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CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND ECONOMY

AU Small Finance Bank names former RBI Deputy Guv HR Khan as part-time chairman

• AU Small Finance Bank (SFB) has announced the appointment of Reserve Bank of India's former Deputy Governor Harun Rasid Khan as part-time chairman.
• Raj Vikash Verma has completed his tenure on 29 January, 2024 and will cease to be a part time chairman and independent director of the bank with immediate effect.
• Harun Rasid Khan, Independent Director (Non-Executive) shall assume the position of Part Time Chairman of the Bank w.e.f. January 30, 2024 till completion of his 1st tenure as Independent Director of the Bank i.e. December 27, 2024.

RBI-backed TReDS logs quick growth after slow takeoff

• Reserve Bank of India-backed invoice discounting platform TReDS (Trade Receivables Electronic Discounting System) has reported a jump in invoices financed by lenders in 2023.
• The electronic platform facilitates easy access to credit for small businesses that are vendors to large corporations.
• TReDS was launched by the RBI in 2018.
• While it was slow to scale initially, traction has started picking up, with banks and non-banking lenders participating in the ecosystem.
• Currently, there are three entities licensed by the RBI to offer this service: M1xchange, Invoicemart and Receivables Exchange of India.
• While initially TReDS was mainly used by public sector enterprises, now private companies have started joining the ecosystem.
• Last year, the RBI allowed insurance players as the fourth to participate in the space. Sellers, buyers and financiers are the participants on a TReDS platform.
• As trade credit insurance is in the process of going live, this will give more confidence to financiers and, in turn, expand the ecosystem.

Bank of Baroda Limited Appoints Shri Sanjay Vinayak Mudaliar, as Executive Director

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the Department of Financial Services (DFS) proposal to post Sanjay Vinayak Mudaliar as Executive Director at Bank of Baroda.
• Mudaliar is currently the Executive Director at Indian Overseas Bank.
• Mudaliar will serve his new post from the day he assumes charge for the remainder of his term, i.e. up to December 31, 2025, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• Simultaneously, ACC has approved the DFS proposal to post Joydeep Dutta Roy, Executive Director, Bank of Baroda, as Executive Director in the Indian Overseas Bank.
• Roy will serve his new posting from the day he took charge for the remainder of his term, i.e. up to October 20, 2024, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

RBI to make available an additional ₹5,000 cr to Standalone Primary Dealers under Standing Liquidity Facility

• In view of the liquidity deficit in the banking system, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to make available an additional aggregate amount of ₹5,000 crore to Standalone Primary Dealers (SPDs) under the Standing Liquidity Facility at the prevailing repo rate starting from January 31, 2024.
• The incremental limit for individual SPDs is being conveyed to them separately.
• The repo rate (the interest rate at which banks draw liquidity from the RBI to overcome short-term liquidity mismatches) is at 6.50 per cent.
• The banking system has been facing a liquidity deficit since September 2024, with the deficit standing at about ₹2.68 lakh crore as of January 29, 2024.
• At the one-day variable rate repo auction, in which PDs participate along with Banks, conducted by the RBI on January 30, 2024, the demand for funds was 2.76 times the notified amount of ₹25,000 crore.
• The central bank allotted ₹25,008 crore to the bidders at a weighted average rate of 6.74 per cent.
• PDs’ role in the government securities market includes functioning as a link between the RBI and the investors, providing liquidity in the secondary market, and offering market-making services.
• In late March 2020, the RBI had temporarily enhanced liquidity available to SPDs under the Reserve Bank’s Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF) from ₹ 2800 crore to ₹ 10,000 crore to facilitate year-end liquidity management by SPDs.

NABARD projects priority sector credit target of Rs 3.97 lakh cr for Karnataka in 2024-25

• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has pegged a credit potential of ₹2.80 lakh crore for the priority sector for the financial year 2024-25, showing a whopping growth of 51 per cent over the last year’s projections.
• This includes a credit potential of ₹1.33 lakh crore for agriculture.
• Of the total estimates, crop loans constituted 29 per cent, MSME (46 per cent) and Agri ancillary activities (7 per cent.)
• Since the formation of the State in 2014, Nabard has propelled a credit flow of Rs one lakh crore, facilitating capital formation in agriculture through refinance to rural financial institutions.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

India nominates ‘Maratha Military Landscapes’ for 2024-25 UNESCO World Heritage List

• The Ministry of Culture announced that India is nominating the 'Maratha Military Landscape' for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List for the 2024-25 cycle, with a total of 12 components included in this nomination.
• Suvarnadurg Fort is a part of the historic 'Maratha Military Landscape'.
• 'Maratha Military Landscapes' represents extraordinary fortification and military system envisioned by the Maratha rulers, showcasing the vibrant history of India.
• Twelve components of this nomination are -- Salher fort, Shivneri fort, Lohgad, Khanderi fort, Raigad, Rajgad, Pratapgad, Suvarnadurg, Panhala fort, Vijay durg, and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, and Gingee fort in Tamil Nadu.
• These twelve components are distributed across diverse geographical and physiographic regions and they shocase the strategic military powers of the Maratha rule in ancient India.
• 'Maratha Military Landscapes of India', which developed between 17th and 19th centuries, "represent an extraordinary fortification and military system envisioned by the Maratha rulers.

Key Highlights

• This extraordinary network of forts, varying in hierarchies, scales and typological features, is a result of integrating the landscape, terrain and physiographic characteristics distinctive to the Sahyadri mountain ranges, the Konkan Coast, Deccan Plateau and the Eastern Ghats in the Indian Peninsula.
• There are more than 390 forts in Maharashtra, out of which only 12 forts are selected under the 'Maratha Military Landscapes of India', and eight of these forts are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
• The forts under ASI are Shivneri fort, Lohgad, Raigad, Suvarnadurg, Panhala fort, Vijaydurg, Sindhudurg and Gingee fort; whereas Salher fort, Rajgad, Khanderi fort and Pratapgarh are protected by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, government of Maharashtra.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India-Singapore committed to strengthening cooperation in the field of Personnel Management and Public Administration

• India-Singapore committed themselves to strengthening cooperation in the field of Personnel Management and Public Administration.
• The bilateral meeting discussed the contours of collaboration for 2024.
• The areas of collaboration envisage sharing of good governance practices, exchange of information in the field of Personnel Management and Public Administration, cooperation between the two countries on using technology in governance and timely convening of the Joint Working Group meetings.
• Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India, Shri V. Srinivas held a meeting with Permanent Secretary, Public Services Division, Republic of Singapore, Ms. Tan Gee Keow through video conferencing.
• The meeting was attended by senior officers of PSD, Singapore and DARPG.
• The broad areas of collaboration included improving e-services delivery, e-governance practices, adoption of unified service delivery portals and use of AI/ ML in grievance redressal.
• The Indian side presented the strides made by Government of India in implementing the policy of “Maximum Governance-Minimum Government” by the implementation of the CPGRAMS reforms, benchmarking of e-Services using National e-Services Delivery Assessment and the recognition of meritocracy through the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration.
• The Singapore side presented the Singapore Government Partnerships Office and the efforts being made by Singapore in going beyond listening to citizen voices and finding sustained solutions.
• Singapore side presented the efforts being made to prepare their citizens for greater adoption of technology.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

Index of Eight Core Industries increases by 3.8 per cent (provisional) in Dec 2023 as compared to Dec 2022

• The combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 3.8 per cent (provisional) in December 2023 as compared to the Index of December 2022.
• The production of Coal, Natural Gas, Steel, Fertilizers, Refinery Products, Cement and Electricity recorded positive growth in December 2023.
• The details of annual and monthly indices and growth rates are provided in Annex I and Annex II respectively.
• The ICI measures combined and individual performance of production of eight core industries viz. Cement, Coal, Crude Oil, Electricity, Fertilizers, Natural Gas, Refinery Products and Steel.
• The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
• The final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for September 2023 is revised to 9.4 cent.
• The cumulative growth rate of ICI during April to December, 2023-24 is 8.1per cent(provisional) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The summary of the Index of Eight Core Industries is given below:

• Cement - Cement production (weight: 5.37 per cent) increased by 1.3 per cent in December, 2023 over December, 2022. Its cumulative index increased by 9.2 per cent during April to December, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. Coal - Coal production (weight: 10.33 per cent) increased by 10.6 per cent in December, 2023 over December, 2022. Its cumulative index increased by 12.5 per cent during April to December, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
• Crude Oil - Crude Oil production (weight: 8.98 per cent) decreased by 1.0 per cent in December, 2023 over December, 2022. Its cumulative index declined by 0.3 per cent during April to December, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
• Electricity - Electricity generation (weight: 19.85 per cent) increased by 0.6 per cent in December, 2023 over December, 2022. Its cumulative index increased by 6.9 per cent during April to December, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
• Fertilizers - Fertilizer production (weight: 2.63 per cent) increased by 5.8 per cent in December, 2023 over December, 2022. Its cumulative index increased by 6.2 per cent during April to December, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
• Natural Gas - Natural Gas production (weight: 6.88 per cent) increased by 6.6 per cent in December, 2023 over December, 2022. Its cumulative index increased by 5.6 per cent during April to December, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
• Petroleum Refinery Products - Petroleum Refinery production (weight: 28.04 per cent) increased by 2.6 per cent in December, 2023 over December, 2022. Its cumulative index increased by 4.7 per cent during April to December, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
• Steel - Steel production (weight: 17.92 per cent) increased by 5.9 per cent in December, 2023 over December, 2022. Its cumulative index increased by 13.3 per cent during April to December, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

Government appoints Members of the 16th Finance Commission

• The government has appointed four members of the Sixteenth Finance Commission, with the approval of the President of India.
• Former Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha, former Special Secretary, Expenditure Annie George Mathew, Executive Director, Artha Global Dr Niranjan Rajadhyaksha have been appointed as full-time members.
• Group Chief Economic Advisor of State Bank of India, Dr. Soumya Kanti Ghosh has been appointed as part-time member.
• The Sixteenth Finance Commission was constituted on 31st December with Arvind Panagariya, former Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog as its Chairman.
• The Sixteenth Finance Commission has been requested to make its recommendations available by October 31, 2025, covering an award period of 5 years commencing 1st of April, 2026.

Union Sports Ministry issues strict warning to suspended WFI president Sanjay Singh

• The Union Sports Ministry has issued a strict warning to the suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh, over the committee's claims regarding the recognition from the government as well as absolutely baseless and mischievous claims of holding competitions.
• Sanjay had previously stated that the WFI will conduct the Senior National Wrestling Championship 2023 at Pune, Maharashtra from January 29 to 31.
• In a letter addressed to the president of the suspended WFI body Sanjay Singh, the Sports Ministry reiterated that any tournament hosted by them would be considered unsanctioned and unrecognized competitions.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT

NTPC and Oil India Limited’s Numaligarh Refinery Limited to build strategic partnership in Green Chemicals and Green Projects

• NTPC Limited, India’s largest integrated power utility, has signed a non-binding MoU with Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), for partnership opportunities in the proposed bamboo-based Bio-Refinery at NTPC Bongaigaon and other green projects.
• NRL is a subsidiary of Oil India Limited, which is engaged in the business of refining and marketing of petroleum products.
• Through this MoU, the two Central Public Sector Enterprises intend to enhance their footprint in green chemicals and foray into sustainable solutions to advance the efforts towards achieving the nation’s Net-Zero targets and be partners in the development of the North Eastern Region.
• The MoU was signed in the presence of CMD NTPC, Shri Gurdeep Singh; CMD OIL & Chairman NRL Dr Ranjit Rath; and MD NRL, Shri Bhaskar Jyoti Phukan.
• NTPC is committed to achieve 60 GW of Renewable Energy capacity by 2032 and be a major player in the Green Hydrogen and Energy Storage domain.
• The company is taking up several initiatives towards decarbonization such as Green Hydrogen, Biofuels, Carbon Capture & Hydrogen Mobility.

NHAI Collaborates with Geological Survey of India for Geotechnical Consultancy Services to Build Robust National Highway Network

• National Highways network, NHAI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Geological Survey of India (GSI) to provide services to NHAI for site specific geotechnical consultancy and assist in vetting of Detailed Project Reports (DPR) from geotechnical point of view.
• The MoU was signed in presence of NHAI Chairman Shri Santosh Kumar Yadav and Dr. Saibal Ghosh, Deputy Director General, Geological Survey of India along with other senior officials from NHAI and GSI.
• As per the agreement, Geological Survey of India will provide site-specific geotechnical consultancy services related to the preparation of geological map of the area providing detailed geological features, preparation of slope stability study of the road and providing necessary recommendations, identification of geologically weak zones at various sites/stretches of National Highways, suggest site specific remedial measures, 3D geological logging of tunnels in the project and suggest necessary & relevant stabilization measures.
• In addition, GSI will also undertake detailed analysis of DPRs prepared by NHAI consultants.
• This unique initiative of collaboration between two Government organizations to share best practices will go a long way in providing strong impetus to quality construction of National Highways.
• It will not only help in easier operations and maintenance of the highways but will also provide smooth and seamless travel experience to the National Highway users.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING AND INDEX

Bangladesh Drops to 10th Most Corrupt Nation in Transparency International's 2023 Index

• Bangladesh has slipped by two positions in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023 of Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) to become the 10th most corrupt country in the world.
• In the last decade, this is the worst performance of Bangladesh.
• This was revealed by the executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), at a press conference in Dhaka.
• Bangladesh received a score of 24 out of 100 in the Corruption Perception Index 2023, said the Executive Director.
• TIB officials said that according to the CPI, Bangladesh's score fell from 25 in 2022 to 24 in 2023, which means the public sector is perceived to be more corrupt than it was a year ago.
• The findings placed Denmark on top of the list as the least corrupt country with a score of 90 out of 100.
• Finland is in second place with 87 and New Zealand is third with a score of 85.
• Meanwhile, Somalia topped the list of corrupt countries with the lowest score of 11.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ACQUISITION AND MERGERS

CCI approves the acquisition of additional shares of API Holdings Limited by Naspers Ventures B.V.

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the proposed acquisition of additional shares of API Holdings Limited by Naspers Ventures B.V.
• The Naspers Ventures B.V. (Acquirer), is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Prosus N.V. (Prosus), which is in-turn, a direct subsidiary of Naspers Ltd. (Naspers).
• The Acquirer is an investment holding company and its principal activity is to make investments by providing direct and indirect equity and debt funding.
• The API Holdings Limited (Target), is the ultimate parent entity of the API Holdings group.
• Either directly or through its subsidiaries/affiliate companies, Target is engaged in various business activities in the healthcare sector in India.
• It is submitted that the predominant revenue of Target is derived from wholesale (B2B) sale and distribution of drugs (including pharmaceutical products, medical devices and over-the-counter medication (OTC) products).
• The remaining revenue is derived from the Provision of diagnostics services and other ancillary business activities such as developing a platform/tool which connects Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) and patients whereby the patients could consult with RMPs through the platform/tool and have teleconsultation and engaged in developing electronic medical records.
• The Acquirer proposes to acquire additional shares of the Target by way of participation in the proposed rights issue, subject to the terms of the Term Sheet executed amongst the Parties.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

Indian Coast Guard Day 2024: 01st February

• The ICG Day or Indian Coast Guard Day is celebrated on 01st February every year.
• The Indian Coast Guard is a multi-mission organization, conducting round-the-year real-life operations at sea.
• Despite being relatively small, it has a wide range of task capabilities for both surface and air operations.
• The Indian Coast Guard was initially established on 1 February 1977 due to an emergency.
• In those days, sea-borne smuggling threatened the country's domestic economy. In the interim, the Indian Coast Guard was created in 1977 to prevent the smuggling of goods on the Sea.
• The Nagchaudhuri Committee was formed with the participation of the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force to analyze the problem.
• Till then, the Indian navy was involved in anti-smuggling activities.
• The committee members came up with a solution to the need for the patrol to watch the activities performed on the coast.
• They set up a registry of offshore fishing vessels to identify illegal activity and establish a capable and well-equipped force to intercept vessels engaged in illegal activities.
• On the 18th of August,1978 the Indian Coast Guard was established officially and was declared by the Parliament of India by the Coast Guard Act, 1978.
• To provide non-military maritime services to the nation, the Indian Coast was created based on the ideas of the Indian Navy.

Daily CA One- Liner: February 1

• AU Small Finance Bank (SFB) has announced the appointment of Reserve Bank of India's former Deputy Governor Harun Rasid Khan as part-time chairman.
• Reserve Bank of India-backed invoice discounting platform TReDS (Trade Receivables electronic Discounting System) has reported a jump in invoices financed by lenders in 2023.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the Department of Financial Services (DFS) proposal to post Sanjay Vinayak Mudaliar as Executive Director at Bank of Baroda
• In view of the liquidity deficit in the banking system, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to make available an additional aggregate amount of ₹5,000 crore to Standalone Primary Dealers (SPDs) under the Standing Liquidity Facility at the prevailing repo rate starting from January 31, 2024
• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has pegged a credit potential of ₹2.80 lakh crore for the priority sector for the financial year 2024-25, showing a whopping growth of 51 per cent over the last year’s projections
• The Ministry of Culture announced that India is nominating the 'Maratha Military Landscape' for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List for the 2024-25 cycle, with a total of 12 components included in this nomination
• India-Singapore committed themselves to strengthening cooperation in the field of Personnel Management and Public Administration.
• The combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 3.8 per cent (provisional) in December 2023 as compared to the Index of December 2022.
• The government has appointed four members of the Sixteenth Finance Commission, with the approval of the President of India.
• The Union Sports Ministry has issued a strict warning to the suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh, over the committee's claims regarding the recognition from the government as well as absolutely baseless and mischievous claims of holding competitions.
• NTPC Limited, India’s largest integrated power utility, has signed a non-binding MoU with Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), for partnership opportunities in the proposed bamboo-based Bio-Refinery at NTPC Bongaigaon and other green projects.
• National Highways network, NHAI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Geological Survey of India (GSI) to provide services to NHAI for site specific geotechnical consultancy and assist in vetting of Detailed Project Reports (DPR) from geotechnical point of view
• Bangladesh has slipped by two positions in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023 of Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) to become the 10th most corrupt country in the world.
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the proposed acquisition of additional shares of API Holdings Limited by Naspers Ventures B.V.
• The ICG Day or Indian Coast Guard Day is celebrated on 01st February every year.