Daily Current Affairs – April 16, 2024
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Daily Current Affairs - Banking - April 16, 2024
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National News
NHAI Organizes National Workshop on Eco-friendly Measures for Holistic National Highway Development
- NHAI organized a day long national workshop in New Delhi to discuss different aspects of environmental impact assessment, planning and mitigation for holistic National Highway development.
- Chief Guest for the event was Anurag Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
- Santosh Kumar Yadav, Chairman NHAI along with Guest of Honour Jitendra Kumar, IFS, DGF&SS, MoEF&CC were also present on the occasion.
- The event saw participation from senior officials of MoRTH, NHAI, NHIDCL, MoEF&CC, QQI-NABET, DPR Consultants, Concessionaires, Authority Engineers, and Independent Engineers.
- The sessions included discussion on issues related to Wildlife Clearances; Insights on ‘Eco-friendly Measures to Mitigate Impacts of Linear Infrastructure on Wildlife’; Issues related to Forest & Environment Clearances; Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Environmental Management Plan (EMP); Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Clearances, Regulations and its applicability to Road Infrastructure Projects.
- National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) – 1995 (Founded) – New Delhi (HQ) -Santosh Kumar Yadav (Chairman)
Banking and Finance
RBI asks lenders to provide ‘key fact statement’ to borrowers
- The Reserve Bank of India has asked lenders to provide ‘key fact statement’ (KFS) to the borrowers of all new retail and MSME term loans sanctioned on or after October 1, 2024, including fresh loans to existing customers.
- KFS contains key information regarding a loan agreement, including an all-in cost of the loan, in a simple and easy to understand format.
- All commercial banks, co-operative banks, and non-banking financial companies (including housing finance companies) have to provide a KFS to all prospective borrowers to help them take an informed view before executing the loan contract, as per the standardised format.
- Credit card receivables, however, are exempted from the provisions contained.
- The KFS has to be provided with a unique proposal number and will have a validity period of at least three working days for loans having tenor of seven days or more and a validity period of one working day for loans having tenor of less than seven days.
- The KFS will include a computation sheet of annual percentage rate (APR) and the amortisation schedule of the loan over the loan tenor.
- The APR will include all charges which are levied by the RE.
- Any fee, or charge, which are not mentioned in the KFS, cannot be charged by the REs to the borrower at any stage during the term of the loan, without explicit consent of the borrower.
Deposits of senior citizens soared about 150% to ₹34 lakh crore in 5 years
- As per State Bank of India’s economic research department’s (ERD) estimates, the number of senior citizen term deposits accounts in the country jumped about 81 per cent to close to 4 crore as of December-end 2023 from around 4.1 crore in 2018.
- Simultaneously, senior citizens’ aggregate deposits shot up about 150 per cent to ₹34.367 lakh crore as of December-end 2023 from ₹13.724 lakh crore in 2018.
- The average amount per senior citizen term deposit account increased about 39 per cent to ₹4,63,472 as at December-end 2023 from ₹3,34,243 in 2018.
- Banks’ deposit insurance cover was increased from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh with effect from February 4, 2020.
- Out of the 7.4 crore senior citizens’ term deposit accounts, almost 7.3 crore accounts are of the size of up to ₹15 lakhs.
- By assuming 5 per cent interest on these deposits, ₹2.6 lakh crore interest has been earned by senior citizens.
- So, the total interest earned by senior citizens works out to ₹2.7 lakh crore — ₹13,000 crore from SCSS and about ₹2.57 lakh crore from senior citizens’ bank term deposits.
IMGC ties up with Bank of India to offer mortgage guarantee-backed home loan products
- India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) has announced its strategic partnership with the Bank of India (BOI) to offer mortgage guarantee-backed home loan products.
- IMGC’s guarantee will mitigate the risk of defaults for the bank, allowing them to potentially offer more favorable loan terms to borrowers.
- With the rising demand in the affordable housing segment, this product aims to make home ownership more accessible for a wider range of borrowers in India.
RBI caps Sarvodaya Bank withdrawals at ₹15,000
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has placed several constraints on the Mumbai-based Sarvodaya Co-operative Bank.
- The customers of the bank are now limited to a maximum withdrawal of ₹15,000 from their accounts.
- This decision comes in response to the bank’s deteriorating financial health
- RBI has confirmed that they are eligible to claim an insurance amount on deposits up to a limit of ₹5 lakhs.
- Under the new directives, which fall under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the Sarvodaya Co-operative Bank faces strict limitations on its banking activities.
Deposit rates raised by public sector banks higher than private peers
- The pass-through to weighted average lending rates (WALRs) on fresh rupee loans between May 2022 and January 2024 was higher for public sector banks (PSBs) compared to private banks (PVBs).
- The transmission to WALRs on outstanding rupee loans was higher for private banks.
- In case of term deposits, PSBs have increased their deposit rates relatively more than private banks.
- The share of bank loans bearing over 8 per cent interest rates increased from 2 per cent in March 2022 to 78.9 per cent in March 2023, and further to 83.7 per cent in December 2023.
Business and Economy
India’s overall exports reaches $776.68 billion in FY24
- India’s trade deficit in FY 2023-24 is estimated to be $78.12 billion, an improvement of 77 percent compared to FY 2022-23, when it was $121.62 billion.
- India’s overall trade in FY 2023-24 is estimated at $776.68 billion worth of exports and $854.8 billion worth of imports.
- While imports have fallen by $43.21 billion, from $898.01 billion in FY23 to $854.80 billion in FY24, exports have risen by only $0.28 billion in the same period.
- Exports of pharmaceutical products rose by 67 percent, reaching $27.85 billion in total.
- Similarly, exports of fruits and vegetables rose by 8 percent, spices by 12 percent, and meat and dairy products by 12.3 percent.
- Merchandise imports decreased by $38.73 billion—from $715.9 billion in FY23 to $677.24 billion in FY24—exports decreased by $14 billion, from $451 billion to $437 billion.
- India’s trade deficit from its merchandise trade is estimated to be $240 billion in FY24.
- India exported electronics goods worth $29.12 billion in 2023-24 (FY24), up to 23.6 per cent compared to a year ago.
- The top five export market of electronics good are — the US, United Arab Emirates, Netherland, United Kingdom, and Italy.
- During FY24, exports also ventured into new markets, such as Montenegro, Cayman Islands, El Salvador, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, Honduras and St Vincent.
Wholesale price inflation rises to three-month high of 0.53% in March
- The headline wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation inched up to a three-month high of 0.53 per cent in March from 0.2 per cent in February.
- It thus remained in positive terrain for the fifth consecutive month, after it was in deflationary territory for the major part of financial year 2023-24 (FY24).
Wholesale price inflation of FY24
- The overall FY24 wholesale headline inflation stood at -0.7 per cent compared to 9.6 per cent in FY23.
- Within this, the food inflation was at 2 per cent in FY24, down from 6.4 per cent in the previous financial year.
- Whereas, the prices of fuel (-4.4 per cent) and manufactured products (-1.7 per cent) contracted during FY24 compared to 4 per cent and 5.7 per cent, respectively, in FY23.
- Within food articles, pressure on factory gate prices mainly built up on account of rise in the prices of onion (56.9 per cent) and potato (52.9 per cent), followed by paddy (11.7 per cent), cereals (9.04 per cent) and wheat (7.43 per cent).
- On the other hand, the prices of pulses (17.2 per cent), vegetables (19.52 per cent) and milk (4.73 per cent) decelerated during the month.
- Meanwhile, the prices of fruits (-2.95 per cent) and protein-rich items like egg, meat and fish (-1.86 per cent) provided some relief as they contracted during March as compared to the preceding month.
- The prices of manufactured products, which have a weighting of 2 per cent in the index, remained in deflation (-0.85 per cent) for the 13th consecutive month in March.
- This was led by a continuing contraction in the prices of textiles (-1.68 per cent), paper (-5.71 per cent), chemicals (-4.64 per cent), metals (-5.34 per cent) and furbished steel (-7.22 per cent), among others.
- Moreover, the contraction in fuel prices (-0.77 per cent) continued for the 11th consecutive month in March.
- It was led by contraction in prices of high-speed diesel (-3.51 per cent), cooking gas (-10.19 per cent) and petrol (-0.94 per cent).
Agreements and MoUs signed
BEL signs MoU with IIT-Mandi
- Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, for co-operation in research and technology, product development, in the areas of semiconductors, quantum technologies, and drones.
- The MoU aims at leveraging the complementary strengths and capabilities of BEL and IIT-Mandi.
Lam Research signs MoU with the ISM and IISc
- Lam Research Corp signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (Mou) with the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for broad deployment of Semi Verse Solutions to developing India’s semiconductor manufacturing workforce.
- Lam Research Corporation is a global supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry.
- Lam’s equipment and services allow customers to build smaller and better-performing devices.
Science and Technology
Government’s new digital platform: CDP-SURAKSHA
- The central government has come up with a new platform to disburse subsidies to horticulture farmers under the Cluster Development Programme (CDP) — the Centre’s initiative to promote horticulture crops.
- The platform is known as CDP-SURAKSHA.
- The move seeks to push the growth of India’s horticulture sector, which contributes nearly one-third to the agriculture gross value addition (GVA), making a substantial contribution to the Indian economy.
- The CDP-SURAKSHA is essentially a digital platform. SURAKSHA stands for “System for Unified Resource Allocation, Knowledge, and Secure Horticulture Assistance.”
- The platform will allow an instant disbursal of subsidies to farmers in their bank account by utilising the e-RUPI voucher from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
- The CDP-SURAKSHA has features such as database integration with PM-KISAN, cloud-based server space from NIC, UIDAI validation, eRUPI integration, local government directory (LGD), content management system, geotagging, and geo-fencing.
- The platform allows access to farmers, vendors, implementing agencies (IA), and cluster development agencies (CDAs), and officials of the National Horticulture Board (NHB).
- A farmer can login using their mobile number and place an order for planting material such as seeds, seedlings, and plants based on their requirement.
Nature
India lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000
- According to the latest data from the Global Forest Watch monitoring project,
- India has lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000, equivalent to a six per cent decrease in tree cover during this period.
- The country lost 4,14,000 hectares of humid primary forest (4.1 per cent) from 2002 to 2023, making up 18 per cent of its total tree cover loss in the same period.
- Between 2001 and 2022, forests in India emitted 51 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year and removed 141 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year.
- This represents a net carbon sink of 9 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year.
Appointments
BharatPe elevates Nalin Negi to full-time CEO
- Fintech firm BharatPe has elevated its interim CEO and chief financial officer Nalin Negi as full-time chief executive officer.
- He was given charge of interim CEO in January 2023 after then CEO Suhail Sameer stepped down from the post.
Singapore Prime Minister handed over his over to deputy Prime Minister
- Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that he will step down on May 15 after two decades at the helm, and hand power to his deputy Lawrence Wong.
- Singapore – Singapore City (Capital) – Singapore dollar (Currency) – Tharman Shanmugaratnam (President) – Malay (Official Language)
Obituary
Noted Carnatic musician K.G. Jayan passes away at 90
- Noted Carnatic musician G. Jayan passed away at the age of 90 at Thripunitura in Ernakulam district of Kerala.
- Born to the late Gopalan Thanthrikal and late Narayani Amma in Kottayam on November 21, 1934, Jayan and his brother G. Vijayan were known as the ‘Jaya-Vijaya’ duo in the world of music.
- The Jaya-Vijaya title was suggested by the late Malayalam actor Jose Prakash who worked with them in his plays.
- He won Padma Shri in 2019.
- His other accolades include Sangeetha Nataka Akademi award in 1991 and Harivarasanam award in 2013.
Sports News
Rashmi Kumari wins national women’s carrom title for the 12th time
- Three-time World Champion Rashmi Kumari beat K Nagajothi in the women’s final of the 51st National carrom championship organised by the Madhya Pradesh Carrom Association.
- It was a record 12th national women’s singles title for Rashmi, employed as the Chief Manager at the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
- The men’s title was bagged by K Srinivas as he beat S Aditya in the final.
- It was the fourth national men’s singles title for Srinivas who was brilliant in the tournament, executing seven white slams.
- The championship was sponsored by the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) and SYNCO carrom company, had 237 men and 174 women participants from 12 institutions and 27 States.
Important Days
World Chagas Disease Day 2020 is observed on April 14
- World Chagas Disease Day is annually observed on April 14.
- The Day was approved for creation on May 24, 2019, at the 72nd session of the World Health Assembly, and officially created at the WHA plenary on May 28, 2019 and was first celebrated on April 14, 2020, and was named after Carlos Ribeiro Justiniano Chagas, the Brazilian doctor who diagnosed the first case on April 14, 1909.
- It is one of 11 official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO)
- It is an infectious disease caused by a parasite found in the feces of triatomine bugs (also known as kissing bugs).
- The disease can be mild, causing swelling and fever, or it can be long lasting. Left untreated, it can cause congestive heart failure.
- It is often termed as a “silent and silenced disease” as the infected majority have no symptoms or extremely mild symptom.
- There are approximately 6-7 million people infected with Chagas disease worldwide, with 12,000 deaths, every year.
- Theme – Tackling Chagas disease: detect early and care for life
- World Health Organization (WHO) – 07/04/1948 (Founded) – Geneva, Switzerland (HQ) – Tedros Adhanom (Director-General)
Daily Current Affairs - April 16, 2024 - Consolidated
- NHAI Organizes National Workshop on Eco-friendly Measures for Holistic National Highway Development
- RBI asks lenders to provide ‘key fact statement’ to borrowers
- Deposits of senior citizens soared about 150% to ₹34 lakh crore in 5 years
- IMGC ties up with Bank of India to offer mortgage guarantee-backed home loan products
- RBI caps Sarvodaya Bank withdrawals at ₹15,000
- Deposit rates raised by public sector banks higher than private peers
- India’s overall exports reaches $776.68 billion in FY24
- Wholesale price inflation rises to three-month high of 0.53% in March
- Wholesale price inflation of FY24
- BEL signs MoU with IIT-Mandi
- Lam Research signs MoU with the ISM and IISc
- Government’s new digital platform: CDP-SURAKSHA
- India lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000
- BharatPe elevates Nalin Negi to full-time CEO
- Singapore Prime Minister handed over his over to deputy Prime Minister
- Noted Carnatic musician K.G. Jayan passes away at 90
- Rashmi Kumari wins national women’s carrom title for the 12th time
- World Chagas Disease Day 2020 is observed on April 14
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