1. India recently launched its own payment gateway 'RuPay', equivalent
of Visa and Mastercard, which will work on ATMs and merchant outlets and help
in reducing cash transactions.
Note: i. RuPay, which works on three channels ‐‐ ATMs, Point of Sales (POS) and online sales, is the seventh
such payment gateway in the world.
ii. The RuPay platform ‐‐ developed by
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)‐‐ is being used
by certain banks like ICICI, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, among
others, for clearing and settlement.
2. India became third‐largest
economy in 2011 from 10th
in 2005: World Bank.
3. Note: India emerged as the world’s third‐largest
economy in 2011 from being the 10th largest in 2005, moving ahead of Japan, while
the US remained the largest economy closely followed by China, latest figures
have revealed.
4. Govt accepts Sahoo panel report on review of depository receipts scheme.
The key recommendations of the committee include allowing issuance of
depository receipts against any underlying securities — equity or debt, by any
issuer ‐ listed or unlisted.
Note: Depository receipts are receipts
denominated in foreign currency created by a depository in the country of
listing. There are two popular types of depository receipts — global depository
receipts and American depository receipts.
5. ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Ltd has become Exide Life
Insurance Company. The insurance company will continue to honour its
commitments and obligations under the insurance policies issued to customers in
the name of ING Vysya Insurance Company Ltd.
6. Switzerland and Norway are the world's most expensive economies,
followed by Bermuda, Australia and Denmark, according to a new ranking by the
World Bank
7. SBI launches 3 Digital banking
facilities for its customers”
i. Tab Banking for Saving A/C ‐ Opening
Savings a/c at Customer’s door step using tablet PC provided to the Bank’s
Sales Staff (who visit the Customer’s home).
ii. TAB Banking for Home Loan ‐ In‐principle
approval for the home loan at customer’s door step using tablet PC provided to
the Bank’s Home Loan Sales Team which will capture on the tablet KYC details
and details.
iii. e‐KYC ‐ Generates e‐KYC
(Know Your Customer) identity document.
8. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) launched an Institutional
Trading Platform (ITP) to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
and start‐up companies to list on the bourses
without an Initial Public Offer (IPO).
9. Basel Committee issued Final standards to curb exposures of banks
to customers. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on 15 April 2014
issued Final standards for measuring and controlling large exposures of banks
to customers. These standards will take effect from 1 January 2019
10. Bank of India (BOI) has become the first Indian bank to extend
a bridge loan of $200 million to Air India to finance the purchase of
two Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
11. India leads global remittances with USD 70 bn in 2013.
India's neighbour China follows second with USD 60 billion, said the World Bank
report
12. World Trade Organisation (WTO) projected that the world
trade will grow by 4.7 percent in 2014.
13. The World Bank give loan Pakistan 12 billion dollars over
the next five years to help lift its economy,
14. Qatar based Doha Bank announced it’s First branch in
Mumbai. The branch in Mumbai will be opened as a full‐fledged
bank in May 2014.
Note: Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait, Abu Dhabi Bank are the two
other banks from Arab countries to have operations in India before Doha bank.
15. Bank of India (BOI) launched Instant Money Transfer
(IMT) scheme in Mumbai.
Note: IMT scheme allows customers to withdraw cash without using
either debt card or credit card at BoI's IMT‐enabled ATMs. This
is the first‐of‐its‐kind
initiative launched by a public sector bank.
16. Kotak Mahindra launches accounts integrated with Facebook,
Twitter.
17. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has bagged Morningstar India’s best fund
house award in the debt, equity and multi‐asset category.
18. ADB pegs India GDP growth rate for 2014‐15
at 5.5 pc
19. Inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI)
reached a 3‐month high of 5.7% in March 2014.
20. Wholesale Inflation falls to 9‐month
low of 4.68 per cent in Feb
21. Kotak Mahindra Bank announced the launch of Jifi, a first‐of‐its‐kind
fully integrated social bank account that transcends normal digital banking by
seamlessly incorporating social networking platforms like Twitter and Facebook
with mainstream banking.
22. Export‐Import Bank of India extended a Line of
Credit of $89.90 million to the Government of Republic of Congo, for development
of transportation system in the Republic of Congo.
23. Central Bank of India has sold its entire stake in credit
information provider CIBIL to Transunion International Inc. Central Bank had a
5 per cent stake in CIBIL while Transunion is the majority shareholder in CIBIL
at 27.5 per cent.
24. Canara Bank names cricketer Shikhar Dhawan as its brand
ambassador.
25. Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Bank set
World record for Blood collection in a single day. The blood donation camp
organised by HDFC Bank on 6 December 2013 was recorded in the Guinness Book of
Records.
26. The World Bank has said it would provide up to $3 billion
in aid for Ukraine in 2014 to help the country deliver much‐needed
economic reforms.
27. Max Life Insurance has tied up with Toyota Financial Services
India Ltd to provide insurance cover to car loan customers.
28. Bihar emerges as fastest growing state (15.05 per cent) in 2012‐13: CSO Report.
Note: According to the CSO data, Gujarat ranked 6th with
growth rate at 7.96 per cent, behind Bihar and Madhya Pradesh with 9.89 per
cent, Goa 8.47 per cent, Kerala 8.24 per cent and Odisha 8.09 per cent. The all‐India
growth rate in 2012‐13 was 4.47
29. Indian Bank has bagged national award for excellence in
lending to micro enterprises for 2012‐2013, for the
consecutive second year.
30. Corporation Bank has bagged the awards for lending to MSE
(micro and small enterprises) and to micro enterprises from the Union Ministry
of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) for 2012‐13.
31. The Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait, BBK, plans to expand its
operations in India by opening its fourth branch in the country in New Delhi.
32. Interest rate on Post Office FDs increased by up to
0.2 per cent from
8.2 percent to 8.4 percent.
33. India’s 1st post office savings bank ATM inaugurated in
Thyagaraya Nagar, Chennai.
34. SEBI approved the new Corporate
Governance norms. The new
corporate governance norms would become applicable for all listed companies
with effect from 1 October 2014.
35. Wholesale inflation eased to a seven‐month
low of 5.05 per cent in January, on decline in the rate of price rise in
food articles, mainly vegetables.
36. Retirement fund body EPFO decided to increase the rate of
interest on Provident Fund deposits to 8.75 percent from 8.5 percent.
37. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has
sanctioned Rs 348.63 crore to Karnataka under Rural Infrastructure Development
Fund (RIDF).
38. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided $400 million
first tranche line of credit to India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd
(IIFCL) to help accelerate infrastructure growth through increased private
sector investment.
39. Asian Development Bank will provide USD 275 million loan
for improving rural road connectivity in five states including Assam, Chhattisgarh,
Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal in the country.
40. Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) and SBI Cards have joined hands
for roll‐out of credit cards to customers of
India’s first womenfocused commercial bank
41. Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB), the first all‐women
bank, tied with New India Assurance to launch health insurance products for women
account holders of the bank.
42. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) and RBI concluded an agreement that
expands the maximum amount of the bilateral swap arrangement (BSA) between the
two countries to USD 50 billion.
Note: BOJ Governor is Haruhiko Kuroda and RBI Governor Raghuram
Rajan
43. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD) has reduced refinance rate for banks and other lending agencies by
0.20 per cent to promote rural credit and rural infrastructure.
Note: The revised rate of interest on
refinance for a period of five years for commercial, state cooperative,
regional rural and primary urban cooperative banks will be 9.70 per cent,
down from 9.90 per cent.
44. SEBI grants new status to three
clearing corporations to
National Securities Clearing Corporation, Indian Clearing Corporation and MCX‐SX
Clearing Corporation.
45. IMF projected 5.4 percent economic growth for India
in 2014‐15
46. WB (World Bank) projected economic growth rate of 5.7%
for India in 2014‐15 fiscal
47. World Bank will provide $250 million loan to
construct disaster resilient houses and roads in disaster‐hit
Uttarakhand.
48. World Bank will provide $500 million loan for water
supply and sanitation projects in the rural areas of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand
and Uttar Pradesh.
49. World Bank will provide 50 million dollar assistance
to Afghanistan to support the government's efforts to improve access to credit
for micro, small and medium enterprises.
50. LIC has re‐launched its “Jeevan Anand” plan, a
participating non‐linked plan which offers an attractive
combination of protection and savings.
51. Govt launches inflation indexed saving bonds which
offer protection to retail investors from price rise. The minimum limit for investment
is Rs 5,000 and the maximum is Rs 5 lakh per applicant per annum. Interest rate
would be linked to Consumer Price Index (CPI).
52. The world’s first Bitcoin storage service that insures
deposits of the digital currency against hackers and accidental loss has opened
in London.
53. Economic growth in India projected at 5.35% in 2014, says
UN report
54. UN projected the global economy to grow at a pace of 3 per
cent in 2014 and 3.3 per cent in 2015.
55. Indian Overseas Bank launched ‘Connect Card’, a new
ATM cum Debit card in association with VISA that can be used for ecommerce across
five lakh merchant outlets.
56. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved American
retail giant Walmart Stores Inc's proposal to acquire Bharti Group's nearly 50
per cent stake in their Indian wholesale stores joint venture.
57. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD) projected a credit potential of Rs 12726.83 crore in the state focus
paper (SFP) for the year 2014‐15 in Uttarakhand under the priority
sector.
