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CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
IndusInd Bank to enter insurance, mutual funds business & launch digital bank ‘Indie’
- In a bid to expand its portfolio beyond its core banking business, IndusInd Bank is planning to foray into mutual funds, insurance and broking sectors.
- The bank is likely to approach the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and other regulators to get the necessary licences.
- IndusInd Bank is also planning to launch its own digital bank ‘Indie’.
- The necessary approvals for all these expansion plans and other logistics by the bank is likely to be completed in about 2 years.
About IndusInd Bank :
- Founded : April 1994
- Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- MD & CEO : Sumant Kathpalia.
- Tagline : We Make You Feel Richer
RBI amends norms on remittances to IFSC under liberalised scheme
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has aligned the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) set up under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019, with that for other foreign jurisdictions.
- The resident Individuals may also open a Foreign Currency Account (FCA) in IFSCs, for making the permissible investments under LRS.
Key Highlights : ·
- The condition of repatriating any funds lying idle in the account for a period up to 15 days from the date of its receipt is withdrawn with immediate effect.
- LRS for IFSCs shall now be governed by the provisions of the scheme as contained in the Master Direction on LRS.
What is LRS?
- The Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) is part of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999 which lays down the guidelines for outward remittance from India.
- LRS allows Indian residents to freely remit up to USD $250,000 per financial year for current or capital account transactions or a combination of both.
- Any remittance exceeding this limit requires prior permission from the RBI.
- Budget 2023 increased tax collection at source (TCS) for foreign remittances under LRS from 5% to 20%.
- This new rule will come into effect from July 1, 2023.
About RBI :
- Established : 1 April 1935
- Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Governor : Shaktikanta Das
- Deputy governors : Mahesh Kumar Jain, M. Rajeshwar Rao, Michael Patra and T. Rabi Shankar
NSE revises norms for exclusion from index in case of demerger
- The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has come out with new norms to retain the demerged entity of an index constituent in the respective index.
- A demerged company will remain part of the index, only if the exchange has decided to conduct a Special Pre-Open session (SPOS) for the spun-off entity.
Key Highlights :
- The change would be applicable to the scheme of arrangement of all companies involving demerger which may be approved by equity shareholders of respective companies on or after April 30, 2023.
- Additionally, the spun-off business/entity should be included in the index at constant price (which is the difference between the demerged company’s closing price one day prior to ex-date of demerger and price derived during SPOS.
- However, the spun-off business/entity, which is the newly listed entity, should be removed from the index after 3 days.
- In case, during the first two days if the spun-off business/entity hits the price band on both days, the exclusion date should be deferred by another three days.
About NSE :
- Founded : 1992
- Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- MD & CEO : Ashishkumar Chauhan
Reliance General becomes first insurer to accept CBDC in partnership with YES Bank
- Reliance General Insurance has become the first general insurance company to accept Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) e-Rupee (e₹) for premium payments.
- The insurer has tied up with YES Bank to facilitate the collection of premiums in digital mode using the bank’s e-rupee platform.
- Customers who have an active e-rupee wallet with any bank can scan Reliance General Insurance’s CBDC QR code to make easy, safe, instant, and green payments.
- Currently, Reliance General Insurance’s physical e-rupee QR code is available at select branches for walk-in customers to scan and pay instantly.
- Customers who have an active e₹ wallet with any bank can scan Reliance General Insurance’s e₹ QR code to make immediate payment.
- It plans to make it available at all branches across the country, on its website, and on the Reliance Self-i app in the next few months.
What is e-rupee :
- e-rupee is a digital token, equivalent to a banknote, and is legal tender or sovereign currency backed by the RBI.
- It removes all the issues of handling physical cash and offers the same anonymity as a banknote.
- Moreover, since all transactions are done through an RBI-regulated entity, it reduces banknote-related risks such as anti-money laundering, the counterfeiting of currency, etc.
About Reliance General Insurance :
- Founded : 17 August 2000
- Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra
- CEO : Rakesh Jain
About YES Bank :
- Founded : 2004
- Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- MD & CEO : Prashant Kumar
- Tagline : Experience Our Expertise
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS
‘India’s first village’: BRO puts up signboard on entrance of village
- The Border Roads Organisation has put up a signboard at the entrance of Uttarakhand’s Mana village on the India-China border reading ‘India’s first village’.
- Now Mana will not be known as the last but the first village of the
- During a visit to the Chamoli village in October last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said border villages of the country are its first villages and not the last as they are usually called.
- Mana is situated near Badrinath and devotees going to the Himalayan temple go up to the village for sightseeing.
Amit Shah launches IFFCO’s nano DAP fertilizer
- Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah launched IFFCO’s liquid nano Di-Ammonia Phosphate (DAP).
- Commercially rolling out world’s first nano-DAP, approved by the government in March, Shah said it (introduction of nano variant of fertiliser) is a new beginning towards making India self reliant on fertiliser as it will increase farm productivity without impacting the soil health.
- Though a bottle (500 ml) of nano-DAP will be equivalent to one bag (50kg) of conventional DAP, the price of nano (liquid) DAP has been kept at ₹600 per bottle (without subsidy) against ₹1,350/ bag (with subsidy) for conventional DAP.
- Nano-DAP is jointly manufactured by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) in association with a private player Coromandel.
- The minister said IFFCO’s nano-DAP will have 8 per cent nitrogen and 16 per cent phosphorus against 18 per cent nitrogen and 46 per cent phosphorus than the conventional granular bag contains.
- The minister said IFFCO has got a patent for nano-urea and nano-DAP for 20 years and will get a royalty of 20 per cent for the use of the products globally.
- IFFCO said it has set up manufacturing facilities for the production of nano DAP fertilisers at Kalol, Kandla in Gujarat and Paradeep in Odisha.
- The production at Kalol Plant has already started, and this year about 5 crore bottles of nano-DAP (equivalent to 2.5 mt) will be produced.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Australia to host third in-person Quad Summit in Sydney
- Australia is set to host the third in-person Quad Leadership Summit on May 24, 2023 in Sydney
- This will be the first time that Australia will host the summit.
- The meeting will be attended by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, US President Mr Joe Biden, Prime Minister Mr Kishida Fumio of Japan and Australian Prime Minister Mr Anthony Albanese.
- This will be the fourth Quad leaders’ summit and the third held in person, with the most recent in-person meeting hosted by Japan’s capital Tokyo in 2022.
Key discussions :
- How to deepen cooperation on issues that matter to the people of the Indo-Pacific, including critical and emerging technologies, high-quality infrastructure, global health, climate change, maritime domain awareness and other pressing issues.
- The leaders will discuss how the Quad can work alongside partners and regional groupings including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Pacific Islands Forum, to strengthen cooperation.
- The previous in-person meeting was hosted by Japan in Tokyo in 2022.
About QUAD :
- QUAD stands for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.
- It comprises India, the United States (US), Japan and Australia.
- It was set up to develop a strategy to keep critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific region free of any influence.
- The first in-person meeting of Quad leaders was hosted by US President Mr Joe Biden in 2021.
- It was formalised by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007.
About Australia :
- Prime Minister : Anthony Albanese
- Capital : Canberra
- Currency : Australian dollar
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS
The average ticket size of loans under PMMY nearly doubled in 8 years
- The average ticket size of loans under PMMY has almost doubled as per the State Bank of India’s economic research department (ERD).
- The average ticket size of loans under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana has increased from ₹38,000 in FY16 to ₹72,000 in FY23.
- The amount of loans disbursed under MUDRA increased from ₹33 lakh crore in FY16 to ₹4.50 lakh crore in FY23.
- The number of loans sanctioned stood at ₹23 crore in FY23 against ₹3.48 crore in FY16.
- The ERD said India’s Social Fabric Index (SFI) shows 3.2 times jump from 0.813 in FY17 to 2.640 in FY22.
- SFI represents the participation of the underprivileged in the formal banking system.
- The SFI is constructed by SBI using principal component analysis. It includes three variables given below.
- SC, ST, OBCs Mudra Accounts and Disbursements
- Number of women deposit accounts and deposits held in them
- Revenue and Capital Expenditure of Government towards welfare of SC, ST, and OBCs
- Mudra Atmanirbhar Quotient (MAQ) has increased up to 25 times since FY16.
- MAQ measures the propensity of particular social strata to repay based purely on cash flow generated from business.
- MAQ has increased from 0.81 for ST and SC social groups in FY16 to 2.02 and 2.20 respectively in FY22.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOUR
Dalai Lama gets 1959 Ramon Magsaysay Award in person after 64 years
- The 1959 Ramon Magsaysay Award was presented to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama after 64 years.
- The Ramon Magsaysay Award, often called the “Nobel Prize of Asia”, is an annual award.
- It is established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay’s example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society.
- The prize was established in April 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund based in New York City with the concurrence of the Philippine government.
Karnataka bags national award for Fasal Bima Yojana
- Karnataka has bagged the national award for the best implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), a crop subsidy insurance scheme, for the year 2022-23.
- The PMFBY is a large-scale crop subsidy insurance scheme aimed to safeguard the farmers, implemented in Karnataka in 2016.
- This scheme is being managed by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare, under the Ministry of Agriculture, along with empanelled general insurance companies.
- PMFBY is being implemented in Karnataka, through its own portal ‘Samrakshane’, designed and developed by the state through National Informatics Centre (NIC).
- The Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, Government of Puducherry, has secured the top rank in the smaller States category for its successful implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) crop insurance scheme.
Gates named after Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara unveiled at Sydney Cricket Ground
- The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) used legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s 50th birthday celebrations to unveil gates at the iconic Australia venue that are named after the India legend and fellow cricketing great Brian Lara from West Indies.
- All visiting players will now take the field through the newly-named Lara-Tendulkar Gates, with the duo bestowed with the honour to coincide with Mr. Tendulkar’s 50th birthday.
- Tendulkar’s first Test century on Australia shores came at the picturesque Sydney venue and the champion right-hander averaged a whopping 157 from five Test matches at the ground.
- The unveiling also took place 30 years after Lara made his famous innings of 277 against Australia at the SCG in 1993 and the West Indies great was thrilled to receive the honour.
Ratan Tata Awarded Australia’s Highest Civilian Honour
- Tata Sons’ Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata has been conferred with Australia’s highest civilian honour, the country’s High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell announced.
- The Order of Australia (AO) award was presented for the industrialist’s efforts in strengthening the India-Australia bilateral relations.
- The 85-year-old has batted for the 2022 India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reportedly employs the biggest Australian workforce of any Indian firm with about 17,000 employees.
- In October 2022, Tata received ‘Sewa Ratna’ from the RSS-affiliated Sewa Bharti for his philanthropic pursuits.
- He is also a 2008 recipient of India’s second-highest civilian award, thePadma Vibhushan.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT
Air India signs multi-year global distribution services partnership with US-based Sabre Corporation
- Air India announced a new multi-year global distribution services partnership with US-based Sabre Corporation.
- The collaboration enables travel agents and corporations around the world to access Air India fares and seats through Sabre’s extensive global travel marketplace.
- In addition to the distribution services, Air India said it is utilising Sabre’s consultancy expertise to help determine optimal routes for its existing and new fleet.
- Air India earlier this year announced placing a 470 aircraft order with Boeing and Airbus.
- This long-term global distribution partnership will support our ambitious growth plans while paving the ground for the airline’s transition towards a more dynamic, merchandising-focused model.
About Air India:
- Air India is the flag carrier of India, headquartered in New Delhi.
- It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited’s former owner, the Government of India, completed the sale.
- CEO: Campbell Wilson.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS
ANMI elects Vijay Mehta as its 28th National President
- The Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI), a pan-India industry body representing market intermediaries and stock brokers, has appointed Vijay Mehta Chairman of Mefcom Capital Markets Ltd, as its 28th President for the year 2023-24.
- He takes over from the outgoing President Kamlesh Shah, the ANMI.
- The Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) is a grouping comprising around 900 stock brokers from across the country.
RBI approves reappointment of N Kamakodi as MD, CEO of City Union Bank for 3 years
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the re-appointment of N Kamakodi as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Director (CEO) of private sector bank City Union Bank (CUB).
- The tenure of his re-appointment would be for a period of three years with effect from May 1, 2023.
- From May 2011, he was serving the bank as its managing director and chief executive officer.
- Earlier, the CUB launched a facility for its customers to use Voice Biometric authentication for logging into its mobile banking application.
About CUB :
- Established : 1904
- Headquarters : Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
NASA successfully extracts oxygen from lunar soil simulant
- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists have successfully extracted oxygen from simulated lunar soil.
- This was the first time that this extraction has been done in a vacuum environment, paving the way for astronauts to one day extract and use resources in a lunar environment, called in-situ resource utilisation.
- Lunar soil refers to the fine-grained material covering the Moon’s surface.
Key Highlights :
- NASA’s Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) team at Johnson Space Center in Houston conducted the test in conditions similar to those found on the Moon by using a special spherical chamber with a 15-feet diameter called the Dirty Thermal Vacuum Chamber.
- The chamber is considered “dirty” because unclean samples can be tested inside.
- A carbothermal reactor is where the process of heating and extracting the oxygen takes place.
About NASA :
- Founded : July 29, 1958
- Headquarters : Washington, D.C, United States of America
- Administrator : Bill Nelson
Japanese Startup Ispace Prepares for World’s First Private Lunar Landing
- Japanese start-up, ispace inc, is preparing to land its Hakuto-R Mission 1 (M1) spacecraft on the moon in what would be the world’s first lunar landing by a private company if it succeeds.
- The M1 lander is set to touch down after taking off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a SpaceX rocket in December.
- In one of the biggest blows, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in March 2023 lost its new medium-lift H3 rocket to forced manual destruction after it reached space.
- That was less than 5 months since JAXA’s solid-fuel Epsilon rocket failed after launch in October.
Key Highlights :
- The 2.3-metre-tall (7.55 ft) M1 will begin an hour-long landing phase from its current position, in the moon’s orbit some 100 km above the surface moving at nearly 6,000 km/hour (3,700 mph).
- Only the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China have soft-landed a spacecraft on the moon, with attempts in recent years by India and a private Israeli company ending in failure.
- After reaching the landing site at the edge of Mare Frigoris, in the moon’s northern hemisphere, the M1 is to deploy a two-wheeled, baseball-sized rover developed by JAXA, Japanese toymaker, Tomy Co, Sony Group, and United Arab Emirates’ four-wheeled “Rashid” Rover.
- The M1 is also carrying an experimental solid-state battery made by NGK Spark Plug Co, among other objects to gauge how they perform on the moon.
- In its second mission scheduled in 2024, the M1 will bring ispace’s own rover, while from 2025, it is set to work with U.S. space lab, Draper, to bring NASA payloads to the moon, targeting building a permanently staffed lunar colony by 2040.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS
Godrej Consumer Products Limited acquires Raymond’s FMCG business for Rs 2,825 crore
- Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) will acquire the FMCG business of Raymond Consumer Care Limited (RCCL) for ₹2,825 crore.
- Both the brands—Park Avenue and KamaSutra are under Raymond Consumer Care, which is a step-down unit of the Singhania-family owned Raymond, known for its shirting and lifestyle business.
- Raymond has two fundamental businesses: lifestyle and real estate.
- Its revenue from FY22 was ₹4,260.66 crore.
- GCPL is expanding its play in the consumer & earlier, it had acquired Bblunt.
About Godrej Consumer Products Ltd :
- Founded : 2001
- Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Chairman & Managing Director : Mr. Nadir Godrej
- MD & CEO : Sudhir Sitapati
- Godrej Consumer Products Limited is an Indian consumer goods company.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES
Tripura’s first Padma Awardee Himangshu Mohan Choudhury passed away
- Tripura’s first Padmashree awardee and Former Indian Administrative Services (IAS) Officer, in Tripura government Himangshu Mohan Choudhury Passed away at the age of 84 in Agartala, Tripura.
About Himangshu Mohan Choudhury :
- Himangshu Mohan Choudhury was credited with efforts in providing relief to refugees and army deserters during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
- While working as the sub-divisional officer (SDO) at Sonamura in the Indian border state of Tripura, Choudhury is reported to have supervised the task of providing food and shelter to over 250,000 refugees.
Awards & Honors :
- He was honoured by the Government of India in 1972 with Padma Shri, the fourth-highest Indian civilian award.
- The Government of Bangladesh presented him with the Outstanding Friend of Bangladesh honour in 2013.
5-Time Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Passed away
- Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) veteran leader and 5-time chief minister (CM) of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal passed away at the age of 95 in Mohali, Punjab.
About Parkash Singh Badal :
- Parkash Singh Badal was born on 8 December 1927 in Abul Khurana, near Malout, Punjab.
- He held the Chief Minister of Punjab for 5 terms from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002, from 2007 to 2012 and from 2012 to 2017.
- In 2012, he became the only person in Punjab politics to have been the youngest chief minister of Punjab at 43 in 1970 and the oldest chief minister of Punjab at the age of 84.
- He was also Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly from 1972 to 1977, 1980 to 1983 and from 2002 to 2007.
- He served as 11th Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare in the Morarji Desai ministry from 1977.
- In 2022, Badal was the country’s oldest candidate in the fray for the state polls, but lost to AAP’s first candidate, Gurmeet Singh Khudian & this was Badal’s 13th assembly election.
Awards & Honors :
- In 2011, he was awarded the Path Ratan Faqar-e-Qoum (Jewel of community’s Panth Pride).
- The Government of India (GoI) awarded him the second-highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, in 2015 however he returned this award to support the 2020–2021 Indian farmers’ protest on 3 December 2020.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS
International Dance Day 2023: April 29
- Every year April 29th is celebrated as International Dance Day also known as World Dance Day.
- International Dance Day or World Dance Day celebration for those who can see the value and importance of dance.
- International Dance Day or World Dance Day is celebrated through promotion by the International Dance Council.
- The day was first introduced in 1982 by the International Dance Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
- The French Ballet master and a great reformer of dance Jean-Georges Novrre were born in 1727.
- So, the day is observed as International Dance Day or World Dance Day.
Daily CA One- Liner: April 29
- The Border Roads Organisation has put up a signboard at the entrance of Uttarakhand’s Mana village on the India-China border reading ‘India’s first village’
- Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah launched IFFCO’s liquid nano Di-Ammonia Phosphate (DAP).
- The average ticket size of loans under PMMY has almost doubled as per the State Bank of India’s economic research department
- The 1959 Ramon Magsaysay Award was presented to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama after 64 years
- Karnataka has bagged the national award for the best implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), a crop subsidy insurance scheme, for the year 2022-23
- The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) used legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s 50th birthday celebrations to unveil gates at the iconic Australia venue that are named after the India legend and fellow cricketing great Brian Lara from West Indies
- Tata Sons’ Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata has been conferred with Australia’s highest civilian honour, the country’s High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell announced.
- Air India announced a new multi-year global distribution services partnership with US-based Sabre Corporation
- Every year April 29th is celebrated as International Dance Day also known as World Dance Day
- In a bid to expand its portfolio beyond its core banking business, IndusInd Bank is planning to foray into mutual funds, insurance and broking sectors.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has aligned the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) set up under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019, with that for other foreign jurisdictions.
- The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has come out with new norms to retain the demerged entity of an index constituent in the respective index.
- Reliance General Insurance has become the first general insurance company to accept Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) e-Rupee (e₹) for premium payments.
- Australia is set to host the third in-person Quad Leadership Summit on May 24, 2023 in Sydney
- The Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI), a pan-India industry body representing market intermediaries and stock brokers, has appointed Vijay Mehta Chairman of Mefcom Capital Markets Ltd, as its 28th President for the year 2023-24.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the re-appointment of N Kamakodi as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Director (CEO) of private sector bank City Union Bank (CUB).
- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists have successfully extracted oxygen from simulated lunar soil.
- Japanese start-up, ispace inc, is preparing to land its Hakuto-R Mission 1 (M1) spacecraft on the moon in what would be the world’s first lunar landing by a private company if it succeeds.
- Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) will acquire the FMCG business of Raymond Consumer Care Limited (RCCL) for ₹2,825 crore.
- Tripura’s first Padmashree awardee and Former Indian Administrative Services (IAS) Officer, in Tripura government Himangshu Mohan Choudhury Passed away at the age of 84 in Agartala, Tripura.
- Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) veteran leader and 5-time chief minister (CM) of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal passed away at the age of 95 in Mohali, Punjab.