver feedback and performance evaluations.

• Inspire Institute of Sport will use “Smartboxer” to evaluate the boxers’

performance

• The MoU was signed during a two-day conference with the theme
“Innovative Technological and Sports Sciences Practices for High
Performance in Youth Sports” that was held in Panchkula, Haryana, the
first week of June 2022 by the National Centre for Sports Sciences and
Research in collaboration with the Sports Sciences and Analytics Center
of IIT Madras.
 Kapil Kathpal
First LNG truck facility in India
opened by Blue Energy Motors
• The long-haul, heavy-duty trucks from Blue Energy Motors, which
intends to upend the Indian trucking business by producing clean
energy, almost zero emissions vehicles, will run on LNG.

• The business was inaugrated by Union Minister, Nitin Gadkari.

Blue Energy Motors has a contract in place with FPT Industrial,
the global powertrain brand of the Italian Iveco Group, to launch
the first LNG trucks with BS VI-compliant FPT Industrial engines.

• The introduction of the 5528 4×2 tractor will serve as the first
model for the market entry of LNG-fueled trucks.
 Kapil Kathpal
President Droupadi Murmu confers
National Awards to distinguished teachers
• On the occasion of Teachers Day, President Droupadi Murmu has
honoured 45 selected teachers from across the country
with National Awards at Vigyan Bhawan New Delhi.

• The Union Ministry of Education, Department of School Education

& Literacy constituted an Independent Jury at National Level to
bestow the National Award to Teachers (NAT) for the year 2022.
Sh. Sidharth made it to the list of 45 outstanding teachers from all
over India selected after 3-stage rigorous online transparent
process.
 Kapil Kathpal
HDFC Bank, Precision selected by
RBI for retail payments test phase
• The Reserve Bank of India has announced that HDFC
Bank (in partnership with Sweden-based Crunchfish
Aktiebolag) and Precision Biometric India Pvt. Ltd has
been selected for the test phase for their ‘offline retail
payments’ and ‘InnaIT Key Solution for Banking’
products under the ‘On Tap’ application facilities for the
theme ‘Retail Payments’ under the Regulatory
Sandbox.
 Kapil Kathpal
Uttarakhand Govt launched ‘Samarth’ e-governance portal
• The Uttarakhand education department launched an e-governance
portal “Samarth”. This portal provides all administrative and
educational updates including information about entrance exams,
salary structures, and appointments from five state universities
and 140 public schools.

• The portal also provides access to 40 academic study modules.

• 200 assistant professors of science subjects will be sent to

the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru for special training, while
teachers of state universities will be given training at IIM Kashipur.
 Kapil Kathpal
BSF Drone Tear Smoke Launcher
• Recently, the Tear Smoke Unit of the Border Security Force has
developed an indigenous drone Tear Smoke Launcher.

• This launcher will be used to control the crowd and to release tear
gas shells during riots and unrest.

• It can be used to launch shells from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

(UAVs) or drones and will be a potential force multiplier for security
forces operating in the law and order management sector.

• In this, tear gas shells can be fired within a radius of 250-300

meters through drones. A drone can be loaded with 2 to 6 tear gas
shells and dropped on the target area.
 Kapil Kathpal
NGT fines West Bengal for waste management failure
• National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed
environmental compensation of Rs 3,500 crore
on West Bengal for failing to manage solid and
liquid waste.

• In the budget of the financial year 2022-23, the

West Bengal government had made a
provision to spend about Rs 12818 crore on
matters related to urban development and
municipalities. But the state government did not
do any special work in this direction.
 NITI Aayog Releases 4th Kapil Kathpal

Progress Report On POSHAN Abhiyaan

• NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) has released the
4th progress report on the POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching
Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) Abhiyaan, titled “Preserving Progress on
Nutrition in India: Poshan Abhiyaan in Pandemic Times.”

• Poshan Abhiyaan is the flagship programme of Government of India

• The report covers the period from January to December 2020, which
mostly coincides with the active implementation of mission activities.

• The report also highlighted that 12 of the 19 largest states had an

implementation score of more than 70%.
S.No Large States

1 Maharashtra (MH)

2 Andhra Pradesh (AP)

3 Gujarat (GJ)

4 Tamil Nadu (TN)

5 Madhya Pradesh (MP)

 Kapil Kathpal

Top 5 among Smaller States:

S.No Small States
1 Sikkim
2 Meghalaya
3 Tripura
4 Goa
5 Nagaland

Top 5 among Union Territories (UTs):

S.No Union Territories (UTs)

1 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
2 Chandigarh
3 Andaman & Nicobar Islands
4 Jammu & Kashmir
5 Lakshadweep
 Kapil Kathpal

• In terms of overall Poshan Abhiyaan implementation, Punjab and

Bihar performed the lowest among larger states.

• Only 17 States and UTs had more than 75% of children 12-23
months of age fully immunized, while 11 states and UTs had less
than 25% fully immunized children.

• Take-home rations have been distributed to all beneficiaries of the

Women and Child Development programme in various States and
UTs.

• In contrast, coverage was still inadequate in Bihar, Punjab, Sikkim,

and Jammu & Kashmir.

• It should be emphasized that less than 50% of the funds allocated

for Poshan Abhiyaan have been utilized overall, across 23 States
and UTs.
 Kapil Kathpal
Government of Tripura designed
the 1st Bio Villages in India
1ST BIO VILLAGE
• Tripura was praised for the modified 1st Bio-Village at Daspara in TRIPURA
DASPAAR
the Sepahijala district., which received International recognition for SEPAHIJALA

designing and setting up the 1st Bio-Village of India

• The Bio-Village has been implemented across 10 villages to

modify the lifestyle and livelihood of over 1000 marginalised
people for adaptive behaviour of Nature-based technology which
has been promoted by the Directorate of Bio-Technology.

• This project benefits over 500 households and the Government

succeeds in setting up 5 Bio-Villages so far. Each household
draws an economic benefit of Rs. 5,500 per month.
 India Likely to Become World’s Kapil Kathpal

6th Largest Insurance Market by 2032

• According to the ‘Global Economic and Insurance Outlook’ report
published by the Swiss Re Institute (Switzerland), India will emerge as the
6th largest insurance market in the world by 2032

• Total insurance premiums in India are predicted to grow by an average of

14% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in nominal local currency AFTER 10 years 6th

terms over the next 10 years, placing the country 6th largest in terms of
total premium volume by 2032

• Global growth in life insurance premiums is anticipated to be nearly stable

in 2022 and to increase by 1.9% in real terms in 2023.

• By 2032, India’s life insurance market is expected to be the 5th largest in

the world.

• According to the report, the Indian life insurance market will expand at an
exceptional pace of 6.6% (in real terms) in 2022 and then 7.1% in 2023.

• Life insurance premiums in India are expected to surpass USD 100 billion
for the first time in 2022, based on the projected growth rate.
 Kapil Kathpal

Non-Life Insurance Sector

• Global non-life premium growth for the insurance market is

anticipated to decelerate to 0.8% (in real terms) in 2022 from 2.6%
in 2021.

• After a slight contraction in 2020, the non-life insurance market in

India resumed growth in 2021, growing by 5.8% (in real terms).

• In 2022, growth is predicted to slightly drop down to 4.5%,

primarily because of high inflation. However, between 2023 and
2032, the sector is projected to expand at a CAGR (in real terms)
close to 8%.
 Kapil Kathpal
Paris Agreement: India’s Climate Pledges Rank

• According to a new study published in the scientific journal Nature

Climate Change, India’s updated climate pledge to the Paris Agreement
has been ranked 5th in compliance and 4th in ambition.

• The study includes eight countries, the US, China, Australia, Saudi Arabia,
Russia, Australia, Brazil— as well as the EU.

• While the European Union (EU) claimed the top spot, the United States
(US) was placed bottom in compliance and second to last in ambition.

• The Paris Agreement is a global treaty in which over 200 countries

pledged to work together to cut Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and
combat climate change.

• To keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (2°C), preferably

1.5°C, when compared to pre- industry levels.
 Kapil Kathpal
RBI issues new guidelines on Digital Lending

• Reserve Bank of India issued official guidelines to all

lenders/regulated entities including banks to protect the data of
borrowers using digital lending apps from being misused.

• These directions are issued under sections 21, 35A and 56 of the
Banking Regulation (BR) Act, 1949, sections 45JA, 45L and 45M
of the RBI Act, 1934, sections 30A and 32 of the National Housing
Bank (NHB) Act, 1987, section 6 of the Factoring Regulation Act,
2011 and section 11 of the Credit Information Companies
(Regulation) Act, 2005.

• For the adequate implementation of processes to ensure that

existing digital loans comply with fresh lending guidelines, RBI has
provided a time till November 30, 2022 to REs.
 Kapil Kathpal
• A lender can only store information, such as the name, address, contact details of the
customers, among others, which are needed to process and disburse the loan, and its
repayment.

• Digital lending apps cannot store the borrower’s biometric information.

• The borrower must be provided with an option to give or deny consent for use of specific
data, restrict disclosure to third parties, data retention, revoke consent already granted to
collect personal data, and if required, make the app delete/ forget the data.

• Consent of the borrower shall be taken before sharing personal information with any third
party, except for cases where such sharing is required as per statutory or regulatory
requirement.

• The Key Facts Statement (KFS) apart from other necessary information, contain the details
of the annual percentage rate (APR), the recovery mechanism, and the details of the
grievance redressal officer designated specifically to deal with digital lending/fintech related
matter, as well as the cooling-off/look-up period.

• REs cannot levy any fees, charges, etc., which are not mentioned in the KFS to the
borrower at any stage during the term of the loan.

• The information should be sent to the borrowers on their verified email or through SMS on
the successful execution of the loan contract or transaction.

• Details of nodal grievance redressal officer must be displayed on the websites of banks,
NBFCs, LSPs, DLAs, and also on the KFS.
• According to the provisions of the Credit Information Companies’ (CIC) Kapil Kathpal
Regulation Act, 2005, issued by RBI from time to time, registered entities
shall ensure that any lending done through their DLAs and/or DLAs of
LSPs is reported to CICs irrespective of their nature or tenor.

• A borrower shall be given an explicit option to exit digital loan by paying

the principal and the proportionate APR without any penalty during this
period.

• The cooling off period is determined by the Board of the RE. The period
so determined shall not be less than three days for loans having tenor of
seven days or more and one day for loans having tenor of less than seven
days.

• For borrowers continuing with the loan even after look-up period, pre-
payment shall continue to be allowed as per extant RBI guidelines.

• The new guidelines on digital lending come after concerns primarily

related to unbridled engagement of third parties, mis-selling, breach of
data privacy, unfair business conduct, charging of exorbitant interest
rates, and unethical recovery practices. RBI has been encouraging
innovation in the financial system, and ensuring the protection of
depositors’ and customers’ interests.
 Kapil Kathpal
NPCI directs Apps to Stop
Charging Platform Fees on BBPS
• The National Payments Corporation of India has directed the payment
apps not to charge a platform fee for payments on Bharat Bill Payment
System payments.

• One of the largest Unified Payments Interfaces is PhonPe in India.

• The NPCI’s directive came after the payment platforms started to charge
fees on recharges and other payments.

• NPCI released a directive after Paytm started to charge Rs 1 for various

bill payments.

• Both Paytm and PhonePe announced their immediate discontinuation of

the charging payment fees on the BBPS. According to PhonePe’s result
on its experiment, 98% of the consumers were ready to pay the fees.
 Kapil Kathpal
Codeshare Pact between IndiGo and
Virgin Atlantic for Network Expansion
• India’s largest airline IndiGo and British carrier Virgin Atlantic
signed a new codeshare agreement to widen the network of the
airline.

• It is IndiGo’s 7th codeshare with Virgin Atlantic.

• IndiGo has signed similar agreements with Turkish Airlines, Qatar

Airways, Air France, KLM (Netherlands), Qantas (Australia) and
American Airlines.

• The initial codeshare destinations in India are Chennai, Bengaluru,

Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Delhi, and
Mumbai.

• The additional codeshare destinations will be Kochi, Chandigarh,

Jaipur, Pune, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Vadodara, Indore, and
Visakhapatnam.