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CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE
India may peg nominal GDP growth at about 11% in the 2023/24 budget
- India is likely to peg its nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth at around 11% during the budget session, marking a slowdown from its estimate for the current fiscal year due to the prospect of weak exports.
What is Nominal GDP growth?
- Nominal GDP growth is the value of all the final goods and services at current market prices.
- Nominal GDP growth takes into account factors such as inflation, price changes, changing interest rates, and money supply at the time of determining GDP.
Key Highlights :
- The government expects nominal growth of 15.4% for the current fiscal year that ends on March 31, 2023.
- India’s gross tax collection growth rate will likely go up to around 8% with a nominal GDP of 10.6%-11%, compared with 14.5% in the current year, due to the base effect.
- A fall in exports and a continued rise in imports to support domestic consumption would lead to a widening current account deficit (CAD).
- India’s CAD was 4.4% of GDP in the July-September quarter.
- In the Economic Survey of 2022/23, the real GDP growth is expected to be pegged at 6.0% – 6.5%
- India aims to achieve a fiscal deficit of 4.5% of GDP by 2025/26.
- The current year’s fiscal deficit target is pegged at 6.4%.
AU Small Finance Bank launches innovative credit card offering platform -‘Swipe Up’
- India’s largest Small Finance Bank, AU Small Finance Bank (AU SFB), launched the first-of-its-kind platform in the credit card industry – the SwipeUp platform.
- With the help of this platform, credit cardholders of any bank can get an upgraded card instantly.
- Other bank credit cardholders can upgrade their card to one of AU credit cards.
About the SwipeUp platform :
- SwipeUp platform primarily focuses on customers who hold Credit Cards from any other Bank and can benefit from an upgraded Credit Card matching their current lifestyle.
- It allows cardholders to compare their existing credit cards within seconds.
- These cards will have a higher credit limit, higher cashback, better reward points, zero membership fees, and various other features that are an upgrade from their existing credit card.
- The new range of cards offers a high value proposition to customers, the card plastic is biodegradable which is another step towards a better environment.
Recent News :
- In 2023, AU SFB launched LIT, a fully customizable credit card to help people curate a card specific to their needs.
About AU Small Finance Bank :
- Founded: 1996 as AU Financiers (India) Ltd. In 2017, AU Financiers (India) Ltd became a small finance bank.
- Headquarters: Jaipur, Rajasthan
- Chairman: Raj Vikash Verma.
- MD & CEO: Sanjay Agarwal
Bank Of Baroda Introduces Vikram Credit Card Dedicated To Soldiers
- On the Occasion of 74th Republic Day celebrations, Bank of Baroda’s (BoB) subsidiary BOB Financial Solutions Limited (BFSL) has launched Vikram Credit Card, the contactless RuPay credit card dedicated to Indian defense, paramilitary, and police personnel.
- Mr. Vikramaditya Singh Khichi, former Executive Director of Bank of Baroda, launched the Vikram Credit Card.
Features & Benefits of Vikram Credit Card :
- It is a lifetime-free credit card
- It has attractive reward points and an activation gift of a complimentary OTT (Over-The-Top) subscription.
- It has an accidental death cover of Rs 20 lakh.
- 1% Fuel Surcharge Waiver
- EMI (Equated Monthly installments) offers
- Periodic merchant offers
- Other add-on services
- The Indian Army (Yoddha), Indian Navy (Varunah), Indian Coast Guard (Rakshamah), and Assam Rifles already have exclusive co-branded credit cards with BFSL (The Sentinel).
About Bob :
- Founded: 20 July 1908
- Headquarters: Vadodara, Gujarat, India
- MD & CEO: Sanjiv Chadha
About BFSL :
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
- MD & CEO: Shailendra Singh
- Tagline: Credit Reimagined
RBI Seeks Views on Securitisation of Stressed Assets
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a discussion paper on the securitization of stressed assets to provide an alternative mechanism for the sale of bad loans, in addition to the existing asset reconstruction route.
- The central bank has set out a dozen questions for stakeholders to deliberate and respond to before February 28.
- The RBI had first said on September 30, 2022, that it will introduce a framework for the securitization of stressed assets.
- Securitization includes the pooling of loans and promoting them to a particular function entity (SPE), which then points to securities backed by the mortgage pool.
- One of the many greatest factors open for dialogue is whether or not the securitization of harassed loans ought to solely be restricted to non-performing loans or ought to embrace customary property, too, within the SMA class.
- Particular point-out accounts or SMA is these loans that are due between zero and 90 days.
- The central financial institution can be searching for feedback on which sort of property must be eligible for securitization like period loans throughout the identical asset universe, big-ticket loans above a sure threshold or small-ticket loans akin to business and residential mortgages, loans to MSMEs and unsecured retail property.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS
Centre approves ₹15,225 crore credit for over 20,000 agri-infra projects
- The Centre has approved ₹15,225 crore credit for over 20,000 projects so far, under Agriculture Infra Fund (AIF), but co-operatives’ disbursal rate (against the sanctioned loans) is less than 15 percent whereas it is nearly 80 percent in the case of banks.
- Since it started in July 2020, 46,384 proposals for credit totaling ₹27,452 crores have been sent to the AIF.
- These proposals are for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farm assets.
- The amount of credit that has been paid out so far is ₹9,942 crore, which is 65% of the amount that has been approved.
- The cooperative banks have given ₹407 crore loans out of a total of ₹3,044 crores that was approved.
- On the other hand, public and private banks have given ₹9,535 crore loans out of a total of ₹12,181 crore that was approved.
- Under the AIF scheme, the government has set a goal of giving out ₹1 lakh crore in loans by 2025–26, and it will help with interest payments and loan guarantees until 2032–33.
- In the two and a half years since the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) has been in place, the scheme has raised more than ₹30,000 crores for projects in the agriculture infrastructure sector.
- AIF has approved ₹15,000 crores for these projects.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS
India becomes 1st nation to extend assurance to Sri Lanka for its debt restructuring
- India has become the first creditor nation to extend assurance towards restructuring the debt of Sri Lanka with financial assistance worth $4 billion as the island nation makes efforts to unlock a bridge financing package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- India will encourage greater investment in core areas of energy, tourism, and infrastructure.
Key Highlights :
- Dr. Jaishankar’s visit also witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the High Impact Community Development program on socio-economic development.
- He also participated in 3 virtual inauguration ceremonies which included handing over of Kandyan Dance academy, a hundred houses each in Kandy, Nuwara Elia, and Galle, and 24 houses each in Badulla and Anuradhapura.
- In 2022, India provided $4.5 billion in assistance to Colombo to tide over its dire economic situation.
About Sri Lanka :
- President: Ranil Wickremesinghe
- Prime Minister: Dinesh Chandra Rupasinghe Gunawardena
- Capital: Colombo
- Currency: Sri Lankan Rupee
India and Egypt reiterate support for Non-Aligned Movement
- India and Egypt reiterated support for the Non-Aligned Movement.
- In a joint statement issued after the end of bilateral engagements for President Abdel Fateh el-Sisi, who was the chief guest at the Republic Day parade here, both countries expressed a desire for an exchange of technology between their defense industries.
- The two countries reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism, the principles of the United Nations Charter, international law, the founding values of the Non-Aligned Movement, and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states
- Sisi arrived here on January 24 and held restricted and delegation-level talks at the Hyderabad House on Wednesday, where he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed bilateral diplomatic relations between India and Egypt.
- The two countries are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.
- India and Egypt agreed to “initiate new engagements to intensify military-to-military engagements” and planned more joint exercises between the armed forces of the two countries.
- The ties have been on an upswing in the recent past and both delegations supported reform of the UN Security Council, where Egypt was a non-permanent member during 2016-17 and India had a similar stint during 2021-22.
- Egypt’s relationship with India was also helped by its display of pragmatism especially in the backdrop of the Nupur Sharma controversy of 2022 when Cairo maintained silence while certain Gulf countries were vocal in India’s criticism.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS
Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel announces unemployment allowance from next financial year
- On the occasion of the 74th Republic Day (Jan 26, 2023), Chhattisgarh Chief Minister (CM) Shri Bhupesh Baghel announced a monthly unemployment allowance for unemployed persons in Chhattisgarh from the next financial year (2023-24).
- It was one of the key promises made by Congress during the 2018 Assembly polls.
Other Announcements :
- In addition to this, he announced the formulation of a rural industry policy in the state to boost the cottage industry-based rural economy.
- He also announced a housing assistance scheme for laborers, a scheme for women entrepreneurs, etc.
- An aerocity will be developed near the Swami Vivekananda Airport, Raipur, to enhance passenger facilities, commercial development of the airport area, and employment generation.
- An aid of ₹10,000 will be provided every year to each gram panchayat for organizing festivals of tribal communities in the tribal-dominated Bastar and Surguja divisions and scheduled areas of the state from the next financial year.
About Chhattisgarh :
- Governor: Anusuiya Uikey
- Chief Minister: Bhupesh Baghel
- Capital: Raipur
- Tiger Reserve: Udanti-Sitanadi, Achanakmar, and Indravati Tiger Reserves.
- Festival : Parad, Maati Tiaar, The First Fruits Festival
- Dance: Panthi Dance, Raut Nacha
BPCL To Set Up 1GW Renewable Energy Plant In Rajasthan
- Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rajasthan to set up a 1 gigawatt (GW) renewable energy (RE) plant in Rajasthan as the nation’s second-largest state oil refiner pivots, toward a net zero emission target by 2040.
- The power plant will be built with an investment of INR 5,000 crore.
- The MoU was signed between Rajasthan’s Energy Department Secretary Bhaskar A Sawant and BPCL head Renewable Energy Shelly Abraham at a ceremony organized by the Bureau of Investment Promotion, Government of Rajasthan.
Key Highlights :
- The company has set an ambitious goal of achieving ‘net zero’ Scope 1&2 emissions by 2040.
- It intends to increase the size of its renewable portfolio to 1 GW by 2025 and 10 GW by 2040.
- BPCL owns and operates three oil refineries in Mumbai, Maharashtra & Kochi, Kerala, & Bina, Madhya Pradesh, with a total refining capacity of approximately 38 million tonnes.
- BPCL is currently blending 10% ethanol with petrol and targets 20% blending by 2025-26.
About Rajasthan :
- Governor: Kalraj Mishra
- Chief Minister : Ashok Gehlot
- Capital: Jaipur
- National Park: Keoladeo National Park, Ranthambore National Park
- Wildlife Sanctuaries: Bandh Baratha WL Sanctuary, Ramsagar WL Sanctuary, Jaisamand WL Sanctuary
About BPCL :
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Chairman & MD: Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta
- BPCL is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE NEWS
India, Nato to hold strategic talks; focus on regional security, China
- New Delhi is set to host a rare strategic dialogue with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) focused on regional security issues in development with potentially global ramifications.
- The dialogue is expected to be held in early March
- Within South Asia, the security alliance of 30 countries from North America and Europe was present in Afghanistan, where Nato forces fought for 20 years until the US-led withdrawal in late 2021.
- The dialogue will likely focus on a range of themes, including the possibility of a stronger partnership between India and Nato focused on geopolitical challenges in the Indo-Pacific.
- The goal of multi-alignment is the preservation of India’s strategic autonomy so New Delhi can talk to Nato and also be a part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation with Russia and China
- India and Nato held a political dialogue in 2019 aimed at expanding cooperation.
- The same reports, never denied, indicated that the discussion had centered around China, the evolving situation in Afghanistan, and terrorism.
- But Nato’s prioritization of Russia as a key threat and its relative ambivalence about the security challenges posed by China limited common ground between the two sides at the time.
- This latest round of talks occurs in a dramatically changed strategic landscape.
Indian Navy Launches its Largest War Game TROPEX in IOR
- The 2023 edition of the Indian Navy’s major maritime exercise Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise (TROPEX), is currently underway in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
- TROPEX 23 is being conducted over 3 months from Jan – Mar 23, 2023.
Aim :
- To “validate and refine” the Navy’s “concept of operations” as well as test overall combat capabilities
- The operational level exercise is conducted biennially and witnesses participation not only by all Indian Navy units but also of Indian Army, Indian Air Force (IAF), and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) assets.
- The last edition of the exercise TROPEX 21 was conducted in 2021.
About TROPEX 23 :
- As part of the exercise, all surface combatants of the Indian Navy including Destroyers, Frigates, and Corvettes as well as submarines and aircraft are subjected to complex maritime operational deployments.
- The exercise is being conducted in different phases, both in the harbor and at sea.
- The exercise provides an opportunity to test the combat readiness of the combined Fleets of the Indian Navy to operate in a multi-threat environment.
- It will further strengthen interoperability and joint operations in a complex environment.
- The Indian Navy also conducted the biennial tri-services amphibious exercise (AMPHEX) 2023 at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh (AP) from January 17 to 22, 2023.
About MoD :
- Defence Minister: Rajnath Singh
- Minister of State: Ajay Bhatt
- Defence Secretary: Giridhar Aramane
About Indian Navy :
- Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
- Chief of the Naval Staff: Admiral R. Hari Kumar
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS
Standard Chartered Bank appoints Mr. Sarabjit Anand as Chief Technology and Operations Officer
- Standard Chartered Bank has appointed Sarabjit Anand as the chief technology and operations officer (CTOO) for India and South Asia.
- Mr. SV Shivshanker has been appointed by the United Kingdom (UK)-based bank as Head of Human Resources for India and South Asia.
About Mr. Sarabjit Anand :
- Mr. Sarabjit joined Standard Chartered Bank in 1991 in India.
- Recently, he was the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Singapore and Asean markets.
About Standard Chartered Bank :
- Headquarters: London, England, United Kingdom
- Group Chairman : José Viñals
- Group Chief Executive: Bill Winters
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Canada to commercialize the world’s 1st photonic-based quantum computer
- Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Mr. Justin Trudeau has announced a new federal investment of 40 million Canadian dollars ($32 million), which will enable Xanadu Quantum Technologies Inc., a Toronto-based Canadian quantum computing company to build and commercialize the world’s first photonic-based, fault-tolerant quantum computer.
Key Highlights :
- The Project is supported through the Canadian government’s Strategic Innovation Fund with 177.8 million Canadian dollars ($142 million).
- The Project is expected to create 530 new highly skilled positions in the high-tech and quantum computing fields.
- In Jan 2022, Canada launched its National Quantum Strategy, which invests an additional 360 million Canadian dollars ($288 million) to help solidify Canada as a global leader in quantum technologies.
About Xanadu Quantum Technologies Inc :
- Founded: 2016
Mission :
- To build quantum computers that are useful and available to people everywhere.
About Canada :
- Prime Minister: Justin Trudeau
- Capital: Ottawa
- Currency: Canadian dollar
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS
BCCI rakes in Rs 4669.99 crore from sale of Women’s Premier League teams:
- Women’s cricket has touched a new glass ceiling in India and It is the latest goldmine that
the Indian cricket Board has discovered.
- Five companies, with the Adani Group leading the race, which made the highest bid-Rs 1289 crore-for the Ahmedabad franchise, splurged as much as Rs 4669.99 crore to buy the five teams for the women’s IPL, which has been named as the Women’s Premier League (WPL) by the BCCI.
- The astounding figure, achieved through a ‘sealed bid’ process, exceeded all expectations,
- The four others with the biggest bids were the Mumbai Indians (Rs 912.99 crore), Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 901 crore), Delhi Capitals (Rs 810 crore), and Capri Global (Rs 757 crore).
- Adani and Capri Global, which owns Sharjah Warriors in ILT20 in UAE, are the new team owners in the BCCI fold, while MI, RCB, and DC already have an IPL team.
- As was in the case of the IPL, the BCCI will rake in the moolah from the five franchises over 10 years.
Harmanpreet Named Captain of The ICC Women’s ODI Team of The Year:
- Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has been named the captain of the ICC Women’s ODI Team of the year for 2022 which also includes her teammates, opener Smriti Mandhana, and fast bowler Renuka Singh, the International Cricket Council.
- Other players in the ICC Women’s T20I team of the year 2022 are – Alyssa Healy (Australia), Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa), Nat Sciver (England), Beth Mooney (Australia), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), Sophie Ecclestone (England), Ayabonga Khaka (South Africa), Shabnim Ismail (South Africa).
- Mandhana added some consistency to her game during 2022 as she helped herself to a century and six half-centuries for the calendar year. She scored a magnificent 123 against the West Indies at the World Cup in New Zealand.
- The experienced all-rounder Harmanpreet remains one of the most consistent performers in world cricket.
- She hit two centuries and five half-centuries during the calendar year, with her unbeaten 143 against England in September.
- The 33-year-old also chipped in with five valuable wickets with her more than decent off-spin.
- Renuka secured her debut against New Zealand at the start of 2022, but couldn’t break into the strong India XI during an unsuccessful 50-over World Cup campaign.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES
Former Indian & Iron Man of India Sabir Ali passed away
- Former Indian decathlete & Iron Man of India Sabir Ali passed away at the age of 67 in New Delhi, India.
About Sabir Ali :
- Sabir Ali was born on 19 April 1955 in Haryana, India
- He was an athlete who won 10 gold medals in the decathlon, including at the 1981 Asian Athletics Championships held in Tokyo, Japan.
- He became the 3rd Indian to win the Asian Athletics Championships decathlon crown after VS Chauhan (1974) and Suresh Babu (1975).
- He won two silver medals in the South Asian Athletics meet held at Kathmandu & Dhaka.
- He was declared the best sportsman of India in the year 1981 by the Indian Railways and Journalist Association of India.
- He became the Captain of the Indian Athletics Team in the Asian track and field athletic meet held in Kuwait in 1983.
Awards & Honors :
- He was conferred with the Arjuna award by the president of India Zail Singh and the Bhim award by the government of Haryana in 1981.
Veteran Telugu actress & former parliamentarian J Jamuna passed away
- Veteran Telugu film actress and former parliamentarian J Jamuna passed away at the age of 86 in Hyderabad.
About J Jamuna :
- Jamuna was born on 30 August 1936 in Hampi, Karnataka.
- She was an Indian actress, director, and politician who appeared mainly in Telugu films.
- Her filmography also included Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi films.
- She was a Member of Parliament in the 9th Lok Sabha (1989–1991) representing the Rajahmundry constituency.
- In all, she acted in 198 films in the Telugu language, notable among being Bhookailas, Gundamma Katha, Chiranjeevulu, Mooga Manasulu, and Ramudu Bheemudu, among others.
- She won a Filmfare award for her role in the Sunil Dutt-starrer ‘Milan’.
- She was involved in social service for the past 25 years.
Daily CA on January 28:
- The Centre has approved ₹15,225 crore credit for over 20,000 projects so far, under Agriculture Infra Fund (AIF), but co-operatives’ disbursal rate (against the sanctioned loan) is less than 15 percent whereas it is nearly 80 percent in the case of banks.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a discussion paper on the securitization of stressed assets to provide an alternative mechanism for the sale of bad loans, in addition to the existing asset reconstruction route.
- New Delhi is set to host a rare strategic dialogue with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) focused on regional security issues in development with potentially global ramifications.
- India and Egypt reiterated support for the Non-Aligned Movement.
- Women’s cricket has touched a new glass ceiling in India and It is the latest goldmine that the Indian cricket Board has discovered.
- Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has been named the captain of the ICC Women’s ODI Team of the year for 2022 which also includes her teammates, opener Smriti Mandhana, and fast bowler Renuka Singh, the International Cricket Council.
- India is likely to peg its nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth at around 11% during the budget session, marking a slowdown from its estimate for the current fiscal year due to the prospect of weak exports.
- India’s largest Small Finance Bank, AU Small Finance Bank (AU SFB), launched the first-of-its-kind platform in the credit card industry – the SwipeUp platform.
- On the Occasion of 74th Republic Day celebrations, Bank of Baroda’s (BoB) subsidiary BOB Financial Solutions Limited (BFSL) has launched Vikram Credit Card, the contactless RuPay credit card dedicated to Indian defense, paramilitary, and police personnel.
- India has become the first creditor nation to extend assurance towards restructuring the debt of Sri Lanka with financial assistance worth $4 billion as the island nation makes efforts to unlock a bridge financing package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- On the occasion of the 74th Republic Day (Jan 26, 2023), Chhattisgarh Chief Minister (CM) Shri Bhupesh Baghel announced a monthly unemployment allowance for unemployed persons in Chhattisgarh from the next financial year (2023-24).
- Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rajasthan to set up a 1 gigawatt (GW) renewable energy (RE) plant in Rajasthan as the nation’s second-largest state oil refiner pivots, toward a net zero emission target by 2040.
- Standard Chartered Bank has appointed Sarabjit Anand as the chief technology and operations officer (CTOO) for India and South Asia & Mr. SV Shivshanker has been appointed as Head of Human Resources for India and South Asia.
- The 2023 edition of the Indian Navy’s major maritime exercise Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise (TROPEX), is currently underway in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
- Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Mr. Justin Trudeau has announced a new federal investment of 40 million Canadian dollars ($32 million), which will enable Xanadu Quantum Technologies Inc., a Toronto-based Canadian quantum computing company to build and commercialize the world’s first photonic-based, fault-tolerant quantum computer.
- Former Indian decathlete & Iron Man of India Sabir Ali passed away at the age of 67 in New Delhi, Delhi, India.
- Veteran Telugu film actress and former parliamentarian J Jamuna passed away at the age of 86 in Hyderabad.
