Kapil Kathpal

Bank credit growth slowed to

16.8% in third quarter: RBI Banking & Insurance

• Bank credit growth slowed down to 16.8% in the October-

December 2022 period from a year earlier. This compares with
17.2% seen in the previous quarter, according to the quarterly
statistics on bank deposits and credit, released by the Reserve
Bank of India.

• A year earlier, credit growth was 8.4%.

• Growth in credit was led by bank branches in metropolitan centres,

which account for nearly 60% of the total credit by scheduled
commercial banks (SCBs) adding that these branches recorded About RBI:
17.2% growth in lending.
Governor : Shaktikanta Das
Deputy Gov. : Mahesh Kumar
• Public sector banks increased their credit portfolio by 15.7% Jain, T Rabi Shankar, Michael
during the calendar year 2022 compared with 4.7% in 2021 Debabrata Patra, M Rajeshwar
Rao
• Corresponding growth for private sector banks, however, remained HQ : Mumbai, Maharashtra
higher at 19.1% Est. : 01st April 1935
 Kapil Kathpal

• Aggregate deposits increased by 10.3% in December

Recent in RBI:
2022 compared with 9.6% a year ago, led by 13.2%
growth in term deposits. Current and savings deposits • RBI imposed restrictions on 5
co-operative banks.
recorded moderate growth of 4.6% and 7.3%,
• RBI issues final guideline on
respectively. interest rate risk in banking
book.
• In principal approval was
• Deposit mobilisation by public sector banks improved
given to 32 existing payment
to 8.8% growth in December 2022 (6.9% a year ago) aggregators by RBI.
though it remained lower than 13.2% growth in • RBI updated rules for foreign
donations via NEFT & RTGS.
deposits with private sector banks.
• RBI’s 2nd Global Hackathon
“HARBINGER 2023” was
• The all-India credit-deposit (C-D) ratio increased further launched.
• Bi- monthly Monetary Policy
to 75.9% in December 2022 compared with 74.8% in
of FY23 was released.
the previous quarter and 71.6% in December 2021. It
remained above 100% for Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
 Kapil Kathpal
Bharti AXA Life Insurance & Unity Bank
Form Bancassurance Partnership Banking & Insurance

• Bharti AXA Life Insurance Limited has entered into a

bancassurance partnership with Unity Small Finance
Bank Limited to distribute life insurance products
through the bank’s network

Unity Small Finance Bank Limited (Unity Bank):

• MD & CEO – Inderjit Camotra
• Headquarters – Mumbai
 Kapil Kathpal
Bank of Maharashtra &
Experian India Collaborated Banking & Insurance

• Bank of Maharashtra has formed a partnership with Experian India

to improve digital security and provide an extensive portfolio of
services such as credit risk, advanced analytics, and fraud
prevention.

• Experian is partnering with BoM to provide innovative solutions

throughout the customer lifecycle, allowing the bank to onboard
New to Credit and New to Bank consumers and efficiently service
existing customers. Recent BoM:

Bank of Maharashtra: • BoM top PSB in Q3 loan

• MD & CEO – A S Rajeev growth with 21.67% YOY
growth.
• Headquarters – Pune, Maharashtra
• BoM had lowest NPA and net
• Tagline – Ek Parivaar, Ek Bank NPA.
• BoM also topped in PSBs in
deposit growth of 14.5%
 Kapil Kathpal
India’s manufacturing PMI slips to
4-month low of 55.3 in February Banking & Insurance

• India’s purchasing managers’ index declined to a 4-month low at

55.3 in February according to the S&P Global India Manufacturing
PMI report.

• In January, the manufacturing PMI stood at 55.4.

• It is an index of the prevailing direction of economic trends in the

manufacturing and service sectors. It is an economic indicator,
which is derived after monthly surveys of different companies.

• There are two types of PMI — Manufacturing PMI and Services

PMI. A combined index is also made using both manufacturing
PMI and services PMI.
 Kapil Kathpal
National Health Authority Scan and Share Service
National
• National Health Authority introduced QR-code-based solutions
called the “SCAN AND SHARE” service.

• Under the service, QR codes are placed at important spots in the

hospitals. The patients can use their smartphones and scan the
QR code to fill in the registration form.

• The “Scan and share” reduces waiting time. It aids to fill the right
data. The patient fills in himself. No office person is doing the job
for him. So errors are minimal.
 Kapil Kathpal
PM Inaugurates Shivamogga Airport in Karnataka
National
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Shivamogga Airport

• The Shivamogga airport is the 9th domestic airport in Karnataka

• In Shivamogga, the PM laid the foundation for two railway projects: The
Shivamogga-Shikaripura- Ranebennur new railway line and the
Koteganguru Railway coaching depot.

• The new Shivamogga—Shikaripura—Ranebennur railway line will be built

at a cost of Rs. 990 crore and would connect the Malnad region to the
Bengaluru—Mumbai mainline.

Recent Karnataka:

• Karnataka to get India’s

first Marina in Byndoor.
• India’s largest chopper
manufacturing unit in
Karnataka
 Kapil Kathpal
1,300 year-old Buddhist stupa found in Odisha
National
• The Archaeological Survey of India recently discovered a 1,300-
year-old Buddhist stupa near Jagannath temple located in Puri.

• The stupa was discovered during a mining operation. Khondalite

stone is mined here.

• It is a metamorphic rock and was used in the construction of the

Puri Jagannath temple.

• The discovered stupa is 4.5 metres tall. ODISHA:

• It belongs to the 7th or 8th century CM : Naveen Patnaik

Governor : Ganeshi Lal
• The stupa was discovered in the Prabhadi site of Odisha.
Recent:
• The prabhadi site is located near Lalitagiri, a major Buddhist
complex. Lalitagiri has many stupas, Buddha images, and India’s First agri chatbot
monasteries Ama KrushAI launched in
Odisha.
 Kapil Kathpal

• With this discovery, the ASI may take over the site. Already the ASI
has taken over several sites like Sukhuapada. The problem is
these regions are the Khondalitte mining zones. The Khondalite
stone is used extensively in the ABADHA scheme.

• ABADHA is the Augmentation of Basic Amenities and the

Development of Heritage and Architecture scheme.

• With the ASI taking over the sites, the ABADHA scheme
implementation will be affected.

• The State Government of Odisha has allocated Rs 3,208 crores

for the ABADHA scheme.

• The ABADHA Scheme is also implementing Matha Development

Initiative, the Atharnala heritage project, Puri Lake Development,
the Jagannath Ballav pilgrim centre, etc.
 Kapil Kathpal
Vistara Brand To Be Discontinued With Air India Merger
National
• Air India, owned by the Tata group, will discontinue the
Vistara brand on completion of its merger with Tata SIA
Airlines Ltd, the operator of Vistara airline

• Tata Group owns a 51 per cent stake and Singapore

Airlines the rest in Vistara.

• Tata Group that took over loss-making Air India in

January last year, announced that Vistara will be
merged with the airline, while AIX Connect, earlier
known as AirAsia India will get integrated with Air India
Express.
 Kapil Kathpal
Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh
Mandaviya inaugurates 2-day Chintan Shivir National

• Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for

Health & Family Welfare, inaugurated a 2- day
Chintan Shivir on “Drugs: Quality Regulations
& Enforcement” at Kanha Shanti Vanam in
Hyderabad

• Chintan Shivir was organised by the Union

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in
collaboration with the Department of
Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of
Chemicals and Fertilizers.
 Kapil Kathpal
India’s 1st Container Feeder Service launched
Between Chennai-Puducherry ports National

• A short-haul coastal container feeder service, first of its kind in India, was
launched between Chennai – Puducherry ports.

• The container feeder ship, Hope Seven was flagged off by service
between Chennai and Puducherry ports flagged off at D P World Terminal
at the Chennai Port.

• The coastal feeder service is a step forward towards the ambitious

Sagarmala Project of the government of India.
Puducherry:
• Under the Sagarmala programme, the government of India decided to
develop Puducherry port as a satellite port to Chennai port for container CM: N Rangasamy
cargo from and to the UT Gov. : Tamilisai Soundararajan

• The Sagarmala programme is the Ministry of Shipping’s flagship initiative,

Tamil Nadu:
launched in 2015, to encourage port-led development in India by using its
14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways, 7,500 km of coastline, and
CM : MK Stalin
strategic location on key international maritime trade routes.
Gov. : R N Ravi
 Kapil Kathpal
Govt approves 2,880-MW Dibang
Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh National

• The 2,880-megawatt Dibang Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh, the

largest ever hydropower project has got approval from the Government of India
with the investment of $3.9 billion to meet the power demand.

• The project will be developed by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC)

Limited.

• The estimated time period for building the project was 9 years.

• The Project is located in the Lower Dibang Valley District of AP on the Dibang
River.

• The project includes construction of a 278m high Concrete Gravity Dam

• After completion of the 278m tall dam, it will be India’s tallest.

NHPC Limited:
• Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) [additional charge] – Rajeev Kumar
Vishnoi
• Headquarters – Faridabad
 Kapil Kathpal
A life-size statue of Sachin
Tendulkar at Wankhede National

• A life-size statue of Sachin Tendulkar inside the iconic

Wankhede stadium where he played his last game for
India will be installed. The statue will be unveiled on
April 23. It will be the legend’s 50th birthday.

• Tendulkar played 200 Test matches, 463 one-day

internationals and one T20 for India. His record of most
centuries (100) and most runs in international cricket
(34,357) still stands unbroken.
 Kapil Kathpal
Mizoram to export Bird’s eye chilli to the US
National
• The Birds Eye Chilli is widely used in Asian cuisines. The chilli is also
called Thai chilli. It is native to Mexico.

• The Spanish and Portuguese people spread the chilli all over the world.
The chilli variety has received a GI tag from GoI. The state of Mizoram is
to export the chilli variety.

• The production of Bird eye chillies in the region has increased. This was
due to the initiative called FOCUS. FOCUS means Fostering Climate
Resilient Upland Farming System. The project is aided by the
International Fund for Agriculture Development the UN. It is implemented
in six districts.
Mizoram:
• Surprisingly FOCUS promotes the production of bird’s eye chillies through
CM : Zoramthanga
Jhum cultivation.
Gov. : Kambhampati Hari Babu
• Jhum cultivation or shifting cultivation is where farmers after harvesting
the crops, burns the area and then uses the ash to fertilize the soil for
next crop or for cow grazing.
 Kapil Kathpal
Hindustan Samachar- Doordarshan and AIR tie up
MoU’s
• The Hindustan Samachar was awarded a new contract to provide news content in
12 languages to Doordarshan and AIR for a period of 25-and-a-half months.

• The deal is reportedly worth Rs 7.70 crore and includes the supply of 12 national
news stories and 40 “local stories” in regional languages every day.

• There exists a contract between Prasar Bharati and Hindustan Samachar.

• Hindusthan Samachar is a news agency that was founded by Shivram Shankar

Apte, a journalist with ties to the RSS.

• He founded the news agency as a multi-lingual news organization.

• In 1975, during the Emergency, the Indian government merged HS with three other
news agencies- PTI, United News of India (UNI) and Samachar Bharati into a
single entity, Samachar.

• The Janata Party government later reversed this decision, but HS was again
targeted by the government in 1983.

• In 1986, the HS was shut down due to a financial crisis. In 2002, the RSS renewed
the HS with the help of PM Shri Vajpayee.
 Kapil Kathpal
Government launches GAC Portal
for Social Media Complaints Portals

• Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State(MoS), Ministry of Electronics and

Information Technology(MeitY) launched the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC)
portal, a dispute resolution mechanism, to ensure accountability of social media
platforms to their users.

• The portal is launched under Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and

Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules 2021).

• The GAC platform will automatically segregate the complaints made to the Grievance
Appellate Committees and escalate those that require intervention by one of the three
Committees constituted by the government.

• On 28th January 2023, the Three GAC Committees were formed to receive complaints
to put the amendments into action.

• 1st Committee will be led by the Ministry of Home Affairs and deal with complaints about
illegal or criminal activities.

• 2nd Committee will be under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and will handle
misinformation or fake content.

• 3rd Committee will be led by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
(MeitY) and will work on copyright issues or any other unlawful activity otherwise not
covered elsewhere.
 Kapil Kathpal
ISRO Successfully Conducts Flight
Acceptance Hot Test for Chandrayaan-3 Science & Tech

• Indian Space Research Organisation successfully conducted the flight

acceptance hot test of the CE-20 cryogenic engine that will power the
Cryogenic Upper Stage of the LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3) for the
Chandrayaan-3 Mission at the ISRO Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri,
Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu

• The Chandrayaan-3 lander also successfully underwent EMI-EMC

(Electro – Magnetic Interference/ Electro – Magnetic Compatibility) test at
U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru

• EMI-EMC test is conducted for satellite missions to ensure the

functionality of the satellite subsystems in the space environment and Recent ISRO:
their compatibility with the expected electromagnetic levels.
JANUS-1, ES-07 and Azaadi SAT
• Chandrayaan-3 mission is set to be launched from the Satish Dhawan 2 launched from ISRO’s SSLV-
Space Centre in Sriharikota in June 2023. D2 rocket, from Satish Dhawan
Space Centre.
Indian Space Research Organisation
• Chairman– Dr S Somanath
• Headquarters– Bengaluru, Karnataka.
 Kapil Kathpal
India-UK Young Professionals Scheme
International
• The UK Government recently launched the Young Professionals
Scheme. Under the scheme, Indian nationals of age 18 years to
30 years can live and work in Britain for up to two years.

• To avail of the benefits of the scheme, the person should be an

Indian citizen, he or should be between 18 to 30 years old, should
have at least 2,350 pounds in savings

• Persons entering through the scheme can set up the company.

However, the equipment used in the company should not exceed
5,000 pounds. And such people cannot hire employees

• The scheme is not for family members

• People availing of the benefits of the scheme cannot work as

sportsperson
 Kapil Kathpal
Senior Mission Leaders’ Course
International
• The Senior Mission Leaders’ course is being held in Tokyo, Japan from
June 19-30 this year.

• The Union Home Ministry has directed all states and Union Territories to
nominate three candidates – one each from the military, police, and
civilian domains – for this course.

• The SML course aims to prepare senior personnel for future roles and
responsibilities as mission leaders in United Nations peacekeeping
operations, enabling them to plan, manage, and lead such missions.

• The Department of Peace Operations, DPCO working at KIPTC (Kofi

Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, est. in 1998) of the
United Nations conduct the SML course.
 Kapil Kathpal
DST & Fraunhofer ISE signs agreement on
Hydrogen & Clean Energy Technologies International

• Department of Science and Technology

and Germany-based Fraunhofer Institute
for Solar Energy Systems has signed a
Letter of Intent for a long- term
collaboration focusing on hydrogen
technologies.
 Kapil Kathpal
Australia’s Deakin University set to become the
1st Foreign University to have Campus in India International

• Deakin University from Australia is set to become the

first foreign university to set up a campus in India.

• The campus will be established in Gujarat International

Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Gandhinagar

• The International Financial Services Centre Authority

has received an application from Deakin University
regarding setting up its campus in India.

• Deakin University has 4 campuses in Australia:

Melbourne (Burwood), Geelong (Waurn Ponds and
Waterfront) and Warrnambool.
 ‘Naatu Naatu’ song from ‘RRR’ to be Kapil Kathpal

performed at the Oscars 2023 ceremony International

• SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR‘ movie, the popular song ‘Naatu Naatu‘ which is

nominated in the ‘Best Original Song’ category will be performed at the 95th
Academy Awards or Oscar awards by singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala
Bhairava in their Oscar debut.

• The song’s music is composed by M.M. Keeravaani, while its lyrics are written
by Chandrabose.

• The cross-cultural hit is nominated in the original song category alongside

“This Is A Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Applause” from
“Tell It Like a Woman,” and “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda
Forever,” all of which are part of the scheduled performances for the 95th
annual ceremony.

• In January, ‘Naatu Naatu’ won the Golden Globes in the ‘Best Original Song’
category. ‘RRR’ bagged two more awards at the 28th edition of the Critics
Choice Awards. One is for the best song and another is for ‘best foreign
language film.’

• The song was also released in Hindi as ‘Naacho Naacho’, in Tamil as ‘Naattu
Koothu’, in Kannada as ‘Halli Naatu’ and in Malayalam as ‘Karinthol’. Its Hindi
version was sung by Rahul Sipligunj and Vishal Mishra.
 Kapil Kathpal
Rajesh Malhotra named principal director general of PIB
Appointments
• Rajesh Malhotra has been appointed as the principal
director general of the Press Information Bureau

• He will be the principal spokesperson of the

government of India.

• He will replace Satyendra Prakash, who took charge as

principal DG of PIB in August 2022.
 Kapil Kathpal
Vishal Sharma appointed as Godrej industries
CEO-designate of its chemicals business Appointments

• Vishal Sharma has been named the Chief Executive

Officer-Designate (CEO-Designate) of the GIL-
Chemicals Business

Recent Appointments:

Shailesh Pathak FICCI Secretary General

Rajesh Rai CMD of ITI Ltd.

BVR Subrahmanyam CEO of NITI Aayog

VP Rajan Amba MD of Jaguar Land Rover

India
Shailesh Pathak Secretary Gen. of FICCI

Lt. Gen R S Reen DGCA

 Kapil Kathpal
World Civil Defence Day - 1st March
Important Days
• World Civil Defence Day is observed on 1st March to
raise awareness about the importance of civil defence
measures in protecting people and their property from
natural disasters, accidents, and other emergencies.

• The theme for this year is “Uniting the world’s leading

specialists for the safety and security of future
generations”.
 Kapil Kathpal
World Seagrass Day 2023 - 1st March

• World Seagrass Day is celebrated annually on 1st

March to raise awareness about seagrass and its
important functions in the marine ecosystem.

• The seagrasses are grass-like plants that live close to

the sea.

• There are more than 60 seagrass species in the world.

 Kapil Kathpal
Zero Discrimination Day 2023
• Zero Discrimination Day is celebrated on March 1. The
day is mainly celebrated by organizations like UNAIDS.

• Theme- Save Lives: Decriminalize

• In India, activists use the day to speak against

discrimination faced by the LGBT community.

• The day first started focusing on HIV. However, it has

now been extended to all forms of discrimination.