1. Moody's
Investors Service estimated that India will grow 7.6% in the calendar year 2018
& 7.5% in 2019.
2. Indian
economy grew at a five-quarter high of 7.2% in the October-December period
reflecting overall recovery due to good show by agriculture, manufacturing,
construction & certain services. It is expected to grow at 6.6% in the
current fiscal ending March 31, as per Central Statistics Office (CSO).
3. IndusInd
Bank announced its partnership with Ripple (the enterprise blockchain solution
for Global Payments) to facilitate payments into & out of India. With this,
RippleNet can now provide instant access in emerging markets such as India,
Brazil & China.
4. PNB
& ICICI Bank hiked the MCLR rates for loan borrowers. ICICI Bank raised the
one-year MCLR from 8.2% to 8.3%. PNB increased one-year MCLR to 8.3%.
5. SBI
raised its lending rates by 20 basis points to 8.15%, with immediate
effect.
6. RBI
decided to do away with the per borrower loan limits to Micro/Small &
Medium Enterprises (Services) for classification under priority sector lending.
So far, loans to Micro/Small & Medium Enterprises (Services) up to Rs. 5
crore & Rs10 crore, respectively, were classified as PSL. Now all bank
loans to MSMEs engaged in providing or rendering services as defined in terms
of investment in equipment under the MSMED Act, 2006, will qualify under
priority sector without any credit cap.
7. A
Steering Committee has been constituted by the Ministry of Finance under the
Chairmanship of Secretary, Shri Subhash Chandra Garg, to consider various
issues relating to the development of Fintech space in India.
8. RBI
imposed a penalty of Rs. 3 crore on private sector Axis Bank for violation of
non-performing asset (NPA classification norms, & Rs 2 crore on state-run
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) for not complying with the Know Your Customer (KYC)
regulations.
9. RBI
will conduct additional variable rate repo operations for longer tenors up to
31 days every Tuesday in the month of March 2018 for Rs 25,000 crore each to
provide additional liquidity support to banks. What this means is that the
central bank is ready to provide liquidity aggregating Rs 1 lakh crore to the
banking system in the current month.
10. Iraq
become India’s biggest crude oil supplier by overtaking Saudi Arabia with a
wide margin in this current financial year. Iraq supplied 38.9 million tonnes
(MT) of oil.
11. SIDBI
signed an MoU with CSC e-governance Services (CSCeGS) to take Udyami Mitra
portal to the unserved & the underserved MSMEs. Udyamimitra.in is a portal
to improve the accessibility of credit for the MSMEs. CSCeGS is a special
purpose vehicle (SPV) set up by the ministry of electronics & IT (MeitY)
which acts as connect point for various digitally aligned services to villages
in the country.
12. RBI
has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 40 lakh on State Bank of India for
non-compliance of its directions on detection & impounding of counterfeit
notes.
13. ICICI
Bank launched instant overdraft ‘InstaOD’ facility for MSME customers in a
completely online & paperless manner. Customers can get overdraft facility
up to Rs 15 lakh for a year anytime, anywhere.
14. SBI
slashed charges for non-maintenance of Average Monthly Balance (AMB) in savings
accounts by nearly 75%. It will be effective from April 01, 2018 & will
benefit over 25 crore customers. The charges for nonmaintenance of AMB for
customers in Metro & Urban centers reduced from a maximum of Rs 50 per
month to Rs 15 per month. Similarly, for Semi-Urban & Rural centers, the
charges reduced from Rs 40 every month to Rs 12 & Rs 10. GST charges will
be applicable over & above the rates specified above.
15. World
Bank projected India's GDP growth at 7.3% for 2018-19 & accelerates further
to 7.5% in 2019-20. It expects the economy to clock a growth rate of 6.7% in
the current fiscal ending March 31.
16. India’s
exports grew by 4.5% in February-2018 to 25.8 billion dollars. It was 24.7 billion
dollar during the same period in February-2017.
17. As
per the World Bank Report, GST is one of the most complex with the second
highest tax rate in the world among a sample of 115 countries which have a
similar indirect tax system.
18. NITI
Aayog released comprehensive roadmaps & detailed timelines for its
initiative ‘Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital in Education
(SATHE)’ project. These roadmaps, which operate between 2018 to 2020, lay out
detailed interventions which will be taken by the three participating States-
Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh & Odisha – aiming to become ‘Role Model States’
in school education.
19. SBI
& India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) signed a pact to offer
mortgage guarantee scheme for prospective non-salaried & self-employed home
loan customers.
20. Axis
Bank opened a representative office in Sharjah, to better serve its customers
in the emirate & to expand its retail offerings to customers. aggregator Ola, giving commuters an option
book taxi on its app.
21. General
Insurance Corporation is going to start operations at the Lloyd’s London office
in April 2018 thereby increasing its
share of international business. This will help GIC Re increase its share of
international reinsurance business.
22. Online
Food ordering & delivery platform Swiggy partnered with ICICI Bank to roll
out two digital solutions to facilitate the transfer of funds for its delivery
partners.
23. As
per the officials of Allahabad Bank, Ministry of Corporate Affairs allowed the
amalgamation of its wholly own subsidiary - All Bank Finance Ltd (ABFL)with the
lender.
24. Equitas
Small Finance Bank launched a new ‘Yellow Army Savings Account’ to increase its
customer base through its association with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The
yellow army savings account will offer an interest rate of 6% per annum for
balance below Rs10 lakh & 6.5% per annum for balance above Rs10 lakh. The
average quarterly balance requirement will be Rs10,000 per account.
25. SWIFT
announces the extension of its GPI Tracker to cover all payment instructions
sent across the network, enabling GPI banks to track all their SWIFT payment
instructions at all times, & giving them full visibility over all their
payments activity.
26.
Exim Bank announced that it will provide a
USD 500 million credit facility to Economic Community of West
27.
African States (ECOWAS) to fund various
development projects in western-south Africa. The LoC of USD 500 million is an
umbrella limit for financing developmental projects in 15-member countries.
28. EPFO
launched the pensioner’s portal through which all EPFO pensioners may get the
details of pensionrelated information. The pensioner’s portal is a launched
service where details like pension payment order number, payment order details,
passbook information & other related information are available.
29. RBI
has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 58.9 crore on ICICI Bank Limited for
non-compliance with the directions issued by the RBI on direct sale of
securities from its Held To Maturity (HTM) portfolio & specified disclosure
in this regard.
30. SEBI
has allowed physical settlement of both stock options & stock futures. At
present only cash settlement of derivatives is allowed.
31. Rivigo,
a homegrown logistics start-up that owns as well as acts as an aggregator of
trucks, is tying up with YES Bank, IDFC, & 10 other financial institutions
to make cheaper funds available to truck owners & operators on its
platform. The funds will be available at an interest rate of 1-2 percent per
month, lower than the usual industry standard of 2-3 percent.
32. Tech
giant Microsoft inked its first renewable energy deal in India for powering its
new facility in Bengaluru. It will see Microsoft purchase 3 megawatts of
solar-powered electricity from Atria Power.
33. International
Solar Alliance (ISA) & the African Development Bank (AfDb), ADB, AIIB, the
Green climate fund (GCF), & the New Development Bank (NDB) signed Joint
financial partnership Declarations in New Delhi. International Energy Agency
(IEA) also signed a Joint partnership Declaration with the ISA. The objective
is to deepen their cooperation in support of Renewable Energy.
34. Paytm
announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Paytm Money, received approval of
SEBI to become a registered investment advisor.
35. The
government made providing passport details mandatory for taking loans of 50
crore rupees & above to ensure a SWIFT action in case of fraud &
prevent fraudsters from fleeing the country. As per the Financial Services
Secretary, all existing loans of over 50 crore rupees, banks have been asked to
collect passport details of borrowers within 45 days.
36. For
intra-State movement, the e-way bill will be rolled out in a phased manner
beginning April 15 & will cover all the States by June 1. Businesses will
continue to file summary sales return GSTR-3B until June as the GST (Goods
& Services Tax) Council has extended the present system of return-filing by
three months. Electronic way or e-way bill for movement of goods between States
would be implemented from April 1.
37. Bharat
Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has secured significant orders worth Rs. 736
crores, after competitive bidding, for supplying Steam Generators for the
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). The generators will be manufactured at the
Tiruchirappalli plant of BHEL & will be installed at the Pressurized Heavy
Water Reactor (PHWR), Gorakhpur, Haryana.
38. Amazon.com
Inc launched its first-ever debit card in Mexico, part of a push to encourage
shoppers without bank accounts to buy online.
39. SEBI
raised the exposure limit under exchange-traded currency derivatives trading
for residents & FPIs to USD 100 million across all currency pairs involving
the Indian rupee.
40. BHEL
has commissioned 1st unit of 110 MW of the Kishanganga hydroelectric project
(HEP) of NHPC in Jammu & Kashmir.
41. Indian
Oil Corporation (IOC) has launched homedelivery of diesel on a pilot basis in
Pune & plans to expand doorstep delivery of the fuel to other parts of the
country in near future. This is the first company to have started doorstep
delivery after receiving clearance from the Petroleum & Explosives Safety
Organisation (PESO).
42. BHEL
entered into a technology collaboration agreement (TCA) with HLB Power,
Republic of Korea.
43. Mukesh
Ambani-helmed Reliance Industries Ltd announced an integration with leading
music app Saavn for its digital music service JioMusic.
44. HDFC
Bank signed agreement with the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) under which the
bank will facilitate a host of services to the public procurement portal for
Central & state government organisations.
45.
Ministry of Finance approved a proposal to
provide government guarantee of Rs. 5,000 crores in the current financial year
for Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) bonds to be subscribed by Life
Insurance Corporation (LIC). The guarantee fee for the amount has also been
waived by the Ministry.
46.
Google acquired US-based Tenor, a GIF
platform for Android, iOS, & desktop Govt. allowed export of two million
tonnes of sugar until the end of the 2017-18 marketing year, in order to clear
surplus stocks & improve cash flow to millers for making payment to
sugarcane farmers.
47.
Several Budget proposals, including the
reintroduction of the tax on long-term capital gains (LTCG) exceeding Rs 1 lakh
from the sale of shares, will kick in from 01st April 2018, the beginning of
the 2018-19 financial year. Besides, other tax proposals like the reduced
corporate tax of 25 percent on businesses on a turnover of up to Rs 250 crore
& a standard deduction of Rs 40,000 in lieu of transport allowance &
medical reimbursement, will come into effect from 01st April 2018.
48.
Govt. allowed export of two million tonnes
of sugar until the end of the 2017-18 marketing year, in order to clear surplus
stocks & improve cash flow to millers for making payment to sugarcane
farmers.
49.
Several Budget proposals, including the
reintroduction of the tax on long-term capital gains (LTCG) exceeding Rs 1 lakh
from the sale of shares, will kick in from 01st April 2018, the beginning of
the 2018-19 financial year. Besides, other tax proposals like the reduced
corporate tax of 25 percent on businesses on a turnover of up to Rs 250 crore
& a standard deduction of Rs 40,000 in lieu of transport allowance &
medical reimbursement, will come into effect from 01st April 2018.
IMPORTANT LINKS MARCH 2018
