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CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE

Retail trade and NBFCs drive credit growth in services - RBI data 

• According to the data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), significant offtake from retail and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) increased credit to services by 21.5% year-on-year (YoY) in Jan 2023 as against 5.7% in Jan 2022.
• RBI data showed loans to retail increased 21.8% Year on Year (YoY) in Jan 2023, up from 6.9% in Jan 2022.
• Loans to NBFCs grew by 31% in Jan 2023 as against 9.9% in Jan 2022.
• NBFCs lend in segments like retail; micro, small, and medium enterprises; and farming, besides giving microloans.

Key Highlights : 

• Credit to households and individuals, reflecting the fund flow to the retail segment, has been robust, showing 20.4% YoY growth in Jan 2023, up from the 12.8% in Jan 2022.
• Housing loans grew 15.4% YoY in Jan 2023 against 12.8% in Jan 2022.
• The home-loan portfolio of banks stood at Rs 18.88 trillion in Jan 2023, up from Rs 16.36 trillion in Jan 2022.
• Banks gave over Rs 1 trillion for purchasing vehicles in 12 months, leading to 25.5% YoY growth in loans in Jan 2023 as against 9.6% YoY growth in Jan 2022.
• Credit to industry registered a growth rate of 8.7% in Jan 2023 as compared with 5.9% in Jan 2022.
• Size-wise, credit to large industries grew by 6.5% in Jan 2023 as compared with 0.2% in Jan 2022.
• The credit growth of medium industries moderated to 18.1% in Jan 2023 as against 52.4% in Jan 2022.
• Credit to micro and small industries registered a growth rate of 15.2% in January 2023 (23.3% in Jan 2022).
• Credit growth to agriculture and allied activities improved to 14.4% in Jan 2023 from 10.4% in Jan 2022.

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

IDFC First Bank Limited & Federal Bank partner with Sa-Dhan on UPI123PAY

• Private sector lenders IDFC First Bank Limited and the Federal Bank Ltd partnered with the association of microfinance institutions (MFIs) Sa-Dhan and Delhi-based fintech solutions provider NextGen to encourage feature phone users to use UPI123Pay to make digital payments.

About UPI123Pay : 

• In 2022, the RBI, in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), launched the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for feature phone users known as UPI123Pay.
• RBI Governor Shri Shaktikanta Das also launched a 24x7 helpline for digital payments – DigiSaathi.

Key Highlights : 

• A key responsibility of this partnership is to enable UPI integration – enabling simple money transfers, bill payments, merchant payments, recurring payments, and EMI collection.
• There are about 45 million individual beneficiaries under the MFI organizations and most of them are on feature phones.
• In UPI123Pay, there are broadly 3 steps that a user will take to complete transactions.
• UPI123Pay is about empowering more people to get onboarded digital experience through feature phones.
• NextGen will bring technical solutions like setting up a UPI Auto pay platform for regular EMIs as an auto-pay function and riding on the UPI 123Pay service platform with NPCI.
• Both IDFC First and Federal Bank will be the UPI service and bill payment partners, respectively.
• Founder & CEO of Next Gen: Taron Mohan

About Sa-Dhan : 

• Executive Director : Jiji Mammen
• Sa-Dhan is an association of Impact Finance Institutions and an RBI-appointed Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) for MFIs.

About IDFC First Bank : 

• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• CEO: V. Vaidyanathan.
• Tagline: Always You First
• IDFC First Bank is an Indian private sector bank formed by the merger of the banking arm of Infrastructure Development Finance Company and Capital First, an Indian non-bank financial institution
• It is the first universal bank to offer monthly interest credit on savings accounts, lifetime free credit cards with dynamic and low annual percentage rates

About  Federal Bank Limited : 

• Headquarters: Aluva, Kochi, Kerala.
• MD & CEO: Shyam Srinivasan
• Tagline: Your Perfect Banking Partner

RBI imposes ₹3.06 crore penalty on Amazon Pay (India) for violation of norms                         

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of over ₹3.06 crore on Amazon Pay (India) Private Limited for non-compliance with certain provisions related to Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) and Know Your Customer (KYC) direction.
• The penalty has been imposed under Section 30 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
• This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the entity with its customers
• In July 2022, RBI imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1.67 crore on Ola Financial Services for similar reasons of non-compliance with KYC requirements.
• The regulator also fined fintech firm Obopay in August 2022.

About Amazon Pay : 

• Amazon Pay is an online payment processing service owned by Amazon.
• Launched in 2007.
• It uses the consumer base of Amazon.com and focuses on giving users the option to pay with their Amazon accounts on external merchant websites.
• It is the payments arm of e-commerce giant Amazon India and provides services such as mobile recharges, and bill payments.
• It also distributes insurance and wealth management products such as fixed deposits (FD) through partners.

New India Assurance Co Ltd becomes 2nd company to offer surety bonds                    

• New India Assurance, the largest non-life insurance company in the country, announced the launch of its surety insurance bond business.
• The state-run company became the second insurer to offer such bonds in the country.
• In December 2022 Union highways minister Nitin Gadkari launched India's first surety bond insurance for infrastructure projects by the private sector player Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) permitted general insurers to issue Surety Insurance Bonds from April 2022.

What are Surety bonds?

• Surety bonds are legally enforceable tripartite contracts by which one party (the surety) guarantees the performance or obligations of a second party (the principal) to a third party (the obligee) that guarantee compliance, payment, and/or performance.
• There are two broad categories of surety bonds:

1. Contract surety bonds
2. Commercial (also called miscellaneous) surety bonds.

About Contract Surety Bonds :

• Surety bonds that are written for construction projects are called contract surety bonds.
• A project owner (the obligee) seeks a contractor (the principal) to fulfill a contract.

About Commercial Surety Bonds :

• Commercial surety bonds cover a very broad range of surety bonds that guarantee performance by the principal of the obligation or undertaking described in the bond.

About New India Assurance Co. Ltd : 

• Founded: 23 July 1919 (nationalized in 1973)
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• Chairman & MD : Ms Neerja Kapur

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Cabinet okays 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft from HAL for Air Force at Rs 6,828 crore

• The government has approved the procurement from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at a cost of over 6,828 crore rupees.
• 70 HTT-40 Basic Trainer Aircraft will be supplied over six years.
• The aircraft will help in meeting the shortage of basic trainer aircraft of IAF for the training of newly inducted pilots.
• HTT-40 is a turboprop aircraft.
• It is designed to have good low-speed handling qualities.
• The government has also approved the contract with Larsen and Toubro Limited for the acquisition of three cadet training ships.
• These cadet training ships will be acquired at an overall cost of 3,108 crore rupees.
• Their delivery is scheduled to begin in the year 2026.
• These ships will cater to the training of officer cadets at sea.
• They can also be deployed for the evacuation of people.
• They will also provide training to cadets from friendly countries.

About HAL:

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is an Indian state-owned aerospace and defense company under the Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India, headquartered in Bangalore.
• Established on 23 December 1940,
• HAL is one of the oldest and largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

GST collections grow 12.4% to surpass ₹1.49 lakh crore

• The government collected more than 1.49 lakh crore rupees in GST revenue in February 2023.
• GST revenue collection recorded 12% growth in February against the same period of the previous financial year.
• Monthly GST revenue collection is higher than one lakh 40 thousand crore rupees for 12 straight months in a row.
• According to the Finance Ministry, the highest GST revenue (22 thousand 349 crore rupees) was collected from Maharashtra.
• Maharashtra was followed by Karnataka.
• In Karnataka, over ten thousand crore rupees were collected as GST revenue.
• The highest cess collection of over 11,931 crore rupees was recorded in February 2023 since the implementation of GST in the country.
• Meghalaya was the only State to report a contraction in revenues.
• Andhra Pradesh’s revenues jumped 39%.
• Andhra Pradesh was followed by erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir (33%), Bihar (24%), Haryana (23%), Tamil Nadu (19%), and Karnataka (18%).
• Revenue growth was behind the national average in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.
• All these states saw an 8% rise.

Adani-Hindenburg case: Supreme Court sets up expert committee for probe

• The Supreme Court has constituted an expert committee on issues emerging from the Hindenburg Research Report on Adani Group companies.
• The committee has been formed after a batch of PILs were filed on the recent stock crash of Adani Group due to allegations of fraud by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research.
• There will be six members of this committee.
• The committee will be headed by Supreme Court judge Justice AM Sapre.
• Other members include former chairman of the State Bank of India O.P. Bhatt, retired Bombay High Court judge Justice J.P. Devadhar, former chief of the NDB of BRICS countries K.V. Kamath, co-founder of Infosys Nandan Nilekani and securities expert and lawyer Somasekhar Sundaresan.
• The Supreme Court has said that this committee will submit a sealed report to the court in two months.
• The Supreme Court has directed the market regulator SEBI to ensure that all information is given to the committee.
• The Supreme Court has also directed an inquiry into the violation of Section 19 of the SEBI Rules.
• The Supreme Court has also asked SEBI to examine issues related to any manipulation of share prices.

SEBI gives nod to NSE to launch the rupee-denominated Nymex WTI crude oil and natural gas futures contracts

• National Stock Exchange (NSE) has received permission from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to roll out rupee-denominated Nymex WTI crude oil and natural gas (henry hub) futures contracts in its commodity derivatives segment.
• The commodity derivatives segment of an exchange provides trading in futures.
• A futures contract is a standardized legal agreement between the two parties i.e. buyer and seller to buy or sell something at a predetermined price at a specified date in the future.
• The underlying assets in a futures contract may be commodities, stocks, currencies, interest rates, indices, and bonds.
• A data licensing agreement has been signed between CME Group and NSE that allows NSE to list, trade, and settle rupee-denominated Nymex WTI crude oil and natural gas derivatives contracts on the platform of CME.
• This has expanded the product offering by NSE in the energy basket as well as its overall commodity segment.
• Nymex WTI crude oil and natural gas contracts are among the world’s most traded commodity derivatives
• Trading in derivatives was started by NSE in 2000 and later on, it set up index options trading in 2001. Index options give the investor the right to purchase or sell the underlying stock for a definite period.
• According to Futures Industry Association (FIA), in terms of trading volume (contracts) for 2022, NSE is the world’s largest exchange.
• As per the World Federation of Exchanges, NSE is third in the world in cash equities by the number of trades for 2022.

Tata Motors launches first registered vehicle scrapping facility in Jaipur

• Indian automaker Tata Motors launched its first vehicle scrapping facility in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
• The registered facility Re.Wi.Re (Recycle with Respect) has a capacity of 15,000 vehicles per annum and offers eco-friendly prices for dismantling end-of-life vehicles.
• The facility will be available for passenger and commercial vehicles and is developed and operated by Tata Motors’ partner Ganganagar Vaahan Udyog Pvt Ltd.
• Further, the facility is digitalized for hassle-free, paperless operations and has dedicated stations for the safe dismantling of components such as tyres, batteries, fuel, oils, liquids, and gases.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Vinod Kumar Shukla has won the PEN America award for lifetime achievement in literature

• Vinod Kumar Shukla, at 87, has won the PEN America award for lifetime achievement in literature, one of the most coveted literary prizes worldwide, after decades of composing acclaimed novels like Naukar Ki Kameez (1979) and poetry collections like Sab Kuch Hona Bacha Rahega (1992).

About Vinod Kumar Shukla

• Shukla, whose works incorporate magic-realist elements and have won the Sahitya Akademi award and the Atta Galatta–Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize, was born on January 1, 1937, in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh.
• His first published work was a poetry collection Lagbhag Jai Hind (1971), followed by Vah Aadmi Chala Gaya Naya Garam Coat Pehankar Vichar Ki Tarah (1981). Naukar Ki Kameez was his first novel, adapted into a 1999 Hindi film by Mani Kaul.
• Since 1963, the PEN America Literary Awards have honored many of the most outstanding voices in literature across diverse genres, including fiction, poetry, science writing, essays, sports writing, biography, children's literature, and drama.

GSMA Award a global recognition of India's telecom reforms, and policies:

• India has won the award for implementing best practices in telecom policy and regulation.
• The Minister for Communications, Electronics & IT and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw said “GSMA Award represents global recognition of the telecom reforms carried out by PM Modi.”
• He said Right of Way (RoW) permissions which used to take more than 230 days, now get approval within 8 days.
• Over 85% of mobile tower clearances are now instantaneous.
• He said the Indian telecom sector has emerged as a sunrise sector. The Sunrise sector is a sector with the potential for rapid growth.
• GSMA recognizes one country every year.
• India was announced the winner in the ceremony held at Mobile World Congress Barcelona (Spain) on 27 February 2023.

About GSMA

• GSMA (GSM Association) is an industry organization.
• It represents over 750 mobile operators and 400 companies in the telecom ecosystem.
• It was formed in 1995.
• It is headquartered in London, England, UK.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING AND INDEX

Karnataka, Gujarat ranked best performing Indian states in clean energy transition efforts: IEEFA

• Karnataka and Gujarat are the top states in adopting clean energy transition.
• Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has published a joint report.
• As per the report, in the clean energy adoption, Karnataka and Gujarat have made maximum progress.
• West Bengal, Bihar, and UP are lagging far behind in the adoption of clean energy.
• These states have to increase their renewable energy generation potential.
• Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu have to improve the readiness of their power ecosystems for a clean electricity transition.
• This report has analyzed 16 states, which account for 90% of the country's annual power consumption.
• The report recommends that states should follow a multi-dimensional approach to the clean electricity transition.
• The report has measured the performance of states in terms of four dimensions, which are as follows: Decarbonisation, Performance of the power system, Readiness of the power ecosystem, Policies, and political commitments.
• This report has tracked the performance of states in shifting away from fossil-fuel-based power plants and the capability to incentivize the green market.
• The report measures the performance of states through the States’ Electricity Transition (SET) scoring system.
• India has recently revised its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets.

Reliance Jio second-strongest telecom brand in the world

• Reliance Jio has climbed up to number two rank up from fifth place last year in a list of the top 10 strongest telecom brands in the world.
• The list is by UK-based Brand Finance, a leading brand valuation company, and part of its latest global report on the world’s 150 most valuable telecom brands for 2023.
• The rankings are based on a Brand Strength Index score which looks at various metrics that include evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance.
• Reliance Jio is behind only Swisscom and ahead of Etisalat, MTC, and Singtel.
• Last year, it was fifth in the pecking order, behind Etisalat (in the top slot) Swisscom, PLDT, and MTN.
• In 2021, Jio hit the top spot but lost it in 2022.
• The company has also seen its brand value climb sharply in 2023 to hit $5.4 billion, an increase of 6 percent over the previous year.
• This has helped Jio to climb up from rank 32 in 2022 to 27 in 2023 in the list of the most valuable telecom brands in the world which was also released by Brand Finance.
• However, Jio is still behind Bharti Airtel which is 21 on the list.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT

TN signs MoU with UNEP for implementing the urban cooling program in the State

• Tamil Nadu and UNEP signed MoU for implementing the urban cooling program.
• The MoU was signed between Atul Bagai, Country Head of UNEP, and Supriya Sahu, Environment Secretary of the Tamil Nadu government.
• The signing of the MoU between Tamil Nadu and UNEP will address the quickly rising demand for cooling in cities of Tamil Nadu.
• The collaboration will support the implementation of initiatives to adapt and counteract rising heat.
• UNEP will work with various departments of the state to create comprehensive action plans like increasing green coverage in cities, building efficiency measures, improving the urban design, etc.
• Tamil Nadu government had set up the first of its kind SPV in India-Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company- that guides three key missions- Green Tamil Nadu Mission, Tamil Nadu Wetland Mission, and Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission.
• Tamil Nadu government announced to set up Tamil Nadu Green Climate Fund with a fund size of ₹1,000 crores.
• It also announced to set up of climate change missions in all 38 districts.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

ACF confers Grandmaster D Gukesh with the Player of the Year award

• Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh has been honored with the Player-of-the-Year award by the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) for clinching the gold medal with a record-breaking score of 9/11 in the 44th Chess Olympiad at Mahabalipuram last year.
• In March last year, Gukesh became only the sixth Indian to break the 2700 Elo-rating mark, and the youngest Grandmaster from the country to be rated above 2700.
• The All India Chess Federation (AICF) bagged the ‘Most Active Federation’ award conferred during the ACF annual summit.
• Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has been conferred with the Man-of-the-Year award for his effort in the successful hosting of the FIDE Chess Olympiad in August last year within a short notice of four months.
• The Indian women’s team, comprising Koneru Humpy, D Harika, R Vaishali, Tania Sachdev, and Bhakti Kulkarni, was adjudged the ‘Best Women’s team of the Year’ for its bronze-winning effort, while Grandmaster R B Ramesh bagged the men’s Coach-of-the-Year award and Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte won the Women’s Coach-of-the-Year awards.

About AFC

• President: Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa
• Headquarters: Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Founded: 8 May 1954, Manila, Philippines

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

First Anti-Corruption Working Group Meeting (ACWG) of G20 to be held at Gurugram, Haryana 

• The first meeting of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) meeting is being organized in Gurugram, Haryana, India.
• The ACWG was joined by over 90 delegates from 20 member countries, 10 Invitee countries, and 9 International Organizations.

Aim: 

• To strengthen International Anti-corruption mechanisms
• G 20 ACWG meetings have one Chair (Presidency country) and one co-chair country.
• It is under India’s chairmanship, and Italy is the co-chair country.

Key focal areas : 

• Enhancing the effectiveness of asset-tracing and identification mechanisms
• Developing mechanisms for rapid restrain of illicit assets
• Promoting effective use of open-source information and asset recovery networks
• The theme of India's G20 Presidency - is “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “One Earth. One Family. One Future”

About ACWG :

• The G20 ACWG was set up in June 2010 at the Toronto Summit.

Goal: 

• To prepare "comprehensive recommendations for consideration by leaders on how the G20 could continue to make practical and valuable contributions to international efforts to combat corruption."
• The ACWG actively works with the World Bank Group, OECD, UNODC, IMF, and FATF, as well as with Business 20 (B20) and the Civil Society 20 (C20).

India to host Quad Foreign Ministers meeting in New Delhi

• India hosted Quad Foreign Ministers meeting in New Delhi.
• The meeting will be chaired by External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.
• It will see the participation of Foreign Ministers of Australia and Japan and the Secretary of State of the US.
• The meeting presented an opportunity for the Ministers to continue their discussions held at their last meeting in New York in September 2022.
• The meeting is expected to focus on the Indo-Pacific against the backdrop of increasing assertiveness by China in the region

About QUAD : 

• Established: 2007.
• Members: Australia, India, Japan, and the United States
• It was initiated by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with the support of Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.

Objective : 

• To work for a free, open, prosperous, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
• The Quad leaders held their first formal summit in 2021.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Former Assam chief secretary Mr. Jishnu Barua appointed as Chairperson of India’s power regulator CERC 

• The government has appointed Mr. Jishnu Barua, former Assam chief secretary, as chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).
• Union Power Minister Shri RK Singh administered the oath of office and secrecy to Jishnu Baruah.
• Mr. Barua will succeed Mr. PK Pujari, whose extended tenure in the Commission got over in June 2022.
• The CERC was without a chief for nearly 8 months.

About Mr Jishnu Barua : 

• Mr. Barua, a 1988-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre
• He was the Chief Secretary of Assam from October 2020 to August 2022.
• Earlier, he was the Additional Chief Secretary of Assam looking after various departments of the state from August 2017 to October 2020.
• He held the charge of Chairperson of Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd.

About CERC : 

• Founded: 24 July 1998
• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
• CERC, a key regulator of the power sector in India, is a statutory body functioning with quasi-judicial status under sec – 76 of the Electricity Act 2003.
• CERC was initially constituted under the Ministry of Power's Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act, of 1998.

Senior IPS officer Ms. Rashmi Shukla appointed as Director-General of Sashastra Seema Bal

• A Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ms. Rashmi Shukla has been appointed as the Director-General of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
• She will be replacing Mr. Anish Dayal Singh.
• The Appointments Committee (ACC) of the Cabinet has approved Shukla's appointment as the Director General, SSB, till June 30, 2024, the date of her superannuation.

About Ms Rashmi Shukla : 

• Ms. Rashmi Shukla, a 1988 batch IPS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, was posted with the Central Reserve Police (CRPF).
• She was heading the State Intelligence Department in Maharashtra Police when the phones of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and Nationalist Congress Party leader Eknath Khadse were allegedly tapped in 2019.

About SSB : 

• Established: 1963.
• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Motto: “Service, security, and Brotherhood.”
• SSB is a border protection force of India that is deployed along the borders of Nepal and Bhutan.
• It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• The force was originally set up under the name Special Service Bureau.

Nagaland gets its first women MLAs - Hekani Jakhalu & Salhoutuonuo Kruse         

• Hekani Jakhalu of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) has become the first woman legislator to be elected to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly of 60 members.
• Mr. Jakhalu won the Dimapur III constituency in the 2023 Nagaland Assembly elections by defeating Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Azheto Zhimomi by 1,536 votes.
• The NDPP’s 2nd woman candidate, Salhoutuonuo Kruse followed Ms. Jakhalu as the MLA-elect hours later.
• Kruse defeated Keneizhakho Nakhro, an independent candidate, by only 7 votes to bag the Western Angami seat.
• Nagaland recorded an 85.9% voter turnout for the election to its 60-member Assembly.

About Hekani Jakhalu : 

• Hekani Jakhalu is a US-educated lawyer-turned-social-entrepreneur.
• She also got the Nari Shakti Puraskar from the President of India at Rastrapati Bhavan on International Women’s Day.
• She is also the founder and chair of YouthNet Nagaland

About Salhoutuonuo Kruse : 

• Salhoutuonuo Kruse, a local hotel owner, contested against Keneizhakho Nakhro, an Independent.

About Nagaland : 

• Governor: La. Ganesan
• Chief Minister: Neiphiu Rio
• Capital: Kohima
• Festivals : Ngada Festival, Hega Festival
• National Parks: Intanki National Park
• Wildlife Sanctuaries: Fakim WLS, Puliebadze WLS, Singphan WLS.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Axis Bank completes acquisition of Citibank India’s consumer business in Rs 11,603-cr 

• Private sector lender Axis Bank has completed the acquisition of Citibank’s India consumer business and non-banking financial company (NBFC) consumer business.
• The cash consideration for the acquisition stands at ₹11,603 cr (USD 1.4 billion).
• Axis Bank is the 4th-largest issuer of credit cards with a total base of 8.6 million cards and the deal will add about 2.5 million credit cardholders, making it one of the top three card businesses in the country.
• Citi’s retail book is nearly Rs 68,000 crore, of which retail loans account for Rs 28,000 crore.
• With 1.2 million bank accounts, the total India business contributes 1.5% in profit to the lender’s global book.

Key Highlights : 

• Axis Bank has acquired 18 lakh credit customers and a wealth management business worth ₹94,700 crores.
• It has also acquired deposits worth about ₹40,000 crores of which 77% are Current Account and Savings Account (CASA) deposits.
• Further, it has acquired 1,600 Suvidha corporate salary accounts.
• After the Axis Bank-Citibank merger, Axis Bank’s market share increased from 11.4% to 16.2%.

About Axis Bank : 

• Established: 1993 (Commenced Operations -1994)
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• MD & CEO: Amitabh Chaudhry
• Tagline : Badhti Ka Naam Zindagi

About Citibank India : 

• Founded: 1902
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• CEO: Ashu Khullar
• Citibank is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup.

Softbank sold a 3.8% stake in Delhivery for Rs 954 crore                           

• Japanese conglomerate Softbank divested 3.85% or 2.8 crore shares of its stake in Gurgaon- based logistics firm Delhivery for Rs 954 crore through open market transactions.
• SoftBank is the largest public stakeholder in the logistics company, holding an 18.42% stake as of December 31, 2022, through its entity SVF Doorbell (Cayman) Ltd. Softbank acquired over 22% stake in the company in October 2018.
• On February 22, 2023, New York-based investment firm Tiger Global sold 1.23 crore shares of Delhivery to raise Rs 414 crore.
• Tiger Global held a 4.68% stake in the company on December 31, 2022.

About SoftBank Group : 

• Founded : 3 September 1981
• Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
• Chairman & CEO : Masayoshi Son

About Delhivery :

• Founded: 2011
• Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana, India
• MD & CEO : Sahil Barua
• Delhivery is an Indian logistics and supply chain company.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE NEWS

Indian Air Force transport aircraft Exercise Shinyuu Maitri with Japan's Air Self-Defense Force

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) is participating in Exercise Shinyuu Maitri with the Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF).
• The exercise will enhance mutual understanding and interoperability between the two air forces.

About Exercise Shinyuu Maitri :

• It is a bilateral military exercise between IAF and JASDF.
• The exercise is being organized on the sidelines of the Indo-Japan Joint Army Exercise, Dharma Guardian.

Participants : 

• The IAF contingent is participating in the exercise with one C-17 Globemaster III
• Meanwhile, the JASDF is participating in the exercise with C-2 transport aircraft.
• The first phase of the exercise consists of discussions on transport operations and tactical manoeuvering, followed by the second phase of flying drills by IAF’s C-17 and JASDF C-2 transport aircraft
• The exercise is being conducted at a time when the IAF’s heavy lift transport aircraft fleet is also taking part in Exercise Desert Flag VIII in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Exercise Cobra Warrior in the United Kingdom (UK).

Other military exercises with Japan :

Dharma Guardian : 

• The 4th edition of the Exercise ‘Dharma Guardian’ between India and Japan is being held from February 13 to March 2, 2023, at Komatsu, Japan.
• The annual exercise has been conducted in India since 2018.

Japan-India Maritime Exercise (JIMEX) : 

• The JIMEX series of exercises started in January 2012.
• The Indian Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) engage in the exercise every two years.

About IAF : 

• Established: 1932
• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Chief of Defence Staff: General Anil Chauhan
• Chief of the Air Staff: Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari

About Ministry of Defence : 

• Defence Minister: Rajnath Singh
• Minister of State: Ajay Bhatt
• Defence Secretary: Giridhar Aramane

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES

Former CJI Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi Passed away                           

• Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi passed away at the age of 90 in New Delhi, Delhi, India.

About Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi : 

• Judge Ahmadi was born in Surat, Bombay Presidency, British India (Now in Maharashtra) in 1932.
• He was appointed as the Judge of the Supreme Court of India in December 1988.
• He was appointed as the 26th chief justice of India (1994-1997).
• Justice Ahmadi, the third Muslim ever to serve as CJI, demitted office on March 24, 1997, after Mohammad Hidayatullah (1968-1970) & Mirza Hameedullah Beg (1977-1978)

Daily CA One-Liner: Mar 5 & 6

• The government has approved the procurement from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at a cost of over 6,828 crore rupees
• The government collected more than 1.49 lakh crore rupees in GST revenue in February 2023
• The Supreme Court has constituted an expert committee on issues emerging from the Hindenburg Research Report on Adani Group companies
• National Stock Exchange (NSE) has received permission from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to roll out rupee-denominated Nymex WTI crude oil and natural gas (henry hub) futures contracts in its commodity derivatives segment.
• Indian automaker Tata Motors launched its first vehicle scrapping facility in Jaipur, Rajasthan
• Vinod Kumar Shukla, at 87, has won the PEN America award for lifetime achievement in literature, one of the most coveted literary prizes worldwide
• India has won the award for implementing best practices in telecom policy and regulation
• Karnataka and Gujarat are the top states in adopting clean energy transition
• Reliance Jio has climbed up to number two rank up from fifth place last year in a list of the top 10 strongest telecom brands in the world
• Tamil Nadu and UNEP sign MoU for implementing the urban cooling program
• Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh has been honored with the Player-of-the-Year award by the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) for clinching the gold medal with a record-breaking score of 9/11 in the 44th Chess Olympiad at Mahabalipuram last year
• According to the data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), significant offtake from retail and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) increased credit to services by 21.5% year-on-year (YoY) in Jan 2023 as against 5.7% in Jan 2022.
• Private sector lenders IDFC First Bank Limited and the Federal Bank Ltd partnered with the association of microfinance institutions (MFIs) Sa-Dhan and Delhi-based fintech solutions provider NextGen to encourage feature phone users to use UPI123Pay to make digital payments.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of over ₹06 crore on Amazon Pay (India) Private Limited for non-compliance with certain provisions related to Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) and Know Your Customer (KYC) direction.
• New India Assurance, the largest non-life insurance company in the country, announced the launch of its surety insurance bond business.
• The first meeting of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) meeting is being organized in Gurugram, Haryana, India.
• India hosted Quad Foreign Ministers meeting in New Delhi & the meeting will be chaired by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
• The government has appointed Jishnu Barua, former Assam chief secretary, as chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).
• A Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ms. Rashmi Shukla has been appointed as the Director-General of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
• Hekani Jakhalu of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) has become the first woman legislator to be elected to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly of 60 members.
• Private sector lender Axis Bank has completed the acquisition of Citibank’s India consumer business and non-banking financial company (NBFC) consumer business.
• Japanese conglomerate Softbank divested 3.85% or 2.8 crore shares of its stake in Gurgaon- based logistics firm Delhivery for Rs 954 crore through open market transactions.
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) is participating in Exercise Shinyuu Maitri with the Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF).
• Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi passed away at the age of 90 in New Delhi, Delhi, India.