Banking & Economy PDF

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Banking, Finance & Economy PDF 2021 - August
Table of Contents
Banking, Finance & Economy News: August 2021 ....................................................................................................... 4

Banking, Finance & Economy Q&A: August 2021 ....................................................................................................... 70

Banking, Finance & Economy News: August 2021

RBI IN NEWS
Rs 24,356 crore of unclaimed deposit lying with SCBs; Performance-based challenge fund of Rs
8,000 cr recommended to States
In accordance with the information provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the total amount of unclaimed
deposits of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) was Rs. 24,356 crore, as on July 31, 2020.
• This was stated by Minister of State (MoS) Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad, Ministry of Finance in a written reply
to a question in Rajya Sabha.
• Unclaimed deposits have increased by Rs. 5,977 crore in the year 2020, as compared to the year 2019.
Click her for bank-wise detail
Point to be noted:
The Minister further stated that pursuant to the amendment of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and insertion of
section 26A, RBI has framed the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (Fund) Scheme, 2014 (Scheme).
• As per the Scheme, the Fund is utilized for promotion of depositors’ interests and for such other purposes
which may be necessary for promotion of depositors’ interest as may be specified by RBI.
Finance Commission recommended performance-based challenge fund of Rs 8,000 crore to States for
incubation of new cities
The 15th Finance Commission, in its latest report to the Centre, has recommended a performance-based challenge
fund of Rs 8,000 crore to 8 states for incubation of new cities.
• The amount available for each proposed new city is Rs 1,000 crore and a state can have only one new city
under the proposed scheme.
• This information was provided by Minister of State (MoS) Kaushal Kishore, Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs (MoHUA) in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
Key Point:
The smart cities that have opted for greenfield development or a combination of models are Jharkhand (Ranchi),
Maharashtra (Aurangabad), Gujarat (Rajkot), Andhra Pradesh (Amravati), Madhya Pradesh (Satna), West Bengal
(New Town Kolkata), Maharashtra (Nashik) and Chhattisgarh (Atal Nagar).
About Ministry of Finance:
Union Minister– Nirmala Sitharaman (Constituency – Karnataka).
Ministers of State– Pankaj Chaudhary, and Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad
IndusInd Bank got Empanelled as Agency Bank to RBI; RBI Imposed Rs 50.35 lakh Penalty on
Janalaxmi Co-operative Bank
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has empanelled the IndusInd Bank, the private sector lender, as an ‘Agency
Bank’ to facilitate transactions related to government (govt) businesses.
Key points:
i.Background: In February 2021, RBI has removed the ban imposed (on 2012) over ‘Appointing the Scheduled
Private Sector Banks as Agency Banks of RBI’. Further, it revised the guidelines and authorised Scheduled Private
Sector Banks as agency banks of RBI for conducting govt (Central and/or State) businesses.
• Earlier public sector banks and larger private banks were only granted by RBI as agency bank.
ii.Now, RBI has allowed IndusInd Bank to handle transactions related to revenue receipts under Central Board of
Direct Taxes (CBDT), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and Goods and Services Tax (GST) on
behalf of the state/central govt.
iii.It was also authorised to make transactions such as income tax, indirect taxes, pension payments, work related
to Small Savings Schemes (SSS), collection of stamp duty charges, collection of stamp duty from citizens for
franking of documents and also collection of State taxes such as professional tax, value-added tax and State excise
duties.
iv.On behalf of state govts, it will collect state taxes such as professional tax, VAT (value-added tax), state excise
duties, etc.
Note – The agency banks will be paid remuneration by RBI for conduct of State/Central Govt transactions.
RBI Imposed Rs 50.35 lakh Penalty on Janalaxmi Co-operative Bank
i.RBI imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 50.35 lakh on Janalaxmi Co-operative Bank, Nashik, Maharashtra for
non-compliance with directions issued by RBI on ‘Placement of Deposits with Other Banks by Primary (Urban)
Co-operative Banks’ and ‘Membership of Credit Information Companies (CICs)’.

ii.RBI also imposed Rs 3 lakh penalty on Noida Commercial Co-operative Bank, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh for
non-compliance with provisions related to director-related loans and opening of new place of business.
About IndusInd Bank:
Establishment – 1994
Headquarters – Pune, Maharashtra
MD & CEO – Sumant Kathpalia
RBI Issued Framework for PSOs’ Outsourcing of Payment and Settlement Activities
On August 3, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the framework to non-bank Payment System
Operators’ (PSOs) Outsourcing of Payment and Settlement-related Activities (including onboarding
customers, IT-based services, etc) to service providers.
• RBI has set a deadline of March 31, 2022, for PSOs to comply with the framework. The frameworks are
applicable to a service provider, located in India or abroad.
Who are PSOs?
They are the Pre-Paid Payment Instruments (PPIs), card schemes, cross-border in-bound money transfers,
Automated Teller Machine (ATM) networks and centralised clearing arrangements, who are authorised by
RBI under Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 for Setting up and Operating Payment System in India (eg.
Paytm, PhonePe, Mastercard, Visa, etc).
What is Outsourcing?
It is the use of a third party (i.e. service provider/ outsourced agency) by PSO for a limited period to perform the
activities that have to be undertaken by PSO (now/ future).
RBI’s Framework over Outsourcing:
i.RBI has restricted the PSO’s from outsourcing Core management functions such as risk management,
information technology & information security management, internal audit, and determining compliance with
KYC (Know Your Customer) norms.
ii.The PSO’s are directed to evaluate the need for outsourcing its critical processes and activities, and the selection
of service providers based on comprehensive risk assessment.
iii.PSO’s Supervisory Requirement:
• Even after outsourcing, the PSO’s should hold the ultimate control of the outsourced activity and they will be
responsible for it. They will also be liable for the actions of the service providers.
• Outsourcing should not affect the rights of a customer or participant of a payment system against the PSO.
• PSO’s should take the responsibility of addressing the grievances of their customers related to the services
provided by the service provider.
• If a PSO has outsourced its customer grievance redressal function, it should provide the option of direct
access to its nodal officials for raising complaints.
iv.PSOs need to maintain the customer information confidentially (under service provider also) and should notify
RBI in case of any breach of security and leakage.
Note – RBI’s prior approval is not required for outsourcing by PSOs. The frameworks are issued under Section 10
(2) read with Section 18 of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (Act 51 of 2007).
About Service Provider:
i.Service provider: It includes – vendors, payment gateways, agents, consultants that are engaged in the activity
of payment and settlement systems.
ii.Secondary service providers: The service providers may also further outsource the whole/part of the activity,
which is outsourced to them by the PSO. They are considered as the secondary service providers (i.e., sub-
contractors).
iii.The service provider will not be owned/controlled by any director of the PSO/ their relatives (Unless it is a
group company of the PSO).
-RBI Imposed Rs 6 lakh Penalty on Hewlett-Packard Financial Services
i.RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 6 lakh on Hewlett-Packard Financial Services (India) Private Ltd,
Bengaluru, Karnataka, for non-compliance with the statutory directions issued by RBI on submission of credit
information to Central Repository of Information on Large Credits and submission of credit data to Credit
Information Companies.
ii.The penalty was issued under the provisions of the RBI Act, 1934 and the Credit Information Companies
(Regulation) Act, 2005.

RBI Extended the Timeline for Banks to Implement Opening Current Accounts Norms till October
2021
On August 04, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended the timeline for Banks to implement the revised
rules on opening current accounts to 3 months till October 30, 2021.
Background:
i.In August 2020, RBI revised the directions on opening and operating current accounts by banks
and restricted the banks from opening current accounts for customers who have availed credit facilities from the
bank in the form of cash credit (CC)/ overdraft (OD).
ii.Earlier the deadline was fixed by RBI till July 2021 to implement the regulations.
RBI’s New Guidelines:
i.Now RBI allowed banks to open current accounts for customers who have not availed of any CC/OD facility in
the bank and with exposure (in the bank) of less than Rs 5 crore.
ii.RBI also allowed banks to open a current account of customers with exposure between Rs 5 crore to Rs 50
crore.
• Non-lending banks were also enabled to open current accounts for such borrowers only for collection
purposes.
iii.RBI has directed the banks to reach the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) for guidance if they couldn’t resolve
the cases by themselves.
iv.The banks are also not permitted to open current accounts for borrowers who have availed agricultural/
personal OD or OD against deposits.
About OverDraft(OD):
i.It is a credit facility that will be provided by banks to allow customers to use or withdraw money from their
savings or current account even when there is no balance or minimum balance up to the approved limit.
ii.OD will work like an approved loan but the banks will charge interest only on the utilized amount for the time
when it is used.
Highlights of the Third Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy of FY21-22

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) 6-members Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had met on 4th, 5th and
6th August 2021 and released its third bi-monthly monetary policy statement for FY22 (April 2021 – March
2022).
Policy Rates:
RBI decided to keep the rates unchanged for the 7th consecutive time. The unchanged Policy rates are as follows:
Category Rates
Policy Rates
Policy Repo Rate 4.00%
Reverse Repo Rate 3.35%
Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate 4.25%
Bank Rate 4.25%
Reserve Ratios
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) 4.00%
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) 18.00%
a.MPC’s Assessments on growth and inflation:
-Growth
The MPC has retained India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection for FY22 at 9.5
percent with 21.4 percent in Q1; 7.3 percent in Q2; 6.3 percent in Q3; and 6.1 percent in Q4.
• Real GDP growth for Q1 FY23 is projected at 17.2 percent.
-Inflation
i.Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation was projected at 5.7 percent in FY22, with 5.9 percent in Q2; 5.3percent in
Q3; and 5.8 percent in Q4.
• CPI inflation for Q1 FY23 was projected at 5.1 percent.
ii.The government retained the inflation target at 4 percent with the lower and upper tolerance levels of 2 percent
and 6 percent, i.e. within a band of +/- 2 percent.

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Members of MPC:
The MPC meeting was headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das the other 5 members of the committee include,
• Shashanka Bhide, Ashima Goyal, Prof. Jayanth R. Varma, Mridul K. Saggar, and Michael Debabrata Patra
b.MPC’ Liquidity Measures:
-RBI extended the deadline for TLTRO on Tap Scheme
RBI has extended the Targeted Long Term Repo Operations (TLTRO) on Tap Scheme by a period of three
months, i.e., till December 31, 2021. Earlier in April 2021, the scheme was made available till September 30, 2021.
i.Background: On October 9, 2020, RBI announced the TLTRO on Tap Scheme worth Rs 1 trillion to provide
liquidity support to various sectors and banks
ii.Eligible Sectors under TLTRO on Tap Scheme:
• The different sectors under the scheme include Agriculture, Agri-Infrastructure, Secured Retail, Micro, Small
and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Drugs, Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare, 26 stressed sectors
(identified by Kamath Committee) and bank lending to NBFCs.
• The liquidity availed by banks under the TLTRO scheme will be deployed only in corporate bonds,
commercial paper, and non-convertible debentures issued by entities in the above sectors.
• Investments made by banks under this facility were classified as Held to Maturity (HTM) even above the 25
percent of total investment permitted to be included in the HTM portfolio.
-RBI Extended MSF for Banks till December 2021
To enable the banks to meet their Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) requirements, RBI extended the Marginal
Standing Facility (MSF) relaxation for 3 months, i.e., up to December 31, 2021(earlier it was extended till
September 30, 2021).
• This will provide access to funds to the extent of Rs 1.62 lakh crore, and qualifies as high-quality liquid
assets (HQLA) for the LCR
Background: In March 2020, RBI allowed banks to borrow overnight under MSF at their discretion by dipping
into the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) up to 3 percent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).
SLR: It is a minimum percentage of deposits that a commercial bank has to maintain in the form of liquid cash,
gold or other (state/centre) securities.
-RBI to undertake Rs 50,000 crore Auction under G-SAP 2.0
RBI decided to conduct 2 auctions of Rs 25,000 crore each (overall Rs 50,000 crore) on August 12 and 26, 2021,
under G-SAP 2.0 (G-sec Acquisition Programme). RBI will also undertake regular OMOs (Open Market
Operations) and operation twist (OT).
OMO:
• It is the sale and purchase of government securities and treasury bills by the RBI to regulate the money
supply in the economy.
• When the RBI wants to increase the money supply in the economy, it purchases the government securities
(G-Secs) from the market and sells them to suck out liquidity.
c.MPC’ Regulatory Measures
-RBI Amended LIBOR transition Guidelines
In July 2021, RBI issued an advisory to banks and other RBI-regulated entities to prepare for the transition from
the international benchmark reference rate, ‘London Interbank Offered Rate’ (LIBOR) to any other widely
accepted Alternate Reference Rates (ARR) by December 31, 2021. Click here to more
i.Export Credit in Foreign Currency:
• Earlier RBI has allowed authorized dealers to extend Pre-Shipment Credit in Foreign Currency (PCFC) at
LIBOR / EURO-LIBOR / EURIBOR related rates of interest.
• Now due to its exit within December 2021, RBI has amended the rules and permitted banks to extend
PCFC to exporters prior to shipment with widely accepted ARRs
ii.Restructuring of derivative contracts:
• Earlier RBI has treated change in any of the parameters of the original derivative contracts as a
restructuring.
• Now, RBI allowed the change in those contracts for the transition from LIBOR to ARRs, RBI will not treat it
as restructuring.
-RBI to Conduct 4 VRRR Auctions to Absorb Surplus Liquidity
RBI plans to conduct 4 – fortnight (14 days) Variable Rate Reverse Repo (VRRR) auctions of Rs 2.5 lakh crore on
August 13, 2021; Rs 3.0 lakh crore on August 27, 2021; Rs 3.5 lakh crore on September 9, 2021; and Rs 4.0 lakh
crore on September 24, 2021, to absorb surplus liquidity.
• RBI expects the amount absorbed under the fixed-rate reverse repo to remain more than Rs 4.0 lakh crore at
the end of September 2021.

Background:
i.RBI has been conducting 14-day VRRR auctions as its main liquidity operation, as per the revised liquidity
management framework, introduced by it in February 2020.
ii.Due to COVID-19, VRRR was suspended temporarily and re-introduced from January 2021 with initial
absorption of Rs 2 lakh crore.
-RBI Postponed the Deadline to achieve Resolution Framework 1.0
RBI has postponed the Deadline for achieving 4 Financial Parameters relate to the operational performance of the
borrowing entities under the Resolution Framework 1.0 viz, Total Debt to EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest,
Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) ratio (Total Debt/EBITDA), Current Ratio, Debt Service Coverage Ratio
and Average Debt Service Coverage Ratio from March 31, 2022, to October 1, 2022.
• The deadline for the parameter, Total Outside Liabilities/Adjusted Total Net Worth (TOL/ATNW) was
unchanged i.e March 31, 2022.
RBI enhanced Collateral Free Loans to SHGs under DAY-NRLM to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 Lakh
On August 9, 2021, the collateral free loans to self-help groups (SHGs) provided under Deendayal Antyodaya
Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) have been enhanced to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh
by Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• Under this enhancement, for loans to SHGs up to Rs 10 lakh there will be no collateral and no margin will be
charged, also, no lien should be marked against savings bank account of SHGs and no deposits should be
insisted upon while sanctioning loans.
• For loans to SHGs above Rs 10 lakh and up to Rs 20 lakh, no collateral should be charged and no lien should
be marked against savings bank account of SHGs.
• However, the entire loan (irrespective of the loan outstanding, even if it subsequently goes below ₹10 lakh)
would be eligible for coverage under Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units (CGFMU).
About DAY-NRLM:
In April 2011, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) launched the National Rural Livelihood Mission
(NRLM) by restructuring Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY). Later, on March 29, 2015, NRLM was
renamed as DAY-NRLM.
Objective:
To promote poverty reduction through building institutional platforms for the poor, particularly women, and
providing them access to a range of financial services and livelihoods.
• It also enables the states to formulate their own state-specific poverty reduction action plans.
Target:
Its agenda is to cover 7 Crore rural poor households, across 600 districts, 6000 blocks, 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats
and 6 lakh villages through SHGs and federated institutions in a period of 8-10 years.
Points to be noted:
i.All women SHGs would be eligible for Interest subvention on credit up to Rs 3 lakh at subvented rate of 7% per
annum.
ii.SHGs availing capital subsidy under SGSY (Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana) in their existing credit
outstanding are not eligible for benefit under this scheme.
RBI Introduced Scheme to Penalise Banks for Cash Out in ATMs

In August 2021, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced a scheme named ‘Scheme of Penalty for non-
replenishment of ATMs’ to levy monetary charges/Penalty on Banks & White Label ATM Operators (WLAOs) for
cash-out (i.e. the non-availability of cash) in Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) due to non-replenishment of
cash.
• Objective: To ensure sufficient cash availability in the ATMs for public needs and overcome the
inconvenience caused due to cash-outs in the ATM.
• Effective date: The Scheme would be effective from October 01, 2021.
Key Points:
a.Penalty:
i.RBI will issue a penalty of Rs 10,000 per ATM/ WLAs for banks for Cash-out for more than 10 hours in a
month.
ii.For WLAs, the penalty would be charged to the bank which is meeting the cash requirement of that particular
WLA (The bank may recover the penalty from the WLA operator).
b.Procedure:
i.Banks: RBI has directed the banks to submit system-generated statements on the downtime of ATMs due to
non- replenishment of cash to the Issue Department of RBI under which jurisdiction the ATMs are located.

ii.WLAO: The banks that are meeting the cash requirement of White Label ATM Operators (WLAOs) are also
mandated to provide a separate statement on cash-out of WLAO’s ATMs.
iii.The statements should be submitted every month within five days of the following month i.e., the statement for
the month of October 2021 should be submitted on or before November 05, 2021.
c.The penalty scheme will make the banks/WLAOs form a robust system for monitoring the cash availability in
ATMs and ensure timely replenishment to avoid cash-outs.
RBI Imposed 10 lakh Penalty on Gadhinglaj Urban Co-operative Bank
i.RBI imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Gadhinglaj Urban Co-operative Bank Limited, Gadhinglaj,
Maharashtra by exercising the powers vested in RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with
Section 46 (4) (i) and Section 56 of the Act.
• The Bank was penalized for providing advanced loan to a director of the bank, given fresh loans to the real
estate sector in violation of the operational instructions issued by RBI under the provisions of the Act,
extended individual unsecured advances of more than ₹5.00 lakh and not implemented the system of
periodic review of risk categorization of accounts which is against the Supervisory action framework issued
by RBI under section 35 A and section 36 read with section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (the Act);
Exposure Norms and Statutory Other Restrictions- UCBs and Know Your Customers (KYC).
ii.RBI also imposed a penalty of Rs 2 lakh each on Malkapur Urban Cooperative Bank Limited, Malkapur,
Maharashtra and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Urban Co-operative Bank Limited, Nagpur, Maharashtra for
contravention of certain RBI norms.
RBI Issues Draft Proposals to Liberalise Overseas Investments Norms

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued two draft documents viz, Foreign Exchange Management (FEM)
(Non-debt Instruments – Overseas Investment (OI)) Rules, 2021 and FEM (OI) Regulations, 2021 by
rationalizing the existing provisions that are governing overseas investment.
• Objective: To liberalize the regulatory framework of overseas investments and promote ease of doing
business.
• Existing Provisions: Presently, the OI and acquisition of immovable properties outside India by persons
resident in India are governed by the provisions of FEM (Transfer or Issue of any Foreign Security)
Regulations, 2004 and FEM (Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property Outside India) Regulations
2015.
Key Points of the draft:
i.The Draft FEM (Non-debt Instruments -OI) Rules, 2021 has outlined the restrictions on overseas investments.
• As per the draft, a person resident in India is prohibited from making Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) in a
foreign entity engaged in Real estate activity, Gambling in any form, and Offering financial products linked
to Indian Rupee except for products offered in an IFSC (International Financial Services Centre).
• The draft also prohibited OI in a foreign entity located in countries/ jurisdictions that are not Financial
Action Task Force (FATF) and International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) compliant
country or any other country as may be prescribed by the Central Government.
• The mode of payment and other requirements for any investment outside India by a person resident in India
should be as specified by the RBI.
ii.The draft on Foreign Exchange Management (OI) Regulations, 2021 enables the Indian entity to lend or invest in
any debt instruments issued by a foreign entity subject to such loans duly backed by a loan agreement.
• The rate of interest should be charged on an arm’s length basis.
Note – RBI has asked for comments and feedback from stakeholders on the 2 drafts by August 23, 2021.
Overseas Direct Investment (ODI):
It is the direct investment made by Indian resident in the foreign entity (outside India) by way of contribution to
the capital or subscription to the Memorandum of a foreign entity or by way of purchase/acquisition of existing
shares in the foreign entity.
-RBI Imposed Rs 1 crore Penalty on Cooperatieve Rabobank UA
i.RBI imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1 crore on Cooperatieve Rabobank UA, Mumbai, Maharashtra, for
contravention of certain provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and directions related to ‘transfer to
reserve funds’.
• The penalty was imposed by RBI in exercise of powers under the provisions of section 47 A (1) (c) read with
section 46 (4) (i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
Other penalties issued by RBI
i.RBI has also imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Village Financial Services Ltd, Kolkata, for non-compliance with
certain provisions of the Know Your Customer (KYC) Directions, 2016.

ii.RBI also recently imposed a penalty of ₹13 lakh on Ahmednagar Merchant’s Cooperative Bank, Ahmednagar,
Maharashtra, and ₹2 lakh on The Mahila Vikas Co-operative Bank, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
Reserve Bank of India has four fully owned subsidiaries.They are
i.Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (DICGC)
ii.Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL)
iii.Reserve Bank Information Technology Private Limited (ReBIT)
iv.Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services (IFTAS)
RBI Cancelled the License of Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank

In August 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cancelled the license of Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd.,
Panvel, Maharashtra, due to the bank not having adequate capital and earning prospects to pay its present
depositors in full.
Key Points:
i.Along with the license cancellation, the bank is also prohibited from conducting the ‘banking’ business
(including acceptance of deposits and repayment of deposits) as defined in Section 56 of the Banking
Regulation (BR) Act, 1949.
ii.Cause for License cancellation:
• The bank did not comply with the provisions of section 11(1) and section 22 (3) (d) read with section 56 of
the BR Act, 1949.
• It also failed to follow the requirements of section 22 (3) (a), 22 (3) (b), 22 (3) (c), 22 (3) (d) and 22 (3) (e)
read with section 56 of the BR Act, 1949.
iii.The Commissioner for Cooperation and Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CC & RCS), Maharashtra will issue
an order for winding up the bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank.
iv.Paying back the depositors (Under DICGC Act, 1961): After Liquidation, every depositor of the bank would
receive a deposit insurance claim amount of his/her deposits in the bank up to a monetary ceiling of Rs 5
lakh from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) (as per the provisions of the DICGC
Act, 1961).
About Banking Regulation (BR) Act 1949:
i.It has a total of 56 sections.
ii.Section 22: Every Banking Company in India needs to obtain a license from RBI under this section to start a
banking business.
• RBI will cancel the license granted to a banking company under Section 22(4) of the BR Act.
iii.Section 47 A: Provisions under this section empowers RBI to impose a penalty.
RBI Introduced Financial Inclusion Index

On August 17, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced the ‘Financial Inclusion Index’ (FI-Index) to
measure the extent of financial inclusion across India.
• The FI-Index will be published annually in July month (for the financial year (FY) ending previous March).
• The annual FI-Index for the FY21 (period ending March 2021) is 53.9 as against 43.4 of FY17.
• Background: In April 2021, at the bi-monthly monetary policy report, RBI has mentioned about the
construction and periodic publishing of the FI Index.
About the FI-Index in brief:
i.The FI-Index will contain the details of banking, investments, insurance, postal, and the pension sector in
consultation with Government and respective sectoral regulators.
ii.Single value ranging between 0 and 100 will be provided under the index for the various factors of financial
inclusion.
iii.The value 0 represents complete financial exclusion and 100 means full financial inclusion.
iv.Different Parameters of FI-Index:
• The FI-Index contains 3 different parameters with variant weightage viz, Access (35 percent), Usage (45
percent), and Quality (20 percent).
• The index will contain information regarding the ease of access, availability and usage of services, and
quality of services in all 97 indicators.
v.The FI-Index will reflect the efforts of all stakeholders over the year towards financial inclusion. It has no ‘base
year’.
What is Financial inclusion?
i.Financial inclusion refers to the ‘universal access’ to the financial services and adequate credits at an affordable
cost (especially for the vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low income groups).

ii.Financial inclusion will remove the barriers that exclude people from participating in the financial sector.
RBI Allowed HDFC Bank to Issue New Credit Cards

In August 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had removed the restriction imposed on HDFC Bank after 8
months and allowed it to issue new credit cards. However, the restrictions on the bank’s new offerings under its
Digital 2.0 were not removed.
• Background: On December 2, 2020, the RBI has stopped HDFC which has the largest credit card base in
India from issuing new credit cards due to its series of digital banking outages.
RBI Issued Revised Guidelines for Locker in Banks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued revised guidelines for both new and existing Safe Deposit Locker and
Safe Custody Article Facility with the banks.
• At present, banks do not have any liability towards lockers. The guidelines would come into effect
from January 1, 2022.
RBI’s Guidelines:
i.The banks are directed to incorporate a clause in the ‘locker agreement’ for prohibiting the hirer from keeping
anything illegal or hazardous in lockers.
ii.Transparency: To ensure transparency in lockers allotment, the RBI mandated banks to maintain a branch-
wise list of vacant lockers and a wait-list in Core Banking System (CBS) or any other computerised system
compliant with Cyber Security Framework.
• The bank was instructed to acknowledge all the applications for allotment of lockers and provide a waitlist
number to the customers in case of unavailability.
iii.The banks need to adopt the model locker agreement to be framed by Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).
• Banks should renew their locker agreements with existing locker customers by January 1, 2023.
iv.Compensation: The banks are instructed to compensate the customers in case of incidents such as fire, theft,
burglary, dacoity, robbery, building collapse or fraud committed by the bank’s employees.
• The compensation has to be an amount equivalent to 100 times the existing annual rent of the safe deposit
locker.
v.Locker rent: RBI allows banks to obtain a Term Deposit (TD), at the time of allotment only in case of a hirer
neither operates the locker nor pays the rent.
• TD- It will cover 3 years’ rent along with the charges for breaking open the locker (in case of not being paid
for 3 years).
• In case the customer surrendered the locker then the locker rent that was collected in advance should be
refunded to them.
• The bank should not insist on the TD from the existing locker holders or those who have a satisfactory
operative account.
vi.Banks are provided with the discretion to break open any locker if the rent has not been paid by the customer
continuously for 3 years.
vii.Identification Code: RBI required the Banks to ensure that the identification code of the bank/branch is
embossed on all the locker keys to facilitate the identification of lockers/locker ownership by law enforcement
agencies (in case of need).
viii.Notification: The Banks need to send an email and an SMS alert to the registered email ID and mobile
number of the customer before the end of the day to confirm the date and time of the locker operation.
ix.If the locker remains inoperative for 7 years and the hirer cannot be located (even if rent is being paid
regularly) the bank could transfer the content to the customer’s nominees/legal heir or dispose of the articles in a
transparent manner.
Note – The above guidelines were issued by RBI under the powers conferred by Section 35A and Sections 45ZC to
45ZF of the Banking Regulation (BR) Act, 1949, read with Section 56 of the BR Act.
RBI Introduced Automation System ‘PRISM’ to Strengthen Supervision

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a web-based and end-to-end workflow automation system
named ‘Platform for Regulated Entities for Integrated Supervision and Monitoring’ (PRISM) to strengthen the
compliance of the entities that are supervised by RBI.
• Objective: To make continuous supervision of entities for – earlier identification of risks; conduct of
supervisory actions; and strengthen their internal resilience.
• RBI supervises entities including banks, NBFCs, financial institutions and Payment System Providers.

Key Points:
i.The PRISM has various functionalities such as inspection, compliance, incident functionality for cyber security,
complaints, and returns functionalities along with built-in remediation workflows, time tracking, notifications and
alerts, management information system (MIS) reports and dashboards.
ii.Background: In its latest annual report (2020-21) in May 2021, RBI stated about its further work towards
strengthening the supervisory framework for both banking and non-banking sectors.
iii.RBI has included Root Cause Analysis (RCA) in the current supervisory cycle. RCA includes a detailed
assessment of governance, oversight and assurance function, business strategy and risk and compliance culture.
iv.RBI has taken various initiatives towards
• Integration of supervisory functions of different supervised entities.
• Specialisation and reinforcement of supervision through both vertical and horizontal risk assessments.
• Setting up a dedicated College of Supervisors for capacity development.
• Harnessing SupTech (supervisory technology).
Enhancement of Supervision by DOS:
i.RBI’s Department of Supervision (DoS) intends to strengthen the on-site assessment of oversight and assurance
functions including risk and compliance culture in FY22.
ii.DoS also plans to include innovative and scalable SupTech to improve the efficiency and efficacy of supervisory
processes.
iii.It targets to streamline the process of data collection from all the banks and their off-site assessment and on-
site supervision based on KYC (Know Your Customer)/AML (Anti-Money Laundering) supervision.
iv.It is seeking to enhance the Fraud Risk Management System, including improving the efficacy of Early Warning
Signal (EWS) framework.
v.It plans to introduce a dedicated market intelligence (MI) unit for frauds and implementation of automated
unique system generated numbers for each fraud.
RBI Released Recommendations of Expert Committee on UCBs; RBI to Launch GAAR Regulations
for Round-Tripping
In August 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the recommendation report of the Expert
Committee on Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) under the chairmanship of N. S. Vishwanathan,
which was constituted by RBI to review the issues of UCBs and to provide a road map for strengthening the
sector.
Background:
i.In February 2021, the RBI constituted an expert committee on UCBs under the chairmanship of N. S.
Vishwanathan, former Deputy Governor, RBI, to suggest measures to enable faster rehabilitation/resolution of
UCBs.
ii.The committee has also been directed to review the Regulatory provisions through the recent amendments to
the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (As Applicable to Cooperative Societies).
Recommendations of the committee over UCBs:
i.To ease the regulatory process, the committee has recommended a 4-tier structure for the UCBs, based on their
capital availability and other factors.
ii.The 4 tier structure include
• Tier 1 – All unit UCBs and salary earner’s UCBs (irrespective of deposit size), and all other UCBs having
deposits up to Rs 100 crore
• Tier 2 – UCBs with deposits between Rs 100 crore – Rs 1000 crore
• Tier 3 – UCBs with deposits between Rs 1000 crore – Rs 10,000 crore
• Tier 4 – UCBs with deposits more than Rs 10,000 crore
iii.The committee also suggested the setting up of an Umbrella Organization (UO) with a minimum capital of Rs
300 crore with Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) and regulatory framework similar to Non-Banking
Financial Companies (NBFCs).
Regulatory Framework for different Tiers of UCBs:
i.Tier 1 banks having an area of operation within a district should have a minimum capital and reserves (net
worth) of Rs 2 crore and other Tier 1 banks should have a minimum net worth of Rs 5 crore.
• The minimum requirement of CRAR for Tier-1 UCBs varies from 9-14 percent based on the membership
with UO and net worth requirement.
ii.A Tier 3 UCB will be allowed to function on the lines of a Small Finance Banks (SFBs) if it meets both the entry
point capital (Rs 200 crore) and the CRAR requirement (15 percent) that are applicable to SFBs.
iii.The Tier 4 UCBs will be allowed to function as a universal bank only if they meet the 9 percent capital
adequacy ratio and Rs 500 crore of entry point capital requirement.

Other Key Recommendations:
i.The committee also suggested allowing UCBs to grant advances to subscribers of Perpetual Convertible
Preference Shares (PCNPS).
• The number of such borrowers should not exceed 20 percent of the total borrowing members of the UCB.
ii.It recommended the inclusion of twin indicators viz, CRAR and Net NPA (Non-Performing Assets) under the
Supervisory Action Framework (SAF) to reducing the time spent by a UCB under SAF.
iii.The committee also recommended opening licensing of new UCBs (Currently, 1500 UCBs exist) and also
allowing the existing UCBs to expand their footprint. The number of borrowers of UCBs was estimated at 67
lakhs. Click here to know more
RBI Plans to Include GAAR Regulations for Round-Tripping
RBI has made changes in the existing regulation of foreign investment and released the draft rule to
discourage round-tripping.
• As per the draft, the investment made in an entity outside India, which in turn invests in India to avoid
tax will be treated as ‘round-tripping’.
• This regulation is similar to General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR), which is an anti-tax avoidance law in India
to curb tax evasion and avoid tax leaks.
• GAAR came into effect on 1st April 2017 and its provisions come under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
RBI Imposes Rs 27.5 Lakh Penalty On Dhanlaxmi Bank

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 27.5 Lakh on Dhanlaxmi Bank, Thrissur, Kerala for
the violation of certain provisions of the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme.
• The Statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (ISE) was conducted by RBI with reference to its
financial position as of 31st March 2020.
• The penalty was imposed for the violation of a section of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 read with a
paragraph of The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014.
The RBI has also imposed a penalty of Rs 20 lakh on the NE and EC Railway Employees’ Multi-State Primary Co-
operative Bank, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh for the violation of directions under the Supervisory Action Framework
(SAF).
RBI Empaneled South Indian Bank as Agency Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has empanelled South Indian Bank, the Kerala based private sector lender, as
an ‘Agency Bank’ to facilitate transactions related to Central and State government on behalf of the RBI.
• Background: In February 2021, RBI removed the ban imposed (in 2012) over ‘Appointing the Scheduled
Private Sector Banks as Agency Banks of RBI’ and further, it revised the guidelines and authorised Scheduled
Private Sector Banks as agency banks of RBI for conducting govt businesses.
RBI Imposed Rs 15 lakh Penalty on Baghat Urban Co-operative Bank

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 15 lakh on Baghat Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd,
Solan, Himachal Pradesh for violation of certain norms related to non-identification of Non-Performing Assets.
• RBI also imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on Delhi Nagrik Sehkari Bank Ltd, New Delhi, for non-compliance
with certain directions issued by it.
RBI: PIDF scheme Extended to Street Vendors under PM SVANidhi in tier 1, 2 centres; Imposes
penalty on 2 co-op banks, 1 NBFC
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has included street vendors part of the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM
SVANidhi Scheme) in tier-1 and tier-2 centres as beneficiaries under the Payments Infrastructure Development
Fund (PIDF) Scheme.The decision is taken to promote the digital transactions at the grass root level.
About PM SVANidhi Scheme:
PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi Scheme) which facilitates collateral-free working capital
loans of up to Rs 10,000 for 1 year to approximately 50 lakh street vendors. It was launched in June 2020.
About Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) Scheme:
Announced by RBI on January 5, 2021 with an outlay of Rs 345 crore, its objective is to boost deployment of
Points of Sale (PoS) infrastructure (both physical and digital modes) in tier-3 to tier-6 centres and north eastern
states. It envisages creating 30 lakh new touch points every year i.e. 10 lakh physical and 20 lakh digital.
• Out of PIDF’s outlay, RBI’s contribution is Rs 250 crore and Rs 95 crore is from authorized card networks in
the country.

RBI imposes penalty on 2 co-op banks, 1 NBFC
Monetary penalty on Seyad Shariat Finance Limited, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu
On August 26, 2021, RBI in exercise of powers under the provisions of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 58 G
read with clause (aa) of sub-section (5) of section 58 B of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, imposed a
monetary penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Seyad Shariat Finance Limited, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu.
• It is a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC).
• The reason behind this is the non-compliance of the bank with certain provisions of the “Reserve Bank of
India (Know Your Customer (KYC) Directions, 2016.
Monetary penalty on The Muslim Co-operative Bank Limited, Pune, Maharashtra
RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Section 46 (4) (i) and Section 56 of the Banking
Regulation Act, 1949, a monetary penalty of Rs 2 lakh on The Muslim Co-operative Bank Limited, Pune,
Maharashtra for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on KYC.
Monetary penalty on Jijamata Mahila Sahakari Bank, Pune, Maharashtra
RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Section 46 (4) (i) and Section 56 of the Banking
Regulation Act, 1949 imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 3 lakh on Jijamata Mahila Sahakari Bank, Pune,
Maharashtra.
• The reason behind this is the non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on Exposure Norms and
Statutory / Other Restrictions – urban co-operative banks (UCBs).
The above penalties will not affect any transaction or agreement by the bank with its customers.
RBI Issued Master Direction on PPIs

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued Master Directions on Prepaid Payment Instruments, 2021 (MD-PPIs, 2021),
which are applicable to all Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) Issuers and System Participants.
• Objective: To provide a framework for authorisation, regulation, and supervision of entities issuing and
operating PPIs in India.
• The MD-PPIs, 2021 involves the eligibility criteria and the conditions of use for Payment System Operators
(PSOs) involved in the issuance and operation of PPIs in India.
What is PPI?
It is an instrument that facilitates the purchase of goods and services, financial services, remittance facilities, etc.,
against the value stored on such instruments.
Note – Banks and non-bank entities will be allowed to issue PPIs in India after obtaining necessary approval from
RBI under the Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act, 2007.
PPIs Classification:
i.Earlier Classification: Earlier RBI has classified PPIs into 3 types as Closed System PPIs, Semi-closed System
PPIs, and Open System PPIs.
ii.Current Classification: Presently, under the MD-PPI,2021, RBI has classified the PPIs into 2 types as Small PPIs
and Full-KYC PPIs.
Small PPIs Full-KYC PPIs
These PPIs are issued by banks and non-banks after Issued by banks and non-banks after completing Know
obtaining minimum details of the PPI holder Your Customer (KYC) of the PPI holder
Could be used for the purchase of goods and services Could be used for the purchase of goods and services
Funds transfer or cash withdrawal is not permitted Funds transfer or cash withdrawal is permitted
Outstanding Amount – Upto Rs 10,000/ month, not Outstanding Amount – Not exceeding Rs 2 lakh
exceeding Rs 1.2 lakh/year (earlier it was Rs 1 lakh)
iii.In the case of bank-issued Full-KYC PPIs, the cash withdrawal at PoS (Point of Sale) devices was subjected to a
limit of Rs 2,000/ transaction with an overall monthly limit of Rs 10,000.
iv.Small PPIs should be converted into full-KYC PPIs within 24 months from the date of issue of the PPI.
v.Other Specific categories of PPIs include PPIs for Mass Transit Systems (PPI-MTS) and Gift PPIs.
Highlights of MD-PPIs, 2021:
a.Interoperability:
i.Interoperability is the technical compatibility that enables a payment system to be used in conjunction
with other payment systems.
ii.The PPI issuers were directed to achieve interoperability through Unified Payment Interface (UPI) (for PPIs in
the form of wallets) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the card networks (for PPIs in
the form of cards (physical or virtual)).

iii.PPI-MTS was exempted from interoperability, whereas the Gift PPIs were provided with the option to offer
interoperability.
iv.On the acceptance side, the QR codes in all modes should be interoperable by March 31, 2022.
b.Validity and Redemption:
i.All PPIs issued in India should have a minimum validity period of 1 year from the date of last
loading/reloading in the PPI. The PPIs could also be issued with longer validity.
ii.For PPIs in the form of a card, the customer should have the option to replace the card.
c.Redressal Mechanism: PPI issuers were directed to form a formal, publicly disclosed customer grievance
redressal framework, with designating a nodal officer to handle the customer complaints/grievances.
d.Security: All cash withdrawal transactions performed using a card/wallet, should be authenticated by an
Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA)/ Two Factor Authentication (2FA).
• 2FA / AFA is not a mandatory one for PPIs issued under PPI-MTS and Gift PPIs.
RBI has issued the above directions in the exercise of the powers conferred under Section 18 read with Section
10(2) of the PSS Act, 2007 (Act 51 of 2007).
About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
i.It was established on the recommendation of the Hilton Young Commission.
ii.The First Governor of RBI was Sir Osborne Smith (1935 – 1937).
iii.The First Indian Governor of RBI was CD Deshmukh (1943 – 1949).
iv.Manmohan Singh was the only Prime Minister to have also served as the Governor of RBI ((1982 – 1985)
RBI Increased the Indo-Nepal Remittances Transaction Cap to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 50,000; RBI
Increased the Incentives Paid to the Banks for Coin Distribution
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the ceiling on remittances per transaction from India to Nepal from Rs
50,000 to Rs 2 lakh. RBI has also removed the limit of 12 remittances/year per remitter.
• The remittance ceiling was increased by RBI in the exercise of the power conferred under Section 10 (2)
read with Section 18 of Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
• The directions would come into effect from October 01, 2021.
Background:
i.Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility Scheme was launched by the RBI in May 2008 as an option for cross-border
remittances from India to Nepal.
ii.The scheme leverages the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) ecosystem for cross border remittances
with a ceiling of Rs 50,000/remittance and a maximum of 12 remittances/year.
iii.The beneficiaries receive remittances in Nepalese Rupees through credit to their bank account maintained
with the subsidiary of State Bank of India (SBI) in Nepal, i.e. Nepal SBI Bank Limited (NSBL) or through an agency
arrangement.
Key Points:
i.Presently, RBI has reviewed the scheme and increased the ceiling of remittance to boost trade payments
between the 2 countries and also to facilitate person-to-person remittances.
• The hike in the remittance ceiling would also support payments relating to retirement, pension, etc., to our
ex-servicemen who have settled/relocated to Nepal.
ii.The ceiling of Rs 50,000 per remittance with a maximum of 12 remittances in a year will continue to apply for
remittances by way of cash from walk-in customers or non-customers.
iii.RBI has advised banks to put in place suitable velocity checks and other risk mitigation procedures.
Note – Remittance is generally described as a sum of money sent by someone working abroad to his or her family
back home.
RBI Increased the Incentives Paid to the Banks for Coin Distribution
RBI has increased the incentives being paid to the banks for distribution of coins to the general public from Rs
25/bag to Rs 65/bag.
• RBI has reviewed the ‘Currency Distribution & Exchange Scheme’ (CDES) and revised the incentive being
paid to the banks for the distribution of coins.
• Objective: To provide a Clean Note policy and to ensure that all bank branches provide better customer
service to members of the public with regard to the exchange of notes and distribution of coins.
• An additional incentive of Rs 10 per bag for coin distribution in rural and semi-urban areas was also
introduced by RBI.
Key Points:
i.Through the revised scheme, the banks will be provided with incentives of Rs 65/bag based on net withdrawal
from currency chest (CCs), without waiting for claims from banks.

ii.CCs branches are directed to pass on the incentive to the linked bank/branches for their coins’ distribution
within one week from the receipt of incentives from RBI.
iii.The banks were instructed to include a system of checks and balances to ensure that coins are distributed to
retail customers in small lots and not to bulk customers.
• Banks are advised to provide coins to bulk customers (requirement of more than 1 bag in a single
transaction) for their business transactions.
Key Roles of Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
i.Monetary policy Framing – It frames the Monetary policy of the country to meet the challenges and maintain
the price stability of the economy.
ii.Decides interest rate – A six-member monetary policy committee headed by the RBI governor, decides the
benchmark repo rate.
iii.Regulates Forex – Foreign Exchange (Forex) Management Act (‘FEMA’) envisages the RBI a key role in
managing Forex reserves.
RBI Extended the Scope of Tokenisation to Laptops, Wearable Devices

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended the scope of ‘tokenisation’ to several consumer devices such as laptops,
desktops, wearables (like wristwatches and bands), and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
• RBI has extended the scope through the exercise of powers under Section 10 (2) read with Section 18 of
Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (Act 51 of 2007).
• Objective: To make card transactions more safe, secure, and convenient for the users.
• Before the extension, the facility of tokenisation was available only to mobile phones and tablets of
interested cardholders.
Background:
i.In January 2019, RBI has permitted authorised card networks to offer tokenisation services to any token
requestor. It also issued guidelines for ‘tokenisation in card transactions’.
ii.Tokenisation: It refers to the replacement of actual card details with a unique alternate code called the ‘token’,
which shall be unique for a combination of card, token requestor and device.
iii.Inorder to extend the scope of tokenisation, RBI has now included the consumer devices under tokenisation.
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

RBI Approves Reappointment of Sandeep Bakhshi as MD& CEO of ICICI Bank
The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has approved the reappointment of Sandeep Bakhshi as the Managing
Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of ICICI Bank with effect from 15th October 2021 to 3rd October
2023.
He was appointed as the MD & CEO of ICICI Bank in 2018 following the resignation of Chanda Kochhar on 4th
October 2018.
Background:
i.In August 2019, the ICICI bank’s Shareholder meeting approved the appointment of Sandeep Bakshi as the MD &
CEO for a period of 5 years with effect from 15th October 2018 to 3rd October 2023.
ii.The RBI approved his appointment for a period of 3 years against the 5-year term sought by the ICICI bank.
About Sandeep Bakhshi:
i.Sandeep Bakhshi joined the ICICI group in 1986 and has served in various capacities at ICICI Limited, ICICI
Lombard General Insurance, ICICI Bank and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.
ii.He has served as the MD and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company between 2010 and 2018.
iii.He has also served as the Deputy Managing Director of ICICI Bank and MD & CEO of ICICI Lombard General
Insurance.
About ICICI Bank:
MD & CEO– Sandeep Bakhshi
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Incorporated in 1994
Tagline– Hum Hai Na, Khayal Apka
RBI Ropes in Olympian Neeraj Chopra for Cyber Frauds Awareness Campaign
Reserve Bank of India(RBI) roped in Olympic gold medalist, Athlete (Javelin) Neeraj Chopra for its new public
awareness campaign against digital banking frauds.

• As a part of the campaign, Neeraj Chopra urges people not to disclose details such as one-time
password(OTP), Card Verification Value(CVV) number and ATM PIN in front of others.
• The campaign also states that the users should periodically change their online banking passwords and PIN
numbers, and block their ATM, Credit, Debit or Prepaid cards if lost.
About Neeraj Chopra:
i.Neeraj Chopra, an Indian javelin thrower from Panipat, Haryana, won the gold medal at the Men’s Javelin throw
at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
ii.He became the first track and field athlete to win a gold medal for Independent India.
iii.He won the gold medal at both the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games held in 2018.
iv.He was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2018.
Cashify appointed Actor Rajkumar Rao as its 1st brand ambassador:
Cashify, formerly ReGlobe, the trademark of Manak Waste Management Private Limited, has appointed
Bollywood actor Rajkumar Rao as its first brand ambassador.
Cashify is a re-commerce marketplace, which offers a platform to resell old or used electronic gadgets.
• Rajkumar Rao has signed a multi-year contract with Cashify.
• He will promote their products over the digital media platform through campaigns and other promotional
activities exclusively for the smartphone buyback category.
Note:
Cashify has raised 15 million USD from Olympus Capital and has acquired UniShop to diversify its Omnichannel
customer service.
Govt Appointed Deepak Das as 25th CGA

On August 1, 2021, the Government of India has appointed Deepak Das, the 1986-batch Indian Civil Accounts
Service (ICAS) officer as the 25th Controller General of Accounts (CGA) under the Ministry of Finance,
Department of Expenditure.
• He replaced Soma Roy Burman, (the 7th women CAS) who held the position from December 2019.
• Prior to his appointment as CGA, he was the principal chief controller of accounts in the Central Board of
Direct Taxes.
About Deepak Das:
i.During his career as ICAS, he held different positions in Ministries such as Department for Promotion of Industry
and Internal Trade & Heavy Industries, Environment & Forest, Commerce & Textile, Agriculture & Farmers
Welfare, Science & Technology, Road Transport, Highways, Shipping, Home Affairs, and Central Board of Indirect
Taxes & Customs.
ii.He also served as the Director of the Institute of Government Accounts and Finance (INGAF), the training
academy of the ICAS.
About Controller General of Accounts (CGA):
CGA is the Principal Accounting Adviser to the Government of India, they will set up and manage a better
Management Accounting System. They will prepare the accounts of the Union and State Government, and also
control the exchequer and internal audits.
Key Points:
i.CGA is not a constitutional body and not an independent body (as it works under the Department of
Expenditure).
ii.The duties and responsibilities of the CGA will be provided under the ‘Allocation of Business Rules 1961’.
iii.Article 150: The President forms the accounts of the Union and the States on the advice of the CGA.
Mini Ipe Appointed as the Managing Director of LIC

The government of India has appointed Mini Ipe as the new Managing Director of the Life Insurance
Corporation(LIC) of India. She has been serving as the Executive Director, Legal Department, LIC of India.
• She has taken charge as the MD of the LIC of India succeeding Vipin Anand, who has retired in July 2021.
About Mini Ipe:
i.Mini Ipe was the first woman zonal manager of LIC, she headed the Hyderabad zone.
ii.She has also served as the Executive Director, International Operations, and the Director & CEO of LICHFL
Financial Services Ltd.
Additional info:
At present, including Mini Ipe, LIC has 4 Managing Directors. Other MD’s of LIC of India are Mukesh Kumar Gupta;
Raj Kumar; Siddhartha Mohanty

About LIC of India:
Chairman– M R Kumar
RBI Approves Reappointment of Prakash Chandra as Non-Executive Chairman of RBL Bank

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has approved the reappointment of Prakash Chandra as the non-executive(part-
time) Chairman of the RBL Bank for a period of 3 years with effect from 3rd August 2021.
• The reappointment and the revision of his remuneration have been approved by the Board of Directors
following the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the board.
• Previously in June 2020, the RBI had reappointed him as the non-executive part-time chairman of the RBL
till 23rd July 2021.
About Prakash Chandra:
i.Prakash Chandra, a retired Indian Revenue Service(IRS) officer of the 1973 Batch, is currently enrolled as an
advocate and a member of the High court and Supreme Court Bar Association.
ii.He has served as an advisor to the Union Public Service Commission(UPSC) and India’s Department of
Personnel Government.
ii.He has held various positions in different ministries which include, Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes
(CBDT), Delhi; Director of Department of Supply, Ministry of Commerce; Director of Border Roads Development
Board, Ministry of Defence and Director General of Income Tax (International Taxation), Delhi.
About RBL Bank:
RBL bank, formerly known as Ratnakar Bank, was established in 1943.
Non-Executive Part-Time Chairman– Prakash Chandra
MD & CEO– Vishwavir Ahuja
Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra
Tagline– Apno Ka Bank
Anthony Heredia Appointed as CEO of BOI AXA Investment Managers

Anthony Heredia has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BOI AXA Investment Managers
Private Limited (BAIM). He will succeed Sandeep Dasgupta.
• BOI AXA Investment Managers Private Ltd is a joint venture between Bank of India (52.93%) and AXA
Investment Managers (47.07%), backed by AXA group, one of the World’s Leading asset managers having
Asset Under Management (AUM) of EUR 896 billion.
i.He has previously worked with Morgan Stanley Investment Management, HSBC Asset Management India and
Birla Sun Life Asset Management.
ii.Heredia has more than 25 years of experience mostly in the investment management business within financial
services.
About Bank of India (BOI)
Established in 1906
Headquarters – Mumbai
MD & CEO – Atanu Kumar Das
Tagline – Relationship beyond Banking
About BOI AXA Investment Managers Private Limited (BAIM)
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
CEO – Anthony Herdia
Shanti Lal Jain Appointed as the MD and CEO of Indian Bank

The Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Shanti Lal Jain as the Managing
Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the Indian Bank for a period of 3 years from the date of
assumption of office or 1st September 2021.
• He will replace Padmaja Chunduru whose term as MD & CEO of Indian bank will end on 31st August 2021.
• He is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Bank of Baroda(BoB).
About the appointment:
i.The appointment can be extended up to 2 years or till the age of superannuation or until further orders.
ii.The Bank Board Bureau(BBB) has recommended Shanti Lal Jain for the role of MD & CEO of Indian Bank and
the recommendation was accepted by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance.
About Shanti Lal Jain:
i.Shanti Lal Jain, a chartered accountant, has worked with Allahabad Bank as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Risk

Officer and General Manager.
ii.Prior to joining Allahabad bank, he worked in various industries.
About Indian Bank:
MD & CEO– Padmaja Chunduru (Till Shanti Lal Jain Appointment)
Headquarters– Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Established in 1907
Tagline– Your Own Bank
CVC re-appointed TM Bhasin as Chairman of Advisory Board for Banking and Financial Frauds
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) re-appointed Dr. Tejendra Mohan Bhasin aka TM Bhasin as the
chairman of the Advisory Board for Banking and Financial Frauds (ABBFF) w.e.f. August 21, 2021 for a further
period of two years.
• The reappointment followed the term completion of ABBFF on August 20, 2021 which was constituted in
2019 to examine bank frauds of over Rs 50 crore and recommend relevant action.
About ABBFF:
The CVC, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted the ABBFF comprising of four
members for an initial term of two years. Then, ABBFF, after due process of consultation with CVC, CBI (Central
Bureau of Investigation), RBI, and Department of Financial Services, framed the standard operating
procedure (SOP) for general managers and above accountable in the fraud cases of Rs 50 crore and more,
referred to it by the public sector banks (PSBs).
• Now, in the new term of ABBFF, its scope has been expanded to comprehensively examine the staff
accountability for all levels of the officials or whole-time directors (WTD) in PSBs, in the fraud cases of Rs
50 crore and above.
• ABBFF is headquartered in New Delhi.
Members of ABBFF:
• Madhusudan Prasad, former secretary of Ministry of Urban Development*
• Devendra Kumar Pathak, former director-general of BSF (Border Security Force)
• David Rasquinha, former managing director of EXIM Bank (Export-Import Bank of India).
*The government has merged the urban development and housing and urban poverty alleviation ministries in
2017 which are now collectively known as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
About TM Bhasin:
i.He served as vigilance commissioner in the CVC for four years from June 2015 to June 2019.
ii.Prior to this, he was Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Chennai-based Indian Bank for more than five
years.
About Central Vigilance Commission (CVC):
Establishment– 1964 (Statutory Status was given in 1998)
Central Vigilance Commissioner– Suresh N Patel
Headquarter– New Delhi
Nitin Chugh MD & CEO of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Steps Down
Nitin Chugh, Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has
submitted his resignation. He will step down from his post on 30th September 2021.
• With this resignation, He will also cease to be the Director of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank with effect from
30th September 2021.
• His tenure as the director of Ujjivan bank is co-terminus with his tenure as Managing Director and CEO of the
bank.
About Nitin Chugh:
i.Nitin Chugh has been serving as the MD and CEO of the Ujjivan Small Finance Bank since December 2019.
ii.Previously he has served as the group head for digital banking of HDFC Bank.
iii.He has also worked for Standard Chartered Bank, Xerox, HCL Technologies.
About Ujjivan Small Finance Bank:
MD &CEO– Nitin Chugh
Headquarters– Bengaluru, Karnataka
Tagline– Build a Better Life

ACC Approved to Extend the Tenure of 3 MD & CEOs and 10 EDs of PSB
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Department of Financial
Services(DFS) to extend the tenure of 3 Managing Directors(MD) and Chief Executive officers(CEO), and 10
Executive Directors(EDs) of Public Sector Banks(PSB) including the Punjab National Bank(PNB).
Background:
i.The DFS suggested to extended the terms of the MDs and EDs of the Public Sector banks to ensure the stability
and continuity of the banks amid COVID-19 pandemic
ii.The proposal for the extension was sent to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) after consultation
with the Banks Board Bureau(BBB).
Details of approved tenure extensions:
MD & CEO:
• The term of SS Mallikarjuna Rao, the MD and CEO of PNB have been extended until 31st January 2022, the
date of his superannuation.
• The term of Atul Kumar Goel, MD and CEO of UCO Bank has been extended for a period of 2 years.
• The term of A S Rajeev, MD and CEO of Bank of Maharashtra has been extended for a period of 2 years.
Note:
According to the government guidelines, the MD & CEO of a public sector undertaking is given a maximum tenure
of 5 years.
Executive Directors:
The following Executive Directors received a extension for a period of 2 years beyond the expiry date of their
notified term:
• Ajay K Khurana ED of Bank of Baroda
• A Manimekhalai ED of Canara Bank
• P R Rajagopal ED of Bank of India
The terms of the following EDs have been extended till the date of their superannuation:
• Sanjay Kumar and Vijay Dube, EDs of Punjab National Bank.
• Gopal Singh Gusain and Manas Ranjan Biswal EDs of Union Bank of India.
• Vikramaditya Singh Khichi ED of Bank of Baroda.
• Shenoy Vishwanath Vittal ED of Indian Bank.
• Alok Srivastava ED of the Central Bank of India.
Economic Advisor Lalit Kumar Chandel appointed on the board of Bank of Maharashtra
The government of India has appointed Lalit Kumar Chandel, Economic advisor of the Department of Financial
Service, as Government of India nominee director on the board of Bank of Maharashtra with effect from 18th
August 2021.
• He replaced Hrisheekesh Arvind Modak who has been on the board since May 2021.
About Punjab National Bank(PNB):
MD & CEO– S.S. Mallikarjuna Rao
Headquarters– New Delhi, India
Tagline-The name you can bank upon
Founded– 19th May 1894
Commenced Operations– 12th April 1895
About UCO Bank:
UCO Bank formerly known as the United Commercial Bank Limited.
MD & CEO– Atul Kumar Goel
Nationalized in 1969
Headquarters– Kolkata, West Bengal
About Bank of Maharashtra:
MD & CEO– A S Rajeev
Headquarters– Pune, Maharashtra
Incorporated on 16th September 1935
RBI Promoted 3 Grade F officers as Executive Directors for 2021-22

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has promoted 3 Grade F officers – Ajay Kumar, A.K. Choudhary and Deepak
Kumar – as the Executive directors for the year 2021-2022.
• Ajay Kumar has been serving as the regional director of RBI regional Office, New Delhi
• A.K. Choudhary has been serving as the Chief General Manager in charge of the Department of Supervision,
RBI Mumbai.

• Deepak Kumar has been serving as the chief General Manager in charge of the Department of information
Technology(IT), RBI Mumbai.
Note:
At present RBI has 12 executive directors and 30 chief General Managers, under the 4 deputy governors.
About Reserve Bank of India(RBI):
Governor– Shaktikanta Das
Deputy Governor– Mahesh Kumar Jain; Michael Debabrata Patra; M. Rajeshwar Rao; and T. Rabi Sankar
Established– 1st April 1935
OTHER NEWS
MSME Loan Disbursals Rise 40% in FY21: SIDBI-TransUnion Cibil MSME Pulse Report
As per the report of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) lender SIDBI (Small Industries Development
Bank of India) and Transunion-Cibil, MSME Pulse – Edition XII, the value of new loans disbursed to the MSME
sector in FY21 (COVID-19 period) was Rs.9.5 lakh crore, 40% higher than Rs.6.8 lakh crore in FY20 (pre-COVID-
19 period).
• It was mainly supported by the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), the government’s
initiative under the AtmaNirbhar Bharat programme.
Highlights of the Report:
i.Credit Demand: The credit demand (measured as credit enquiries) was dropped by 76 percent (due to the 1st
wave of COVID-19) and later recovered by ECLGS to 32 percent over pre-COVID-19 levels in March 2021. Now,
the credit demand recovered back in June 2021 (after the unlocks).
ii.Credit Growth: India’s total on-balance sheet commercial lending exposure in March 2021 stood at Rs 74.36
lakh crores with a YOY (Year-on-Year) growth rate of 0.6 percent in which, the MSME sector’s credit exposure
was about Rs 20.21 lakh crores with 6.6 percent YOY growth rate.
iii.Credit Disbursement:
• The credit disbursal to New-to-Bank (NTB) MSMEs was reduced by 90 percent in April 2020 (compared to
pre-COVID levels) and recovered back to 5 percent higher than pre-COVID levels in March 2021.
• The lending to Existing-to-Bank (ETB) MSMEs increased to 75 percent over pre-COVID levels in June 2020
due to ECLGS.
Note – Borrowers who had an existing commercial credit relationship with the lender are defined as ETB, and
those with no commercial credit relationship are classified as NTB.
iv.NPA Rate: Due to the strong credit inflow, the NPA (Non-Performing Assets) rates of MSMEs in March 2021
was controlled at 12.5 percent compared with 12.6 percent in March 2020.
About Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS):
i.It was launched by the Finance Ministry in May 2020 as a part of the Government’s ‘Atma Nirbhar’ to provide
credit Rs 3 lakh crore unsecured loans to COVID-19 hit MSMEs.
ii.Under ECLGS 3.0, the scope of ECLGS was extended to new sectors, such as hospitality, travel and tourism, and
the lending under it was extended till September 30, 2021.
iii.Under ECLGS, 100 percent guarantee coverage was provided by NCGTC (National Credit Guarantee Trustee
Company) to public and private banks and NBFCs (Non-banking Finance Companies).
OMERS Acquired 19.4% Stake in Azure Power Global for $219 million from IFC
Canadian pension fund Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS) acquired a 19.4
percent stake in Azure Power Global for $219 million from International Finance Corporation (IFC), the
private sector arm of the World Bank Group and IFC GIF Investment Company.
• Azure Power was India’s 1st renewable energy company to get listed on the US stock market (New York
Stock Exchange).
• It is OMERS 2nd direct infrastructure investment in India after the 2019 investment of $121 million for a
22.4 percent stake in the IndInfravit Trust toll road platform.
• In May 2021, India has granted income tax exemption to OMERS Administration Corporation for
infrastructure investments in India.
• Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and
Brookfield Asset Management were some of the other Canadian investors in India.
Key points:
i.India has set a target of installing 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, which includes 100 GW from

solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro-power.
ii.The Central Electricity Authority estimated India’s power requirement in 2030 by 817GW with more than half
from clean energy and 280GW from solar energy.
Note – PTT Public Company Limited (PTT Group) announced its acquisition of a 41.6 percent stake in Avaada
Energy Pvt. Ltd for around $454 million.
About Azure Power Global
Headquarters – New Delhi
CEO – Ranjit Gupta
About International Finance Corporation (IFC):
It is one of the 5 organizations of the World Bank (WB).
Headquarters – Washington DC, United States (US)
MD – Makhtar Diop
Indian Bank Signed MoU with SINE, IIT Bombay for Financing Start-ups
The Indian Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Society for Innovation and
Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Bombay to provide a credit facility to the startups
and small businesses through its loan product ‘IND Spring Board’.
• Background: In October 2020, the Indian Bank launched the ‘IND SpringBoard’ in collaboration with IIT
Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC) to provide a credit facility of Rs 50 crore to start-ups for their working
capital requirements.
Key Points:
i.Under the MoU, SINE, IIT Bombay will support the bank by referring the start-ups and the Ministry of Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that are in need of financial assistance (based on their credentials and
past experience).
ii.The MoU was signed by Sudhakar Rao, General Manager, MSME, Indian Bank and Santosh J Gharpure, professor-
in-charge, SINE, in the presence of Padmaja Chunduru, the MD and CEO of Indian Bank.
iii.Recent Initiative: In October 2020, Indian Bank launched the ‘MSME Prerana’ programme to empower MSME
entrepreneurs through skill development and capacity building workshops in local languages.
• At first, the MSME Prerana was implemented in the language Tamil.
About the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay:
It is an umbrella organisation at IIT Bombay for promoting entrepreneurship and tech start-ups.
Headquarters – IIT Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Chairman – Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri
About Indian Bank:
MD & CEO – Padmaja Chunduru
Tagline – Your Own Bank
SBI Launches ‘SIM Binding’ Feature in YONO, YONO Lite

State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a ‘SIM Binding’ feature in its digital banking platform YONO (You Only
Need One), YONO Lite.
• The technology allows Only one user per device with a Registered Mobile Number (RMN). It is aimed at
protecting customers from various digital frauds.
• The SIM Binding feature will work with the basic rule of One Mobile Device – One User – One RMN.
YONO
i.YONO the integrated digital banking platform of SBI is India’s 1st comprehensive digital service platform.
ii.It was launched on 10th December, 2017 by Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
About State Bank of India (SBI)
Establishment – 1st July 1955
Chairman – Dinesh Kumar Khara
Tagline – The Banker to Every Indian

PhonePe Launched UPI-based AutoPay Functionality for MF SIP Investments
PhonePe launched the UPI based AutoPay functionality for its Mutual Fund (MF) Systematic Investment
Plans (SIPs) offerings, became the 1st digital investment platform in India to introduce such a feature.
• The UPI AutoPay will enable its customers to set up their MF SIPs in 3 steps: Selecting the fund, Entering the
monthly SIP investment amount, and Authentication with a UPI PIN to make regular investments.
• The UPI AutoPay option for SIP is available for all the existing and new investors on the PhonePe app.
• The UPI AutoPay was made available, even when the PhonePe customers opt for monthly SIPs through any
of the MF investment options available on PhonePe
What is SIP?
i.SIP is an investment route offered by MF wherein one can invest a fixed amount in an MF scheme of their choice
at regular intervals.
ii.SIPs are open-ended, i.e. customers can initiate, pause, restart, and terminate a SIP at any time.
About PhonePe:
The platform has over 307 million registered users.
Establishment – 2015, Flipkart acquired PhonePe in 2016
CEO – Sameer Nigam
SEBI Ordered Forensic Audit of MSE’s Accounts

SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has ordered a forensic audit into the workings of the Metropolitan
Stock Exchange of India (MSEI) Ltd formally known as MCX SX, on allegations of mismanagement and financial
irregularities.A forensic audit will detect any mis-statement in financials, mis-appropriation or diversion of funds.
PM Narendra Modi Launched e-Voucher Digital Payment Solution e-RUPI

On August 02, 2021, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi virtually launched a prepaid electronic voucher-
based digital payment solution e-RUPI to strengthen the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and the financial inclusion
of unbanked citizens.
• e-RUPI, the ‘person and purpose-specific’ one-time cashless and contactless digital payment vouchers was
developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on its UPI (Unified Payments Interface)
platform, in association with the Department of Financial Services (DFS), National Health Authority (NHA),
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), and partner banks.
The process under e-RUPI:
i.When the government/organization intends to provide financial support, they could share the e-RUPI e-
Voucher/coupon in the form of SMS-string or QR code (instead of Money) to the beneficiaries’ mobile for a
specific purpose (health, education, subsidies, etc).
ii.The beneficiaries need to show the e-voucher (in mobile) to the welfare service provider (i.e. the merchants
that accept e-RUPI) to redeem the voucher and complete the transaction.
• As the vouchers will be created for specific purposes they cannot be transferred or cashed out and there is
no need to print out the voucher.
• The vouchers will be redeemed by that beneficiary individual only.
iii.As the required amount of the voucher will be prepaid, the service provider will be paid immediately after the
completion of the transaction; it enables end-to-end digital transactions without any physical intermediary.
iv.Issuing Entity: The e-RUPI service, which is powered by NPCI’s UPI, was on boarded into 11 banks (both
private and public) as an issuing entity.
Benefits under e-RUPI:
i.Under e-RUPI, there is no need to use a card, digital payments app, bank account, internet banking access, and
other traditional payment modes to complete the transaction.
ii.It will enable the leak-proof delivery of government welfare subsidies and ensure the money allocated is used
for that specific need for which the amount was given.
iv.Safe and Secure: It provides privacy, as the beneficiary doesn’t need to share personal details while
redemption.
v.Now the government will deliver services under Mother and Child welfare schemes, TB (Tuberculosis)
eradication programmes, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana, fertilizer subsidies, etc.
vi.Initially, the e-RUPI vouchers was made available for health services, it will gradually cover other welfare
schemes of the govt, the govt also plans to allow the corporate sector to leverage it.
Note – The government has saved around Rs 1 lakh 78 thousand crores via DBT and JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar
and Mobile) which connect Aadhaar and mobile.

About National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI):
MD & CEO -DilipAsbe
SBI General ties up with Manipal Business Solutions to expand reach in Rural Areas
On August 2, 2021, the SBI (State Bank of India) General Insurance collaborated with Manipal Business Solutions,
the promoter of SahiPay to expand its non-life penetration in rural areas.
• As SahiPay provides digital and financial services in the semi-urban and rural parts, SBI General will utilize
this customer base to maximise its non-life penetration in rural areas by providing a number of non-life
insurance solutions.
Reason behind this partnership:
Over 65% of the Indian population is residing in rural areas and to make them aware about the benefits of
insurance, affordable and technology based products this partnership has made.
About SBI General Insurance:
Managing Director (MD) & CEO (Chief Executive Officer)– Prakash Chandra Kandpal
Tagline– Suraksha Aur Bharosa Dono
SEBI revised Minimum Application Value, Trading Lot for REITs & InvITs
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) reduced the minimum application value of real estate
investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) to the range of Rs 10,000-15,000 from
earlier requirement of Rs 50,000 for REITs and Rs 1 lakh for InvITs.
• It also revised the trading lot to one unit for REITs and InvITs from earlier 100 units for initial listing.
• In this regard, allotment to any investor is required to be made in the multiples of a lot.
Minimum Unit Holders Requirement:
SEBI also introduced a minimum unit holders requirement for unlisted InvITs i.e. other than the sponsor(s), its
related parties and its associates, there will be 5 holders, and together and collectively they hold at least 25% of
the total units of the InvIT, at all times.
Points to be noted:
i.REIT comprises a portfolio of commercial real assets, a major portion of which is already leased out.
ii.InvITs comprise a portfolio of infrastructure assets such as highways and power transmission assets.
ii.As of March 2021, a total of 15 InvITs and 4 REITs were registered. Of these, 6InvITs and 3 REITs were listed on
the stock exchanges.
About Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI):
Establishment– 1992
Chairman– Ajay Tyagi
Headquarter– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Suryoday SFB Launched ‘Health and Wellness Savings Account’

Suryoday Small Finance Bank (SSFB) has launched a Savings Account named ‘Health and Wellness Savings
Account’ to support under medical emergencies.
• The account offers top-up health insurance of Rs 25 lakhs (for Self and Family), annual healthcare package,
and on-call emergency ambulance medical care services (upto distance of 20 Kms till 31 March 2022).
Eligibility:
i.A resident individual with age limit of 18 years to 65 years can open the account (joint/ single account).
ii.The individual needs to maintain the Average Monthly Balance (AMB) of Rs 3 lakhs and to be eligible as per the
health declaration form.
Features:
i.Interest Rate: The bank provides the highest interest rate of up to 6.25 percent per annum based on the
balance in the savings account.
ii.The account also includes – Rs 1.50 lakh daily ATM withdrawal limit, Rs 3 lakh daily POS (point of sale) usage
limit, and ‘Platinum’ RuPay Secure Chip Debit Card variant.
iii.Tie-up: The Bank has collaborated with Manipal Cigna Health Insurance (for providing top-up health
insurance), Vhealth Aetna (for providing annual healthcare package), and Ziqitza Healthcare (for providing
ambulance on-call services).

iv.The bank also enables the existing saving account customers to upgrade to the new Health and Wellness
Savings Account.
About Suryoday Small Finance Bank (SSFB):
Establishment -2017
MD & CEO – BaskarBabu Ramachandran
DBS Honoured as Winner for Most Innovative in Digital Banking: The Banker
The Banker, the Financial Times publication has honoured DBS Bank, a Singapore based financial service group,
as the Global and Asia-Pacific winner for the Most Innovative in Digital Banking, at its Innovation in Digital
Banking Awards 2021.
• The winners of the awards were announced by Joy Macknight, Editor of ‘The Banker’.
• The DBS has also won an award under the Cyber Security category for its Secure Access and Remote
Working Solutions.
About Innovation in Digital Banking Awards:
i.Innovation in Digital Banking Awards recognises the innovative banks across the globe for their digital banking
initiatives, strategy and overall commitment of DBS towards digital transformation.
ii.The Banker’s Technology Projects of the Year awards was renamed as the Innovation in Digital Banking Awards
in 2020.
Innovations of DBS:
• DBS Digital Exchange, a blockchain-based ecosystem for fundraising through asset tokenization and
secondary trading of digital assets such as cryptocurrencies.
• NAV Planner, a feature-rich digital advisory solution powered by around 100 Artificial Intelligence (AI)
models.
• Covid contact-tracing solution using machine learning.
Other honours of DBS:
i.At the Regional Awards for Excellence 2021, Euromoney, a leading financial publication, has named DBS
as Asia’s Best Bank and Asia’s Best Digital Bank for the 4th time
ii.Euromoney has also named DBS as the Best Bank and Best Investment Bank in Singapore.
iii.Global Finance has honoured DBS as the “Safest Bank in Asia” for 12 consecutive years from 2009 to 2020.
About DBS Bank:
DBS Bank was formerly known as “The Development Bank of Singapore Limited”
CEO– Piyush Gupta
Headquarters– Singapore
ADB sanctions USD 112 million for Water Supply Improvement projects in Jharkhand
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has sanctioned loans worth USD 112 million (INR 831 Crore) to finance Urban
Water Supply Infrastructure Projects in 4 towns (Ranchi, Hussainabad, Jhumri Telaiya and Medininagar) of
Jharkhand. This is the ADB’s 1 urban sector project in Jharkhand.
st
• The total cost of the project is USD 160 million, out of which USD 48 million will be funded by the
Government of Jharkhand.
• It will support the Jharkhand Vision and Action Plan 2021 to improve the quality of life of its urban residents
through better quality urban infrastructure.
• The project is expected to be completed in 2028.
Key Points
i.The project will establish 940 kms of water distribution network to provide continuous water supply to about
115,000 households. It will also improve the health and hygiene situation in the 4 towns.
ii.The staff of ULBs and other state urban institutions will be trained on design and implementation of urban
projects
iii.The project will also cover aspects like response to climate risks, inclusion of gender equality, and institutional
development.
About Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Established in 1966
President – Masatsugu Asakawa
Headquarters – Manilla (Philippines)

About Jharkhand
Governor – Ramesh Bais
National Park (NP) – Betla NP
Wildlife Sanctuaries (WLS) – Dalma WLS, Gautam Budha WLS, Hazaribagh WLS
SEBI allows Payments Banks to act as Investment Bankers

On August 3, 2021, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) allowed payments banks to carry out the
activities of investment bankers in order to ease the access for investors to participate in public and rights issues
by using various payment avenues.
• Also, Non-scheduled payments banks, which have prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will
be eligible to act as Bankers to an Issue (BTI) with regard to the conditions stipulated in the BTI rules.
Key Points:
i.Payments banks registered as BTI will also be permitted to act as self-certified syndicate banks, subject to the
fulfilment of SEBI norms.
ii.The blocking/movement of funds from the investor to issuer will only be made through the savings account of
the investor.
Background:
In a notification dated July 30, the regulator amended the Bankers to an Issue rules, thereby permitting such other
banking companies to carry out the activities of BTI in addition to the scheduled banks.
Points to be noted:
i.Bankers to an issue (BTI): It means a scheduled bank or such other banking company specified by SEBI which
carries activities, including acceptance of application money, acceptance of allotment or call money, refund of
application money and payment of dividend or interest warrants.
ii.Syndicate: It is a group of banks making a loan jointly to a single borrower.
Chairman– Ajay Tyagi
ICICI Prudential Life Became 1st Insurance Company in India to Integrate NPCI’s UPI AutoPay
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India
(NPCI) and integrated NPCI’s UPI (Unified Payment Interface) AutoPay platform into its system to enable its
customers to make instant automated recurring premium payments of insurance policies.
• Through this, it became the 1st life insurance company in India to provide a UPI AutoPay facility to its
customers.
• While purchasing the insurance policy, the customers could link their bank account with UPI AutoPay and
activate the e-mandate (recurring payments) through their mobile phone.
• The customers could also enable the UPI AUTOPAY feature on UPI apps such as Paytm, BHIM (Bharat
Interface for Money), and Indusind Bank App. The facility could also be enabled for ICICI Bank and other
leading banks (that are live on UPI AUTOPAY) through an e-mandate.
About UPI AutoPay:
It was launched by NPCI in July 2020 under UPI 2.0 to enable recurring e-mandate using any UPI application for
recurring payments such as mobile bills, electricity bills, EMI payments, entertainment/OTT subscriptions,
insurance, mutual funds among others.
About ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd:
It is promoted by ICICI Bank Limited and Prudential Corporation Holdings Limited.
MD & CEO – N. S. Kannan
GyanDhan Received NBFC Licence; Plans to Disburse Rs 650 crore in FY22

GyanDhan, India’s 1st education financing platform, has received a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC)
license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• It plans to disburse Rs 650 crore worth of education loans in FY22, in which it has Rs 50 crore for domestic
short-term courses offered by various ed-tech players and coaching institutes.

• Prior to becoming a NBFC, it has partnered with companies like Great learning, various IAS (Indian
Administrative Service) institutions, schools, colleges, etc to offer interest-free education loans for students
(both overseas and India).
• So far, it has have disbursed more than Rs 1000 crore in total and in FY22 (so far) alone it has sanctioned
loans worth Rs 200 crore.
NBFC:
i.It is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 engaged in the business of loans and advances,
acquisition of shares/stocks/bonds/debentures/securities issued by the Government or local authority or other
marketable securities.
ii.As per Section 45-IA of the RBI Act, an NBFC need to get a registration certificate/licence from RBI to carry its
business.
iii.It should have a minimum net owned funds of Rs 2 Crore.
About GyanDhan:
CEO – Ankit Mehra
Bank of Baroda signs MoU with Andhra Pradesh to Finance ‘Fish Andhra Scheme’
Bank of Baroda (BoB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Andhra Pradesh (AP)
Government to assist & finance the entire 14,000 beneficiaries for setting up Aqua Units under AP Government’s
‘Fish Andhra’ scheme.
‘Fish Andhra’ Scheme
AP stands 1st in the country in the fisheries sector both in terms of production and total value of aqua, it
contributes 8.67 % of State’s GDP.
i.Inspite of having high production, the per capita consumption of fish products is low in AP.
ii.In order to address this, AP Government has designed a novel scheme called “Fish Andhra”. The scheme is in
line with Pradhan Mantri Mathsya Sampadha Yojana (PMMSY), a scheme of central government.
• Under the project, 100 aqua hubs would be set up and around 14,000 outlets of different sizes and nature
would be set up across AP.
• Each aqua hub constitutes 140 beneficiaries and the project cost is Rs 5.50 crore.
• The funding pattern of the aqua hub is 15% beneficiary contribution, 40 per cent government aid and
45% bank loan.
About Andhra Pradesh
Governor – Biswabhushan Harichandran
National Parks (NP) – Kasu Brahmananda Reddy, Mahaveer Harina Vanasthal
Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) – Coringa, Eturnagaram
About Bank of Baroda (BoB)
Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank were merged with BoB
MD & CEO – Sanjiv Chadha
Headquarters – Vadodara, Gujarat
Founded – 20 July 1908 by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda
Tagline – India’s International Bank
Economist Jagdish Bhagwati, C Rangarajan Awarded with C.R. Rao Gold Medal Award
The Indian Econometric Society (TIES) Trust has awarded the Economists Jagdish Bhagwati and C
Rangarajan with the Prof. C.R. Rao Centenary Gold Medal (CGM) award.
About the Awardees:
i.Jagdish Bhagwati – He is the University Professor of Economics, Law, and International Relations at Columbia
University and Director of the Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies.
• He received Padma Vibhushan Award in 2000 and Lifetime Achievement Award by the Indian Chamber of
Commerce in 2004.
ii.C. Rangarajan – He is the former chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, and former
Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
About the Award:
i.It is the award presented once in two years by TIES to an Indian or Indian-origin scholar for their lifetime
contributions to the fields of theoretical and applied aspects of quantitative economics and official statistics.
ii.The award consists of a gold medal and citation. C R Rao is an Indian-American mathematician and statistician
and he received Padma Vibhushan in 2001.
About The Indian Econometric Society (TIES):

It is a registered society under Public Societies Registration Act
Chairman – V R Panchamukhi
GoI, World Bank Signed $250 million Loan Agreement under DRIP Phase II
The Government of India (GoI) has signed a US $250 million (Rs 1,855 crore) loan agreement with the World
Bank (WB) for the Second Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP-2) Phase II, the world’s largest
dam management program. The agreement is the 1st phase of ‘DRIP Phase II and Phase III’.
• The loan will be provided from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the
lending arm of WB Group and it has a maturity of 13 years with a grace period of 6 years.
Key Points:
i.DRIP Phase II will provide financial support to the GoI’s long-term National Dam Safety Program and improve
the safety and performance of existing dams across various states of India.
ii.The agreement was between the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Central Water Commission (CWC), representatives of 10
participating states (Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha,
Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu) and the WB.
iii.Initially the project will be implemented in ~120 dams across the 10 participating states, and at the national
level through the CWC. Other states/agencies might be added during project implementation.
iv.The agreement was signed by Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs,
Ministry of Finance (on behalf of GoI), representatives of 10 participating states, and Junaid Ahmad, WB Country
Director in India (on behalf of the WB).
Note – The programme also complements the provisions in the Dam Safety Bill 2019.
DRIP Phase II and Phase III:
i.In October 2020, the GoI approved the ‘DRIP Phase II and Phase III’ to rehabilitate 736 dams in India with the
Budget Outlay of Rs 10,211 crore, in which Rs 7,000 crore was the external funding assistance from the WB and
the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
ii.The implementation period was about 10 years from April 2021 to March 2031 with each project having 6
years duration with 2 years overlapping. It has the participation of 19 states and 3 Central Agencies.
iii.The WB’s support to dam safety in India includes the recently closed DRIP-1 ($279 million with $62 million
Additional Financing), which has improved the safety and sustainability of 223 dams in 6 states of India and one
central agency.
Dams in India: India ranks 3rd globally after China and the USA, with 5334 large dams in operation with a
storage capacity of more than 300 billion cubic meters.
Note – The average annual cost of floods in India is estimated at US$7.4 billion.
About World Bank:
President – David R. Malpass (13th President)
Headquarters – Washington DC, USA
World Bank Country Director in India – Junaid Ahmad
NABARD Partners with CWC to Offer Storage Facility for FPOs

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has partnered with the Central Warehousing
Corporation (CWC) through the NABFoundation, to offer storage facilities for the Farmers Producer Organisation
(FPOs) at lower rates for the next 5 years.
Objective:
To enhance the agricultural infrastructure in India.
Features of the partnership:
i.Under this partnership, the state-of-the-art storage facilities of CWC will be made accessible for the 5000+ FPO’s
across India.
ii.The CWC will offer a 30% discount to FPO’s promoted by NABARD, on using the CWC Storage space in 423
warehouses across India.
iii.The CWC will assist the FPOs with access to air cargo operations, handling and transportation, and pest control
services.
Benefits:
This partnership between NABARD and CWC will help the farmers to meet the immediate storage requirement
for crop warehousing space when the price drops due to surplus supply during harvest season.

About Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC):
CWC was established under ‘The Warehousing Corporations Act, 1962
Chairman– Atish Chandra, IAS
Managing Director– Arun Kumar Shrivastava
Headquarters– New Delhi
SBI Payments, Hitachi Payment Services Partnered for e-RUPI

SBI Payments partnered with Hitachi Payment Services to introduce e-RUPI transactions on the Yono SBI
Merchant app.
• Objective: To enable the merchants to use the ‘UPI Voucher’ feature on the Yono SBI Merchant App to accept
prepaid UPI e-vouchers.
• Under the partnership, the Hitachi Payment Services will support SBI Payments in merchant on-boarding
and merchant transaction settlements for e-RUPI.
About e-RUPI:
i.e-RUPI, the prepaid electronic voucher-based digital platform, that was developed by the National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI), was launched on August 2, 2021, to enable fund transfer and redeem via e-voucher in
the form of SMS-string or QR code. Click here to know more
ii.The e-RUPI was first implemented by SBI Payments at a private covid-19 vaccination centre in Mumbai,
Maharashtra.
About SBI Payments:
It is a Joint Venture (JV) between the State Bank of India (SBI) and Hitachi Payment Services Private Limited
(HPY).
MD & CEO – Girikumar M Nair
About Hitachi Payment Services:
MD & CEO – Rustom Irani
India Recorded Highest Ever Monthly Merchandise Export of $35.17 billion in July 2021
In July 2021, India has recorded the highest ever monthly merchandise export. The merchandise exports in July
2021 was increased by 47.91 percent to USD 35.17 billion from USD 23.78 billion in July 2020. India’s exports
have covered 32.64 percent of its annual target of 400 billion dollars.
• The top 5 commodity groups of export which have recorded positive growth during July this year are –
Petroleum Products, Gems and Jewellery, Other Cereals, Man-made fabrics, and Cotton Fabrics, Handloom
Products.
Govt of Assam, NABARD, AIFA Sign MoU to Execute Development Projects

The government of Assam, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the Assam
Infrastructure Financing Authority (AIFA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) to assist the
execution of various development projects in Assam.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Assam and Ajanta Neog, Finance
Minister of Assam.
Features of the MoU:
i.Under this MoU, a series of capital intensive projects to improve the development of Assam will be launched.
ii.The MoU will facilitate Rs 13,200 crore investment for infrastructure development across various sectors
including the education sector.
iii.The funding will be used for the development of infrastructure from the NABARD Infrastructure Development
Assistance (NIDA) and Rural Infrastructure Assistance to the state government (RIAS) in rural and semi-urban
regions across Assam.
iv.Engineering and Medical Colleges, Universities, schools, Stadia, Tourism centres, cold storage will be built
across the state in the next 3 years.
About Assam:
Governor– Jagadish Mukhi
National Park– Kaziranga National Park; Dibru-Saikhowa National Park
Wildlife Sanctuary– Manas Wildlife Sanctuary; Garampani Wildlife Sanctuary

About National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD):
Chairman– Dr. G.R. Chintala
Established on 12th July 1982
IMF Governors approved its largest US$650bn SDR allocation

In order to boost global liquidity and to curb COVID-19 impact, the Board of Governors of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) equivalent to US$650
billion (about SDR 456 billion) w.e.f. August 23, 2021. It is the largest SDR allocation in the history of the IMF.
Key Points:
i.About US$275 billion (about SDR 193 billion) of the new allocation will be utilized towards emerging markets,
developing countries, and low-income countries.
ii.Under SDR process, the wealthier member countries can voluntarily lend part of their SDRs to low-income
countries through the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) which is currently interest free.
About SDR:
Created by the IMF in 1969, it is an international reserve asset to supplement the official reserves of its member
countries by providing liquidity. It should be noted that the SDR is not a currency, it is a potential claim on the
freely usable currencies of IMF members.
• These currencies are the US dollar, Euro, Chinese Yuan, Japanese Yen, and the British Pound.
• To date, a total of SDR 660.7 billion (equivalent to about US$943 billion) have been allocated, including
above allocation.
About International Monetary Fund (IMF):
Managing Director– Kristalina Georgieva
Economic Counsellor and Research Department Director– Gita Gopinath
Members– 190 Countries (Including India)
Headquarters- Washington, D.C, United States (US)
NFDB inks MoU with PNB to extend Financial Assistance to Fisheries sector
National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) has signed a MoU with Punjab National Bank to extend financial
assistance to the fisheries sector through the bank’s 10,641 branches, 13,781 delivery channels and 12,518
Business Correspondents.
• The PNB’s Hyderabad Zonal Office will be the nodal office for all the technically approved proposals
received by NFDB across the country.
Signatories:
The MoU was signed by M Arul Bosco Prakash, Executive Director (Infra), NFDB, and Sanjeevan Nikhar,
General Manager (GM) and Zonal Head, PNB, Hyderabad in the presence of Dr. Suvarna Chandrappagari, Chief
Executive, NFDB; and CHSS Mallikarjuna Rao, Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), PNB in
Hyderabad, Telangana.
Key Points:
i.Under this MoU, the fisheries sector will tie-up with individuals/private entrepreneurs of Fisheries and
Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) and Entrepreneur Models under Pradhan Mantri Matsya
Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) for availing bank loan from PNB, pan-India.
ii.FIDF- The government created FIDF in FY19 and is being implemented with a total fund size of Rs 7,522.48
crore comprising Rs 5,266.40 crore to be raised by Nodal Lending Entities (NLE), like NABARD (National Bank for
Agriculture and Rural Development), NCDC (National Cooperative Development Corporation) & all scheduled
banks.
iii.PMMSY– It is a flagship scheme launched in September 2020 for sustainable development of Indian fisheries
sector with an estimated investment of Rs. 20,050 crores.
• It will be implemented in all the States and Union Territories (UTs) for 5 years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-
25.
Mallikarjuna Rao inaugurated PNB@Ease outlet in Hyderabad
Mallikarjuna Rao also inaugurated PNB@Ease outlet (EASE Banking Outlet) at Aditya Enclave, near Ameerpet
Metro Station in Hyderabad.
• PNB@Ease outlet consists of 5 Kioskse. ATM (Automated teller machine), Bunch Note Acceptor, Account
opening Kiosk, Card issuance Kiosk and Internet enabled Kiosk.
• It provides One Stop Experience to the customers in availing banking and financial services without visiting
the branch.

About National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB):
Parent Ministry– Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying
Headquarter– Hyderabad, Telangana
About Punjab National Bank (PNB):
Amalgamated Banks in PNB– Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India (UBI)
Tagline– The name you can bank upon
SBI, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, and 3 other Banks buy stakes in IBBIC
6 Banks namely State Bank of India (SBI), Axis Bank, Indian Bank, Yes Bank, IDBI Bank, and ICICI Bank have
brought Equity Stakes in Financial Technology Platform IBBIC (Indian Banks’ Blockchain Infrastructure Co).
• The 6 Banks have picked up 5.55 percent stake each, representing 50,000 shares in IBBIC, for cash at INR 5
lakh each.
IBBIC platform offers Distributed Ledger technology (DLT) solutions (also known as Blockchain Technology) to
the Indian Financial services sector. The equity ownership of IBBIC is aimed at providing DLT solutions for the
financial services sector.
SEBI Board Approved List of Key Amendments, Initiatives

The board of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) undertook different key decisions at the board
meeting on August 06, 2021, regarding the amendments and frameworks related to Accredited Investors, mutual
fund (MF) regulations, Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) and others.
List of Approved Amendments and frameworks:
• Introduced Framework for Accredited Investors
• Amendment to SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996
• Relaxed the Limit of Sweat Equity Norms on New-age Tech Companies
• A shift from ‘Promoter’ to ‘controlling shareholders’
• Amendment to SAST Regulations
• Amendment to SEBI (AIF) Regulations, 2012
• Relaxed the lock-in period for promoters’ investments
About Approve Amendments and Frameworks in brief:
-Introduced Framework for Accredited Investors:
SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) board has introduced the concept of ‘Accredited investors’ (AI) in
the Indian securities market to open up a new channel for raising funds.
Who are Accredited Investors?
i.A class of investors who are well informed or well advised about investment products are defined as AI/
Qualified Investors/Professional Investors.
ii.Individuals, Hindu Undivided Family (HUFs), Family Trusts, Sole Proprietorships, Partnership Firms, Trusts,
and Body Corporates are eligible to become AI (based on financial parameters).
Framework for Accredited Investors:
a.Eligibility:
i.Criterias for Individuals, HUFs, Family Trusts and sole proprietorships to get accredited as AI are as follows.
• They need to have an annual income of at least Rs 2 Crore (or)
• Net Worth of at least Rs 7.5 Crore (out of which at least Rs 3.75 Crore is in the form of financial assets) (or)
• Annual Income of at least Rs 1 Crore along with Net Worth of at least Rs 5 Crore (out of which at least Rs
2.5 Crore is in the form of financial assets).
ii.Trusts (other than family trusts) Assets under Management and Corporates should have net worth of at least Rs
50 Crore.
iii.In the case of a partnership firm, under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, each partner independently needs to
meet the ‘AI criteria for Individuals’.
b.Accreditation Agencies:
i.One or more subsidiaries of a recognized Stock Exchange or depositories or any other institution, which meet
the following eligibility criteria will be specified as an ‘Accreditation Agency’ by SEBI to grant accreditation status
and issue Accreditation Certificate to AI.
ii.Eligibility Criteria: They need to have – a minimum 20 years of presence in the Indian securities market,
Investor Service Centers (ISCs) in at least 20 cities, and a minimum net worth of Rs 200 crores.

c.Process of Accreditation: The investor who is willing to become an AI needs to apply to the Accreditation
Agencies to get the certificate of AI. The agencies will grant certificates based on the financial information
preceding years (with validity ranging from 1to 2 years).
• Central and State Governments (govts), Developmental Agencies, Funds set up by govt, Category I Foreign
Portfolio Investors (FPI), Sovereign Wealth Funds, Multilateral Agencies (e.g. Asian Development Bank,
World Bank, etc.), etc, will be considered as AI without obtaining a certificate of accreditation.
d.Proposals with respect to Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs):
i.Minimum investment: Currently, investors (other than employees or directors of the Alternative Investment
Fund (AIF) or employees or directors of the Manager) are required to have a minimum investment of Rs 1 crore
in an AIF.
• Now SEBI has enabled the AIs to invest less than Rs 1 crore in the AIF.
ii.Large value fund for AI: It is an AIF or scheme of an AIF where each investor invests above Rs 70 crore are
now enabled to avail relaxation from regulatory requirements.
• Currently, Category I and II AIFs are allowed to up to 25 percent of their investable funds in a single investee
company, whereas Category III with 10 percent.
• Now, the large value funds for AI of Category I and II are allowed to invest up to 50 percent of the investable
funds in a single investee company and AI Fund, whereas Category III are enabled to invest up to 20
percent.
e.Other Benefits to AIs:
i.AIs with a minimum investment of Rs 10 Crores with a registered PMS (Portfolio Managers) provider are
allowed to avail relaxation from requirements related to investment in unlisted securities.
ii.AI who are clients of Investment Advisers (IA) are enabled to determine the limits and modes of fees payable to
IAs.
-Amendment to SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996
SEBI board amended the SEBI (Mutual Funds (MF)) Regulations, 1996, and directed Asset Management
Companies (AMCs) to invest 1 percent of the amount raised in the New Fund Offer (NFO) or Rs 50 lakh,
whichever is less in the MF schemes based on the risk level associated with the scheme.
-Relaxed the Limit of Sweat Equity Norms on New-age Tech Companies
i.The board of SEBI has increased the overall limit of sweat equity that could be issued by new-age technology
companies that are listed on the Innovators Growth Platform (IGP).
ii.Currently, the maximum yearly limit of sweat equity shares that could be issued by a company listed on IGP was
at 15 percent of the existing paid-up equity share capital with an overall limit not exceeding 25 percent of the
paid-up capital at any time.
• Now the board has increased the overall limit to 50 percent. The improved overall limit will be applicable
for 10 years from the date of the company’s incorporation.
iii.SEBI has also approved the merging of 2 separate regulations viz, SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits
(SBEB)) Regulations, 2014, and SEBI (Issue of Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2002 into a single regulation of SEBI
(Share Based Employee Benefits and Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2021.
-Shifting from ‘Promoter’ to ‘controlling shareholders’
SEBI Board approved the proposal for shifting away from the concept of the promoter in a listed entity to the
concept of ‘person in control’ or ‘controlling shareholders’
• Background: In May 2021, SEBI reviewed the regulatory framework of the promoter, promoter group and
group companies as per SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements(ICDR)) Regulations, 2018 and
gave proposals. Click here to know more
-Approved Amendment of SAST Regulations
The Board has decided to remove certain disclosure requirements for acquirers and promoters of companies
relating to – acquisition/disposal of shares aggregating to 5 percent (and any change of 2 percent thereafter),
annual shareholding disclosures, and creation/invocation/release of encumbrance registered in depository
systems under SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers (SAST)) Regulations.
• The board also approved the amendment of SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers (SAST))
Regulations mainly to implement the System Driven Disclosures (SDD).
• The regulations would come into effect from April 01, 2022.
-Amendment to SEBI (AIF) Regulations, 2012
The board of SEBI has approved the amendment over SEBI (AIF) Regulations, 2012.
i.As per the amendments, the Category I AIF – Venture Capital Funds (VCFs) was directed to invest at least 75
percent of investable funds in unlisted equity-linked instruments of venture capital undertakings/companies
listed on a Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) exchange.

ii.The minimum amount of grant of Rs 25 lakh for Category I AIFs –Social Venture Funds was made inapplicable
for grants received from AIs.
-Relaxed the lock-in period for promoters’ investments
i.The lock-in period for promoters’ shareholding of minimum promoters’ contribution (i.e. 20 percent of post-
Initial Public Offer (IPO)) was reduced from 3 years to 18 months – Only in the case of the IPO is entirely an offer
for sale or where 50 percent of the issue proceeds are not meant for capital expenditure.
ii.The Lock-in period for a pre-IPO shareholding of non-promoters was reduced from 1 year to 6 months.
iii.The minimum lock-in for venture capital funds from the date of acquisition was changed from 1 year to 6
months.
About Alternative Investment Funds:
i.AIF is a privately pooled investment vehicle that collects funds from sophisticated investors, whether Indian
ii.AIFs are divided into 3 categories:
• Category I – Venture capital funds (Including angel funds), Social impact funds, SME funds and
infrastructure funds
• Category II– real estate funds, private equity funds (PE funds), funds for distressed assets
• Category III – Hedge funds, Private Investment in Public Equity Funds (PIPE) Funds
Establishment – On April 12, 1992, in accordance with the SEBI Act, 1992.
Chairman – Ajay Tyagi
Indian Bank signs MoU with IIM Bangalore to fund Startups

Indian Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NSRCEL (N S Raghavan Centre for
Entrepreneurial Learning), the entrepreneurship Centre of Excellence at the Indian Institute of Management
Bangalore (IIM-B) to provide funding for identified startups under Indian Bank’s ‘Ind Spring Board’ Scheme.
• The MoU was signed between Padmaja Chunduru, MD & CEO, Indian Bank, Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan,
Director Of IIM Bangalore and K S Sudhakar Rao, General Manager (MSME), Indian Bank.
• The funding will help start-ups in meeting their working capital requirements for growth.
‘Ind Spring Board’ scheme
In October 2020, Indian Bank launched ‘IND Spring Board’ in collaboration with Indian Institute of
Technology Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC) to provide a credit facility of INR 50 crore to Start-Ups for their
working capital requirements.
MSME Prerana programme
In October 2020, Indian Bank launched the MSME Prerana programme to empower MSME entrepreneurs through
skill development and capacity building workshops in local languages.
• At first, MSME prerana was implemented in Tamil language.
About Indian Bank
Established in 1907
Headquarters – Chennai
MD & CEO – Padmaja Chumduru
About N S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL)
Chairperson – Venkatesh Panchapagesan
Headquarters – Bengaluru, Karnataka
SIDBI launches Swavalamban Challenge Fund to Promote Entrepreneurship

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in collaboration with Foreign, Commonwealth &
Development Office, United Kingdom (FCDO UK) has launched the Swavalamban Challenge Fund (SCF) to
promote entrepreneurship.
• The SCF along with its digital portal (https://scf.udyamimitra.in) was launched by Secretary, Ministryof
Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (M/o MSME) Bidyut Bihari Swain in the presence of Devendra
Kumar Singh, Development Commissioner of MSME, Sivasubramanian Ramann, Chairman and Managing
Director (CMD) of SIDBI, along with senior official of FCDO UK.
What is SCF?
Under this, financial support will be provided for specific purposes by creating competition among organisations.
This SCF will be of great support for the ideas that need to be scaled up but lagging behind due to funds issues.
• Eligible entities can submit their proposals on six themes of livelihood, women empowerment, financial
literacy, responsible business etc.

Categories: 2
i.Pilot Category– Applicants can apply with their proposal to pilot their innovative ideas
ii.Scale-up Category– Applicants can apply to scale up their already ongoing or completed projects.
Outlay:
The total outlay of fund will depend on the number of proposals selected in various themes.
i.For Pilot Category- up to Rs 20 lakh
ii.Scale-up Category- up to Rs 35 lakh
Eligibility:
i.Project period shall be more than 6 months and up to 2 years.
ii.Non-profit organizations, educational institutions, social startups which focus on sustainable livelihood,
financial inclusion, and access to financial services besides promoting the culture of entrepreneurship.
About Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI):
It is the financial institution engaged in the promotion, financing and development of MSMEs.
Headquarters– Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Chairman & Managing Director (CMD)– Sivasubramanian Ramann
ADB approves USD300mn additional loan for Rural Roads in Maharashtra

On August 6, 2021, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved an additional financing of a $300 million (~INR
2227 Crore) loan for the ongoing Maharashtra Rural Connectivity Improvement Project that is upgrading
rural roads to all-weather conditions and connecting rural areas with markets and services in Maharashtra.
• The project, approved in August 2019, is being executed by the Maharashtra Rural Road Development
Association to rebuild and rehabilitate roads and bridges in Maharashtra destroyed by the devastating
floods in August 2019.
• This additional financing will improve an additional 1,100 rural roads and 230 bridges for a total length of
2,900 km (from 2,100 km) in 34 districts.
Key Points:
i.The additional financing will also accelerate Maharashtra’s economic recovery from COVID-19 devastation by
generating rural employment as it will generate about 3.1 million person-days of employment for local
communities, of which at least 25% will be for women, over the construction and maintenance periods.
ii.The project will also provide last-mile connectivity to a large number of small villages, enhancing access to
health and education facilities and benefit vulnerable population by increasing agricultural productivity.
iii.Maharashtra government targets to increase the average growth rate of agriculture and allied activities to
more than 5% per year by 2030.
About Asian Development Bank (ADB):
President– Masatsugu Asakawa
Members– 68 Countries
Headquarters– Metro Manila, Philippines
NSE, IBBI ink pact for research collaboration in Insolvency and Bankruptcy
On August 6, 2021, The National Stock Exchange (NSE) partnered with Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of
India (IBBI) to enhance research efforts in the area of insolvency and bankruptcy.
• This decision has been taken because the efficient insolvency and bankruptcy resolution system enables
timely resolution of financial stress, balances interests of all stakeholders, promotes entrepreneurship and
increases availability of credit at optimal costs.
Key Points:
i.Under this, both entities will promote studies that explore interlinkages between the development of the
insolvency process, financial markets and economy.
ii.They will also analyse the effectiveness of global insolvency laws and practices and then make evidence-based
policy recommendations to strengthen the insolvency framework in India.
About National Stock Exchange (NSE):
Establishment– 1992 (commenced operations in 1994)
Managing Director & CEO– Vikram Limaye

About Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI):
Chairperson– Dr. MS Sahoo
Headquarters– New Delhi
Karnataka Bank got Empanelled as Agency Bank to RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has empanelled the Karnataka Bank as the ‘Agency Bank’ to facilitate
transactions related to government (govt) businesses.
• RBI has allowed Karnataka Bank to handle transactions related to revenue receipts under the Central
Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and Goods and
Services Tax (GST) on behalf of the state/central govt.
• The bank was also authorised to make transactions such as income tax, indirect taxes, pension payments,
collection of stamp duty charges, and State taxes such as professional tax, value-added tax and State excise
duties.
• Background: In February 2021, RBI has removed the ban imposed (in 2012) over ‘Appointing the Scheduled
Private Sector Banks as Agency Banks of RBI’ and authorised the appointment of Scheduled Private Sector
Banks as agency banks of RBI.
About Karnataka Bank:
Headquarters – Mangalore, Karnataka
MD & CEO – Mahabaleshwara M.S
Tagline – Your family bank across India
CBoI made Co-Lending Partnership with DFL to Offer Gold Loans

In August 2021, the Central Bank of India (CBoI) and Dhanvarsha Finvest Ltd (DFL) entered into a strategic co-
lending partnership to offer loans against gold ornaments under priority sector lending to Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprise (MSME) borrowers.
• The loans under the co-lending partnership will be offered in the funding ratio of 80:20e. 80 percent of the
gold loans with CBoI and 20 percent with DFL.
• The loans against gold ornaments will be created and processed by DFL as per the jointly formulated credit
parameters and eligibility criteria.
• DFL will service the loan account throughout the life cycle of the loan.
Co-Lending Model(CLM):
i.As per Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) CLM, banks could co-lend with all registered Non-Banking Financial
Companies (NBFCs) including Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) to priority sector borrowers based on a prior
agreement.
ii.Shares under CLM: NBFCs were required to retain a minimum of 20 percent share of the individual loans on
their books whereas, the Co-lending bank will take the remaining individual loan share (maximum of 80 percent)
on a back-to-back basis in their books.
About Central Bank of India (CBoI):
It was the 1st Indian commercial bank that was wholly owned and managed by Indians.
MD & CEO – M. V. Rao
SEBI Amended LODR Regulations; Set Norms for Independent Directors

In August 2021, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) amended the SEBI (Listing Obligations and
Disclosure Requirements (LODR)) Regulations, 2015 named LODR (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2021.
• It modified certain norms related to the process of appointment/removal of Independent directors (IDs).
• Objective: To enable the transparent appointment/removal of IDs and overcome corporate fraud and
promoters’ mismanagement.
Key Amendments:
i.Appointment/Re-appointment and Removal of IDs were now directed to be made only through a special
resolution of shareholders.
• Under the special resolution, the number of votes favouring the resolution should be at least 3 times those
against the resolution.

• The approval through resolution has to be executed at the next general meeting of the board or within 3
months from the date of appointment of IDs.
ii.The Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) needs to evaluate and describe the balance of skills,
knowledge and experience required for the ID’s appointment.
• After selection, the selection panel needs to explain how a particular selected candidate fits into those
capabilities requirements.
• After the retirement of an ID, the company must disclose the resignation letter along with directorships and
membership of the ID in board committees.
iii.The composition of NRC has been modified to include 2/3rd IDs instead of the current requirement of 50
percent of IDs.
iv.A cooling-off period of 1 year has been introduced for an ID transitioning to a whole-time director (WTD) in
the same company.
v.At least 2/3rd of the audit committee members should be of IDs.
vi.The appointed IDs should not have been in any financial relationship with the company/their promoters/
directors during the 3 immediately preceding financial years (Earlier it was 2 years).
Note – The amended norms would be effective from January 1, 2022.
Establishment – On April 12, 1992, in accordance with the SEBI Act, 1992.
Equitas SFB Launched Fintech Accelerator Programme – ‘Equitech’

In August 2021, the Equitas Small Finance Bank (SFB) launched ‘Equitech’, a fintech accelerator programme for
the start-up entrepreneurs ecosystem.
• Objective: To provide the required legal and regulatory support for the start-ups through its experts and
venture capitalists.
Key Points:
Eligibility:
• To enroll under Equitech, the fintech start-up must be registered/incorporated before 6 years.
• It should have at least 2 full-time employees, with team members (to be experts in their field) and it must
present an innovative product/ idea with advantages.
ii.The Shortlisted Fintechs under Equitech will be granted direct access to a world-class infrastructure through
Equitas SFB’s tech platform and Application Programming Interface (API) sandbox.
• They will also get options to service Equitas SFB either as their 1st commercial business partner or as a co-
brand partner.
iii.Focus Areas of Equitas: Banking – payments, lending, Current Account Savings Accounts (CASA), transaction
banking, API banking, governance and regulations; Technologies – agri-tech, banking tech, clean energy,
government tech, etc.
Note – During COVID-19, the fintech investments in India increased by 60 percent due to the innovations in the
banking system driven by fintech startups.
About Equitas Small Finance Bank (SFB):
Headquarters – Chennai, Tamil Nadu
MD and CEO – Vasudevan Pathangi Narasimhan
Tagline – It’s Fun Banking
IIA, GIFT City Signed MoU to Promote Fintech for Insurance Companies
India Insurtech Association (IIA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with International Financial
Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tec) City, (GIFT-IFSC) to promote fintech for Indian
and foreign insurance companies.
Objective – The association will promote new digital business models, build collaboration between start-ups and
all the other participants of the insurance industry.
Initiatives under the MoU:
i.Events, information series, seminars, and conferences will be organised under the partnership to create
awareness about GIFT IFSC.
• They will also research regulatory sandbox projects for GIFT IFSC, which will benefit insurtech start-ups, re-
insurance businesses, service providers, and individuals.
ii.International firms will be offered world-class infrastructure and facilities to conduct their business in India.
iii.IIA will support both Indian and global financial organisations, re-insurance and insurtech participants to

benefit from the regulatory sandbox initiatives at GIFT City.
iv.IIA will also work with the GIFT – Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and highlight India’s international financial
services potential.
About GIFT City:
GIFT IFSC is the 1st IFSC formed in India and currently, it is the only IFSC in the country.
Headquarters – Gandhinagar, Gujarat
MD & CEO – Tapan Ray
ADB ties up with IIFL Home Finance for Green Housing in India
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has joined hands with price housing financier IIFL (India Infoline ) Home
Finance Ltd, subsidiary of IIFL home finance to reduce carbon emissions and preserve water and vitality in
India.IIFL is the technical assistance of the program.
• The total cost of the project is $1 million & ADB will fund through its Urban Climate Change Resilience
(UCCR) Trust Fund, IIFL, will contribute $0.15 million towards inexpensive housing in India.
Key Points:
i.It should be noted that home designs that are sensitive to climate requirements consume less energy in the form
of air conditioning. Also with this the contribution of buildings towards carbon emission will be reduced which is
currently at 35%.
ii.There will be improvement in the waste disposal system and recycling of water through rainwater harvesting
iii.The Indian government had earlier set a goal of constructing 50 million houses by 2022 underneath its
Housing for All initiative, with 60% of it being proposed within the rural areas. It has now scaled down to 32.6
million by 2022 with 21.4 million in rural areas.
About IIFL Home Finance Ltd:
IIFL(formerly India Infoline Limited) Home Finance Ltd is a subsidiary of IIFL Finance Limited. IIFL Finance
Limited was formerly known as IIFL Holdings Limited.
Chairman– S.Sridhar
Headquarter– Gurgaon, Haryana
IDFC FIRST Bank Signed MoU with Indian Navy to offer Honour FIRST Defence Account
IDFC FIRST Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Navy to offer the special
defence savings account named ‘Honour FIRST’ for the serving personnel and veterans of the Indian Navy.
• The MoU was signed at New Delhi between Commodore Neeraj Malhotra, Commodore – Pay and Allowances,
Indian Navy and senior officials of IDFC FIRST Bank.
Features of Honour FIRST Defence account:
i.It is a zero balance salary account and it earns up to 5 percent interest per annum and no minimum
balance is required for the account.
iii.The account includes Personal Accidental Insurance cover of up to Rs 46 Lakhs for both on-duty and off-duty
incidents.
• It includes 40 Lakhs for the personal accident with 4 Lakhs for child education grant and 2 Lakhs for girl
child marriage.
• It covers accidental death, total and partial permanent disability.
iii.The card provides Air accident cover of up to Rs 1 crore. It also offers Purchase protection against theft,
burglary and damage of up to 1 Lakh (from 90 days from date of purchase) and Lost Card Liability of up to 6
lakhs on the Debit card.
iv.It has a net banking and mobile App for offering a superior user interface and experience.
v.The account offers unlimited ATM access at IDFC FIRST Bank’s ATM branches or any other ATM.
vi.The account holders of Honour FIRST are supported by a team of defence veterans.
About IDFC FIRST Bank:
It is founded by the merger of erstwhile IDFC Bank Ltd and erstwhile Capital First Ltd
MD & CEO – V. Vaidyanathan
NSE IFSC Appointed BSO as its 1st International Connectivity Partner to Connect Global Investors
NSE International Exchange (NSE IFSC) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India
Ltd (NSE) has appointed BSO, a global pioneering infrastructure and connectivity provider as its 1st official
international approved connectivity partner i.e. International Network Carrier (INC).

• Objective: To meet increased market demand and support trading firms with secure, low-latency access to
the rapidly emerging markets.
Key Points:
i.Connecting Global Partners: The partnership will enable the Asian, European and American trading firms to
access the Indian market via BSO’s global network.
ii.It will also enable the international trading members to use the connectivity to provide trading access to their
clients through the Segregated Nominee Account Provider (SNAP) framework.
iii.BSO became the only non-domestic official service provider to deliver connectivity low-latency connectivity
between Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT-City) and other financial centres around the world.
iv.The trading activity of India has grown with 8.85 billion contracts traded in 2020.
About NSE International Exchange (NSE IFSC) Ltd:
The NSE IFSC, which is situated in GIFT-City was launched as a global trading platform to offering easy access for
foreign investors to make all transactions in US dollars.
Headquarters – Gandhinagar, Gujarat
About BSO:
CEO & Co-Founder – Michael Ourabah
Headquarter – Ireland
RBL bank selects AWS to Strengthen its AI capabilities

RBL Bank (formerly known as Ratnakar Bank Ltd) has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Cloud
Computing arm of Amazon as its Preferred Cloud Provider to strengthen its Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based
Banking Solutions and bring digital transformation at the bank.
• RBL Bank is investing in AI capabilities to implement use cases across multiple segments, including risk,
customer service, Human Resources (HR) and operations.
• The bank will utilize Amazon’s Machine Learning (ML) service ‘Amazon Textract’ to extract text,
handwriting, and scanned documents from the bank’s Risks and Operations division to predict default risk.
• As part of RBL Bank’s larger AI roadmap, RBL Bank’s AI Centre of Excellence partnered with AWS to build,
train, and deploy ML models.
About RBL Bank
Established in 1940
MD & CEO – Vishwavir Ahuja
Tagline – Apno ka Bank
About Amazon Web Services (AWS)
CEO- Adam Selipsky
Headquarters – Seattle, United States of America
NEDFi signs MoU with FINER to promote Entrepreneurship in North East

North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with Federation of Industries of North Eastern Region (FINER) to promote entrepreneurship, generate
employment and create empowerment of weaker sections.
• NEDFi celebrated its 26th Foundation Day on 9th August, 2021. It has provided loans to over 7000 projects
in 8 states of North-Eastern Region (NER).
• Chandra Mohan Patowary, Assam’s Minister for Industries and Commerce inaugurated a ‘Clearance Sale of
Artisanal Products of NER’ at NEDFi House in Dispur.
• The main objective of the sale is to provide market linkage to artisans and weavers of NER. The products
of Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission (ASRLM) clusters and North East Handicrafts and Handlooms
Corporation (NEHHDC) and artisans of North East will be available.
About North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi)
CMD – PVSLN Murty
Head office – Dispur, Assam
About Federation of Industry & Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER)
President– Pabitra Buragohain
Head office – Guwahati, Assam

NABARD Signed MoU with SBI, JKGB for JLG Financing
On August 10, 2021, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with the State Bank of India (SBI) and Jammu and Kashmir Gramin Bank (JKGB) in the
Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and the UT of Ladakh.
• Objective: To finance 1000 Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) and to enhance the flow of credit to tenant farmers,
oral lessees, sharecroppers, Small and Marginal farmers (SF/MF), etc.
• The MoUs on JLG financing were signed and exchanged between NABARD J&K Regional Office, SBI, and JKGB.
• The people who are suffering from reverse migration under COVID-19 will be provided credit facilities
through the JLG formation.
• The formation and credit linkage of 1000 JLGs will benefit around 5000 households in J&K.
• Participants: The MoU was presided over by A.K Sood, CGM, NABARD; Surender Singh, General Manager,
NABARD, Ajitav Parashar, Deputy General Manager SBI, and Sudhir Gupta, Chairman, JKGB, have participated
and represented NABARD, SBI, and JKGB in the MoU.
Chairman – G.R. Chintala
About State Bank of India (SBI):
SIDBI Launched ‘Digital Prayaas’ App to Offer Loans to Entrepreneurs; SIDBI Tie-up with
BigBasket
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has launched the programme ‘Digital Prayaas’ an App
based end to end digital lending tool platform to sanction loans to entrepreneurs from low income
group(especially the people at the bottom of the pyramid) by the end of the day.
• The process of – onboarding borrowers’ e-KYC (Know-Your-Customer) and sanctioning loan through credit
score and analytics will get executed on an end-to-end basis digitally.
• The post sanction documentation such as e-signing and e-stamping of the documents will also be done
digitally through the App.
• SIDBI-BigBasket Initiative: SIDBI also partnered with a major aggregator BigBasket to on board its
delivery partners across the country and provide loans to the youths of the urban areas at an affordable
interest rate for the purchase of environment friendly e-vehicles (e-Bikes and e-Vans).
Note – Debasish Panda, IAS and Secretary, Department of Financial Services has launched the above two
initiatives of SIDBI.
Headquarters – Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Chairman & Managing Director – Sivasubramanian Ramann
PPBL Became the 1st Bank to Cross 1 Crore FASTags

Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) became the 1st bank in India to achieve the milestone of issuing 1 crore
FASTags. It has ~28 percent share as FASTag issuer bank.
• As per the data of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), around 3.47 crore FASTags were issued by
all banks together till the end of June 2021.
• PPBL also exists as India’s largest acquirer of toll plazas under the National Electronic Toll Collection
(NETC) program. As per PPBL data, out of the total 851 toll plazas across the national and state highways
280 were using PPBL payment gateway to collect toll charges digitally.
NABARD approves INR 188.81 crore Loan to Goa under RIDF

National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned loans worth INR 188.81
crore under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for the construction of Super Speciality Block
Hospital in Bambolim and Enhancement of Solid Waste Treatment plant in Saligao in the state of Goa.
• These projects will lead to better improvement in the standard of living of the people of Goa and contribute
to Swachh Bharat Mission.

• NABARD has allocated a total of INR 217.72 Crore to the Government of Goa during the FY 2021-22
(including the current allocation of INR 188.81 crore).
Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF)
RIDF was introduced in 1995-96 to support state governments and State owned corporations by giving low cost
funding support for projects related to Medium and Minor Irrigation, Soil conservation and other Rural/Social
Infrastructure related projects.
About National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD)
NABARD was established on the recommendation of the Sivaraman Committee (by Act 61, 1981 of Parliament) to
implement the NABARD act of 1981.
Establishment – 12 July 1982
Chairman – Govinda Rajulu Chintala
About Goa
Governor – Sreedharan Pillai
National Park (NP) – Mollem NP (Bhagwan Mahavir)
Wildlife Sanctuaries (WLS) – Bondla, Chorao Island (Dr. Salim Ali )
CoinDCX becomes India’s first Crypto Unicorn

CoinDCX has become the first Indian cryptocurrency exchange to grab the title of ‘unicorn’ with valuation to $1.1
billion (Rs 8,150 crore). The exchange achieved this status after a $90-million (Rs 668 crore) series-C funding
round, led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital.
• It should be noted that Unicorns are startups with a valuation of $1 billion or more.
Utilization of Funds:
i.The funds will be used for marketing, strengthening, and on new business initiatives to expand crypto investor
base and to make crypto a popular investment in India.
ii.The exchange has earmarked Rs 10 crore for its educational initiatives across platforms.
iii.It is also looking forward to entering into partnerships with key fintech players to set up a research &
development (R&D) facility, strengthening the policy conversations through public discourse, working with the
government to introduce favourable regulations, education, and ramping up the hiring initiatives.
Points to be noted:
i.Other startups that attained an unicorn status in August 2021 are Bharatpe, MindTickle, and Upgrad.
• Now, India has 22 startups that became Unicorns in 2021 tally taking the total to 63 (as per Inc42).
ii.The company, co-founded in 2018 by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal and
is registered as Primestack Pte. in Singapore.Its Headquarter is Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• It helps people buy and sell crypto tokens along with crypto-based financial products such as lending.
Agritech Start-up Arya Tie-up with SBM Bank India for Commodity Financing
Agritech start-up and India’s 1st Post Harvest Solutions Platform, Arya Collateral Warehousing Services Private
Ltd (Arya) made a partnership with State Bank of Mauritius-India (SBM Bank India) for commodity financing.
• Objective: To offer easy on-time customised finance solutions to agri-traders and agri-entrepreneurs across
the country.
• Through the partnership, Arya will work with SBM Bank India to ease the financing process for providing
instant credit to the clients in the agriculture value chain.
Features of Arya:
i.It helps farmers, aggregators, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), food processors and end-user
corporations to overcome the post-harvest losses.
ii.Its platform assists users to avail additional services such as warehouse management, financial access, quality
testing, storage protection services, and connecting produce to buyers.
FPO:
i.It is a type of Producer Organisation formed with farmers (especially the primary producers) as its members to
ensure better income for farmers by enhancing the economy of scale and their bargaining power.
• The members also include producers of agricultural, non-farm products, artisan products, etc.
ii.The FPO needs to register on eNAM (National Agriculture Market), the online trading platform for agricultural
commodities in India.
iii.The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, has mandated the Small Farmers’
Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) to support the State Governments for the formation of FPO.

About State Bank of Mauritius-India (SBM Bank India):
In 2018, it became the 1st foreign Bank in India to operate as a new Indian bank. It is a part of the Mauritius-
based SBM group.
MD & CEO – Sidharth Rath
10 Top banks Launched SLMA to Support Secondary Loan Market

On August 11, 2021, the 10 major banks including State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI bank formed a Secondary
Loan Market Association (SLMA) with an online platform for trading corporate loans in the secondary
market.Sanjay Srivastava is the Chairman of SLMA.
• SLMA, which is a self-regulatory body, was formed on the recommendation of the Reserve Bank of India’s
(RBI) Task Force on the Development of Secondary Market for Corporate Loans.
• SLMA’s website and logo were digitally launched by Saurav Sinha, Executive Director, RBI.
• Members of the SLMA-The top 10 banks: State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, Canara Bank, Standard
Chartered Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Deutsche Bank, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank,
and HDFC Bank.
Features of SLMA:
i.The current SLMA will benefit banks in the form of capital optimisation, liquidity management and risk
management under the secondary market.
ii.For borrowers, the benefits would be lower cost of capital, greater credit availability, and developing new
relationships with banks and non-banks.
iii.The online system of the SLMA will facilitate the standardisation and simplification of primary loan
documentation, and other trading mechanisms for the secondary loan market.
iv.It will promote standard trading, settlement and valuation procedures and practices. It will also set rules and
timelines for the members for conducting the business and fix transaction-related charges.
Secondary Market Participation:
i.Current Scenario: Currently, Banks and Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) are the only participants in
the primary and secondary loan market. Additionally, domestic and foreign investors participate in distressed
debt via Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs).
ii.Banks are participating in the secondary market through inter-bank transactions (i.e. by transferring loan
accounts from one bank to another) and by the sale of stressed assets to ARCs.
About Primary and Secondary market:
i.Primary Market: It is a financial market, in which the new stocks and bonds are sold to the public for the 1st
time through different types of issues like IPO (Initial Public Offer).
• Under the primary market, the investors could purchase securities directly from the issuer.
ii.Secondary Market: It is the market that contains the previously issued financial instruments such as stocks,
Equity shares, bonds, preference shares, treasury bills, debentures, etc. from the primary market.
• The financial instruments in the secondary market would be traded by market participants.
SEBI Merged 2 Debt securities Listing Regulations into Single One

In August 2021, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) merged 2 debt securities regulations viz, SEBI
(Issue and Listing of Debt Securities) Regulations, 2008 and SEBI (Non-Convertible Redeemable Preference
Shares) Regulations, 2013 into a single Regulation called – SEBI (Issue and Listing of Non-Convertible
Securities) Regulations, 2021.
• Objective: To ease the compliance burden on listed entities and to coordinate with the Companies Act, 2013,
and the SEBI’s LODR (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) rules.
Key Points:
i.Under the newly formed regulation, SEBI issued frameworks for the issuance, listing and trading of Non-
convertible Securities (NCS), Securitised Debt Instruments, Security Receipts, and Commercial Paper (CP).
ii.The regulations enabled the Issuers (other than unlisted Real estate investment trusts (REITs) and
Infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs)) who have an existence history of less than 3 years to tap the bond
market with the following conditions.
Conditions:
• The issuers should issue debt securities only on a private placement basis.
• Irrespective of the issue size, the issue should be made on the EBP (electronic book mechanism) platform.
• The issue is open for subscription only to Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs).
iii.The parameters to identify risk factors are also introduced under the new rules to assist issuers in providing
risk factors.

iv.The option for call and put was included for debt securities issued on a private placement basis.
v.The provision for creating charge over the properties/assets/shares of the issuer has been harmonised with the
Companies Act.
vi.For roll over (extending) the debt securities, the provision of e-voting was introduced.
vii.The framework also includes the guidelines for the application process (in case of public issues of securities),
timelines for listing, application form, abridged prospectus, disclosure of cash flows, etc. Click here to know more
Note – The new regulations which will come into force from August 16, 2021, were issued in exercise of powers
under Section 11(1) of SEBI Act, 1992.
Establishment – 1992 in accordance with the SEBI Act, 1992.
BADLAAV Humse Hai: AU Bank unveils mega Brand Campaign and launches AU 0101
AU Small Finance Bank unveiled its first integrated marketing communication Campaign, titled ‘BADLAAV
Humse Hai’ that will showcase the bank’s passion for innovation and represent it as a changemaker in the Indian
banking sector.
• It also launched its avant-garde digital banking platform AU 0101, a full-suite of banking services for its
customers including face-to-face interaction with a banker over a video call.
• It should be noted that AU roped in Bollywood actors Aamir Khan and Kiara Advani as their ambassadors.
Key Points:
i.As a part of this campaign, AU will release a series of ad films on products and practices such as monthly
interest, anywhere banking, Video banking, and new age Credit Cards.
ii.AU has 750+ banking touchpoints spread across 15 states and 2 Union Territories.
About AU Small Finance Bank:
MD & CEO– Sanjay Agarwal
Headquarter– Jaipur, Rajasthan
Tagline– Chalo Aage Badhein
IIFL Finance partners with FinBox to offer Digital Credit Products to Merchants
IIFL (India Infoline Limited) Finance has partnered with Bengaluru (Karnataka) and Gurugram (Haryana)-based
FinBox to offer digital credit products to its merchants, B2B e-commerce traders by using FinBox’s
embedded buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) and working capital credit products.
• As a part of partnership, IIFL and FinBox will disburse Rs 1,000 crore loans over the next 2 quarters,
through a completely digital model.
• The key reason behind this partnership is to make the lending process entirely digital and hassle-free.
Key Points:
i.Finbox is launching multiple new-age credit products for the retailer and MSME (Micro, Small & Medium
Enterprises) through the FinBox Embedded Finance Platform
ii.It should be noted that BNPL products enable merchants to manage fluctuations in demand, maintains a well-
stocked as well as helps in expansion as needed.
About IIFL Finance:
Chairman– Nirmal Jain
About FinBox:
Chief executive officer (CEO)– Rajat Deshpande
Indian Bank signs MoU with Paralympic Committee of India

The Public Sector Bank (PSB), Indian Bank, signed a year-long memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the
Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) to become one of the Banking Partners ahead of the Paralympic Games
2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
• In this regard, the bank will provide financial assistance to Paralympic athletes to prepare for the sporting
events in domestic as well as global platforms.
• Notably, the Paralympic Games are scheduled to start from August 24, 2021.
Key Points:
i.The resources offered by the bank will be utilized towards meeting the requirements of the Indian Para athletes

which include training, nutrition, equipment, certifications, among others.
ii.This initiative will empower many athletes to take up sports as a career without facing any kind of shortages.
About Paralympic Committee of India (PCI):
It is the authorised and sole organisation in India recognised by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) of
Bonn, Germany as National Paralympic Committee (NPC) and National Sports Federation (NSF) by Govt. of India
for promotion and development of Para Sports in India.
President– Deepa Malik
Headquarter– New Delhi
About Indian Bank:
Managing Director & CEO– Padmaja Chunduru
Amalgamated Bank– Allahabad Bank
EXIM Bank to provide LoC of USD 100 Million to Mauritius

The Export and Import bank (EXIM) of India will provide Line of Credit (LoC) of USD 100 Million(~ INR 742.6
Crore) to the Government of Mauritius for procurement of Defense items.
• Under the agreement, the Mauritius Government shall buy goods, works and services of value of at least 75%
from any seller in India, the remaining can be procured from Outside India.
• The agreement under the LoC is effective from July 22, 2021.
• With the signing of this loan agreement, EXIM bank till date has extended 6 LoCs to the Mauritius
Government of total value USD 764.80 mn
About Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank)
Established– 1982
Regulated by – Reserve Bank of India
Managing Director– David Rasquinha
About Mauritius
Prime Minister – Pravind Jugnauth
Capital – Port Louis
Currency – Mauritian Rupee
KreditBee Launched Virtual Prepaid Card ‘KreditBee Card’ in RuPay Platform

KreditBee, the digital lending platform, in partnership with RuPay and RBL Bank launched a virtual prepaid
card named ‘KreditBee Card’ in RuPay platform.
• Objective: To provide the unserved and underserved banking customers with an access to short-term
liquidity with multiple repayment options.
Features of KreditBee Card:
i.Under the card, the customers could avail credit limit of up to Rs 10,000, which has to be repaid in a single
billing cycle within 45 days.
ii.As the KreditBee card is a credit-line backed prepaid card, the amount will be loaded into the account once the
user sends a purchase or drawdown request.
iii.The virtual card/e-card could be generated on the KreditBee app immediately through the AI (Artificial
intelligence)-driven underwriting process.
iv.It enables the customers to make instant transactions and upgrade their credit limit within a single billing
cycle.
v.The card offers versatility and flexibility in terms of ticket size and repayment options.
vi.KreditBee intends to offer 1 million cards by the end of FY22. The card launch will increase the penetration of
RuPay cards in India.
About KreditBee:
Headquarters – Bangalore, Karnataka
Co-Founder and CEO – Madhusudan Ekambaram
DBS Bank India & ODeX Offers Credit Solutions to Freight Forwarders in Shipping Industry
DBS Bank India made a partnership with ODeX India Solutions Pvt. Ltd to introduce ‘ODeX Pay Later
Solutions’ powered by DBS to provide credit solutions to Freight forwarders.

• Objective: To enable the ODeX customers to access comprehensive payment and financing solutions for all
their ocean shipping transaction
Key Points:
a.Simplified Payment process for Freight forwarders:
i.Generally, the Freight (Cargo) forwarders will receive payments from their customers (including the importers
and exporters) only after the service completion.
ii.But, they need to pay shipping lines, port terminals, container freight stations and other stakeholders before
getting their payments to clear the cargo on time.
iii.This condition has affected the working capital of the freight forwarders, thus to overcome this, DBS has
designed the end-to-end digital financing solution to ease the overall payment process.
• The ODeX Pay Later Solutions will allow freight forwarders to make direct payments to ship liners.
iv.Other Benefits: Businesses with a turnover of Rs 3 Crore to Rs 200 Crore and have completed over 5
years in the same industry and are eligible to avail unsecured loan of up to Rs 50 lakhs from DBS Bank. They
could also obtain a secured credit limit of up to Rs 5 crore.
v.Process:
• Customers could log in via ODeX and make payments to ship liners by getting access to finance within the
Pay Later platform. The approval time for the credit line is ~3 days. The credit could also increase their
credit by opting for a secured loan.
• The DBS bank will receive the data from ODeX directly to make a quick process.
vi.Eligibility: To avail the ODeX Pay Later Solutions, the customers need to have associated with ODeX for a
minimum of 1 year and located near a DBS Bank India SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises ) asset branch
in Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, or Delhi-NCR.
Note – The customers could also avail themselves of all the other DBS SME Banking solutions through DBS current
account.
About ODeX India Solutions Pvt. Ltd:
It is a platform to exchange shipping documents and facilitate payments.
MD – Liji Nowal
About DBS Bank India Limited:
MD & CEO – Surojit Shome
RuPay Launched Campaign #FollowPaymentDistancing to Promote Contactless Payments

In August 2021, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced the launch of a
strategic campaign named #FollowPaymentDistancing by RuPay.
• Objective: To promote and encourage contactless payments among customers in unpredictable times like
COVID-19.
Key Points:
i.The campaign was launched on social media platforms and digital channels to emphasises ‘payment distancing’
as a key measure and urges people to break the chain and to follow campaign ‘#FollowPaymentDistancing’
with RuPay Contactless card.
ii.The campaign will educate the merchants and consumers about the benefits of using contactless payments.
iii.Contactless payments will support the merchants to offer their consumers a safer, cleaner way to pay, reduce
long queues at checkout counters, and more control over physical space.
iv.RuPay Contactless card will enable the customers to pay up to Rs 5,000 with the ‘Tap and Pay’ option at the
merchant location without entering the pin. The customers could also use the RuPay AUTOPAY facility service
for contactless payment services. RuPay also plans to launch a RuPay On-The-Go Wearable technology.
Note – Presently, RuPay cards are issued by more than 1,100 banks which include Public Sector Banks, Private
Sector Banks, Regional Rural and Co-Operative Banks.
About National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI):
RuPay, the first-of-its-kind global card payment network from India is the product launched by NPCI in March,
2012.
MD & CEO -Dilip Asbe

GIC Re to Shut Down Dubai Office; Shifts to GIFT City in India
General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re), the sole reinsurer in the domestic reinsurance market, is set to
shut down its Dubai Office since the Dubai Authority failed to renew its licence.
• The GIC Re has decided to shift its operation to Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), the only
International Financial Services Centre in India.
• The GIC Re has decided to place its Dubai Branch into a runoff because of non-renewal of Licence, non-
compliance insolvency requirement.
About General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re):
Chairman and Managing Director– Devesh Srivastava
Head Office– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Incorporated on 22 November 1972
BoM Tops PSU Banks in Q1 FY22 in Terms of Loan, Saving Deposit Growth
As per the data of the Bank of Maharashtra (BoM), BoM emerged as the top performer among Public Sector
Undertaking (PSU) banks in terms of loan and savings deposit growth in the first quarter (Q1) of FY22 i.e (April
to June 2021).
• BoM recorded a 14.46 percent increase in gross advances at Rs 1,10,592 lakh crore. It was followed
by Punjab & Sind Bank with a 10.13 percent growth in advances.
• The Current Account Savings Account (CASA) for BoM was also increased by 22 percent, the highest among
the PSU banks.
SEBI Set up Panel to Analyse the Shift of Trade Settlement Cycle from T+2 to T+1
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has set up a panel of experts to analyse the process of shifting
India’s trade settlement cycle from the current T+2 (Trade plus 2 days) to T+1 (Trade plus 1 day).
• The panel consists of experts from exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories.
• The shift to T+1 will reduce the settlement time and risk involved and increase the liquidity and trade
turnover.
Key Points:
i.Trade settlement cycle refers to the time within which brokers have to pay full money and take delivery of
stocks.
ii.’T’ is the transaction date and the abbreviations T+1, T+2, and T+3 refers to the settlement dates of security
transactions that occur on a transaction date plus 1 day, plus 2 days and plus 3 days.
iii.In the case of T+1 settlement, the shares would be transferred to the buyer’s Demat account after the
transaction day (i.e the next day).
iv.Currently, the trades are settled within 2 days after the transaction day. India made a transition from T+3 to
T+2 in 2003.
v.The transition to T+1 will affect the Foreign Portfolio Investments due to the time difference.
Establishment – 1992 in accordance with the SEBI Act, 1992.
PayNearby ties up with RBL Bank, Visa for payment devices

On August 16, 2021, PayNearby collaborated with Visa and RBL Bank (formerly Ratnakar Bank) to
launch SoftPoS and mPoS for its over 1.5 million retail network. With this, as per PayNearby, it becomes the first
company to launch an all-inclusive digital package for retailers.
• SoftPoS allows merchants to accept contactless payments of up to Rs 5,000 through tap and pay mechanism
on NFC (Near Field Communication)-enabled smartphones,
• mPOS (mobile point of sale) machine allows easy acceptance of cards.
Key Points:
i.The reason behind the above launches is to expand the number of acceptance points for easy and fast digital
payments.
ii.PayNearby upgraded digital payment package supports QR (Quick Response) code payment, UPI (Unified
Payments Interface) payment, Aadhaar Pay, SMS (Short Messaging Service) payment, and card payment through
mobile tokenization.
iii.The 2-in-1 micro ATM + mPOS machine drives value at very affordable pricing and allows easy acceptance of
debit and credit card payments.

iv.Offer merchants, an all-inclusive digital payment hub that ensures easy acceptance across different form factors
and simplifies both merchant and customer experience.
About PayNearby Technologies Pvt. Ltd(PayNearby):
It is a Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Certified Fintech Company registered
under The Startup India program of the Government of India
Establishment– April 2016
Founder & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Anand Kumar Bajaj
KVGB Partnered with Karnataka Govt Launched FRUITS Portal

The Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) made a partnership with the Karnataka government (govt) and
launched the ‘Farmer Registration and Unified Beneficiary Information System’ (FRUITS) portal to store
the farmers’ land details.
• The portal is the first-of-its-kind initiative in India by the Karnataka government to gather the land details
of the farmers.
• Now the FRUITS portal was launched by KVGB as a pilot project. The Karnataka govt plans to launch it in
other financial institutions too.
• The portal was inaugurated by Niraj Kumar Verma, Chief General Manager of NABARD (National Bank for
Agriculture and Rural Development).
Features of the Portal:
i.Under the portal, all the farmers of the state will be registered and given a FRUITS ID (FID) number comprising
Aadhaar, land record, and mobile number.
ii.The FID numbers will be used by the financial and lending institutions to know the details of the land of the
farmers while lending.
iii.The portal will act as an organised farmers’ database and it will overcome the difficulties faced by farmers
while availing benefits.
About Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB):
Headquarters – Dharwad, Karnataka
Chairman – P Gopi Krishna
About Karnataka:
Chief Minister – Basavaraj Bommai
Wildlife Sanctuary – Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuaries, Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary, Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary.
Tiger Reserve – BRT/Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple Tiger Reserve, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Bhadra Tiger
Reserve.
SBI Life Insurance Launched New Insurance Plan – SBI Life eShield Next
SBI Life Insurance launched a new Individual, Non-Linked, Non-Participating Life Insurance solution named ‘SBI
Life eShield Next’.
• It will ‘levels up’/improve the protection coverage of the insured person when he achieves life’s major
milestones like getting married, becoming a parent or buying a new house.
• It has 3 different plan options such as Level Cover, Increasing Cover, and Level Cover with Future-Proofing
Benefit.
• It provides the option to pay the premium as per the customer’s convenience (viz, single, monthly, half-
yearly, and yearly).
• The minimum policy terms (in years) was about 5 years.
• It provides Life cover up to 100 years (Whole life) or 85 years (other than Whole Life) and also includes
Terminal Illness Benefit, Death benefit, etc.
About SBI Life Insurance:
Establishment -2000
MD & CEO – Mahesh Kumar Sharma
Tagline – With us, You’re sure
60th PE Survey FY20: Net Profit of CPSEs Decreased by 20% to Rs 1.38 Lakh Crore
In August 2021, the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), Ministry of Finance, released the 60th Public
Enterprises (PE) Survey 2019-20 report. As per the report, the net profit of Central Public Sector Enterprises
(CPSEs) in FY20 decreased by 20 percent from Rs 1.74 lakh crore in FY19 to around Rs 1.38 lakh crore.

• The decrease in profit was mainly due to the fall in profits in the petroleum sector.
Highlights of the Report on CPSEs:
Indicators FY20
Profit (of 171 profit-making CPSEs) Rs 1,38,112 crore
Loss (of 84 loss-making CPSEs) Rs 44,817 crore
Total Paid-up Capital Rs 3,10,737 crore
Reserves and Surplus Rs 9,57,579 crore
Net Worth Rs 12,35,706 crore
About the PE Survey:
i.The PE Survey is an annual survey provided by DPE. It divides CPSEs into 5 sectors viz, Agriculture; Mining &
Exploration; Manufacturing, Processing & Generation; Services; and Enterprises Under Construction.
ii.DPE is the nodal agency for all CPSEs. The number of CPSEs in FY20 was increased to 366 from 348 in FY19.
iii.CPSE’s: It includes the enterprises in which the Government of India holds more than 50 percent equity.
• The subsidiaries of CPSEs that are registered in India will also be categorised as CPSEs (only if the CPSE has
more than 50 percent equity stake in it).
• Departmentally run public enterprises, banking institutions and insurance companies are excluded from
CPSE.
iv.The PE survey was initiated from FY 1960-61 on the recommendations of the estimates committee.
Note – As per National Accounts Statistics 2021, the National Gross Value Added (GVA) at current prices is
estimated at Rs 184.6 lakh crore in FY20.
Union Minister – Nirmala Sitharaman (Constituency – Karnataka)
Minister of State – Pankaj Chaudhary (Constituency – Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh), Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad
(Constituency – Maharashtra)
World Bank’s IFC Extended Rs 557 crore Debt Support to IndoSpace Logistics Fund
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of World Bank, has extended loan support of $75
million (~Rs 557 crore) to Indospace Logistics Parks III, a $580-million vintage fund for developing logistics and
industrial parks across India.
• Objective: To enhance warehousing and supply chain infrastructure in India
Key Points:
i.Indospace will use the investment to develop an efficient logistics ecosystem in India and facilitate domestic and
foreign trade.
ii.Through the investment, Indospace will expand and lease to e-commerce players and online retailers in India to
meet their demand.
iii.The investment will also support it to build a warehouse in Luhari III, a site near Gurgaon, Delhi, and other key
areas in North India.
iv.In September 2020, IndoSpace partnered with Kool-ex to build 3 customized temperature-controlled Pharma
Distribution Centres in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore.
• The first one in Mumbai will be India’s largest stand-alone temperature-controlled warehousing facility.
v.Hence, the current funding will also strengthen the warehousing facilities to accommodate the demand for
essentials, like pharmaceuticals and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).
Warehousing:
i.Warehousing (the process of storing goods in a warehouse), which is the fundamental part of logistics, is being
undersupplied in India. Around 90 percent of this market is being managed by unorganized players.
ii.Logistics costs in India were estimated to be at around 13 to 14 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP),
compared with around 9 to 10 percent in the US and Europe.
iii.A funding of $13 billion is required for the development of new warehousing capacity in India over the next
decade.
About Indospace:
It is the largest investor, developer and manager of industrial and logistics real estate in India. It is a joint venture
between the Everstone Group, GLP, and Realterm.
Managing Partner & CEO – Brian Oravec

Headquarters – Washington D.C., USA
MD, Executive Vice President – Makhtar Diop
ICICI, StanChart, HSBC Entered into India’s 1st Swaption Deal

ICICI Bank had executed India’s 1st set of ‘swaption’ deals with HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank.
• ICICI Bank and the two overseas lenders transacted ‘swaptions’ on Overnight Index Swap (OIS) for a total
notional sum of Rs 700 crore.
• The Reserve Bank of India issued guidelines for ‘swaption’ deals in June 2019.
Key Points:
i.Interest Rate Swap (IRS): it is a derivative contract that involves the exchange of a stream of agreed interest
payments on a ‘notional principal’ amount during a specified period.
ii.Interest Rate Swaption: It is an option on IRS. A swaption contract gives the buyer the right, but not the
obligation (not bound), to enter into an IRS deal.
• Swaption will protect the borrowers and investors from changing interest rate scenarios by enabling them
to fix an interest rate on future borrowings through the option on an IRS.
Benefits under Swaption Contract:
i.If a borrower raises local bonds with a ‘put option’, the investors might surrender those papers in a rising
rate scenario. It will force a borrower to issue new bonds at higher rates.
• But, if the borrower buys a swaption contract, it will protect the borrower against any losses from rate
movements (in the case of the investors exercising their put options).
ii.Similarly, if a borrower raises bonds with ‘call options’ and exercises them in a falling interest market, the
investor will be made to invest at lower rates. Whereas if they buy a swaption contract, it will protect investors
from any rate losses.
Note – A ‘call option’ gives the holder the right to buy a stock and a ‘put option’ gives the right to sell a stock i.e.
(buy – call option, sell – put option).
ICICI Bank and State Bank of India were the only 2 banks in India that are traded in the global Credit Default Swap
(CDS) market.
• CDS was the 1st IRS that occurred between IBM and the World Bank in 1981.
About ICICI Bank:
Establishment – 1955 (Incorporated in 1994)
MD & CEO – Sandeep Bakhshi
Tagline – Hum hai na, Khayal Apka
About HSBC:
Headquarters – London, United Kingdom
Group Chairman – Mark E Tucker
Kotak Mahindra Bank introduces a DIY Digital Repayment platform, in tie-up with Creditas
Solutions
Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) in partnership with Creditas Solutions launched a secure Digital
Repayment ‘Neo Collections’ Platform for missed loan repayments named ‘Do It Yourself (DIY)’.
• Objective: To provide a convenient repayment experience for customers and increase efficiency.
• The repayment platform was powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). It provides
a personalised and non-intrusive experience for the customers to repay their outstanding dues by
themselves.
• The platform analyses both historical as well as live customer interaction data, and creates hyper-
personalised scenarios to connect with each customer. It also provides the language choice for the
customers.
• The platform also offers customised repayment plans or payment resolution options in line with the bank’s
internal credit guidelines.
About Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL):
MD & CEO – Uday Kotak

IFSCA Launched Pilot Run of International Bullion Exchange
On August 18, 2021, Injeti Srinivas, the Chairperson of International Financial Services Centres Authority
(IFSCA), launched the pilot run/soft of ‘International Bullion Exchange’. The exchange was planned to go live
on the Foundation Day of IFSCA i.e. on October 1, 2021.
• Bullion Exchange: It is a market for the buyers and sellers to trade gold and silver.
• The bullion exchange will provide an integrated common transparent platform (bullion market) for all
participants to trade bullion.
What is Bullion?
Bullion refers to the pure form of physical gold and silver which is often kept in the form of bars, coins, etc.
Background:
i.In the Budget 2020-21, the Financial Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the setting up of an ‘International
Bullion Exchange’ at the IFSC in GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City), Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
ii.Subsequent to that, in December 2020, the government notified the bullion spot delivery contract and bullion
depository receipt as Financial Products and bullion-related services as financial services, under the IFSCA Act,
2019.
iii.IFSCA has approved the IFSCA (Bullion Exchange) Regulations 2020, which will deal with the Bullion Exchange,
Clearing Corporation (CC), Depository and Vaults, and other related provisions.
Key Points:
a.Gateway: The International Bullion Exchange will act as a ‘Gateway for Bullion Imports into India’. All the
bullion imports for domestic consumption will be channelised through the exchange.
b.Holding Company and Subsidiaries:
i.A holding company named ‘India International Bullion Holding IFSC Ltd.’ (IIBH) was formed to set up and
operationalise the International Bullion Exchange in IFSC, GIFT City.
ii.IIBH was formed through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Stock Exchange of
India Limited (NSE), the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX), India INX International Exchange
(INDIA INX) (IFSC) Limited, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) and Central Depository Services
(India) Limited (CDSL).
iii.IFSCA has approved the application of IIBH to set up the International Bullion Exchange (including bullion
exchange and the bullion CC) through its subsidiary ‘India International Bullion Exchange IFSC Ltd’.
iv.CDSL-IFSC, a foreign depository, was appointed as the Bullion Depository for the Exchange to manage the Vault
Manager.
c.International Bullion Exchange will provide effective price discovery, assurance in the quality of gold, and
create integration with other segments of financial markets.
Note – The London Bullion Market is the primary bullion market for global trading.
About International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA):
Establishment – April 27, 2020, under IFSCA Act, 2019
Headquarters – GIFT City, Gandhinagar, Gujarat
Chairperson – Injeti Srinivas
World Bank launches new Cybersecurity Multi-Donor Trust Fund

World Bank and partners announce a New Global Fund for Cybersecurity named Cybersecurity Multi-Donor
Trust Fund under the broader Digital Development Partnership (DDP) umbrella program.
• It aims to better define, understand, and systematically roll out the cybersecurity development agenda.
• The fund will support development of global knowledge on cybersecurity solutions for low and middle
income countries.
• It will fund country assessments, offer technical assistance, support training & capacity development for
cybersecurity staff in World Bank partnered countries.
• The launch of the Trust Fund has been made possible with donor contributions from the countries
of Estonia, Germany, Japan, and The Netherlands.
Digital Development Partnership (DDP)
i.The World Bank has launched the DDP in 2016.
ii.This partnership makes digital solutions available to developing countries with an emphasis on Data and
indicators, Digital economy enabling environment, Cybersecurity, Internet access for all, Digital government,
Mainstreaming digital services, solutions, and platforms

About World Bank
Founded in 1944
Members countries- 189
President – David Malpass
Headquarters – Washington,D.C, United States of America
ADB, India Sign $500 Million Loan Agreement to Expand Metro Rail Network in Bengaluru
The Asian Development Bank(ADB) will provide USD 500 million loans to Government of India to expand the
metro rail network in Bengaluru, Karnataka with the construction of two new metro lines totaling 56 kilometers
Outer Ring Road- Kempegowda International Airport corridor with 30 stations.
Highlights-
• Additional $2 million technical assistance is being provided by the ADB to help state government
formulate Urban Development Projects
• The grant will be utilised by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited(BMRCL)
• The Silk Metro Board-KR(new metro lines) Puram KIA will provide safe, green mobility.
• The construction of two new metro line in the region of National Highway 44 between Central Silk Board
and Kempegowda International Airport with 30 stations
Signatories-
It was signed by Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Takeo Konishi,
Country Director of ADB’s Indian Resident Mission.
About the Project
i.It will support the urban transport and urban development projects in Bengaluru with the concept of transit-
oriented development (TOD) and multi-modal integration(MMI) with the aid and assistance of the ADB.
ii.The project will help in decongesting the traffic and provide smooth connectivity to the airport and TOD will
help in increasing the capital revenues and quality of living in the city.
iii.It will cater to the needs of vulnerable sections such as children, women, differently-abled and elderly people.
About Asian Development Bank
Establishment: 1966
Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Manila, Philippines
Member: 68 countries (Including India)
President of ADB: Masatsugu Asakawa
About Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited(BMRCL)
Managing Director: Anjum Parwez( IAS Officer, 1994 batch)
ASK Investment Managers launches India’s 1 AIF, ‘ASK Emerging Opportunities Fund’
st
ASK Investment Managers Ltd (ASK IM) launched India’s first Digital Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) namely
‘ASK Emerging Opportunities Fund’ through which the company is targeting to raise Rs 1,000 crore.
• This fund is a close-ended category-III long-only AIF. It will have a flexi cap portfolio with a midcap bias and
will invest in listed Indian equities.
• Category III AIFs employ different trading strategies like long-short, arbitrage, fixed income and derivatives
trading.
Key Points:
i.The another unique feature of ASK Emerging Opportunities Fund is the entire paperless and hassle-free process
of opening accounts and documentation.
• This is also the first of its kind in the nine-year-old AIF industry.
ii.The term of the scheme is 7 years with 2 years of lock-in from the final closing.
iii.This AIF will target investments from high net-worth individuals (HNIs) and Ultra HNI (UHNIs) for consistent
wealth creation over the long term.
iv.This fund aims to invest in beneficiaries of varied sectors including speciality chemicals, footwear, diagnostics,
niche digital technologies, etc as the nation is targeting lowering imports and boosting exports under
‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
About ASK Investment Managers Ltd (ASK IM):
It is a leading asset and wealth management company.
Executive Director– Bharat Shah

EXIM Bank provides around USD 210 mn soft loan to Guinea
The Export and Import Bank (EXIM) of India has signed Soft loan worth USD 210.73 million (≅INR 1567
crore) to the government of Guinea for drinking water projects, hospital building and solar projects in the
country.
• It includes USD 170 mn Line of Credit (LoC) for strengthening the Grand Conakry-Horizon 2040 drinking
water supply project in Guinea
• Loan of USD 20.51 mn for the construction and upgradation of regional hospitals in Kankan and Nzerekore
• Loc worth USD 20.22 mn for financing two solar projects in the country which includes supply of
electricity for public universities and health facilities.
• The agreement under the LoC is Effective from August 11, 2021.
What is a soft loan?
i.A loan with no interest or below market rate of interest is known as a soft loan.
ii.Soft loans have lenient terms like extended grace periods.
iii.They also offer longer amortization schedules than bank loans.
Purpose:
Soft loans are given out by multinational or federal banks to support developing countries or to form political or
economic ties with them.
Additional info:
i.Exim Bank has around 270 LoC’s covering 62 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Commonwealth of
Independent States(CIS) with credit commitments of around 26.75 billion USD, available for financing exports
from India.
ii.These LoC’s showcase the expertise and capabilities of project execution in emerging markets of India.
About Export and Import (EXIM) Bank of India:
Deputy Managing Director (MD)– Harsha Bangari, N. Ramesh
Regulated By– Reserve Bank of India
About Guinea
President – Alpha Conde
Capital – Conakry
Currency – Guinean Franc
Ind-Ra cuts GDP forecast for India to 9.4% for FY22

On August 19, 2021, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) downgraded the economic growth forecast or Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) for India to 9.4% for FY22 from 9.6% estimated earlier.
• The key reason behind this descent is the vaccination of the adult population (18+) which will not be
covered entirely by December 31, 2021.
• As per the forecast, if the entire adult population gets vaccinated by December 31, 2021 then GDP is
estimated 9.6% y-o-y (Year-on-Year) in FY22, otherwise it may slip to 9.1%.
FY22 GDP will be 10.9% lower than the trend value:
Though several high frequency indicators are showing a faster rebound than expected including surprise
turnaround of exports volume and growth Q1FY22, also, kharif sowing is indicating a significant pick-up with the
revival of south-west monsoon but still FY22 GDP will be 10.9% lower than the trend value.
Key Points:
i.For the vaccination of more than 88% of the adult population, 5.2 million daily doses would have to be
administered August 18, 2021 onwards and to administer single doses to the rest by 31 March 2022.
ii.As per National Accounts Data, in four demand-side growth drivers viz. private final consumption
expenditure (PFCE), government final consumption expenditure (GFCE), gross fixed capital
formation (GFCF) and exports, only GFCE has shown a decent growth, averaging 5.7% during FY19-FY21.
• PFCE, GFCF and exports during this period grew 1.3%, 1.5% and 1.5%, respectively.
• PFCE is the largest component accounting for 58.6% of the GDP in FY21, followed by GFCF accounting
27.1%, exports 18.1% and GFCE 12.5%.
iii.Ind-Ra expects exports growth of goods and services to grow at 16.0% y-o-y in FY22.
iv.GFCE is projected to grow at 7.5% in FY22.
v.Investments as measured by GFCF to grow 9.1% y-o-y in FY22.
India’s GDP Projection by other Agencies:
i.PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) projected GDP growth at 10.25% for FY22.
ii.Acuite Ratings retained its 10% GDP forecast for FY22

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra):
It is a 100% owned subsidiary of the Fitch Group, and is recognized by the Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and National Housing Bank (NHB).
Chairman, Managing Director & CEO– Rohit Karan Sawhney
General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Act, 2021 got the Assent of the
President
General Insurance Business(Nationalisation) Amendment 2021 got assent of the President Ramnath Kovind.This
bill will amend the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act of 1972.
Purpose of amendment :- The Act was enacted to nationalise all private companies undertaking general
insurance business in India and it makes private sector participation in the public sector insurance companies
regulated under the Act.
Background:-
• General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) was set up under the 1972 Act.The businesses of the
companies nationalized under the Act were restructured in four subsidiaries of GIC: (i) National Insurance,
(ii) New India Assurance, (iii) Oriental Insurance, and (iv) United India Insurance.
• The Act was amended in 2002 and the control of these four subsidiary companies has been transferred from
GIC to the central government, the share holding of the Central Government in the General Insurance
Corporation of India and the insurers referred to in section 10A (specified insurers) shall not be less than
51 per cent.
Points to be noted on New Amendment Bill
Change in the Definition
The Act classifies the General Insurance Business for fire, marine, or miscellaneous insurance.It excludes capital
redemption and annuity certain business from the definition.The Bill removes this definition and instead, refers
to the definition provided by the Insurance Act, 1938. Under the Insurance Act capital redemption and annuity
certain are included within general insurance business.
Removes Shareholding of Government-
The bill removes the provision to section 10B of the act; it said to be to omit the minimum 51% shareholding of
central government in specified insurers.
Transfer of control
The bill adds new section 24B ;it will not be applied to the specified insurers from the date on which the central
government relinquishes control of the insurer.It will empower the central to notify workers of selected insurers
about their terms and conditions of employment.
Liabilities of directors
The bill also inserts a new section 31A providing for liability of a director of specified
insurer, who is not a whole-time director, in respect of such acts of omission or
commission of the specified insurer which has been committed with his knowledge
and with his consent.
NIPL Partnered With Mashreq Bank to Offer UPI Payments in UAE

NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), the international arm of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI),
has partnered with the UAE (United Arab Emirates)-based Mashreq Bank to provide the Unified Payments
Interface (UPI), the mobile-based real-time payment system, in the UAE.
• The partnership will support more than 2 million Indians, who are travelling to the UAE to make payments
using UPI for their purchases in shops and merchant stores across UAE.
• The acceptance of UPI would boost the digital payment ecosystem in the UAE and also enable the wider
reach of UPI in the international markets.
Partnership with Bhutan:
i.In July 2021, NIPL in partnership with the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan implemented the Bharat
Interface for Money (BHIM) UPI QR-based payments in Bhutan.
ii.Bhutan became the 1st country to adopt India’s UPI standards for its QR deployment. Click here to know more
About Unified Payments Interface (UPI):
i.It is an instant payment system developed by NPCI and it was built over the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS)
infrastructure.
ii.It allows the users to instantly transfer money between any two parties’ bank accounts ( i.e. the inter-bank
transactions) without revealing details of one’s bank account to the other.

iii.The real-time payments technology UPI provides security in both person to person (P2P) and person to
merchant (P2M) transactions.
iv.In 2020, UPI allowed transactions worth $457 billion, which is equivalent to ~15 percent of India’s Gross
Domestic Product (GDP).
About NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL):
It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NPCI, devoted to the deployment of NPCI’s indigenous, Real-Time Payment
System – UPI and Card Scheme – RuPay, outside India.
Establishment – April 3, 2020
CEO – Ritesh Shukla
About Mashreq Bank:
Headquarters – Dubai, UAE
Group CEO – Ahmed Abdelaal
Razorpay, Capital Float Partnered for BNPL Solution Walnut 369

Fintech startup Capital Float Financial Services Pvt. Ltd partnered with Razorpay to extend its ‘buy now, pay
later’ (BNPL) solution, the Walnut 369 to all Razorpay-enabled online merchants.
• Objective: Capital Float plans to extend its BNPL solutions to over 1 lakh partners and serve customers in
100 cities across India.
• Under the partnership, through Walnut 369, the customers could sign up while shopping, and get instant
credit with zero documentation option.
• The customers could pay for purchases over 3, 6 or 9 months.
• The partnership will support online shoppers and new-to-credit customers.
• Through its Walnut app, the Capital Float also offers loans, insurance and personal finance management.
• Amazon India, Makemytrip, Spicejet, BoAT, Flo Mattresses, GoMechanic, Unacademy and Skullcandy were
the latest brands that are included in Capital Float’s portfolio.
About Razorpay:
CEO & Co-Founder – Harshil Mathur.
About Capital Float Financial Services Pvt. Ltd;
HDFC Introduced ‘Green & Sustainable’ FD; HDFC Life Released Life Freedom Index 2021 Report
Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Ltd introduced a fixed deposit (FD) named ‘Green &
Sustainable Deposits’ to safeguard the environment from climate change.
Features of the FDs:
i.The Fixed deposit period ranges from 36-120 months. Both residents and Non-resident Indians (NRIs) are
eligible to invest. The deposits would carry interest rates up to 6.55 percent per annum (p.a.).
ii.Additional Interest:
• Senior citizens (above 60 years) are eligible for an additional 0.25 percent per annum interest on deposits up
to Rs 2 crore.
• The additional Return on investment (ROI) of 0.10 percent p.a. will be provided for deposits up to Rs 50 lakh
per calendar month per customer if placed/renewed through the banks’ online platform.
iii.The FD will be directed towards the financing of green and sustainable housing credit solutions and services.
-HDFC Life Released the Life Freedom Index 2021 Report
HDFC Life released its latest Life Freedom Index (LFI) 2021 report. The report analyses the financial freedom of
consumers across 4 different segments viz, Proud Parents, Wisdom Investors, Young Aspirants and Smart
Women.
• The report also includes 4 sub-indices such as Financial Awareness Index, Financial Planning Index,
Financial Sufficiency and Adequacy Index, and Financial Liberty Index.
• The 2021 LFI study was conducted along with NielsenIQ across 14 cities (including Metros, Tier 1 and Tier
2) with 1987 respondents.
Key Findings of the Report:
i.Due to COVID-19, the LFI of 2021 was reduced by 4.8 points from 2019 due to the impact of COVID-19.
Consumer confidence was also reduced after the 2 waves of COVID-19.
ii.Financial awareness has increased during the last 2 waves of COVID-19 and Familiarity with term insurance
also increased by 11 points.

iii.Nuclear families have been the most impacted with an LFI drop of 10.5 points, whereas the joint families have
been stable.
iv.The impact of COVID-19 on financial preparedness is more notable amongst Proud Parents followed by the
segment of Smart Women.
About HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd:
It is a joint venture between HDFC Ltd., and Standard Life Aberdeen
MD & CEO – Vibha Padalkar
About Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Ltd:
Establishment –1977
MD – Ms. Renu Sud Karnad
Vice-Chairman & CEO – Mr. Keki M. Mistry
Tagline – With You, Right Through
USAID, DFC Partners with Kotak Mahindra Bank for USD 50 mn Loan Guarant
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US International Development Finance
Corporation (DFC) have partnered with Kotak Mahindra bank (KMB) for USD 50 MIllion (≅ INR 372
crore) loan Guarantee for Women Entrepreneurs and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across
India
• KMB will extend its on-lending credit facilities to non-bank lenders operating in the MSMEs and
microlending space.
• DFC will provide KMB with a ‘pari passu’ guarantee, which is financially sponsored by USAID, of up to 50% of
the remaining USD 24.5 mn loan.
• The program will be supported by Vivriti Capital, Chennai-based Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC).
Vivriti capital will provide USD 1 mn first loss guarantee & analytical and sourcing support.
• The partnership aims to disburse at least half of the loans to Women led entities or MSMEs that employ a
certain percentage of women or that produce a good or service that benefits women.
• The programme is likely to benefit 30,000 women borrowers and 7,500 MSMEs.
About United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Administrator – Samantha Power
About Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB)
Tagline – Let’s make money simple
Indifi Partners with Facebook India to Launch 1st of its Kind Small Business Loans Programme
Indifi, technology-based lending platform has partnered with Facebook India to launch 1st of its Kind Small
Business Loans Programme. It will provide loans worth INR 5 lakh to 50 lakh for Small Businesses advertising
in Facebook’s Platform.
• The loans will bear an interest rate of 17-20% and 0.2% additional reduction in the interest rate for the
businesses owned by Women either partly or Wholly.
• The loans will be processed within 5 working days if the borrower submits the documents, without
requiring any collateral.
• Indifi will decide on the eligibility criteria of the borrowers such as Creditworthiness & bear the risk of Loan
defaults.
• Facebook will show its Advertisers about the programme and It won’t get involved in determining the
eligibility of the borrowers, recovery etc..
Small Business Grants programme
i.Launched in 2020 by Facebook for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) to combat the effects of COVID-19
Pandemic
ii.It involves USD 100 Million in cash grants and ad credits to help small businesses across over 30 countries
iii.This programme allocated about $4 million in India for more than 3,000 small businesses across five cities
About Indifi
MD & CEO – Alok Mittal
Headquarters – Gurugram, Haryana

About Facebook
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Mark Zuckerberg
Headquarters – California, United States of America
HDFC Bank, Paytm Partnered to Offer Payment Solutions

HDFC Bank Ltd, India’s largest private bank, and Paytm, made a partnership to share their network and provide
digital lending and payment solutions for consumers and merchants across India.
• Objective: To create digital transformation in semi-urban and rural India, and involve more people in the
formal banking system.
Key Points:
i.Under the partnership, HDFC Bank will act as the payment partner, while Paytm will be the distribution and
software partner.
ii.A co-branded point of sale (POS) product in the retail segment was jointly launched by Paytm and HDFC Bank.
The product would be offered by Paytm to its customer base.
iii.They will provide the payment gateway and POS solutions for Indian merchant partners such as Paytm
Postpaid (a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution), Eazy EMI, and Flexi Pay.
iv.Through the tie-up, Paytm will offer its existing range of Android POS devices to the merchants who are in
partnership with HDFC Bank. HDFC Bank will also sell Paytm’s payment solutions.
v.Enhanced SmartHub solution will be delivered through the partnership.
• SmartHub solution is an integrated payment solution of HDFC Bank for merchants, which will enable them to
collect payments through multiple payment modes.
vi.The partnership was made prior to the proposed Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Paytm, through which it plans
to raise Rs 16,600 crore within 2021.
vii.Customer base: Paytm has more than 333 million users and 21 million merchants on its platform. HDFC Bank
has more than 50 million credit card and debit card customers.
About HDFC Bank:
It was the 1st bank to receive approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a private sector bank.
MD & CEO – Sashidhar Jagdishan
About Paytm:
Headquarters – Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Founder & CEO – Vijay Shekhar Sharma
NABARD’s Loan Extension in FY21 Rose by 25.2%

As per the annual report of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for FY21, the
total loans and advances extended by NABARD in FY21 grew by 25.2 percent year-on-year (YOY) compared with
11.5 percent of FY20.
• The balance sheet size of NABARD reached Rs 6.57 lakh crore as of March 31, 2021, mainly contributed by
non-idle (earning) assets.
• NABARD achieved a record YOY growth of 24 percent in its total assets.
Highlights of the Report:
i.Loan: The total outstanding loans in FY21 was about Rs 6 lakh crore of which half was contributed for credit
support of production activities at the grassroots and a third for infrastructure development.
ii.NABARD has formed around 6.8 lakh SHGs (Self Help Groups) in FY21 and released Rs 170.2 crores against a
sanction of Rs 418.20 crores for promoting over 8.7 lakh SHGs. It has also ensured bank credit for nearly 4 lakhs.
iii.The outstanding credit of the Agricultural sector grew at 12.3 percent in FY21, the highest of all sectors.
• Union Budget 2022 has set a rural credit flow target of Rs 16.5 lakh crore.
iv.A Credit Guarantee Fund of Rs 1,000 crore (with matching contributions from the GOI and NABARD) was set up
under NABSanrakshan Trustee Company Private Ltd, the subsidiary of NABARD, to facilitate bank financing to
FPOs.
v.As of March 31, 2021, the amount of short-term surplus deployed by NABARD in various financial instruments
(including deposits with banks) stood at Rs 47,740 crore, accounting for 7.3 percent of the balance sheet.
vi.NABARD promoted 634 farmer producer organisations (FPOs) in FY21 (against the target of 600).
• GoI has launched a Scheme titled ‘Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Produce Organizations
(FPOs)’ to form and promote 10,000 new FPOs in India within 5 years i.e (FY20 to FY24).
vii.A new line of credit was designed to take part in the $5 trillion economy drive, viz., Rural Infrastructure
Assistance to the State Governments (RIAS).

viii.Houses completed under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana–Gramin in FY21 was at 35.3 lakh.
Income and Profit:
Indicators FY20 FY21
Income Rs 32,692 crore Rs 34,671.2 crore (Increased by 6.1% over FY20)
Profit before tax Rs 5,234.3 crore Rs 6,081.4 crore
Profit after tax Rs 3,859.2 crore Rs 4,320 crore
• NABARD has contributed Rs 27,135 crore in FY21 and has committed Rs 40,000 crore in FY22.
The Growth Rate of different sectors of the economy (at 2011–12 constant prices):
Sector Growth Rate (%) in FY21
GVA (Gross Value Added) -6.2
Agriculture 3.6 (Primarily due to the Govt’s Aatma Nirbhar Bharat package)
Industry -7
Service -8.4
Overall GDP (Gross Domestic Product)Growth -7.3
Click here to know more
Chairman – R. Chintala
NABARD extended Rs 24.90 lakh grant for IMFFS project in Cuddalore, TN

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) extended Rs 24.90 lakh grant for Integrated
Mangrove Fishery Farming System (IMFFS) project in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu.
• This project is implemented by the S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) to enhance the
adaptive capacity of the fishing community.
What is IMFFS?
Under IMFFS, mangroves are integrated with fish culture wherein conventional earthen aquaculture ponds are
modified to provide about 30% of the area for raising mangroves and the remaining for fish cultivation.
• This system mitigates the impact of rising sea levels along with the sustained harvest of fish.
Key Points:
i.The project is being implemented on 2.10 hectares of land in Mudasalodai village by involving traditional and
Irula fishers from Mudasalodai and Kalaignar coastal hamlets in Pichavaram.
ii.The farm pond is designed in a mitochondrial pattern and is a tide-fed pond.
ICICI Bank Germany Launched Blocked Account for Indian Students to Study in Germany
ICICI Bank Germany, a part of ICICI Bank, launched a digital and instant ‘Blocked Account’ named ‘ICICI Bank
Germany Student Blocked Account’ for the Indian students who are aspiring to study in Germany.
• ICICI Bank Germany is the 1st bank to offer the dual advantage of a ‘Blocked Account’ along with a
complimentary Current Account (within the single account) to the Indian students.
• Along with the Blocked Account, the bank also offers a complimentary Current Account, that can be used in
Germany and a VISA debit card that could be used worldwide.
What is a Blocked Account?
i.The students who are aspiring to study in Germany need to have this account with a required amount to get a
Balance Confirmation Certificate (BCC), a mandatory requirement for a Student Visa in Germany.
• The account will act as a financial reference for the students.
iii.The account could be offered only by the banks that are authorized by the German Federal Foreign Office.
iv.The objective to deposit money in the blocked account is to facilitate the living expenses in the country and also
for completing their education.
v.The account will be blocked initially until the account holder arrives in Germany. ICICI Bank will not pay
interest on the blocked account and the amount to be transferred depends on the duration of the course/stay in
Germany.

Key Features of ‘ICICI Bank Germany Student Blocked Account’:
i.Digital Process: ICICI Bank Germany enables the students to open the Blocked account online (complete
digital) in India before their Visa applications.
• The process of opening a ‘Blocked Account’ is available 24X7.
ii.The additional Current Account could be used by the students as a local bank account in Germany (similar to a
savings account in India) to meet their daily banking requirements.
About ICICI Bank Germany:
It is a subsidiary of ICICI UK PLC
Headquarters – Frankfurt, Germany
Citibank Got Approval from IFSCA to Open Banking Unit at GIFT City
US-based Citibank NA received the approval from International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to
open a banking unit at India’s GIFT IFSC (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City – International Financial Services
Centre) at Gandhinagar, Gujarat to carry out offshore transactions.
• In 2020, Citibank received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start a banking unit
after which it has waited for the final nod from IFSCA to start operations.
• Recently, Deutsche Bank became the 1st German bank to set up its IFSC banking unit at GIFT IFSC.
ADB releases 52nd Edition of the Key Indicators for Asia & the Pacific, 2021
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has released the 52nd Edition of the Key Indicators for Asia & the Pacific,
2021
• It was prepared by the Statistics and Data Innovation Unit (EROD-SDI) within the Economic Research and
Regional Cooperation Department (ERCD) at the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• It contains Statistical information about 49 member countries of the Asia & the Pacific region on
Population, labor force, National accounts, Production & Price indexes, Energy, Money & interest rates,
Government finance, External trade, Balance of payments (BoP), International reserves, Exchange rates, and
External indebtedness.
Major highlights of the report
i.In the Asia-Pacific region , the Extremely poor population has reduced from the size of 1.2 Billion in 1999
to 202.9 Million in 2017.
ii.Gross Domestic Product (GDP):
Asia-Pacific Region’s Economy grew from 27% of Global GDP in 2000 to 35% in 2019 (Exceeding the share of
Europe & North America).
• In 2020, three in every four reporting economies posted declines in GDP due to the impact of pandemic.
iii.Extreme Poverty:
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed around 75 to 80 mn population in the Asia-Pacific region into Extreme
poverty from 2019 levels as compared with a scenario without Covid-19.
• Assuming that the pandemic has increased income inequality, the relative rise in Extreme poverty may be
even greater.
• According to the report, About 5.2% of the population or 203 mn people in the Asia-Pacific lived in Extreme
poverty in 2017. It could have reduced to 2.6% of Population in 2020 without Covid-19 pandemic.
Note: Extreme Poverty is defined as Number of persons living on less than USD 1.90 per day
iv.Unemployment – Increased by at least 20% in 2020 for more than one-third of reporting economies from
2019 levels.
• It led to losing about 8% of working hours in the Asia-Pacific.
• From 2000 to 2019, the region’s nonagricultural employment grew from 52% to 71%; one of the fastest
growth rates worldwide.
v.Global Value Chains (GVCs): It acts as both an amplifier & a dampener of Shocks
• In Many Countries, significant GVC participation was associated with a larger negative shock to GDP,
suggesting that openness exacerbated disruptions
• However, at much higher rates of GVC participation, the relationship seemed to reverse.
About Asian Development Bank (ADB):
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966.
President– Masatsugu Asakawa
Headquarters– Metro Manila, Philippines

SEBI Approved Bajaj Finserv to Launch MF Business
In August 2021, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) provided the in-principle approval to Bajaj
Finserv Ltd for launching the mutual fund (MF) business.
• As per the SEBI’s regulations, the company would now set up an Asset Management Company (AMC) and the
Trustee Company directly or indirectly (i.e. by itself or through its subsidiary) to sponsor MF.
Background:
i.In December 2020, SEBI has eased the MF business regulations and allowed the sponsors who do not fulfill
profitability criteria at the time of making an application will also be considered to be eligible to sponsor a MF.
• This regulation has enabled the fintechs to take part in the MF business.
ii.To sponsor MF, the fintech company should have a net worth of Rs 100 crore for contribution towards the net-
worth of the AMC. The AMC should maintain this networth till it has profits for 5 consecutive years.
Note – Earlier in August 2021, Samco Securities also received SEBI’s approval to launch its MF business.
About Bajaj Finserv Ltd:
Bajaj Finserv Limited is a part of Bajaj Holdings & Investments Ltd
Chairman & Managing Director – Sanjiv Bajaj
FREO Launched Savings Account ‘Freo Save’ in Partnership with Equitas SFB
FREO, India’s 1st credit-led Neobank, made a partnership with Equitas Small Finance Bank (SFB) and
launched a zero-balance savings account named ‘Freo Save’ for its customers.
• The account will offer a 7 percent interest rate on a minimum balance of Rs 1 lakh.
• The account will also provide seamless integration with UPI (United Payment Interface) to make easier
funds transfer and bill payments. It would also help the customers to build a better credit score.
• To date, Freo has disbursed loans of more than Rs 4,400 crore to its users under its MoneyTap service.
• MoneyTap offers a credit line of up to Rs 5 lakh; its services include Freo Pay, which offers a Buy Now Pay
Later (BNPL) feature.
What is Neobank?
i.It is a kind of digital bank without any branches. It works entirely online instead of being present physically at a
specific location.
ii.Nowadays Neobanks are being launched by financial technology (fintech) startups. They provide better banking
solutions in partnership with traditional banks by using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
About FREO (formerly known as Money Tap):
i.FREO’s parent company started its operations in India with the launch of Money Tap in 2016.
ii.Money Tap is India’s 1st App-based credit line, it will provide a personal loan through the app in partnership
with banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).
About Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd:
MD and CEO – Vasudevan Pathangi Narasimhan (P N)
Flipkart Wholesale Launches New Credit Program to Support Kiranas & Retailers
Flipkart Wholesale, the digital B2B marketplace of Flipkart group has launched a new credit program to assist
Kiranas and retailers in managing their working capital requirements and promote their business.
• The new credit program has been designed to solve the local challenges faced by the kiranas in India and to
help them manage their cash flow and improve their purchase experience on Flipkart wholesale, thereby
ensuring that the benefits of digitisation reach the entire B2B retail ecosystem.
Features of Credit Program:
i.The credit offering of Flipkart wholesale, including the ‘Easy Credit’ in partnership with IDFC FIRST Bank can
help kiranas to get credit at zero cost through digital onboarding.
ii.The credit line under the program will range from Rs 5000 to Rs 2 Lakh with an interest-free period of up to 14
days.
iii.The kiranas will also be able to avail flexible repayment options through cash and online transfer
About Flipkart Group:
Flipkart Group is an Indian e-commerce company, that includes group companies such as Flipkart, Myntra,
Flipkart Wholesale and Cleartrip.
Flipkart is a major shareholder of PhonePe, a leading payment app in India.

CEO of Flipkart – Kalyan Krishnamurthy
HDFC Bank divests 2.21% stake in CDSL for Rs 222.71 crore

HDFC Bank has divested 2.21% stakes in Central Depository Services(India) Limited(CDSL) for Rs 222.71 crore
over a period from 22nd June 2021 to 24th August 2021.
HDFC Bank has sold around 2311000 equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 each.
• CDSL is India’s leading and only listed depository, which provides depository service to market participants.
• Operating services of CDSL: Depository, data entry and record keeping of KYC documents of capital market
investors, and repository.
Background:
i.HDFC Bank sold 2036000 shares of CDSL around 1.95% stakes at an average price of Rs 937.46 per piece on
22nd June 2021.
ii.The bank sold 213481 shares at Rs 1168.94 apiece on 23rd August 2021 and has sold 61519 shares for Rs
1119.31 apiece on 24th August 2021.
Eldeco Group & HDFC Capital Set Up Rs 150cr Fund to Build Housing Projects:
i.Eldeco Group has partnered with HDFC Capital Advisors Limited, a subsidiary of HDFC Limited, to set up a Rs
150 crore platform to build housing projects.
ii.Eldeco Infrastructure and Properties Limited, a part of Eldeco Group has partnered with HDFC Capital
Affordable Real Estate Fund 1 (H-CARE 1), a fund managed by HDFC Capital to form a platform to develop low rise
and plotted development projects.
iii.The developments will be undertaken by Eldeco Greens Infrastructure Private Limited, a special purpose
vehicle.
About Central Depository Services(India) Limited(CDSL):
Chairperson– Balkrishna V. Chaubal
MD & CEO– Nehal Vora
Headquarters– Mumbai. Maharashtra
About HDFC Bank:
MD & CEO– Sashidhar Jagdishan
Tagline– We understand your world
Established in 1994
Chatbot– Eva
1.59% Shares of Canara Bank Picked Up by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has picked up 1.59% or 2,88,50,000 equity shares via the qualified institutions
placement (QIP) in Canara Bank, which is around INR 407 Crore. With this Jhunjhunwala has become one of the
top investors in the bank.
Key Points:
i.The face value of each share is Rs. 10.
ii.Seven investors have been allotted more than 5% equity in the issue. They include LIC (15.9%), BNP Paribas
(12.5%), Societe Generale (7.9%), Indian Bank (6.3%) and ICICI Prudential (6.3%).
About Jhunjhunwala:
i.Jhunjhunwala also owns shares of 3 banks named as- Federal Bank, Karur Vysya Bank along with Canara Bank.
ii.He is also known as the ‘ Warren Buffett of India‘.
About Canara Bank
Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – L.V. Prabhakar
Headquarters- Bengaluru, Karnataka
Tagline– Together We Can
Founded in – July 1906
Syndicate Bank was amalgamated into Canara Bank on April 2020
Punjab Govt Chosen SBI General Insurance to Service AB-SSBY in the Punjab State
The Punjab Government has chosen SBI General Insurance to expand the health insurance coverage in the state
of Punjab under Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana (AB-SSBY).

• SBI General Insurance will collaborate with the state government and provide the cashless health insurance
cover of Rs 5 Lakh under AB-SSBY to 40 lakh eligible families in Punjab particularly to the less privileged
section.
About AB-SSBY:
i.It is an entitlement based Health Insurance Scheme of the Punjab state. It was launched on 20 August 2019 to
offer cashless Health Insurance cover of Rs 5 Lakh per family per year.
ii.AB-SSBY intends to provide financial protection to the 65 percent population of the state of Punjab.
iii.Under the scheme, the beneficiary families could avail of health services at empanelled private and government
hospitals.
iv.Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) – 2011 data beneficiaries, Smart ration card holders under National
Food Security Act (NFSA), farmers, construction workers, small traders & Accredited and yellow card holder
journalists were eligible to get benefit from the scheme.
About SBI General Insurance Company Ltd:
Establishment – 2009 (Commenced Operation – 2010)
MD & CEO – Prakash Chandra Kandpal
Tagline – Suraksha Aur Bharosa Dono
About Punjab:
Chief Minister – Amarinder Singh
Wildlife Sanctuaries – Bir Moti Bagh Wildlife Sanctuary, Bir Bhunerheri Wildlife Sanctuary
Zoological Parks – Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park, Tiger safari zoo
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Unveiled EASE 4.0; Reviewed PSBs; Increased Family
Pension to 30%
In August 2021, Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs unveiled the 4th
edition of the Public Sector Bank (PSB) Reforms Agenda ‘EASE 4.0’ (Enhanced Access and Service Excellence) for
2021-22 – tech-enabled, simplified, and collaborative banking.
• The finance minister also unveiled the annual report for the PSB Reforms Agenda ‘EASE 3.0’ for 2020-21 and
gave awards for best performing banks on the EASE 3.0 Banking Reforms Index.
i.Award-Winning PSB on EASE 3.0 Banking Reforms Index:
Rank EASE Reforms Index Award 2021 Award for Best Improvement from The March Baseline Performance
1 State Bank of India (SBI) Indian Bank
2 Bank of Baroda (BOB) Union Bank of India
3 Union Bank of India (UBI) Punjab National Bank
ii.Theme wise Top 3 Award-winning PSBs under EASE 3.0
Theme 1 Theme 2 Theme 3 Theme 4 Theme 5
Smart Lending Tech-enabled Institutionalizing Governance and Deepening FI and
Rank for Aspiring India ease of banking Prudent Banking outcome centric HR customer protection
1 BOB SBI BOB UBI UBI
Punjab National Bank
2 SBI BOB (PNB) PNB SBI
3 UBI UBI Canara Bank SBI BOB
Key Initiatives of EASE:
i.Initiatives under EASE 3.0: Around 4.4 lakh customers have been benefited through the instantaneous and
simplified credit access through Credit@click, the flagship initiative under EASE 3.0.
• Credit@click is an End-to-end digitalised, time-bound retail and MSME lending by larger PSBs, leveraging
Account Aggregators, FinTechs and PSBloansin59minutes.com.
ii.Initiatives under EASE 4.0:
• Objective: To deepen the customer-centric digital transformation of the lenders.
• The different key initiatives under EASE 4.0 include – Dial a loan, Credit@click, Analytics based credit offer,
Partnership with AgriTechs for data exchange, Cloud-based IT system, Process automation, Co-lending with
Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs), etc.

Review on Performance of PSBs:
a.Profit and GNPA:
i.In FY21 the PSBs have reported a profit in FY21 for the 1st time after 5 years of loss. In FY21 they have gained
a profit of Rs 31,817 crore compared to a loss of Rs 26,016 crore in FY20.This is the first year when PSBs have
reported profit after five years of losses.
ii.Gross NPA: In FY21, the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) of PSBs has been reduced by Rs 62,000 crore
to Rs 6.16 lakh crore.
iii.Impact of 4R strategy in PSBs:
The government’s 4R strategy of Recognition, Resolution, Recapitalization and Reform has improved the
performance of PSBs in FY21.
Indicators FY21
Net Profit Rs 31,820 crore
Gross NPAs 9.1% (14.58% – March 2018)
Net NPA 3.1% (7.97% – March 2018)
Provision Coverage Ratio 84% (62.7% – March 2018)
Capital Adequacy 14.04%
Amount raised as debt and equity Rs 58,697 crore (in which Rs 10,543 crore as equity alone)
c.Improved Digital Lending:
i.In FY21, PSBs have disbursed around Rs 40,819 crore of fresh personal, home and vehicle
loans through digital channels.
ii.The top 7 PSBs have offered Rs 49,777 crore fresh retail loans to their existing customers.
iii.Around 72 percent of financial transactions at PSBs are now happening through digital channels.
• The number of customers active on digital channels doubled from 3.4 crores in FY2O to 7.6 crores in FY21.
iv.Presently, PSBs are offering services across call centres, Internet banking, and Mobile banking in 14 regional
languages.
d.Growth:
i.The performance of PSBs have grown in FY21 since the launch of the EASE 3.0 Reforms Agenda in February
2020.
ii.The overall score of PSBs was increased by 35 percent between March-2020 and March-2021 with the average
EASE index score improving from 44.2 to 59.7 (out of 100).
iii.Among the 6 themes of the EASE 3.0 Reforms Agenda, the highest improvement was seen in the themes of
‘Smart Lending’ and ‘Institutionalising Prudent Banking’.
iv.The transactions provided by Bank Mitras in rural areas increased by 13 percent and the enrolments in Micro
personal accident insurance also improved by 50 percent in Q4FY21 compared to Q4FY20.
v.The Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) transactions through micro ATMs was increased by two times.
Note- A Bank Mitra is an individual who acts as an agent of the bank in a place where opening a bank branch is not
possible. These individuals represent banks and provide all kinds of assistance to bank customers.
Other Advancements:
i.The PSBs, private banks and NBFCs supported over 1.16 crore borrowers through the Emergency Credit Line
Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) alone.
• In June 2021, the Government increased the Target Credit Line under the ECLGS scheme from Rs 3 Lakh
crore to Rs 4.5 Lakh crore.
ii.Recently, the govt launched ‘Ubharte Sitaare Fund’ (USF) of Corpus Rs 250 crore for Export-oriented Small &
mid-sized companies across India. Click here to know more
iii.The banks were directed to interact with the Federation of Indian Exporters Organisation (FIEO) to address the
requirements of exporters.
Participants: Pankaj Jain, Additional Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Amit Agrawal, Additional
Secretary, Department of Financial Services, and Rajkiran Rai G, Chairman of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA)
participated in the launch of EASE 4.0.
PSB Employees – Family Pension Increased to 30%; Contribution under NPS hiked to 14%
i.The Government has approved the Indian Banks’ Association’s (IBA) proposal to increase the family pension for
the family of PSB employees to 30 percent of the last salary drawn.
• Through this, the family pension for a PSB employees’ family will be in the range of Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000.
ii.The Government has also approved the proposal to increase PSB employers’ pension under the National
Pension System (NPS) from the existing 10 percent to 14 percent.

Union Minister – Nirmala Sitharaman (Constituency – Karnataka)
Minister of State – Pankaj Chaudhary (Constituency – Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh), Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad
(Constituency – Maharashtra)
Karnataka Bank Launched “KBL FASTag”, for seamless toll deduction

The Karnataka Bank launched its KBL FASTag in association with the National Payment Corporation of
India(NPCI) and M/s Worldline, the FASTag processor. KBL FASTag is a prepaid payment instrument that offers
seamless movement of vehicles at toll plazas across India through automatic dedication of the toll amount.
KBL FASTag:
i.KBL FASTag will offer an easy and convenient transit through the toll plaza for the users by saving time, fuel and
money.
ii.The users can avail KBL FASTag on the website of Karnataka Bank or at any branch of the Bank.
iii.The FASTag can be pre-loaded digitally for a required amount and it can be recharged through credit card,
Debit Card, Net Banking, (Immediate Payment Service) IMPS, among others.
iv.The KBL FASTag can be used across all the toll plazas across India which are registered in the National
Electronic Toll Collection(NETC) programme.
MD & CEO– Mahabaleshwara MS
Tagline– Your Family Bank Across India
Headquarters– Mangaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka
Incorporated on 18th February 1924
Google Tie up with Setu to Open FDs on GPay; Google Launched Kids Safety Programme ‘Be
Internet Awesome’
Google partnered with SETU, a fintech company, to enable its users to open fixed deposits (FDs) through Google
Pay.
Key Points:
i.At first, Google plans to offer FDs of Equitas Small Finance Bank (SFB) for 1 year. Ujjivan SFB and AU SFB, will
also be included in future.
ii.The fintech Setu which is specialising in providing Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) has already
created the beta version of the API for offering FDs.
iii.The beta version of the API offers FDs of various tenors such as 7-29 days, 30-45 days, 46-90 days, 91-180
days, 181-364 days, and 365 days, with interest rates ranging from 3.5 percent (for the shortest FD) to 6.35
percent (for the one-year FD).
iv.Criteria:
• To open FD through GPay, the users need to complete an Aadhaar-based KYC (know your customer) through
a one-time password (OTP).
• The users are enabled to open FD accounts even without having an account with the bank that is offering the
FD. (i.e. to open Equitas FD, the user no need to have a Savings Account in Equitas SFB).
v.Google Pay has 150 million monthly active users in India. FDs are the largest component of savings in India.
Fintechs and SFBs Partnership:
i.Nowadays, SFBs are partnering with Fintechs to offer high-interest savings accounts and FD.
ii.Recently, Equitas SFB has partnered with fintech such as NiYO and FREO (Moneytap) to offer its savings
accounts with interest rates of 7 percent for balances more than Rs 1 lakh. Click here to know more
iii.As per the regulations of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), SFBs need to lend at least 75 percent of its Adjusted
Net Bank Credit (ANBC) to priority sectors (compared with 40 percent for scheduled commercial banks).
• At least 50 percent of SFBs portfolios must consist of loans up to Rs 25 lakh.
Google Launched Kids Safety Programme ‘Be Internet Awesome’
Google partnered with comic book publisher Amar Chitra Katha and launched a kids safety programme
named ‘Be Internet Awesome’ to promote safe internet practices among children.
• The programme will be available in 8 Indian languages.
• Google plans to introduce a smartphone in partnership with Reliance Jio. The smartphone will have premium
security and malware protection.
Note – India has around 622 million internet users. In the 1st half of 2021, 13.9 billion app downloads were
reported and ~ 1 billion visits to the Google My Activity Page by users trying to check for possible cybercrime
attacks.

About Google:
Google Pay is a digital wallet platform and online payment system developed by Google.
Headquarters – California, United States
CEO – Sundar Pichai
Decimal Technologies & Ujjivan SFB Partners to Digitise Loan Origination with Saarathi
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (Ujjivan SFB) Limited has entered into partnership with Decimal Technologies,
India’s leading fintech firm, under which the Ujjivan SFB and its channel partners will use Saarathi, digital
lending platform of Decimal technologies.
This is the 1st ever banking tie up of Decimal technology in this model.
• This partnership will enable the Ujjivan SFB to digitize its loan sourcing through its sales force and Direct
Selling Agents(DSAs).
• This is a part of the efforts of USFB to strengthen its digital infrastructure.
Features of the partnership:
i.Under this partnership, Saarathi will enable a 100% digitisation of the loan offering by Ujjivan SFB, and provide
a simple user interface and assist to perform business operations amid COVID-19 lockdown.
ii.Saarathi is integrated with Credit Bureau, NSDL,Document verifications systems, Google Maps for geo-tagging,
bank statement analyser and others, to improve the efficiency of credit underwriting of Ujjivan SFB.
iii.Through this partnership, a robust digital infrastructure will be deployed for the transition loan processes from
manual to digital and help the bank to create digital financial solutions through Saarathi and to upgrade the loan
delivery process.
About Saarathi:
i.Saarathi is an Artificial Intelligence based ready to use digital lending platform specialised in digitisation of loan
origination. It was launched in 2020.
ii.Saarathi can be used by the sales channels of the banks to source loan files digitally.
iii.Saarathi does not need upfront capital investment and reduces the time to market by around 95% i.e, from 6-9
months to one week.
About Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited (Ujjivan SFB):
MD & CEO– Nitin Chugh (will step down from his post on 30th September 2021)
Officer on Special Duty (OSD)– Carol Furtado
LoanTap Collabarates with SBM Bank & Rupay to Launch 1st LIMITLESS Prepaid Card
LoanTap, a digital lender, launched its 1st LIMITLESS Credit line backed Prepaid Card in partnership
with SBM Bank (State Bank of Mauritius) as a Banking Partner and RuPay as the Payment Network.
• The card offers a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) facility and enables customers to convert their outstanding into
easy EMIs.
Features of LIMITLESS Card:
Credit limit range Rs 25,000 – Rs 3,00,000
Tenures 12 months – 60 months
Interest rate 18 – 24 percent per annum
Accidental Insurance up to Rs 10 Lakhs
Minimum income requirement for an individual Rs 30,000
Age 21 years and above
Citizenship Requirement Indian Citizens/Residents
Key Points:
i.The customers could avail the ‘LIMITLESS Credit line backed Card’ on LoanTap’s website. The mobile application
allows the customers to track their repayment schedule.
ii.LoanTap will offer top-up loans if the customers are regular with their repayments.
iii.LoanTap also assures smooth reconciliation, settlements, and enable transactions with merchants onboarded
on the Rupay network.
iv.LoanTap intends to tap more than 2 lakh LIMITLESS cards within December 2021.
v.With this card launch, LoanTap aims to empower around 450 million millennials financially.

vi.The LIMITLESS card launch strengthens LoanTap’s commitment to delivering fast, flexible, friendly personal
loans.
About LoanTap:
CEO and Co-Founder – Satyam Kumar
MeitY Startup Hub Sign MoU with Paytm to Support Deep-Tech Start-Ups
MeitY Startup Hub (MSH), under the aegis of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY) has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Paytm, a digital payment and financial technology, to support deep
tech startups.
Aim:
To create a deep tech startup ecosystem for Software as a service (SaaS), and app based startups built on deep-
tech platform technology like Artificial Intelligence(AI), Machine Learning, Cloud computing by providing support
for solution oriented innovators.
Features of the collaboration:
i.This partnership will scale deep tech startups by providing access to platform, knowledge series, experts,
resources and a community of stakeholders.
ii.The partnership aims to create a vibrant ecosystem for the startups through mentoring, technological
assistance, and go to market strategies.
iii.The partnership between Paytm and MSH will assist the Indian startups through access to mentorship,
networking and business opportunities.
Key Points:
The collaboration also focuses on
• Promoting partnerships with incubators, accelerators, investors
• Offering “Startup Toolkit” to solve Payments, Distribution and Growth challenges of early stage startups.
• Providing mentorship and guidance through a Unicorns talk series organised with an aim to inspire
entrepreneurs to build Unicorns out of India.
• Providing subsidized payment gateway services with a view to handhold the Startups in their business
journey.
About Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY):
Union Minister– Ashwini Vaishnaw (Rajya Sabha- Odisha)
Minister of State– Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Rajya Sabha- Karnataka)
About Paytm:
Paytm is owned by One97 Communications Limited.
Founder & CEO– Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Headquarters– Noida, Uttar Pradesh
India Extends USD 1 million aid to Zimbabwe to help tackle Climate Shocks
The government of India provides USD 1 million aid to Zimbabwe under United Nations World Food
Programme(WFP). This aid will help to tackle affected populations due to climate shocks.It will help in climate
resilient agriculture in Zimbabwe.
Main focus of Project-
Increasing small grain production and market access and combating climate shocks.
Note -United Nations declares 2023 International Year of Millets.
Highlights
• The help aid is being provided through India- United Nations Development Partnership Fund.This fund will
be used to provide support to more than 5200 farmers in Chiredzi and Mangwe districts.
• The WFP Zimbabwe is providing expertise through its Smallholder Agricultural Market Support(SAMS).
• The aid will support the people to build climate resilient infrastructure and ensuring food support reducing
recurring the negative effects of droughts.
• They would be able to cultivate drought-tolerant small grains and legumes.
Contribution of WFP:
i.WFP is collaborating with the expertise of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the
Ministry of Lands, Agriculture,Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement and Department of Agriculture Technical
and Extension Services(Agritex). These partners will procure small grain seeds from one country and deliver it to
small shareholders in marked districts of other countries.
ii.Between 2020-2021, WFP and partners have supported 60,000 smallholder farmers – 70 percent being female-
headed households, across 30 rural districts through small grain production activities in Zimbabwe.

About Zimbabwe-
Capital- Harare
Currency – Zimbabwean Dollar
President-Emmerson Mnangawa
IIMA Launched CDT in Partnership with Bank of America

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) has partnered with Bank of America to launch a Centre for
Digital Transformation (CDT).
Objective: To become a knowledge hub for academia, policymaking, and the private sector by facilitating digital
transformation and innovation research.
Key Points:
i.The CDT will strengthen the responsible digital framework in India. CDT is the 9th research centre to be set up
at IIMA.
ii.The CDT also set up an ‘Advisory Council on Responsible Digital Transformation’, which will be managed by
IIMA.
iii.The council will bring together leaders from academia, government and private sector to address the current
requirements in digitization.
iv.Members of Council: It includes Debjani Ghosh, President of NASSCOM; Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO of Tata
Consultancy Services, Nandan Nilekani, Non-executive Chairman of Infosys, Aditya Puri, Senior Advisor, The
Carlyle Group, etc.Dr. Ritu Agarwal, Senior Associate Dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the
University of Maryland;Dr. Vallabh Sambamurthy, Albert O. Nicholas Dean of the Wisconsin School of Business of
the University of WisconsinMadison.
v.Bank of America will act as a supporter of these initiatives.
vi.The advisory committee of the Centre is jointly chaired by Cathy Bessant (Chief Operations & Technology
Officer, Bank of America), and Founding Chair Dr. Pankaj Setia (Professor of Information Systems, IIMA). The
other members of the advisory committee include Professor Errol D’Souza (Director, IIMA); Sumeet Chabria
(Global Technology & Operations COO and Global Business Services Executive, Bank of America); Dr. Debjit Roy
(Professor, IIMA); and Dr. Ramayya Krishnan (Dean of Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University).
About Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA):
Chairman – Kumar Mangalam Birla
Location – Ahmedabad, Gujarat
FM Nirmala Sitharaman chairs 2nd BRICS Finance Ministers, Central Bank Governors meeting
Finance Minister(FM) of India, Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 2nd meeting of
BRICS(Brazil,Russia,India,China,and South Africa) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) along
with the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das under the Indian BRICS chairmanship.
Objective-
To maintain cooperation and maintain macroeconomic and tackle uncertainties arise due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Areas of discussion
• Emerging issues in the field of healthcare and building resilient infrastructure to fight against pandemics.
• Discussion on sharing of knowledge about building strong social infrastructure, enhancing digital technology
and service delivery.
Highlights
• The participants discussed the policies, experiences and measures provided in the Global Economic Outlook
report.
• Technical Report on Social Infrastructure: Financing and Use of Digital Technologies was given acceptance.
• The text of Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance(CMAA) related to custom matters was
also negotiated.
• RBI Governor, Shaktikanta Das chaired the discussion of issues related to Banks and their outcomes such as
financial inclusion, Contingent Reserve Arrangement(CRA) and Information Security Cooperation.
About the BRICS
Members- Brazil,Russia, India, China, and South Africa
2021 chair– India

Afcons Signed a $530-million Infrastructure Project in Maldives
Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, an infrastructure arm of Shapoorji Pallonji Group from India signed an agreement with
the Republic of Maldives for a $530 million infrastructure project named ‘Greater Male Connectivity Project’
(GMCP).
• GMCP project is the largest infrastructure project in the Maldives.
Key Points:
i.Funding: The project will be funded by the Exim Bank of India under the Indian grant and Line of Credit (LoC)
scheme.
• The project was funded through a grant of $100 million and a line of credit of $400 million from India.
• The total contract value of the project is $530 million with construction duration of 32 months.
i.The project will connect Male, the capital city of Maldives with adjoining islands of Villingli, Gulhifalhu and
Thilafushi through a 6.74-km-long bridge and causeway link.
• The bridge would connect the islands of Hulhumale, Hulhule and Male with the proposed Gulhifalhu Port and
the Thilafushi Industrial Zone.
ii.The bridge includes 3 navigation bridges of 140 metres across very deep channels between the islands, 1.41 km
of marine viaduct in deep water, 2.32-km marine viaduct in shallow water and land, and 2.96 km of at-grade
roads.
iii.The project will transform Maldives into a more developed and economically resilient nation.
iv.Other Projects of Afcons:
Different earlier projects constructed by Afcons include Atal Tunnel, the world’s longest highway tunnel 10,000 ft
above sea level, the world’s highest single-arch railway bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, etc.
About Afcons Infrastructure Ltd:
Managing Director – S Paramasivan
About Maldives:
Capital – Male
Currency – Maldivian rufiyaa
President – Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
Jana SFB Partnered with HCBL, Mysore Merchants Co-operative Banks to Offer Digital, Payment
Services
Jana Small Finance Bank (Jana SFB) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with HCBL Co-operative
Bank and Mysore Merchants Co-operative Bank under the bank sponsorship programme of the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI).
• Objective: To provide digital infrastructure and payments services to the Co-operative banks.
• Jana SFB will act as a Sponsor bank for both the co-operative banks.
• Recently, RBI permitted co-operative banks that are Core Banking Solution (CBS)-enabled, to issue ATM
cards/ATM-cum-debit cards in a tie-up with a sponsor bank through sponsorship programme.
Key Points:
i.This partnership marks the Jana SFB’s 1st partnership with co-operative banks to provide IMPS (Immediate
Payment Service) services.
ii.The partnership enables the HCBL Co-operative Bank and Mysore Merchants Co-operative Bank to extend ATM,
point of sale (PoS) and e-commerce services to its customers through Jana SFB.
iii.The co-operative banks will also provide RuPay debit cards to its customers in association with Jana SFB.
About Jana Small Finance Bank (Jana SFB):
Headquarters – Bengaluru, Karnataka
MD & CEO – Ajay Kanwal
SIDBI provides first approval under SCDF to TN Government

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has provided the first approval under SIDBI Cluster
Development Fund (SCDF) to the Tamil Nadu (TN) state government.
• The in-principle approval letter was handed over by Sivasubramanian Ramann, Chairman and Managing
Director, SIDBI at the assembly in the presence of TN chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin.
Key Points:
i.This fund will be utilized for direct benefit of the MSMEs (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) in Tamil Nadu.
ii.Under this, SIDBI will provide its customized direct lending products.

iii.On a need basis SIDBI will also support soft infrastructure issues in select clusters relating to technology,
skilling/upskilling, energy efficiency, market and credit connect
iv.A pilot project under SCDF has been launched in Ambattur, Chennai leather cluster.
Background:
The expert committee on MSMEs headed by Upendra Kumar Sinha has recommended an engagement of SIDBI
with state governments for MSME development using Priority Sector Shortfall (PSS) funds to create a low-cost
lending window for State Governments for infrastructure projects in clusters.
• Accordingly, SIDBI has set up Project Management Units (PMUs) in 11 states viz. Assam, Andhra Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu.
Establishment- 1990
Headquarter– Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
India Ranks 6th in the Global DeFi Adoption Index; US tops

The 1st Edition of the Global DeFi (Decentralised Finance) Adoption Index was released by Chainalysis.
• India ranked 6th place out of 154 countries. The United States topped the ranking followed by Vietnam
(2nd) & Thailand (3rd) respectively.
• Objective: It is designed to highlight countries with the highest grassroots adoption by individuals, rather
than those sending the largest raw values of funds.
• The index ranks 154 countries in 3 indicators namely On-chain DeFi value received, On-chain number of
DeFi deposits & On-chain retail DeFi value received.
• The countries are ranked based on the score from 0 (lowest) to 1 (highest)
DeFi (Decentralised Finance)
i.It is a blockchain-based form of finance that does not rely on central financial intermediaries such as
brokerages, exchanges, or banks to offer traditional financial instruments, and instead utilizes smart contracts
on blockchains, the most common being Ethereum.
ii.Popular types of DeFi protocols include decentralized exchanges and lending platforms.
Rank Country Score
6 Inia 0.59
1 United States 1
2 Vietnam 0.82
3 Thailand 0.68
4 China 0.62
5 United Kingdom 0.6
Key findings of the report:
i.DeFi adoption is strongest in high-income countries or countries that already had substantial cryptocurrency
usage, especially amongst traders and institutional investors.
• Countries like the United States, China, Vietnam, the UK, and several other Western European countries
are exemplifying these trends.
ii.Large transactions: The data shows that large transactions make up a much bigger share of DeFi activity,
suggesting that DeFi is mostly popular among bigger investors.
• Large institutional transactions, those above $10 million, accounted for over 60% of DeFi transactions in Q2
2021 compared with under 50% for all cryptocurrency transactions.
iii.Countries that have historically accounted for the most professional and institutional-sized cryptocurrency
transactions are also driving the most DeFi activity.
About Chainalysis
Chief Executive Officer – Michael Gronager
Headquarters – New York, United States of America
LIC launched Ananda Mobile App for Agents and Intermediaries

On August 24, 2021 Life Insurance Corporation(LIC) of India Chairman, Shri. M R Kumar launched Ananda
(Atma Nirbhar Agents New Business Digital Application) mobile app via video conferencing event in
Hyderabad, Telangana.

Purpose of the App- It works as a tool for the on-boarding process to get the life insurance policy via paperless
format.
Highlights –
• It is built on a paperless KYC( Know Your Customer) process using Aadhaar based e-authentication.
• It provides easy access to the agents and intermediaries to reach out to the prospective customers.
• The event was marked by an e-training video for the agents and process to operate the application.
• The app version was developed because of high level usage of the ANANDA module.
Features of the app
• It will be used for the registration of New LIC policies.
• With the help of the app only non-medical will be passed.
• The limit of maximum premium is Rs 1 lakh
• App was launched for LIC agents and intermediaries only.
About Life Insurance Corporation ( LIC)
Established- 1956
Chairperson– M R Kumar
Managing Director– Siddhartha Mohanty, Mukesh Kumar Gupta, Raj Kumar, Ipe Mini.
SEBI Banned Kotak Mahindra AMC from Launching FMP for 6 Months
In August 2021, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) banned Kotak Mahindra Asset Management
Company (AMC) Ltd from launching new Fixed Maturity Plan (FMP) schemes for the next 6 months and
imposed a penalty of Rs 50 lakh.
• Cause of the ban: The investors of certain FMPs launched by Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund were not paid
their full proceeds based on the declared Net Asset Value (NAV) as on their respective maturity dates.
IDBI Bank Divests its Entire 19.18% Stake in ARCIL

The board of Directors of IDBI Bank has approved to divest its entire stake – 19.18% in Asset Reconstruction
Company (India) Ltd (ARCIL). The board approved the proposal to sell its entire holdings of 6,23,23,800 fully
paid-up equity shares constituting 19.18% of the total equity share capital of ARCIL.
• In June 2021, the IDBI bank has invited bids for the takeover of its stake in ARCIL.
• ARCIL is sponsored by banks and financial institutions like Avenue India Resurgence Pte. Ltd., State Bank of
India (SBI), IDBI Bank Limited (IDBI), ICICI Bank Limited (ICICI) and Punjab National Bank (PNB).
About ARCIL:
CEO & MD– Pallav Mohapatra
About IDBI Bank:
MD & CEO- Rakesh Sharma
Max Life Partnered with BillDesk to Becomes 1st Insurer To Enable e-mandate for Premium
Payment
Max Life Insurance has partnered with Billdesk, a payment gateway solution provider for safe and secure E-
mandante process on premium payment procedures.Max Life is now became the first life insurer to provide such
facility of e-mandate to its customers.
Objective- To enhance digital facility and provide digital premium payments capability to its customers.
Background:
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its recent circular provided that recurring transactions using debit cards,
credit cards, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), or other prepaid payment instruments (PPIs), through e-
mandate shall require additional factor authentication (AFA).Debit authentication/ AFA would be required
for every recurring transaction for an amount of more than Rs. 5000.
Key Points:
i.With the above Notification, the Billdesk will send a pre-transaction notification to the customer at least 24
hours before the actual charge or debit.
• The Max Life customers now have the option to choose the maximum amount from e-payment for longer
tenure.

• This would allow them to have better control over recurring transactions.
ii.Facilities Provided- Online payments, payments through phone, cheque pick- up facility, payment by auto-
debit etc
About Max Life Insurance
Chief Executive Officer– Prashant Tripathy
Banking, Finance & Economy Q&A: August 2021

1. As per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment Bill), 2021 - The minimum threshold for
initiating pre-packaged insolvency resolution has been increased to ___________.
1) Rs 10 crore
2) Rs 5 crore
3) Rs 1 crore
4) Rs 50 lakhs
5) Rs 10 lakhs
Answer- 3) Rs 1 crore
Explanation:
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment Bill), 2021 was passed in the Parliament without any
discussions. The bill proposes a pre-packaged insolvency resolution process for Corporate debtors under the
MSME Development Act.
i.The bill specifies a minimum threshold of not more than INR 1 crore for initiating the pre-packaged insolvency
resolution process
2. Indian MSME Sector Loans witnessed a growth of 40% to Rs.9.5 lakh crore in FY21, as per “MSME Pulse
Report”. Name the organisation that released the report.
1) SIDBI
2) Transunion-Cibil
3) CARE Ratings
4) Both 1 & 2
5) Both 2 & 3
Answer- 4) Both 1 & 2
Explanation:
As per the report released by SIDBI and Transunion-Cibil, “Sidbi - TransUnion Cibil MSME Pulse Report”, the
value of new loans disbursed to the MSME sector in FY21 (COVID-19 period) was Rs.9.5 lakh crore, 40% higher
than Rs.6.8 lakh crore in FY20 (pre-COVID-19 period).
3. In which Indian Company did Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS) acquired a
19.4% stakes (in July’21) from International Finance Corporation?
1) Azure Power
2) ReNew Power
3) Tata Power Solar
4) Indosolar
5) Jinko Solar
Answer- 1) Azure Power
Explanation:
Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS) acquired a 19.4% stake in Azure Power Global for
$219 million from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC).

4. Name the organisation that recently (in July’21) signed an MoU with Indian Bank towards “IND Spring
Board” - a loan scheme for Startups & Small Business.
1) IIT Madras
2) IIT Bombay
3) IIT Delhi
4) IIT Guwahati
5) IISc Bangalore
Answer- 2) IIT Bombay
Explanation:
Indian Bank signed a MoU with the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay to provide
a credit facility to the startups and small businesses through its loan product ‘IND Spring Board’.
5. In August 2021, _____________ launched ‘SIM Binding’ feature to its mobile app ________ to restrict customers
to 1 user/device
1) State Bank of India; iMobile Pay
2) ICICI Bank; iMobile Pay
3) State Bank of India; YONO
4) ICICI Bank; YONO
5) Canara Bank; CANDI
Answer- 3) State Bank of India; YONO
Explanation:
State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a ‘SIM Binding’ feature in its digital banking platform YONO (You Only
Need One), YONO Lite. The technology allows Only one user per device with a Registered Mobile Number (RMN).
About SBI:
6. In August 2021, the 15th Finance Commission recommended a performance-based challenge fund of
________/state to ____ states for incubating a New City.
1) Rs 100 crores; 10
2) Rs 500 crore; 8
3) Rs 1000 crore; 10
4) Rs 500 crore; 10
5) Rs 1000 crore; 8
Answer- 5) Rs 1000 crore; 8
Explanation:
The 15th Finance Commission, in its latest report, has recommended a performance-based challenge fund of Rs
8,000 crore to 8 states for incubation of new cities. The amount available for each proposed new city is Rs 1,000
crore and a state can have only one new city under the proposed scheme.
i.As per RBI, the total amount of unclaimed deposits of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) was Rs. 24,356
crores, as on July 31, 2020.
7. Which became the 1st Digital Investment platform to introduce UPI based AutoPay functionality for its
Mutual Fund Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs)?
1) Paytm
2) Groww
3) Zerodha
4) PhonePe
5) Moneycontrol
Answer- 4) PhonePe

Explanation:
PhonePe launched the UPI based AutoPay functionality for its Mutual Fund (MF) Systematic Investment Plans
(SIPs) offerings, becoming the 1st digital investment platform in India to introduce such a feature.
About PhonePe:
Establishment – 2015, Flipkart acquires PhonePe in 2016
CEO – Sameer Nigam
8. On which company was directed for a forensic audit by SEBI for allegations on financial irregularities?
1) Metropolitan Stock Exchange
2) National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange
3) National Securities Depository Limited
4) Universal Commodity Exchange
5) Indian Commodity Exchange Limited
Answer- 1) Metropolitan Stock Exchange
Explanation:
SEBI ordered a forensic audit into the workings of the Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSEI) Ltd, on
allegations of mismanagement and financial irregularities.
9. Who was appointed (in Aug’21) as the 25th Controller General of Accounts (CGA)?
1) Rajiv Mehrishi
2) Soma Roy Burman
3) Deepak Das
4) Girish Chandra Murmu
5) Shashi Kant Sharma
Answer- 3) Deepak Das
Explanation:
Government of India appointed Deepak Das, as the 25th Controller General of Accounts (CGA) under the Ministry
of Finance, Department of Expenditure.
10. Identify the points that are correctly related to “e-RUPI” - a digital payment solution launched by the
Prime minister in August 2021.
A) It is a One-time generatable Digital Payment Voucher developed by NPCI to facilitate ease in Direct
Benefit Transfer by government
B) Digital Voucher consisting of QR code or SMS-string will be sent to the beneficiaries registered mobile
number
C) At present, there are 11 banks registered with the e-RUPI service of NPCI
1) All A, B & C
2) Only B & C
3) Only A & C
4) Only B
5) Only C
Answer- 1) All A, B & C
Explanation:
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi virtually launched a prepaid electronic voucher-based digital payment
solution e-RUPI to strengthen the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of benefits from govt.
i.e-RUPI, a one-time cashless & contactless digital payment vouchers were developed by the National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI)
ii.e-RUPI e-Voucher/coupon will be sent in the form of SMS-string or QR code to the beneficiaries’ registered
mobile, which can be used for receiving money.
iii.The e-RUPI service was boarded into 11 banks (both private and public) as an issuing entity.

11. To boost the rural penetration of ‘SahiPay’, Manipal Business Solutions has partnered with which
insurance company?
1) Liberty General Insurance
2) Bharti AXA General Insurance
3) Future Generali India
4) Reliance General Insurance
5) SBI General Insurance
Answer- 5) SBI General Insurance
Explanation:
SBI General Insurance collaborated with Manipal Business Solutions, the promoter of SahiPay to expand its
non-life penetration in rural areas.
• Prakash Chandra Kandpal is the MD & CEO of SBI General Insurance
12. What is the revised minimum application value (as of Aug’21) of Real Estate Investment Trusts
(REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs)?
1) Rs 15,000 - Rs 25,000
2) Rs 10,000 - Rs 50,000
3) Rs 50,000 - Rs 1 lakh
4) Rs 50,000 - Rs 75,000
5) Rs 10,000 - Rs 15,000
Answer- 5) Rs 10,000 - Rs 15,000
Explanation:
SEBI reduced the minimum application value of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure
investment trusts (InvITs) to the range of Rs 10,000-15,000 from earlier requirement of Rs 50,000 for REITs
and Rs 1 lakh for InvITs.
13. Which bank was appointed by RBI (in Aug’21) as “Agency Bank” to facilitate Government
related transactions?
1) IndusInd Bank
2) Federal Bank
3) CSB Bank
4) IDFC FIRST Bank
5) Standard Chartered
Answer- 1) IndusInd Bank
Explanation:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has empanelled IndusInd Bank, the private sector lender, as an ‘Agency Bank’
to facilitate transactions related to government businesses.
About IndusInd Bank:
MD & CEO – Sumant Kathpalia
14. Name the Small Finance Bank (SFB) launched - ‘Health and Wellness Savings Account’ a savings
account to support medical emergencies
1) Suryoday SFB
2) AU SFB
3) Equitas SFB
4) Ujjivan SFB
5) Jana SFB
Answer- 1) Suryoday SFB

Explanation:
Suryoday Small Finance Bank (SSFB) has launched a Savings Account named ‘Health and Wellness Savings
Account’ to support under medical emergencies.
15. Which bank was honoured with the Digital Banking Awards 2021 by ‘The Banker’?
1) Citibank
2) HSBC Bank
3) DBS Bank
4) CSB Bank
Answer- 3) DBS Bank
Explanation:
The Banker, a Financial Times publication has honoured DBS Bank, as the Global and Asia-Pacific winner for the
Most Innovative in Digital Banking, at its Innovation in Digital Banking Awards 2021.
16. Identify the points that are correctly related to the recent (in Aug’21) initiatives of RBI on Payment
System Operators’ (PSO)
A) RBI allowed Non-bank POS to Outsource data on Payment and Settlement-related Activities to service
providers
B) Core management functions such as risk management are still under restriction for outsourcing
C) RBI imposed a penalty of Rs 6 lakh on Hewlett-Packard Financial Services, for non-compliance on
submission of credit information to Central Repository of Information on Large Credits
1) Only C
2) Only A & C
3) All A, B & C
4) Only B & C
5) Only B
Explanation:
RBI issued the framework to non-bank Payment System Operators’ (PSOs) Outsourcing of Payment and
Settlement-related Activities (including onboarding customers, IT-based services, etc) to service providers.
i.The frameworks are applicable to a service provider, located in India or abroad.
ii.RBI restricted the PSO’s from outsourcing Core management functions such as risk management,
information technology & information security management, internal audit, and determining compliance with
KYC norms.
iii.RBI imposed a penalty of Rs 6 lakh on Hewlett-Packard Financial Services, for non-compliance on
submission of credit information to Central Repository of Information on Large Credits.
17. In August 2021, Asian Development Bank provided USD 112 million worth financial assistance for
Urban Water Supply Infrastructure Projects in Which state?
1) Madhya Pradesh
2) Chhattisgarh
3) Odisha
4) Jharkhand
5) Assam
Answer- 4) Jharkhand
Explanation:
Asian Development Bank has sanctioned loans worth USD 112 million to finance Urban Water Supply
Infrastructure Projects in 4 towns (Ranchi, Hussainabad, Jhumri Telaiya and Medininagar) of Jharkhand.

About Jharkhand:
Governor – Ramesh Bais
National Park – Betla NP
18. Which of the following types of financial institution was allowed by SEBI to perform the functions of
investment bankers?
1) Small Finance Banks
2) Payment Banks
3) Insurance Companies
4) Both 1 & 2
5) All 1, 2 & 3
Answer- 2) Payment Banks
Explanation:
SEBI allowed Payments Banks to carry out the activities of investment bankers in order to ease the access for
investors to participate in public and rights issues by using various payment avenues.
19. Name the Insurance provider who recently integrated their system with NPCI’s UPI AutoPay platform
to provide instant automated recurring premium payments services.
1) Edelweiss General Insurance
2) ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
3) Bharti AXA General Insurance
4) SBI Life Insurance
5) Digit General Insurance
Answer- 2) ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
Explanation:
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India
(NPCI) and integrated NPCI’s UPI AutoPay platform into its system to enable its customers to make instant
automated recurring premium payments of insurance policies.
20. In August 2021, _______ became India’s 1st education financing platform to receive licence for Non-
Banking Financial Company (NBFC) from RBI
1) Shiksha Finance
2) GyanDhan
3) Lendingkart
4) Afinoz
5) Credenc
Answer- 2) GyanDhan
Explanation:
GyanDhan, India’s 1st education financing platform, has received a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC)
license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
i.As per RBI guidelines, NBFC’s should have a minimum net owned funds of Rs 2 Crore.
21. Identify the bank that recently (in Aug’21) signed an MoU with Andhra Pradesh government to finance
its ‘Fish Andhra’ scheme
1) Canara Bank
2) Indian Overseas Bank
3) Bank of Baroda
4) Punjab National Bank
5) Axis Bank
Answer- 3) Bank of Baroda

Explanation:
Bank of Baroda (BoB) has signed an MoU with Andhra Pradesh Government to assist & finance the entire 14,000
beneficiaries for setting up Aqua Units under AP Government’s ‘Fish Andhra’ scheme.
About Bank of Baroda:
MD & CEO – Sanjiv Chadha
Headquarters – Vadodara, Gujarat
Founded – 20 July 1908
Tagline – India’s International Bank
22. Who was appointed (in Aug’21) as the new Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation(LIC) of
India?
1) Mini Ipe
2) Vipin Anand
3) M R Kumar
4) Siddhartha Mohanty
5) Manjushree Khaitan
Answer- 1) Mini Ipe
Explanation:
The government of India has appointed Mini Ipe as the new Managing Director of the Life Insurance
Corporation(LIC) of India. She will replace Vipin Anand, who has retired in July 2021.
About LIC:
Chairman– M R Kumar
23. Which financial institution agreed to provide USD 250 million loan to India for the 2nd Dam
Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP-2) project?
1) World Bank
2) International Monetary Fund
3) Asian Development Bank
4) New Development Bank
5) Both 1 & 3
Answer- 1) World Bank
Explanation:
The Government of India has signed a US $250 million loan agreement with the World Bank for the 2nd Dam
Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP-2), the world’s largest dam management program.
About World Bank:
President – David R. Malpass
Headquarters – Washington DC, USA
24. Which organisation partnered with Central Warehousing Corporation (in Aug’21) to provide storage
facilities to Farmers Producer Organisation (FPOs) at lower rates?
1) SIDBI
2) NABARD
3) Food Corporation of India
4) FSSAI
5) NITI Aayog
Answer- 2) NABARD
Explanation:
NABARD partnered with the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) through the NABFoundation, to offer
storage facilities for the Farmers Producer Organisation (FPOs) at lower rates for the next 5 years.

25. What is the timeline fixed by RBI (in Aug’21) for Banks to implement the revised rules on opening
current accounts?
1) 30th October 2021
2) 15th August 2021
3) 31st August 2021
4) 30th September 2021
5) 15th October 2021
Answer- 1) 30th October 2021
Explanation:
RBI extended the timeline for Banks to implement the revised rules on opening current accounts to 3 months till
October 30, 2021.
26. Identify the organisation that partnered with SBI Payments to include ‘e-RUPI’ transaction feature in
Yono SBI Merchant app
1) Continental Exchange Solutions
2) Appnit Technologies
3) Hitachi Payment Services
4) MoneyGram Payment Systems
5) Euronet Services India
Answer- 3) Hitachi Payment Services
Explanation:
SBI Payments partnered with Hitachi Payment Services to introduce e-RUPI transaction feature on the Yono
SBI Merchant app.
27. In which month India witnessed its Highest ever Monthly merchandise export level of USD 35.17
billion for the 1st time?
1) July 2021
2) April 2021
3) June 2021
4) January 2021
5) March 2021
Answer- 1) July 2021
Explanation:
In July 2021, India recorded the highest ever monthly merchandise export. The merchandise exports in July 2021
increased by 47.91% to USD 35.17 billion from USD 23.78 billion in July 2020.
28. In August 2021, RBI approved the reappointment of Prakash Chandra as the non-executive Chairman
of Which bank?
1) Kotak Mahindra Bank
2) Federal Bank
3) CSB Bank
4) RBL Bank
5) Canara Bank
Answer- 4) RBL Bank
Explanation:
RBI approved the reappointment of Prakash Chandra as the non-executive Chairman of the RBL Bank for a
period of 3 years with effect from 3rd August 2021.

29. In August 2021, Carlyle group’s Pluto Investments got approval from CCI to invest Rs 4000 crore and
become the majority stakeholder of which organisation?
1) Gic Housing Finance
2) PNB Housing Finance Limited
3) LIC Housing Finance Limited
4) Housing Development Finance Corporation
5) Repco Home Finance
Answer- 2) PNB Housing Finance Limited
Explanation:
i.Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of equity shares in PNB Housing Finance
Limited (PNBHFL) by Pluto Investments, an entity of Carlyle Group and Salisbury Investments Private Limited,
under the Green channel facility.
• With this investment of Rs 4000 crore, Carlyle group is the majority shareholder of PNBHFL.
ii.CA Emerald Investments, an affiliate of Carlyle Asia Partners, is exiting the SBI Life Insurance Company (SBI
Life) by selling the remaining 1.9% Stake worth Rs 2,160 crore through the stock exchange platform.
30. In August 2021, IMF approved its highest ever Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) allocation of _________, to
boost the global liquidity.
1) USD 450 billion
2) USD 250 billion
3) USD 650 billion
4) USD 550 billion
5) USD 350 billion
Answer- 3) USD 650 billion
Explanation:
In order to boost global liquidity and to curb COVID-19 impact, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved
a general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) equivalent to US$650 billion in August 2021. It is the
largest SDR allocation in the history of the IMF.
About IMF:
Managing Director– Kristalina Georgieva
31. Which bank partnered (in Aug’21) with the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) to provide
financial assistance to the fisheries sector?
1) IndusInd Bank
2) Bank of India
3) Canara Bank
5) Indian Overseas Bank
Answer- 4) Punjab National Bank
Explanation:
National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) signed a MoU with Punjab National Bank (PNB) to extend
financial assistance to the fisheries sector.
i.PNB also inaugurated PNB@Ease outlet (EASE Banking Outlet) at Hyderabad, Telangana.
32. What are the points that are correctly related to the outcomes of the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee
that decided on the 3rd bi-monthly monetary policy of FY22?
A) The Policy rates were kept unchanged for the 3rd consecutive time & still the Repo Rate is kept at
3.35%
B) Rs 1 trillion worth liquidity support scheme - Targeted Long Term Repo Operations (TLTRO) on Tap
Scheme was extended till 31st December 2021

C) 2 auctions of Rs 25,000 crore on G-sec Acquisition Programme will be conducted in August 2021
1) All A, B & C
2) Only B & C
3) Only C
4) Only A & B
5) Only B
Answer- 2) Only B & C
Explanation:
i.The Policy rates were kept unchanged for the 7th consecutive time and still the Repo Rate is kept at 4.00%
ii.RBI has extended the Targeted Long Term Repo Operations (TLTRO) on Tap Scheme by a period of three
months, i.e., till December 31, 2021. TLTRO targets to provide liquidity support worth Rs 1 trillion to various
sectors and banks
iii.RBI decided to conduct 2 auctions of Rs 25,000 crore each in August 2021, under G-SAP 2.0 (G-sec Acquisition
Programme).
33. What are the points that are correctly related to the outcomes of the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee
(MPC) that decided on the 3rd bi-monthly monetary policy of FY22?
A) MPC retained India’s real GDP growth projection for FY22 at 12.5%
B) Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation was projected at 6.1% in FY22
C) LIBOR transition Guidelines were amended to permitted banks to extend Pre-Shipment Credit in
Foreign Currency (PCFC) to exporters prior to shipment
1) All A, B & C
2) Only B & C
3) Only C
4) Only A & B
5) Only B
Answer- 3) Only C
Explanation:
i. MPC retained India’s real GDP growth projection for FY22 at 9.5%
ii.Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation was projected at 5.7% in FY22
iii.RBI Amended LIBOR transition Guidelines, and permitted banks to extend Pre-Shipment Credit in Foreign
Currency (PCFC) to exporters prior to shipment with widely accepted ARRs
34. In August 2021, ___ Banks acquired 5.55% equity stakes each in _______________
1) 6; Indian Banks’ Blockchain Infrastructure Company
4) 12; International Financial Services Centre
5) 6; International Financial Services Centre
Answer- 1) 6; Indian Banks’ Blockchain Infrastructure Company
Explanation:
6 Banks - State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Indian Bank, Yes Bank, IDBI Bank, and ICICI Bank have brought Equity
Stakes in Financial Technology Platform IBBIC (Indian Banks’ Blockchain Infrastructure Company).
i.The 6 Banks have picked up 5.55% stake each, representing 50,000 shares in IBBIC, for cash at INR 5 lakh each.
35. In August 2021, SEBI introduced the concept of “Accredited Investors” (AI) in indian Securities Market
as a new channel for raising funds.
A) Individuals with an annual income of at least Rs 10 crore can become an Accredited Investor
B) Accreditation Agencies shall have a Minimum of 20 years’ experience in Indian Securities Market with
a minimum net worth of Rs 200 crores
C) SEBI has also reduced the Minimum investment amount for AIs to less than Rs 1 crore.

1) All A, B & C
2) Only C
3) Only B & C
4) Only B
5) Only A & C
Explanation:
SEBI introduced the concept of ‘Accredited investors’ in the Indian securities market to open up a new channel
for raising funds.
i.Criterias for Individuals, HUFs, Family Trusts and sole proprietorships to get accredited as AI shall have an
annual income of at least Rs 2 Crore
ii.Eligibility Criteria for Accreditation Agencies: They need to have – a minimum 20 years of presence in the
Indian securities market, Investor Service Centers (ISCs) in at least 20 cities, and a minimum net worth of Rs 200
crores.
iii.Minimum investment: Now SEBI has enabled the AIs to invest less than Rs 1 crore in the AIF.
36. Identify the points that are correctly related to the recent (in Aug’21) amendments made by SEBI:
A) Asset Management Companies are directed to invest 1% of the amount raised in the New Fund Offer
(NFO) or Rs 50 lakh, whichever is less in the MF schemes.
B) The minimum lock-in period for Promoters has been increased from 18 months to 3 years
C) Category I AIF – Venture Capital Funds were directed to invest at least 75% in companies listed on a
Small and Medium Enterprises exchange
1) All A, B & C
2) Only C
3) Only B & C
4) Only B
5) Only A & C
Answer- 5) Only A & C
Explanation:
In August 2021, SEBI made amendments and frameworks related to Accredited Investors, mutual fund (MF)
regulations, Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) and others.
i.Amended the SEBI (Mutual Funds (MF)) Regulations, 1996, and directed Asset Management Companies (AMCs)
to invest 1% of the amount raised in the New Fund Offer (NFO) or Rs 50 lakh, whichever is less in the MF
schemes.
ii.The lock-in period for promoters’ shareholding of minimum promoters’ contribution was reduced from 3
years to 18 months – Only if the IPO is entirely an offer for sale or where 50 percent of the issue proceeds are
not meant for capital expenditure.
iii.As per the amendments, the Category I AIF – Venture Capital Funds (VCFs) was directed to invest at least 75%
of investable funds in unlisted equity-linked instruments of venture capital undertakings/companies listed on a
Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) exchange
37. Identify the organisation that partnered with Indian Bank (in Aug’21) to fund Startups under Indian
Bank’s ‘Ind Spring Board’ Scheme
1) IISc Bangalore
2) IIT Roorkee
3) IIT New Delhi
4) IIM Ahmedabad
5) IIM Bangalore
Answer- 5) IIM Bangalore

Explanation:
Indian Bank has signed an MoU with NSRCEL, the entrepreneurship Centre of Excellence at the IIM Bangalore to
provide funding for identified startups under Indian Bank’s ‘Ind Spring Board’ Scheme.
About Indian Bank:
Established - 1907
Headquarters – Chennai
MD & CEO – Padmaja Chumduru
38. Name the organisation that partnered with UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office to
launch the Entrepreneurship promotion scheme - “Swavalamban Challenge Fund”
1) EXIM Bank
2) NABARD
3) SIDBI
4) LIC
5) IDBI Bank
Answer- 3) SIDBI
Explanation:
SIDBI in collaboration with Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, United Kingdom (FCDO UK) has
launched the Swavalamban Challenge Fund (SCF) to promote entrepreneurship.
39. In August 2021, Asian Development Bank approved a financial assistance of $300 million for
improving rural road infrastructure in which state?
1) Telangana
2) Gujarat
3) Odisha
4) Bihar
5) Maharashtra
Answer- 5) Maharashtra
Explanation:
Asian Development Bank approved an additional financing of a $300 million loan for the ongoing
Maharashtra Rural Connectivity Improvement Project that is upgrading rural roads to all-weather conditions
40. Which organisation partnered (in Aug’21) with Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) to
enhance research efforts of IBBI?
1) SEBI
2) IRDAI
3) National Stock Exchange
4) Bombay Stock Exchange
5) SIDBI
Answer- 3) National Stock Exchange
Explanation:
National Stock Exchange (NSE) partnered with Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) to enhance
research efforts in the area of insolvency and bankruptcy.
• NSE was Establishment in 1992
41. Which bank recently (in Aug’21) became the Agency Bank of RBI to carry out transactions on revenue
receipts?
1) IndusInd Bank
2) HDFC Bank
3) Karnataka Bank

4) Karur Vysya Bank
5) City Union Bank
Answer- 3) Karnataka Bank
Explanation:
RBI empanelled Karnataka Bank as the ‘Agency Bank’ to facilitate transactions related to government
businesses. RBI has allowed Karnataka Bank to handle transactions related to revenue receipts on behalf of the
state/central govt.
42. Who recently (in Aug’21) became the CEO of BOI AXA Investment Managers?
1) Mini Ipe
2) Anthony Heredia
3) Sandeep Dasgupta
4) Atanu Kumar Das
5) Rajiv Gauba
Answer- 2) Anthony Heredia
Explanation:
Anthony Heredia has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BOI AXA Investment Managers
Private Limited (BAIM). He will succeed Sandeep Dasgupta.
43. Which bank recently (in Aug’21) signed a co-lending partnership with Dhanvarsha Finvest Ltd to offer
Gold loans to MSME borrowers under priority sector lending?
2) Canara Bank
3) Central Bank of India
4) Federal Bank
5) State Bank of India
Answer- 3) Central Bank of India
Explanation:
Central Bank of India (CBoI) and Dhanvarsha Finvest Ltd (DFL) entered into a strategic co-lending partnership to
offer loans against gold ornaments under priority sector lending to MSME borrowers.
About Central Bank of India:
1st Indian commercial bank that was wholly owned and managed by Indians.
MD & CEO – M. V. Rao
44. In August 2021, SEBI amended the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR))
Regulations, 2015.
What are the points that are correctly related to the amendment?
A) Independent Directors (IDs) shall be appointed or removed only through a special resolution passed
by the company’s shareholders
B) The Nomination & Remuneration Committee has been extended to include 2/3rd of the Total IDs
C) A cooling-off period of 1 year has been introduced for transitioning of an ID to a whole-time director in
the same company
1) Only C
2) Only A & B
3) Only B
4) Only A & C
5) All A, B & C

Explanation:
SEBI amended the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR)) Regulations, 2015. The
amendments changed certain norms related to the process of appointment/removal of Independent directors
(IDs).
i.Appointment/Re-appointment and Removal of IDs were now directed to be made only through a special
resolution of shareholders.
ii.The composition of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) has been modified to include
2/3rd IDs instead of the current requirement of 50 percent of IDs.
iii.A cooling-off period of 1 year has been introduced for an ID transitioning to a whole-time director (WTD) in
the same company.
45. In August 2021, RBI increased the Collateral free loan for __________ under the DAY- National Rural
Livelihoods Mission to ______________.
1) Self Help Groups; Rs 10 lakhs
2) MSME Sector; Rs 20 lakhs
3) Farmer Producer Organisations; Rs 10 lakhs
4) MSME Sector; Rs 10 lakhs
5) Self Help Groups; Rs 20 lakhs
Answer- 5) Self Help Groups; Rs 20 lakhs
Explanation:
The collateral free loans to self-help groups (SHGs) provided under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural
Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) have been enhanced to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh by RBI.
i.In April 2011, the Ministry of Rural Development launched the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM)
46. What is the utility ‘Equitech’ - a fintech accelerator programme launched by Equitas Small Finance
Bank?
1) Assist MSME Exporters
2) Promote Start-up Ecosystem
3) Financially Support Medical Equipment manufacturers
4) Loans to Marginal farmers
5) Financial assistance for IT exporters
Answer- 2) Promote Start-up Ecosystem
Explanation:
In August 2021, the Equitas Small Finance Bank (SFB) launched ‘Equitech’, a fintech accelerator programme for
the start-up entrepreneur’s ecosystem.
About Equitas SFB:
47. Identify the organisation(s) that recently (in Aug’21) signed an MoU with GIFT-IFSC to create
awareness among Indian & foreign insurance companies on projects of GIFT-IFSC
1) IRDAI
2) IFCI Ltd
3) India InsurTech Association
4) Both 1 & 2
5) All 1, 2 & 3
Answer- 3) India InsurTech Association
Explanation:
India Insurtech Association (IIA) signed an MoU with International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT
(Gujarat International Finance Tec) City, (GIFT-IFSC) to create awareness on the projects of GIFT-IFSC among
Indian & foreign insurance companies.

48. Which organisation partnered (in Aug’21) with Asian Development Bank for a $1 million project
towards reducing India’s Carbon emission?
1) Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services
2) Dewan Housing Finance Corporation
3) LIC Housing Finance
4) Poonawalla Fincorp
5) IIFL Home Finance
Answer- 5) IIFL Home Finance
Explanation:
Asian Development Bank joined hands with price housing financier IIFL (India Infoline) Home Finance Ltd,
subsidiary of IIFL home finance to reduce carbon emissions and preserve water and vitality in India.
i.The total cost of the project is $1 million, which will be provided by ADB.
49. Who will be benefited through ‘Honour First’ - a special savings account launched by IDFC FIRST Bank?
1) Front Line Workers
2) Indian Sports persons
3) Indian Army
4) Indian Navy
5) Journalists
Answer- 4) Indian Navy
Explanation:
IDFC FIRST Bank signed an MoU with the Indian Navy to offer the special defence savings account named
‘Honour FIRST’ for the serving personnel and veterans of the Indian Navy.
50. Name the trading firm that became the 1st Official International Network Carrier of NSE International
Exchange.
1) HSBC
2) Morgan Stanley
3) BSO
4) Barclays PLC
5) UBS
Answer- 3) BSO
Explanation:
NSE International Exchange (NSE IFSC) Ltd has appointed BSO, a global pioneering infrastructure and
connectivity provider as its 1st official international approved connectivity partner i.e. International Network
Carrier (INC).
51. Which company was appointed as cloud computing partner (in Aug’21) by RBL Bank to provide
Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based Banking Solutions?
1) Amazon Web Services
2) Google
3) Tata Communications
4) CypherCloud
5) Digital Ocean
Answer- 1) Amazon Web Services
Explanation:
RBL Bank has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Cloud Computing arm of Amazon as its Preferred Cloud
Provider to strengthen its Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based Banking Solutions

52. Which organisation(s) signed an MoU (in Aug’21) with the North Eastern Development Finance
Corporation to promote entrepreneurship in the North Eastern states of India?
1) North East Small Finance Bank
2) Federation of Industries of North Eastern Region
3) North East Handicrafts & Handlooms Corporation
4) Both 1 & 2
5) Both 1 & 3
Answer- 2) Federation of Industries of North Eastern Region
Explanation:
North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) has signed an MoU with Federation of Industries of
North Eastern Region (FINER) to promote entrepreneurship, generate employment and create empowerment of
weaker sections.
53. Who was appointed (in Aug’21) as the ambassador of RBI’s awareness Campaign on Digital Banking
Frauds?
1) Rajkumar Rao
2) Mirabai Chanu
3) Neeraj Chopra
4) Ayushmann Khurrana
5) PV Sindhu
Answer- 3) Neeraj Chopra
Explanation:
RBI roped in Olympic gold medalist, Athlete (Javelin) Neeraj Chopra for its new public awareness campaign
against digital banking frauds.
Cashify, formerly ReGlobe, the trademark of Manak Waste Management Private Limited, has appointed Bollywood
actor Rajkumar Rao as its first brand ambassador.
54. Name the organisation that partnered (in Aug’21) with Jammu and Kashmir Gramin Bank to finance
over 1000 Joint Liability Groups (JLG)
1) NABARD
3) EXIM Bank
4) Only 1 & 3
5) Only 1 & 2
Answer- 5) Only 1 & 2
Explanation:
NABARD signed an MoU with the State Bank of India & Jammu and Kashmir Gramin Bank (JKGB) in the Union
Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and the UT of Ladakh.
i.To finance 1000 Joint Liability Groups (JLG) and to enhance the flow of credit to tenant farmers, oral lessees,
sharecroppers, Small and Marginal farmers
About NABARD:
Chairman – G.R. Chintala
55. Identify the Financial institution that launched “Digital Prayaas” - a digital platform to provide loans
to entrepreneurs from low income groups
1) NABARD
2) IDBI Bank
3) Industrial Investment Bank of India
4) SIDBI

5) ECGC
Answer- 4) SIDBI
Explanation:
SIDBI launched ‘Digital Prayaas’ an App based end to end digital lending tool platform to sanction loans to
entrepreneurs from low income groups by the end of the day.
i.SIDBI also partnered with BigBasket to provide loans at an affordable interest rate to the youths in urban areas
for the purchase of e-vehicles.
56. Which is the 1st Bank in India to register 1 crore FASTags users?
1) Jio Payments Bank
3) ICICI Bank
4) Paytm Payments Bank
5) HDFC Bank
Answer- 4) Paytm Payments Bank
Explanation:
Paytm Payments Bank became the 1st bank in India to achieve the milestone of issuing 1 crore FASTags. It has
~28 percent share as FASTag issuer bank.
57. Which bank was selected as the implementing partner by Punjab for its new online water bill payment
system for villages?
2) Canara Bank
3) HDFC bank
5) IndusInd Bank
Answer- 3) HDFC bank
Explanation:
The State Government of Punjab is all set to introduce an online payment system for water supply bills in all of its
villages in a phased manner. This system is being implemented in collaboration with HDFC bank.
58. Which is the 1st Indian Cryptocurrency Exchange to become a Unicorn Company?
1) CoinDCX
2) WazirX
3) Binance
4) Coinbase
5) Bitstamp
Answer- 1) CoinDCX
Explanation:
CoinDCX has become the first Indian cryptocurrency exchange to grab the title of ‘unicorn’ with valuation to $1.1
billion (Rs 8,150 crore). The exchange achieved this status after a $90-million (Rs 668 crore) Series-C funding
round, led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital.
59. Name the organisation that partnered (in Aug’21) with SBM Bank India for financing agri-traders and
agri-entrepreneurs
1) ProConnect Supply Chain Solutions
2) Arya Collateral Warehousing Services
3) Self Storage Warehouse India
4) Nedlloyd Logistics India
5) Right Warehousing Solutions
Answer- 2) Arya Collateral Warehousing Services

Explanation:
Agritech start-up and India’s 1st Post Harvest Solutions Platform, Arya Collateral Warehousing Services Private
Ltd (Arya) made a partnership with State Bank of Mauritius-India (SBM Bank India) for commodity financing to
agri-traders and agri-entrepreneurs across the country.
60. In August 2021, a total of ______ Banks partnered to form - “Secondary Loan Market Association” under
the Chairmanship of _____________ to deal with corporate loans in the secondary market.
1) 15; Sanjay Srivastava
2) 10; Dinesh Kumar Khara
4) 5; Dinesh Kumar Khara
Answer- 3) 10; Sanjay Srivastava
Explanation:
On August 11, 2021, the 10 major banks including State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI bank formed a Secondary
Loan Market Association (SLMA) with an online platform for trading corporate loans in the secondary market.
• Sanjay Srivastava is the Chairman of SLMA.
61. In August 2021, RBI introduced a penalty of Rs 10,000/ATM for unavailability of Cash in an ATM for
more than _________________________ with effective from October 01, 2021
1) 10 hours/day
2) 10 hours/month
3) 24 hours/month
4) 5 hours/day
5) 5 hours/week
Answer- 2) 10 hours/month
Explanation:
In August 2021, RBI introduced a scheme named ‘Scheme of Penalty for non-replenishment of ATMs’ to levy
monetary charges/Penalty on Banks & White Label ATM Operators (WLAOs) for unavailability of cash in
Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
i.RBI will issue a penalty of Rs 10,000 per ATM/ WLAs for banks for Cash-out for more than 10 hours in a month
with effective from October 01, 2021.
ii.RBI imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Gadhinglaj Urban Co-operative Bank Limited, Gadhinglaj,
Maharashtra
62. In August 2021, SEBI merged 2 debt securities regulations, SEBI (Issue and Listing of Debt Securities)
Regulations, 2008 and SEBI (Non-Convertible Redeemable Preference Shares) Regulations, 2013 into a
single Regulation.
Identify the point(s) that is/are correctly related to it.
A) These regulations enabled the Issuers who have an existing history of less than 3-years to tap the bond
market with certain conditions.
B) Under these regulations, the issuers should issue debt securities only on a private placement basis.
C) Under these regulations, whatever the issue size, the issue should be made on the EBP (electronic book
mechanism) platform.
1) Only A & B
2) Only A & C
3) Only B & C
4) All A, B & C
5) Only A

Explanation:
i. The regulations had enabled the Issuers (other than unlisted Real estate investment trusts (REITs) and
Infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs)) who have an existing history of less than 3 years to tap the bond
market with certain conditions.
ii. The issuers should issue debt securities only on a private placement basis.
iii. Whatever the issue size, the issue should be made on the EBP (electronic book mechanism) platform.
63. An integrated marketing communication Campaign, named ‘BADLAAV Humse Hai’ was launched (in
Aug’ 21) by which organization?
1) Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
3) ESAF Small Finance Bank.
4) Bandhan Bank
5) AU Small Finance Bank
Answer- 5) AU Small Finance Bank
Explanation:
AU Small Finance Bank had launched its first integrated marketing communication Campaign ‘BADLAAV
Humse Hai’. It will showcase the bank’s passion for innovation and represent it as a change maker in the Indian
banking sector. It also launched the digital banking platform AU 0101.
About AU Small Finance Bank:
MD & CEO– Sanjay Agarwal Headquarter– Jaipur, Rajasthan
64. In August 2021, IIFL Finance had partnered with _________ to offer digital credit products to its
merchants through its ‘buy-now-pay-later’ feature.
1) NSE
2) Razorpay
3) PolicyBazaar
4) FinBox
5) PayU
Answer- 4) FinBox
Explanation:
IIFL (India Infoline Limited) Finance had partnered with FinBox to offer digital credit products to its
merchants, B2B e-commerce traders by using ‘buy-now-pay-later’ and working capital credit products.
i. IIFL & FinBox will disburse Rs 1,000 crore loans over the next 2 quarters, through a completely digital model.
65. Name the banking institution which signed an MoU with the Paralympic Committee of India (in Aug’
21) to become one of the Banking Partners ahead of the Paralympic Games 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
2) Indian Bank
3) Union Bank of India
4) Bank of India
5) Central Bank of India
Answer- 2) Indian Bank
Explanation:
Indian Bank signed a year-long MoU with the Paralympic Committee of India to become one of the Banking
Partners ahead of the Paralympic Games 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.

About Indian Bank:
MD & CEO– Padmaja Chunduru
66. EXIM Bank of India will provide a Line of Credit of USD 100 Million for procurement of Defense items
to which country (in Aug’ 21)?
1) Mauritius
2) Maldives
3) Seychelles
4) Sri Lanka
5) Bangladesh
Answer- 1) Mauritius
Explanation:
The Export and Import Bank (EXIM) of India will provide LoC of USD 100 Million to the Government of
Mauritius for procurement of Defense items.
i. EXIM bank till date has extended 6 LoCs to the Mauritius Government of a total value of USD 764.80 mn.
67. In August 2021, RBI issued the draft documents on Foreign Exchange Management (FEM) Rules, 2021
and FEM (OI) Regulations, 2021.
What are the points that are correctly related to the initiatives made in the draft documents?
A) Overseas Investments can be made only on foreign entities that are FATF Compliant Countries
B) Indian Residents are prohibited from making Overseas Direct Investments in Real Estate & Gambling
C) Indian Entities can invest in debt instruments of foreign entities with a backup loan agreement
1) All A, B & C
2) Only C
3) Only A & C
4) Only B
5) Only B & C
Explanation:
RBI has issued two draft documents viz, Foreign Exchange Management (FEM) Rules, 2021 and FEM (OI)
Regulations, 2021 by rationalizing the existing provisions that are governing overseas investment.
i.Prohibited Overseas Investments (OI) in a foreign entity located in countries/ jurisdictions that are not
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) compliant
countries.
ii.A person resident in India is prohibited from making Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) in a foreign entity
engaged in Real estate activity, Gambling
iii.Indian entity to lend or invest in any debt instruments issued by a foreign entity subject to such loans duly
backed by a loan agreement.
68. Identify the financial institution that was imposed with a penalty of Rs 1 crore by RBI (in Aug’21) for
non-compliance with directions on transfer of reserve funds.
1) Cooperatieve Rabobank UA
2) Saraswat Cooperative Bank
3) Cosmos Cooperative Bank
4) TJSB Cooperative Bank
5) Shamrao Vithal Cooperative Bank
Answer- 1) Cooperatieve Rabobank UA

Explanation:
RBI imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1 crore on Mumbai based Cooperatieve Rabobank UA, for non-
compliance on directions related to ‘transfer to reserve funds’.
i.RBI also imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Village Financial Services Ltd, Kolkata, for non-compliance with
certain KYC Directions
69. Name the bank that partnered with KerditBee & RuPay to launch the virtual prepaid card - “KreditBee
Card”.
1) RBL Bank
2) CSB Bank
3) DBS Bank India
4) Citibank
5) Axis Bank
Answer- 1) RBL Bank
Explanation:
KreditBee, the digital lending platform, in partnership with RuPay and RBL Bank launched a virtual prepaid card
named ‘KreditBee Card’ in RuPay platform.
i.Under the card, the customers could avail credit limit of up to Rs 10,000, which has to be repaid in a single billing
cycle within 45 days.
70. Which bank partnered with ODeX India to launch ‘ODeX Pay Later Solutions’ - a comprehensive
financial solution for the Shipping industry?
1) RBL Bank
2) CSB Bank
3) DBS Bank
5) Axis Bank
Answer- 3) DBS Bank
Explanation:
DBS Bank India made a partnership with ODeX India Solutions Pvt. Ltd to introduce ‘ODeX Pay Later Solutions’
powered by DBS to provide a comprehensive credit solution for all transactions related to the shipping industry.
71. In August 2021, _____________________ launched #FollowPaymentDistancing - a campaign to increase

contactless payments using ____________ cards.
1) National Payment Corporation of India; RuPay
2) National Informatics Center; MasterCard
3) National Payment Corporation of India; Visa
4) National Informatics Center; RuPay
5) National Payment Corporation of India; MasterCard
Answer- 1) National Payment Corporation of India; RuPay
Explanation:
In August 2021, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced the launch of a strategic campaign
named #FollowPaymentDistancing by RuPay. To promote and encourage contactless payments among
customers in unpredictable times like COVID-19.
72. The license of which bank got canceled by the RBI (in Aug’ 21) due to inadequate capital and earning
prospects to pay its present depositors in full?
1) Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank
2) Saraswat Bank
3) Abhyudaya Cooperative Bank
4) Bharat Cooperative Bank

5) Janata Sahakari Bank
Answer- 1) Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank
Explanation:
RBI canceled the license of Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd., Maharashtra. It was due to the bank not having
adequate capital and earning prospects to pay its present depositors in full.
i. Every depositor of the bank would receive a deposit insurance claim amount up to Rs 5 lakh from the Deposit
Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation.
73. Which organization had decided to shift its operation to GIFT City, Ahmedabad (in Aug’ 21) after
shutting down its office in Dubai?
1) LIC
2) NIACL
3) UIIC
4) GIC
5) OICL
Answer- 4) GIC
Explanation:
General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re), the sole reinsurer in the domestic reinsurance market,
decided to shift its operation to GIFT City, Ahmedabad since the Dubai Authority failed to renew its license.
About General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re):
Chairman and Managing Director– Devesh Srivastava
Head Office– Mumbai, Maharashtra
74. Name the bank which was the top performer among PSU banks in terms of loan and savings deposit
growth in the first quarter of FY22.
1) Punjab & Sind Bank
3) Bank of Maharashtra
4) Bank of Baroda
5) Canara Bank
Answer- 3) Bank of Maharashtra
Explanation:
Bank of Maharashtra emerged as the top performer among Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) banks in terms of
loan and savings deposit growth in Q1 of FY22.
i. BoM recorded a 14.46% increase in gross advances & the Current Account Savings Account (CASA) for BoM
was also increased by 22%.
75. Identify the statement(s) that is/are correctly related to the ‘Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021‘.
A) It nullified retrospective tax provision & ended retrospective taxes imposed on Indirect Transfer of
Indian Assets made before May 28, 2012.
B) The Bill was introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Rajya Sabha as an Ordinance
Bill.
C) The sale of shares of a foreign entity is taxable in India if those shares garner value from assets in India.
1) Only A & B
2) Only B &C
3) Only A & C
4) Only B
5) Only A

Explanation:
President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to the ‘The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021‘ introduced by
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha as a Money Bill. It amended the IT Act, 1961 and the
Finance Act, 2012.
i. it nullified retrospective tax provision & end retrospective taxes imposed on Indirect Transfer of Indian Assets
made before May 28, 2012.
ii. The sale of shares of a foreign entity is taxable in India if those shares garner value from assets in India.
76. Which organization had set up a panel (in Aug’ 21) )to reduce India’s trade settlement cycle from the
current Trade plus 2 days toTrade plus 1 day?
1) Reserve Bank of India
2) Ministry of Corporate Affairs
3) Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
4) Securities and Exchange Board of India
5) Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
Answer- 4) Securities and Exchange Board of India
Explanation:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had set up a panel to analyse the process of shifting India’s
trade settlement cycle from the current T+2 (Trade plus 2 days) to T+1 (Trade plus 1 day).
i. It reduced the settlement time and risk involved and increased the liquidity and trade turnover.
77. Identify the company that collaborated (in Aug’ 21) with Visa and RBL Bank to launch SoftPoS and
mPoS for its retail network.
1) PayTm
2) PhonePe
3) TapMoney
4) PayNearby
5) RazorPay
Answer- 4) PayNearby
Explanation:
PayNearby collaborated with Visa and RBL Bank to launch SoftPoS and mPoS for its retail network. It became
the first company to launch an all-inclusive digital package for retailers.
i. SoftPoS allows merchants to accept contactless payments of up to Rs 5,000 through tap and pay mechanism on
NFC (Near Field Communication).
78. Name the Regional Rural Bank that launched the ‘FRUITS’ portal, first-of-its-kind initiative in India, to
store the farmers’ land details.
1) Kerala gramin bank
2) Uttar bihar gramin bank
3) Uttarakhand Gramin Bank
4) Prathama Bank
5) Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank
Answer- 5) Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank
Explanation:
The Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank made a partnership with the Karnataka government and launched the
‘Farmer Registration and Unified Beneficiary Information System’ (FRUITS) portal to store the farmers’ land
details.

79. Identify the statements that are correctly related to the ‘Financial Inclusion Index’ introduced by the
RBI. (in Aug’ 21)
A) FI-Index contains 3 different parameters with variant weightage viz, Access (35%), Usage (45%), and
Quality (20%).
B) The annual FI-Index for the FY21 is 53.9 as against 43.4 of FY17.
C) It will reflect the efforts of all stakeholders over the year towards financial inclusion not having any
‘base year’.
1) Only A & B
2) Only B & C
3) Only A & C
4) Only A
5) All A, B & C
Explanation:
RBI Introduced Financial Inclusion Index to measure the extent of financial inclusion across India in 97
indicators.
i. The FI-Index contains 3 different parameters with variant weightage viz, Access (35%), Usage (45%), and
Quality (20%).
ii. The annual FI-Index for the FY21 is 53.9 as against 43.4 of FY17.
iii. It will reflect the efforts of all stakeholders over the year towards financial inclusion. It has no ‘base year’.
80. Which insurance company launched (in Aug’ 21) a new insurance plan ‘eShield Next' that levels-up
insurance protection on attaining significant milestones?
2) Life Insurance Corporation of India
3) Max Life Insurance
4) ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
5) AEGON Life Insurance
Answer- SBI Life Insurance
Explanation:
SBI Life Insurance launched a new Individual, Non-Linked, Non-Participating Life Insurance solution named ‘SBI
Life eShield Next’.
81. As per the 60th Public Enterprises Survey 2019-20 released by the Finance Ministry, the Net profit of
Central Public Sector Enterprises was decreased by____________ due to major loss in ____________sector.
1) 20%; Agriculture
2) 30%; Agriculture
3) 20%; Petroleum
4) 30%; Petroleum
5) 25%; Manufacturing
Answer- 3) 20%; Petroleum
Explanation:
The Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Finance, released the 60th Public Enterprises Survey 2019-
20 in which net profit of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in FY20 decreased by 20% mainly due to the
fall in profits in the petroleum sector.
82. Identify the point(s) that are correctly related to the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported
Products (RoDTEP), an export incentive scheme announced in August, 2021.
A) RoDTEP will be implemented by the Central Board of Direct Taxes through a simplified IT System.
B) The Highest Tax Slab under RoDTEP on Tax Refund Rates was fixed at 4.3%.
C) Sectors of chemicals, steel and pharmaceuticals were excluded from the scheme.

1) Only A & B
2) Only B & C
3) Only C & A
4) Only B
5) Only C
Explanation:
The finance ministry had set up a committee under the chairmanship of former commerce and home secretary GK
Pillai to finalise the rates under RoDTEP.
i. The scheme will be implemented by the Central Board of indirect Taxes and customs through a simplified IT
System.
ii. Tax refund rates for different sectors under RoDTEP were fixed in the range of 0.5% to 4.3%.
iii. Sectors of chemicals, steel and pharmaceuticals were excluded from the scheme.
83. Which company got loan support (in Aug’ 21) of $75 million from the International Finance
Corporation to enhance warehousing and supply chain infrastructure in India?
1) IndoSpace Logistics Fund
2) Prologis Logistic Fund
3) Savills Logistic Fund
4) Colliers Logistic Fund
5) KMC Logistic Group
Answer- 1) IndoSpace Logistics Fund
Explanation:
International Finance Corporation, the investment arm of World Bank, had extended loan support of $75
million to Indospace Logistics Parks III, a $580-million vintage fund for developing logistics and industrial
parks across India.
i. Logistics costs in India were estimated to be at around 13-14% of GDP, compared with around 9-10% in the
US and Europe.
84. Which bank(s) executed India’s 1st set of ‘swaption’ deals to protect the borrower and investors
against any losses from rate movements (in Aug’ 21)?
1) HSBC
2) ICICI
4) Only 1 & 3
5) All 1, 2 & 3
Answer- 5) All 1, 2 & 3
Explanation:
ICICI Bank had executed India’s 1st set of ‘swaption’ deals with HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank. It will
protect the borrowers and investors from changing interest rate scenarios by enabling them to fix an interest
rate on future borrowings through the option of an Interest Rate Swap.
85. Name the bank that partnered (in Aug '21) with Creditas Solutions to launch "Do It Yourself" (DIY) - a
digital repayment platform.
1) Axis Bank
3) Bandhan Bank
4) ICICI Bank
5) HDFC Bank
Answer- 2) Kotak Mahindra Bank

Explanation:
Kotak Mahindra Bank introduced a ‘Do It Yourself (DIY)’ Digital Repayment ‘Neo Collections’ platform in
partnership with Creditas Solutions for missed loan repayments.
About Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited:
86. After 8 months, RBI removed the restrictions (in Aug’ 21) and allowed issuance of new credit cards to
which bank?
1) ICICI Bank
2) HDFC Bank
3) YES Bank
5) Induslnd Bank
Answer- 2) HDFC Bank
Explanation:
RBI removed the restrictions and allowed the issuing of new credit cards to HDFC Bank. However, the
restrictions on the bank’s new offerings under its Digital 2.0 were not removed.
87. In August 2021, ‘International Bullion Exchange’ was launched by Injeti Srinivas, the Chairperson of
International Financial Services Centres Authority. Identify the correct statement(s) related to this
initiative.
A) It will be set up at the IFSC in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
B) It is a market for the buyers and sellers to trade CryptoCurrency.
C) All the bullion imports for domestic consumption will be channelised through the exchange.
1) Only A & B
2) Only A & C
3) Only B & C
4) All A,B & C
5) Only C
Explanation:
i. Financial Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the setting up of an ‘International Bullion Exchange’ at
the IFSC in GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City), Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
ii. It is a market for the buyers and sellers to trade gold and silver.
iii. The International Bullion Exchange will act as a ‘Gateway for Bullion Imports into India’. All the bullion
imports for domestic consumption will be channelised through the exchange.
88. Identify the statement(s) that are correctly related to the RBI’ revised guidelines for both new and
existing Safe Deposit Locker and Safe Custody Article Facility with the banks in August 2021.
A) Compensation of 50 times of the existing annual rent of the safe deposit locker will be there in case of
incidents such as fire, theft, burglary, or fraud committed by the bank’s employees.
B) ‘Locker agreement’ should be there for prohibiting the hirer from keeping anything illegal or
hazardous in lockers.
C) If the locker remains inoperative for 4 years then the bank could transfer the content to the customer’s
nominees/legal heir.
1) Only A
2) Only B
3) Only C
4) Both A & B

5) Both B & C
Answer- 2) Only B
Explanation:
i. Compensation of 100 times of the existing annual rent of the safe deposit locker will be there in case of
incidents such as fire, theft, burglary, or fraud committed by the bank’s employees.
ii. ‘Locker agreement’ should be there for prohibiting the hirer from keeping anything illegal or hazardous in
lockers.
iii. If the locker remains inoperative for 7 years then the bank could transfer the content to the customer’s
nominees/legal heir.
89. Name the organization that launched (in Aug’ 21) ‘Cybersecurity Multi-Donor Trust Fund’ under its
Digital Development Partnership umbrella program.
2) European Investment Bank
3) World Bank
4) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Answer- 3) World Bank
Explanation:
The World Bank and its partners announce a New Global Fund for Cybersecurity named ‘Cybersecurity Multi-
Donor Trust Fund’ under the broader Digital Development Partnership umbrella program.
90. Name the organization that signed (in Aug’ 21) USD 500 million loans to GoI to expand the metro rail
network in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
2) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
3) European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
4) New Development Bank
Answer- 5) Asian Development Bank
Explanation:
The Asian Development Bank will provide USD 500 million loans to the Government of India to expand the
metro rail network in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
About Asian Development Bank
Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Manila, Philippines
President of ADB: Masatsugu Asakawa
91. Which company launched (in Aug’ 21) India’s first Digital Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) through
which it targets to raise Rs 1,000 crore?
1) TPG Growth Capital Ltd
2) CVC Capital Partners Ltd
3) ASK Investment Managers Ltd
4) Ace Global Private Ltd
5) Passionate Investment Management Ltd
Answer- 3) ASK Investment Managers Ltd
Explanation:
ASK Investment Managers Ltd launched India’s first Digital Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) namely ‘ASK
Emerging Opportunities Fund’ through which the company targeted to raise Rs 1,000 crore.

92. EXIM Bank signed a soft loan worth USD 210.73 million for drinking water projects, hospital building
and solar projects to which country?
1) Guinea
2) Mali
3) Senegal
4) Mauritania
5) Ghana
Answer- 1) Guinea
Explanation:
The Export and Import Bank (EXIM) of India has signed a Soft loan worth USD 210.73 million to the government
of Guinea for drinking water projects, hospital building and solar projects in the country.
i. A loan with no interest or below market rate of interest is known as a soft loan.
93. In August 2021, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) downgraded India’s GDP for FY22 to ____________
due to slow vaccination of the adult population.
1) 9.6%
2) 10.9%
3) 10.4%
4) 9.4%
5) 9.9%
Answer- 4) 9.4%
Explanation:
India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) downgraded the economic growth forecast or Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) for India to 9.4% for FY22 from 9.6% estimated earlier.
i. PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) projected GDP growth at 10.25% for FY22.
ii. Acuite Ratings retained its 10% GDP forecast for FY22.
94. Name the company that collaborated (in Aug’ 21) with Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
(SINE)-IIT Bombay to launch “Plugin Alliance” for enhancing Industry 4.0 revolution in India.
1) Tata Consultancy Service
2) Intel India
3) Infosys
4) Redington India
5) Mindtree
Answer- 2) Intel India
Explanation:
Intel India collaborated with Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE)-IIT Bombay had launched first-
of-its-kind industry-technology alliance “Plugin Alliance”, for enhancing Industry 4.0 revolution in India.
95. Who was appointed (in Aug’ 21) as the MD and CEO of Indian Bank replacing Padmaja Chunduru?
1) Sanjiv Chadha
2) Atanu Kumar Das
3) L V Prabhakar
4) Shanti Lal Jain
5) Amitabh Chaudhry
Answer- 4) Shanti Lal Jain
Explanation:
The Appointment Committee of Cabinet had approved the appointment of Shanti Lal Jain as the Managing
Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the Indian Bank.
i. He is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Bank of Baroda(BoB).

96. Name the person who was re-appointed by the CVC as the Chairman of the Advisory Board for Banking
and Financial Frauds?
1) Tejendra Mohan Bhasin
2) Suresh N Patel
3) Madhusudan Prasad
4) Devendra Kumar Pathak
5) KC Choudhary
Answer- 1) Tejendra Mohan Bhasin
Explanation:
The Central Vigilance Commission re-appointed Dr. Tejendra Mohan Bhasin as the chairman of the Advisory
Board for Banking and Financial Frauds (ABBFF).
About Central Vigilance Commission (CVC):
Establishment– 1964 (Statutory Status was given in 1998)
Central Vigilance Commissioner– Suresh N Patel
97. Identify the Bank in which MD and CEO, Nitin Chugh had submitted his resignation (in Aug’ 21).
1) Jana Small Finance Bank
2) Equitas Small Finance Bank
3) AU Small Finance Bank
4) Capital Small Finance Bank
5) Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
Answer- 5) Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
Explanation:
Nitin Chugh, Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank had
submitted his resignation.
About Ujjivan Small Finance Bank:
98. Name the Organisation that partnered with Mashreq Bank (in Aug '21) to provide UPI services in UAE.
2) Gujarat International Finance Tec-City
3) NPCI International Payments
4) Bank of Baroda
5) HDFC Bank
Answer- 3) NPCI International Payments
Explanation:
NPCI International Payments Ltd, the international arm of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has
partnered with Mashreq Bank, UAE to provide the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
i. Bhutan became the 1st country to adopt India’s UPI standards for its QR deployment.
99. Which organization partnered with Razorpay (in Aug’ 21) to extend its ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL)
solution, the Walnut 369 to all Razorpay-enabled online merchants?
1) Alpha Real Capital India
2) IG Infotech India
3) Goldman Sachs Services
4) DC Advisory India
5) Capital Float Financial Services
Answer- 5) Capital Float Financial Services

Explanation:
Fintech startup Capital Float Financial Services Pvt. Ltd partnered with Razorpay to extend its ‘buy now, pay
later’ (BNPL) solution, the Walnut 369 to all Razorpay-enabled online merchants.
100. Name the Organization that introduced a fixed deposit (FD) named ‘Green & Sustainable Deposits’ to
safeguard the environment from climate change (in Aug’ 21).
2) Bank of Baroda
3) HDFC Ltd
4) ICICI Bank
5) Axis Bank
Answer- 3) HDFC Ltd
Explanation:
Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Ltd introduced a ‘FD’ named ‘Green & Sustainable Deposits’
to safeguard the environment from climate change with interest rates up to 6.55% per annum.
i. HDFC Life also released the ‘Life Freedom Index 2021’ Report that analysed the financial freedom of
consumers across 4 different segments.
101. Which Bank partnered (in Aug '21) with USAID & US International Development Finance Corporation
to provide USD 50 million loan towards Women Entrepreneurship in India?
1) Kotak Mahindra bank
2) HDFC Bank
4) Karnataka Bank
5) Bank of Maharashtra
Answer- 1) Kotak Mahindra bank
Explanation:
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US International Development Finance
Corporation (DFC) had partnered with Kotak Mahindra bank for USD 50 MIllion loan Guarantee for Women
Entrepreneurs and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
102. Which organization partnered (in Aug’ 21) with ‘Indifi’, a technology-based lending platform, to
launch the 1st of its kind Small Business Loans Programme?
1) Amazon India
2) Facebook India
3) Walmart India
4) Apple Inc.
5) Oracle India
Answer- 2) Facebook India
Explanation:
Indifi, technology-based lending platform has partnered with Facebook India to launch 1st of its Kind Small
Business Loans Programme. It will provide loans worth Rs. 5 lakh-50 lakh for Small Businesses advertising in
Facebook’s Platform.
About Facebook :
CEO – Mark Zuckerberg
Headquarters – California, United States of America

103. Which Organisation(s) funds the "Ubharte Sitaare Fund" that was announced by Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman (in Aug '21) with a corpus of Rs 250 crores to benefit Small & Mid sized companies in
India?
1) IDBI Bank
2) EXIM Bank of India
3) SIDBI
4) Both 1 & 2
5) Both 2 & 3
Explanation:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched Ubharte Sitaare Fund of Corpus Rs. 250 crore for Export
oriented Small & Mid sized companies funded by Export and Import (EXIM) Bank of India & Small Industries
Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
104. Name the bank that recently (in Aug’ 21) partnered with Paytm to create digital transformation in
semi-urban and rural India.
1) Axis Bank
2) ICICI Bank
4) HDFC Bank
5) IDBI Bank
Explanation:
HDFC Bank Ltd and Paytm, made a partnership to share their network to create digital transformation in semi-
urban and rural India. A co-branded point of sale (POS) product in the retail segment was jointly launched by
both organizations.
About HDFC Bank:
MD & CEO – Sashidhar Jagdishan
105. Identify the point(s) that are correctly related to the annual report of NABARD for FY21.
A) In FY21, the loans and advances given by NABARD grew by 15.8% compared with 6.5% of FY20.
B) NABARD achieved a record year on year growth of 24% in its total assets & its total outstanding loans
was about Rs 6 lakh crore in FY21.
C) NABARD had formed around 6.8 lakh Self Help Groups in FY21 and released Rs 170.2 crores.
1) Only A & B
2) Only B & C
3) Only A & C
4) All A, B & C
5) Only B
Explanation:
i. In FY21, the loans and advances given by NABARD grew by 25.2% compared with 11.5% of FY20.
ii. NABBARD achieved a record year on year growth of 24% in its total assets & its total outstanding loans was
about Rs 6 lakh crore in FY21.
iii. NABARD had formed around 6.8 lakh SHGs (Self Help Groups) in FY21 and released Rs 170.2 crores.

106. In August 2021, NABARD offered Rs 24.90 lakh grant for Integrated Mangrove Fishery Farming
System project in ____________.
1) Cuttack, Odisha
2) Howrah, West Bengal
3) Mysore, Karnataka
4) Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu
5) Malappuram, Kerala
Answer- 4) Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu
Explanation:
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) extended Rs 24.90 lakh grant for Integrated
Mangrove Fishery Farming System (IMFFS) project in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu.
i. This project is implemented by the S. Swaminathan Research Foundation for enhancing the fishing
community.
107. RBI introduced a web-based and end-to-end workflow automation system named PRISM to
strengthen the compliance of the entities The acronym ‘PRISM’, stands for_________.
1) Platform for Regulated Entities for Internal Supervision and Marketing
2) Platform for Regular Entities for Integrated Supervision and Marketing
3) Platform for Regulated Entities for Integrated Supervision and Monitoring
4) Platform for Regular Entities for Internal Series and Monitoring
5) Platform for Regular Entities for Integrated Series and Monitoring
Answer- 3) Platform for Regulated Entities for Integrated Supervision and Monitoring
Explanation:
RBI had introduced a web-based and end-to-end workflow automation system named PRISM- ‘Platform for
Regulated Entities for Integrated Supervision and Monitoring’ to strengthen the compliance of the entities.
i. RBI had included Root Cause Analysis (RCA) in the current supervisory cycle also.
108. In August 2021, ICICI Banks Germany launched a digital and instant _____________ for the Indian
students who are aspiring to study in Germany.
1) DEMAT Account
2) Blocked Account
3) Salary Account
4) Checking Account
5) Nostro Account
Answer- 2) Blocked Account
Explanation:
ICICI Bank Germany, launched a digital and instant ‘Blocked Account’ named ‘ICICI Bank Germany Student
Blocked Account’ along with a complimentary Current Account for the Indian students who are aspiring to study
in Germany.
109. Which bank got approval (in Aug’ 21) from International Financial Services Centres Authority
(IFSCA) to open a banking unit at India’s GIFT IFSC to carry out offshore transactions?
1) DBS Bank
2) HSBC Bank
3) Standard Chartered Bank
5) Citibank
Answer- 5) Citibank

Explanation:
US-based Citibank NA received the approval from IFSCA to open a banking unit at India’s GIFT IFSC (Gujarat
International Finance Tec-City – International Financial Services Centre) at Gandhinagar, Gujarat to carry out
offshore transactions.
110. Which of the following statement(s) is correct with the 52nd Edition of the ‘Key Indicators for Asia &
the Pacific, 2021’?
A) Asia-Pacific Region’s Economy grew from 27% of Global GDP in 2000 to 35% in 2019.
B) Extremely poor population had reduced from the size of 1.2 Billion in 1999 to 202.9 Million in 2017 in
the Asia-Pacific region.
C) The report was released by the New Development Bank.
1) Only A & B
2) Only B & C
3) Only C & A
4) All A, B & C
5) Only B
Answer- 1) Only A & B
Explanation:
i. Asia-Pacific Region’s Economy grew from 27% of Global GDP in 2000 to 35% in 2019.
ii. Extremely poor population had reduced from the size of 1.2 Billion in 1999 to 202.9 Million in 2017 in the
Asia-Pacific region.
iii. The report was released by Asian Development Bank.
111. Which of the following statement(s) is NOT correct as per the recommendation report of the Expert
Committee on Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs)?
1) It was constituted by the RBI under the chairmanship of N. S. Vishwanathan.
2) A 3-tier structure for UCBs based on capital availability was proposed, to ease the regulatory process.
3) An Umbrella Organisation with minimum capital of Rs 300 crore was proposed to set-up.
4) UCBs are allowed to grant advances to subscribers of Perpetual Convertible Preference Shares (PCNPS).
5) All options are correct.
Answer- 2) A 3-tier structure for UCBs based on capital availability was proposed, to ease the regulatory
process.
Explanation:
The committee has recommended a 4-tier structure for the UCBs, based on their capital availability and other
factors to ease the regulatory process.
i. RBI is also planning to Include General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) Regulations for Round-Tripping.
112. Which company got in-principle approval from SEBI (in Aug’ 21) to launch a Mutual Fund business?
1) Aditya Birla Capital Ltd
2) JM Financial Ltd
3) Bajaj Finserv Ltd
4) Equitas Holdings Ltd
5) JSW Holdings Limited
Answer- 3) Bajaj Finserv Ltd
Explanation:
In August 2021, The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) provided the in-principle approval to Bajaj
Finserv Ltd for launching the mutual fund (MF) business.

113. Name the bank that recently (in Aug’ 21) was imposed with a penalty of Rs 27.5 Lakh by RBI for
violation of the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme.
1) Dhanlaxmi Bank
2) CSB Bank
3) Karnataka Bank
4) Bandhan Bank
5) RBL Bank
Answer- 1) Dhanlaxmi Bank
Explanation:
RBI had imposed a penalty of Rs 27.5 Lakh on Dhanlaxmi Bank, Thrissur, Kerala for the violation of certain
provisions of the ‘Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme’.
i. RBI has also imposed a penalty of Rs 20 lakh on the NE and EC Railway Employees’ Multi-State Primary Co-
operative Bank, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh
114. Which Small Finance Bank (SFB) recently (in Aug’ 21) partnered with FREO to launch a zero-balance
savings account named ‘Freo Save’?
1) ESAF SFB
2) Fincare SFB
3) A U SFB
4) Janalakshmi SFB
5) Equitas SFB
Answer- 5) Equitas SFB
Explanation:
FREO, India’s 1st credit-led Neobank, made a partnership with Equitas Small Finance Bank and launched a
zero-balance savings account named ‘Freo Save’ for its customers. Neobank is a kind of digital bank without any
branches.
About Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd:
MD and CEO – Vasudevan Pathangi Narasimhan (P N)
115. Name the organization that recently launched (in Aug’ 21) a new credit program to assist Kiranas
and retailers in managing their working capital requirements and to promote their business.
1) BigBasket India
2) Amazon Fresh
3) Flipkart Wholesale
4) Grofers
5) Dunzo
Answer- 3) Flipkart Wholesale
Explanation:
Flipkart Wholesale, the digital B2B marketplace of the Flipkart group has launched a new credit program to
assist Kiranas and retailers in managing their working capital requirements and to promote their business.
About Flipkart Group:
CEO of Flipkart – Kalyan Krishnamurthy
116. Which bank (in Aug’ 21) was empanelled by RBI as an ‘Agency Bank’ to facilitate transactions related
to Central and State government?
1) South Indian Bank
2) ICICI Bank
3) Axis Bank

5) HDFC Bank
Answer- 1) South Indian Bank
Explanation:
RBI had empanelled South Indian Bank, the Kerala based private sector lender, as an ‘Agency Bank’ to facilitate
transactions related to Central and State government on behalf of the RBI.
117. In August 2021, Sandeep Bakhshi was reappointed as MD & CEO of which bank?
1) IndusInd Bank
2) ICICI Bank
3) HDFC Bank
5) Axis Bank
Answer- 2) ICICI Bank
Explanation:
RBI had approved the reappointment of Sandeep Bakhshi as the Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive
Officer(CEO) of ICICI Bank.
About ICICI Bank:
Tagline– Hum Hai Na, Khayal Apka
118. Name the organization that diverted 2.21% of its stakes in Central Depository Services Limited for Rs
222.71 crore over a period from June 2021 to August 2021.
1) HDFC Bank
2) Standard Chartered Bank
3) Canara Bank
4) Adani Group
5) Reliance Industries
Explanation:
HDFC Bank diverted 2.21% of its stakes in Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL) for Rs 222.71
crore over a period from June 2021 to August 2021.
i. Eldeco Group had partnered with HDFC Capital Advisors Limited, a subsidiary of HDFC Limited, to set up a
Rs 150 crore platform to build housing projects.
119. Who had purchased 1.59% equity shares via the qualified institutions placement (QIP) in Canara
Bank for around Rs 407 Crores (in Aig’ 21)?
1) Radhakishan Damani
2) Vijay Kedia
3) Nemish Shah
4) Dolly Khanna
5) Rakesh Jhunjhunwala
Answer- 5) Rakesh Jhunjhunwala
Explanation:
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala had picked up 1.59% equity shares via the qualified institutions placement (QIP) in
Canara Bank, which is around INR 407 Crore. He is also known as the ‘ Warren Buffett of India‘.
About Canara Bank:
MD and CEO – L.V. Prabhakar
Headquarters- Bengaluru, Karnataka

120. Name the insurance company that (in Aug’ 21) was chosen by the Punjab Government to expand the
health insurance coverage under ‘Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana’.
1) SBI General Insurance
2) Max Bupa Health Insurance
3) Life Insurance Corporation
4) Star Health and Allied Insurance
5) Reliance General Insurance
Answer- 1) SBI General Insurance
Explanation:
The Punjab Government has chosen SBI General Insurance to expand the health insurance coverage in the state
of Punjab under Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana (AB-SSBY).
121. In August 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Unveiled EASE 4.0, reviewed PSBs & made
changes in Family Pension.
Identify the statement(s) that are correct with respect to these announcements-
A) Union Bank of India ranked 1st in ‘EASE Reforms Index Award 2021’, given under EASE 3.0 Banking
Reforms Index.
B) There was a profit of Rs 31,817 crore in FY21 for the 1st time after 5 years of loss as many customers
were benefited through Credit@click, the flagship initiative under EASE 3.0.
C) Indian Banks’ Association’s (IBA) proposal was approved to increase the family pension for the family
of PSB employees to 30% of the last salary drawn.
1) Only A & B
2) Only B & C
3) Only A
4) Only B
5) Only A & C
Explanation:
i. State Bank of India ranked 1st in ‘EASE Reforms Index Award 2021’, given under EASE 3.0 Banking Reforms
Index.
ii. There was a profit of Rs 31,817 crore in FY21 for the 1st time after 5 years of loss & many customers were
benefited through Credit@click, the flagship initiative under EASE 3.0.
iii. Indian Banks’ Association’s (IBA) proposal was approved to increase the family pension for the family of
Public Sector Bank (PSB) employees to 30% of the last salary drawn.
122. In August 2021, Karnataka Bank in association with __________ & M/s Worldline launched its FASTag
payment instrument named _________to offer seamless movement of vehicles at toll plazas across India.
1) State Bank of India; KBL FASTag
2) State Bank of India; Easy FASTag
3) National Payment Corporation of India; Easy FASTag
4) National Payment Corporation of India; KBL FASTag
5) Canara Bank; AIO FASTag
Answer- 4) National Payment Corporation of India; KBL Fastag
Explanation:
The Karnataka Bank launched its KBL FASTag in association with the National Payment Corporation of
India(NPCI) and M/s Worldline, the FASTag processor.
MD & CEO– Mahabaleshwara MS
Tagline– Your Family Bank Across India
Headquarters– Mangalore, Karnataka

123. Name the fintech company that was partnered by Google (in Aug’ 21) to enable its users to open
‘Fixed Deposits’ through Google Pay.
1) FREO
2) Paytm
3) Razorpay
4) MobiKwik
5) SETU
Answer- 5) SETU
Explanation:
Google partnered with SETU to enable its users to open fixed deposits through Google Pay. As per the
regulations of the RBI, Small Finance Banks need to lend at least 75% of its Adjusted Net Bank Credit to priority
sectors (compared with 40% for scheduled commercial banks).
i. Google also launched a kids safety programme named ‘Be Internet Awesome’ to promote safe internet
practices among children.
124. Which Small Finance Bank (SFB) entered into partnership (in Aug’ 21) with Decimal Technologies to
digitise loan origination with its digital lending platform ‘Saarathi’?
1) ESAF SFB
2) Fincare SFB
3) A U SFB
4) Ujjivan SFB
5) Equitas SFB
Answer- 4) Ujjivan SFB
Explanation:
Ujjivan SFB partnered with Decimal Technologies under which the Ujjivan SFB and its channel partners will use
‘Saarathi’, digital lending platform of Decimal technologies to digitise loan origination. This is the 1st ever
banking tie up of Decimal technology in this model.
125. Which organization(s) partnered with LoanTap (in Aug’ 21) to launch its 1st LIMITLESS Credit line
backed Prepaid Card & offer Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) facility?
1) State Bank of Mauritius
2) RuPay
3) PayTm
4) Both 1 & 3
5) Both 1 & 2
Explanation:
LoanTap, a digital lender, launched its 1st LIMITLESS Credit line backed Prepaid Card in partnership with
SBM Bank (State Bank of Mauritius) as a Banking Partner and RuPay as the Payment Network.
126. Identify the digital payment & financial technology firm that recently (in Aug’ 21) signed an MoU with
MeitY Startup Hub to support deep tech startups.
1) PhonePe
2) MobiKwik
3) Paytm
4) Instamojo
5) Razorpay
Answer- 3) Paytm
Explanation:
MeitY Startup Hub, sponsored by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, had signed an MoU
with Paytm to support deep tech startups.

About Paytm:
Paytm is owned by One97 Communications Limited.
Founder & CEO– Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Headquarters– Noida, Uttar Pradesh
127. Which country recently (in Aug’ 21) got USD 1 million aid from the Government of India under the UN
World Food Programme to tackle climate shocks?
1) Switzerland
2) Zimbabwe
3) Ukraine
4) Kenya
5) Georgia
Answer- 2) Zimbabwe
Explanation:
The government of India provides USD 1 million aid to Zimbabwe under the UN World Food Programme. This
aid will help to tackle the population affected due to climate shocks.
i. The UN declares the 2023 International Year of Millets.
About Zimbabwe-
Capital- Harare
Currency – Zimbabwean Dollar
President- Emmerson Mnangawa
128. Which institute recently (in Aug’ 21) launched a ‘Centre for Digital Transformation’ in partnership
with Bank of America for facilitating digital transformation and innovation research?
1) IISc Bangalore
2) IIM Raipur
3) NIT Trichy
4) IIM Ahmedabad
5) IIT Madras
Answer- 4) IIM Ahmedabad
Explanation:
IIM Ahmedabad had partnered with Bank of America to launch a Centre for Digital Transformation which is
the 9th research centre in India.
i. It will become a knowledge hub for academia, policymaking, and the private sector by facilitating digital
transformation and innovation research.
129. RBI had recently (in Aug’ 21) imposed a penalty of Rs 15 lakh on Baghat Urban Co-operative Bank
headquartered in ____________for violation of certain norms related to Non-Performing Assets (NPA).
1) Indore, Madhya Pradesh
2) Solan, Himachal Pradesh
3) Patiala, Punjab
4) Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
5) Pune, Maharashtra
Answer- 2) Solan, Himachal Pradesh
Explanation:
RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 15 lakh on Baghat Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd, Solan, Himachal Pradesh
for violation of certain norms related to non-identification of Non-Performing Assets (NPA).

130. In August 2021, Appointment Committee of the Cabinet extended the tenure of ___________, the MD &
CRO of PNB, till 31st January 2022, also the tenure of Atul Kumar Goel, MD & CEO of __________ for a period
of 2 years.
1) P R Rajagopal; Bank of Baroda
2) Atul Kumar Goel; Bank of Maharashtra
3) Atul Kumar Goel; UCO Bank
4) SS Mallikarjuna Rao; UCO Bank
5) SS Mallikarjuna Rao; Bank of Maharashtra
Answer- 4) SS Mallikarjuna Rao; UCO Bank
Explanation:
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet extended the tenure of 3 MD and CEOs, and 10 Executive
Directors(EDs) of Public Sector Banks-
• SS Mallikarjuna Rao- the MD and CEO of PNB
• Atul Kumar Goel- MD and CEO of UCO Bank - 2 year tenure extension
• A S Rajeev- MD and CEO of Bank of Maharashtra - 2 year tenure extension
i. Economic Advisor, Lalit Kumar Chandel was also appointed on the board of Bank of Maharashtra.
131. Who was appointed (in Aug '21) by the RBI as its new Executive Directors for the period 2021-22?
1) Ajay Kumar
2) A.K. Choudhary
3) Deepak Kumar
4) Only 1 & 2
5) All 1, 2 & 3
Answer- 5) All 1, 2 & 3
Explanation:
RBI has promoted 3 Grade F officers – Ajay Kumar, A.K. Choudhary and Deepak Kumar – as the Executive
directors for the year 2021-2022.
About Reserve Bank of India(RBI):
Governor– Shaktikanta Das
Deputy Governor– Mahesh Kumar Jain; Michael Debabrata Patra; M. Rajeshwar Rao; and T. Rabi Sankar
132. Who chaired the 2nd BRICS Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors meeting?
1) Pankaj Chaudhary
2) Nirmala Sitharaman
3) Shaktikanta Das
4) Both 1 & 3
5) Both 2 & 3
Explanation:
Finance Minister(FM) of India, Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 2nd meeting of BRICS Finance Ministers and
Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) along with RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das under the Indian BRICS
chairmanship.
133. Which Indian Company signed an agreement for constructing the $530 million ‘Greater Male
Connectivity Project’ with the Government of Maldives?
1) Hindustan Construction Company
2) Afcons Infrastructure
3) L&T Construction
4) Lanco Infratech
5) Simplex Infrastructures
Answer- 2) Afcons Infrastructure

Explanation:
Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, an infrastructure arm of Shapoorji Pallonji Group from India signed an agreement
with the Republic of Maldives for a $530 million infrastructure project named ‘Greater Male Connectivity
Project’ (GMCP).
About Maldives:
Capital – Male
Currency – Rufiyaa
President – Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
134. Who were the newly included by the RBI as beneficiaries of the Payments Infrastructure
Development Fund (PIDF) Scheme?
1) MSME Sector
2) Street Vendors
3) Non-Banking Financial Institutions
4) Both 1 & 2
5) All 1, 2 & 3
Answer- 2) Street Vendors
Explanation:
RBI included street vendors part of the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi Scheme) in tier-1
and tier-2 centres as beneficiaries under the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) Scheme.
i.RBI also imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakhs on Seyad Shariat Finance, Rs 2 lakhs on The Muslim Co-operative Bank
and Rs 3 lakhs on Jijamata Mahila Sahakari Bank
135. Which Small Finance Bank (SFB) signed an MoU (in Aug’21) with HCBL Co-operative Bank & Mysore
Merchants Co-operative Bank to become their Sponsor Bank?
1) Ujjivan SFB
2) Equitas SFB
3) AU SFB
4) Jana SFB
5) Capital SFB
Answer- 4) Jana SFB
Explanation:
Jana Small Finance Bank (SFB) signed an MoU with HCBL Co-operative Bank and Mysore Merchants Co-
operative Bank under the bank sponsorship programme of the RBI. Jana SFB will provide digital infrastructure
and payments services and act as a Sponsor bank for both the co-operative banks.
• Jana SFB is headquartered at Bengaluru, Karnataka
136. Which state government recently (in Aug’21) got approval from SIDBI for SIDBI Cluster Development
Fund that will be used to benefit its MSME Sector?
1) Gujarat
2) Maharashtra
3) Odisha
4) Tamil Nadu
5) Rajasthan
Answer- 4) Tamil Nadu
Explanation:
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has provided the first approval under SIDBI Cluster
Development Fund (SCDF) to the Tamil Nadu state government.
i.This fund will be utilized for the direct benefit of the MSMEs and provide support to resolve soft infrastructure
issues.

137. Who was appointed (in Aug’21) as the head of the newly formed Committee on developing a web
platform for streamlining the appeal filing for direct & indirect taxes?
1) D K Mohanty
2) Ashish Shiradhonkar
3) Gopalan Srinivasan
4) Maneesha S Inamdar
5) Nasir Kamal
Answer- 2) Ashish Shiradhonkar
Explanation:
The Central Government had constituted a committee headed by Ashish Shiradhonkar, to develop a
technological platform streamlining the appeal filing process related to direct and indirect taxation matters.
i. National Informatics Centre will integrate the Legal Information Management and Briefing System (LIMBS)
with the e-office mechanism.
138. Name the organization that launched ‘Ananda’ (Atma Nirbhar Agents New Business Digital
Application) Mobile app to register new insurance policies based on e-KYC.
1) Life Insurance Corporation of India
2) HDFC Life Insurance Company
3) General Insurance Corporation of India
4) ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company
5) Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company
Answer- 1) Life Insurance Corporation of India
Explanation:
Life Insurance Corporation(LIC) of India Chairman, M R Kumar launched Ananda (Atma Nirbhar Agents New
Business Digital Application) mobile app. It works as a tool for the on-boarding process to get the life insurance
policy via paperless format.
139. Identify the points that are correctly related to the Master Directions on Prepaid Payment
Instruments (PPI), 2021 that was recently (in Aug’21) issued by RBI:
A) RBI has reclassified the PPI system into 2 types - Small PPIs & Full-KYC PPIs
B) The Outstanding Amount for a Small PPI can be upto Rs 10,000/ month, whereas the Outstanding
Amount for Full-KYC PPIs shall Not exceeding Rs 2 lakh
C) Small PPIs should be converted into full-KYC PPIs within 24 months from the date of issue of the PPI.
1) Only C
2) All A, B & C
3) Only B & C
4) Only A
5) Only A & C
Explanation:
RBI issued Master Directions on Prepaid Payment Instruments, 2021:
i.Earlier RBI has classified PPIs into 3 types as Closed System PPIs, Semi-closed System PPIs, and Open System
PPIs, which were currently re-classified into 2 types - Small PPIs & Full-KYC PPIs.
ii.For Small PPI’s the Outstanding Amount can be upto Rs 10,000/ month, whereas the Outstanding Amount for
Full-KYC PPIs shall Not exceeding Rs 2 lakh
iii.Small PPIs should be converted into full-KYC PPIs within 24 months from the date of issue of the PPI.

140. What are the points that are correctly related to the recent (in Aug’21) changes made by RBI towards
the remittance to Nepal and the ‘Currency Distribution & Exchange Scheme’ (CDES)?
A) The cap of 12 remittances/year was introduced and the maximum ceiling for remittance from India to
Nepal was increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakhs
B) Incentives for Banks towards distribution of coins has been increased from Rs 25/bag to Rs 65/bag
C) Banks in rural & semi-urban areas will get an addition Rs 10/bag as incentive
1) Only C
2) All A, B & C
3) Only B & C
4) Only A
5) Only A & C
Explanation:
i.RBI increased the ceiling on remittances per transaction from India to Nepal from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh. RBI
has also removed the limit of 12 remittances/year per remitter.
ii.RBI reviewed the ‘Currency Distribution & Exchange Scheme’ (CDES) and increased the incentives being paid to
the banks for distribution of coins to the general public from Rs 25/bag to Rs 65/bag.
iii.An additional incentive of Rs 10 per bag for coin distribution in rural and semi-urban areas was also
introduced by RBI.
141. Which of the following devices were included by RBI (in Aug’21) into its ‘tokenisation’ policy for card
transactions?
1) IoT devices
2) Laptops
3) Wearable devices
4) Both 1 & 3
5) All 1, 2 & 3
Answer- 5) All 1, 2 & 3
Explanation:
RBI extended the scope of ‘tokenisation’ to several consumer devices such as laptops, desktops, wearables (like
wristwatches and bands), and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. This will make card transactions more safe,
secure, and convenient.
i.Before the extension, the facility of tokenisation was available only to mobile phones and tablets of interested
cardholders.
142. Which Asset Management Company was banned by SEBI (in Aug’21) for 6-months from launching
new Fixed Maturity Plans?
1) Natixis Investment Managers
2) Manulife Asset Management
3) Wellington Management Company
4) Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company
5) Principal Financial Group
Answer- 4) Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company
Explanation:
In August 2021, SEBI banned Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company (AMC) Ltd from launching new Fixed
Maturity Plan (FMP) schemes for the next 6 months and imposed a penalty of Rs 50 lakh.
143. Name the company that partnered with GIFT City (in Aug’21) to attract companies towards setting up
Global In-House Centers at GIFT City.
1) Enquero Global
2) Dimension Data India

3) ANSR Global Corporation
4) Falabella India
5) PDI Software India
Answer- 3) ANSR Global Corporation
Explanation:
ANSR Global Corporation Private Ltd (ANSR) collaborated with GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City),
India’s only operational International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) to attract companies to set up Global In-
house Centres (GICs) and Global Capability Centres (GCCs) at GIFT City.
i.Financial Innovation & AnalytiX Lab (FinX Labs) has opened its startup accelerator and co-working space in the
IFSC at GIFT City.
144. Identify the company that (in Aug’21) approved to divest 19.18% states in Asset Reconstruction
Company (India) Ltd (ARCIL).
1) Reliance Retail
2) IRCTC
3) IDBI Bank
4) LIC
5) Wipro
Answer- 3) IDBI Bank
Explanation:
The board of Directors of IDBI Bank has approved to divest its entire stake – 19.18% in Asset Reconstruction
Company (India) Ltd (ARCIL).
About ARCIL:
CEO & MD– Pallav Mohapatra
145. Which organization released the report (in Aug’ 21) titled ‘India’s turning point: How climate action
can drive our economic future’ estimating USD 11 Trillion economic gain can be achieved by India in the
next 50 years?
1) Goldman Sachs Institute
2) Deloitte Economics Institute
3) The Institute of Economic Growth
4) IIM Ahmedabad
5) Symbiosis School of Economics
Answer- 2) Deloitte Economics Institute
Explanation:
As per the report titled ‘India’s turning point: How climate action can drive our economic future’ by Deloitte
Economics Institute, India needed an action on climate change that could pave a way for $11 trillion economic
gain over the next 50 years due to unmitigated climate change.
146. What is the estimated Export Growth of India for FY 2022 as per the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry’s announcements in the “India-ASEAN Engineering Partnership Summit 2021’’?
1) USD 36 Billion
2) USD 46 Billion
3) USD 58 Billion
4) USD 68 Billion
5) USD 75 Billion
Answer- 2) USD 46 Billion

Explanation:
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry inaugurated “India-ASEAN(Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
Engineering Partnership Summit 2021’’. It was stated that India’s expected export growth has been
estimated around USD 46 billion in FY 2021-22.
i. The government of Tamil Nadu joined as a ‘Partner State’ while the Haryana government joined as the ‘Focus
State’.
147. Name the insurance company that partnered (in Aug’ 21) with BillDesk to become 1st Insurer to
enable e-mandate for Premium Payment.
1) HDFC Life Insurance
2) Bharti AXA Life Insurance
3) Max Life Insurance
4) Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance
Answer- 3) Max Life Insurance
Explanation:
Max Life Insurance has partnered with Billdesk, a payment gateway solution provider for safe and secure E-
mandante process on premium payment procedures. It will enhance digital facilities and provide digital
premium payments capability to its customers.
Static Banking Questions

1. What was the targeted loan limit under Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 3.0?
1) Rs 3 lakh crores
2) Rs 1 lakh crore
3) Rs 5 lakh crores
4) Rs 4 lakh crores
5) Rs 2 lakh crores
Answer- 1) Rs 3 lakh crores
Explanation:
Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 3.0 was extended to include new sectors like hospitality, travel
& tourism to provide guaranteed loans till it reaches the targeted Rs 3 lakh crores.
2. “Your Own Bank” is the tagline of which bank?

1) HDFC Bank
2) Canara Bank
3) ICICI Bank
4) Indian Bank
Answer- 4) Indian Bank
Explanation:
About Indian Bank:
MD & CEO – Padmaja Chunduru

3. As of August 2021, SEBI is working on the possibilities of allowing Special Purpose Acquisition
Companies (SPACs) in India. Who is the present chairman of SEBI?
1) Sivasubramanian Ramann
2) Dinesh Kumar Khara
3) G R Chintala
4) Ajay Tyagi
5) Subhash Chandra Khuntia
Answer- 4) Ajay Tyagi
Explanation:
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is working on the possibilities of allowing Special Purpose
Acquisition Companies (SPACs) in India.
About SEBI:
4. What is the Upper Tolerance Limit of Consumer Price Index (CPI) Inflation?
1) 4%
2) 7%
3) 8%
4) 5%
5) 6%
Answer- 5) 6%
Explanation:
On April 1,2021, Government of India decided to continue the existing Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation
target of 4% with a +/- 2% tolerance band (ie; Upper tolerance limit of 6% & Lower tolerance limit of 2%) for
the next 5 fiscal years i.e. FY22 to FY26.
5. SEBI allocated a unique number, ISIN, to identify issues on debt security. What does ISIN stand for?
1) Indian Security Identity Number
2) International Security Indication Number
3) International Securities Identification Number
4) Indian Securities Indication Number
5) Indian Security Identification Number
Answer- 3) International Securities Identification Number
Explanation:
An International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) is a code that uniquely identifies a specific securities
issue. It is issued by SEBI for debt securities.
6. SEBI allocated a unique number, ISIN, to identify issues on debt security. What does ISIN stand for?
1) Indian Security Identity Number
2) International Security Indication Number
3) International Securities Identification Number
4) Indian Securities Indication Number
5) Indian Security Identification Number
Answer- 3) International Securities Identification Number
Explanation:
An International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) is a code that uniquely identifies a specific securities
issue. It is issued by SEBI for debt securities.

7. What does ‘S’ stand for in ISIN code?
1) Settlement
2) Securities
3) Standard
4) System
5) Statistic
Answer- 2) Securities
Explanation:
An International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) is a 12-digit alphanumeric code that uniquely
identifies securities issued by various organisations in different countries.
8. The Finance Ministry is planning to sell stakes of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India in 2021.
When was LIC established?
1) 1935
2) 1956
3) 1969
4) 1921
5) 1909
Answer- 2) 1956
Explanation:
India’s plan to sell 2 banks may get deferred to 2022. Still the plan of the Finance Ministry to sell stakes in India’s
largest Insurance provider ‘Life Insurance Corporation of India’ is in line for 2021.
• LIC was launched in 1956 with headquarters at Mumbai, Maharashtra.
9. Identify the type of ATM that is set-up to serve the special purpose of ‘Women Banking’
1) White Label ATM
2) Pink Label ATM
3) Orange Label ATM
4) Green Label ATM
5) Yellow Label ATM
Answer- 2) Pink Label ATM
Explanation:
Pink label ATM – Their sole purpose is to mitigate the problem of women standing in long queues of ATM. These
ATM were monitored by guards who ensure that only women access these ATM.
10. Through which of the Monetary Policy Instrument, RBI lends overnight loans to scheduled banks,
against government securities?
1) Repo Rate
2) Bank Rate
3) Marginal Standing Facility Rate
4) Reverse Repo Rate
5) Statutory Liquidity Ratio
Answer- 3) Marginal Standing Facility Rate
Explanation:
The MSF or Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate is the rate at which RBI lends funds overnight to scheduled
banks, against government securities.
11. Match the given International Banks with their headquarters:

i. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank a. Beijing, China
ii. New Development Bank b. Washington, D.C., U.S
iii. Asian Development Bank c. Manila, Philippines

iv. International Monetary Fund d. Shanghai, China
1) i-a, ii-b, iii-d, iv-c
2) i-a, ii-d, iii-c, iv-b
3) i-a, ii-b, iii-c, iv-d
4) i-a, ii-c, iii-b, iv-d
5) i-b, ii-c, iii-d, iv-a
Answer- 2) i-a, ii-d, iii-c, iv-b
Explanation:
International Banks Headquarters
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Beijing, China
New Development Bank Shanghai, China
Asian Development Bank Manila, Philippines
International Monetary Fund Washington, D.C., U.S
12. When was the National Housing Bank established?

1) 1955
2) 1969
3) 1999
4) 1988
5) 1982
Answer- 4) 1988
Explanation:
About National Housing Bank(NHB):
Establishment –July 9, 1988
Headquarters –New Delhi
Managing Director – Sarada Kumar Hota
13. Through which of the Monetary Policy Instrument, RBI lends overnight loans to scheduled banks,
against government securities?
1) Repo Rate
2) Bank Rate
3) Marginal Standing Facility Rate
4) Reverse Repo Rate
5) Statutory Liquidity Ratio
Answer- 3) Marginal Standing Facility Rate
Explanation:
The MSF or Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate is the rate at which RBI lends funds overnight to scheduled
banks, against government securities.
14. What is the Maximum Transaction Limit through IMPS service?

1) Rs 1 lakh/day
2) Rs 5 lakh/day
3) Rs 50,000/day
4) Rs 25,000/day
5) Rs 2 lakh/day
Answer- 5) Rs 2 lakh/day
Explanation:
Maximum Transaction limit for IMPS (Immediate Payment Service Bank) is Rs 2 lakh/day and for bank to
bank transactions above Rs. 2 lakhs, Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) is preferred.

15. When was the Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) established?
1) 1935
2) 1909
3) 1982
4) 1955
5) 1973
Answer- 3) 1982
Explanation:
About EXIM Bank:
Established– 1982
Managing Director– David Rasquinha
16. Who was the 1st Woman Deputy Governor of RBI?

1) Nirmala Sitharaman
2) Devaki Jain
3) KJ Udeshi
4) Jayati Ghosh
5) Gita Gopinath
Answer- 3) KJ Udeshi
Explanation:
First woman deputy Governor of RBI was KJ Udeshi.
17. Where is Reserve Bank Information Technology Private Limited (ReBIT), a fully owned subsidiary of
RBI located?
1) New Delhi
2) Mumbai, Maharashtra
3) Kolkata, West Bengal
4) Mysore, Karnataka
5) Mandla, Madhya Pradesh
Answer- 2) Mumbai, Maharashtra
Explanation:
Reserve Bank Information Technology Private Limited (ReBIT), a fully owned subsidiary of RBI is located in
Mumbai, Maharashtra.
18.Which of the following is a plan in which investors make regular & equal payments to a Mutual Fund
scheme?
1) Single Investment Plan
2) Systematic Transfer Plan
3) Dividend Transfer Plan
4) Systematic Investment Plan
5) Systematic Withdrawal Plan
Answer- 4) Systematic Investment Plan
Explanation:
A Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) is a plan in which investors make regular, equal payments into a Mutual Fund
scheme.
19. Identify the organization which is not a fully owned subsidiary of RBI.
1) Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India
2) Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited
3) National Securities Depository Limited

4) Reserve Bank Information Technology Private Limited
5) Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services
Answer- 3) National Securities Depository Limited
Explanation:
National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) is an Indian central securities depository under the jurisdiction
of the Ministry of Finance based in Mumbai. RBI issued a license to NSDL to operate as a payment bank in India
from 2018.
i.Other 4 organisations are Fully owned subsidiaries of RBI.
20. Who is the present (as of Aug'21) MD & CEO of SBI Life Insurance?
1) Mahesh Kumar Sharma
2) M R Kumar
4) Supratim Bandyopadhyay
5) Vibha Padalkar
Answer- 1) Mahesh Kumar Sharma
Explanation:
About SBI Life Insurance:
Establishment -2000
MD & CEO – Mahesh Kumar Sharma
Tagline – With us, You’re sure
21. In August 2021, Deutsche Bank got approval to set up an IFSC banking unit at GIFT City. Where is the
headquarters of Deutsche Bank?
1) Russia
2) UK
3) Germany
4) Canada
5) Singapore
Answer- 3) Germany
Explanation:
Deutsche Bank is a multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt,
Germany. It will set up an Indian Financial System Code
(IFSC) banking unit at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City.
22. Who is the current MD & CEO of ICICI Bank (in Aug’ 21)?
1) Sanjiv Chadha
2) Sandeep Bakhshi
3) Atanu Kumar Das
4) A. S. Rajeev
5) Lingam Venkat Prabhakar
Answer- 2) Sandeep Bakhshi
Explanation:
About ICICI Bank:
Establishment – 1955 (Incorporated in 1994)
MD & CEO – Sandeep Bakhshi

23. Where is the headquarters of the International Finance Corporation?
1) New York, USA
2) Geneva, Switzerland
3) Washington D.C., USA
4) Paris, France
5) Vienna, Austria
Answer- 3) Washington D.C., USA
Explanation:
Headquarters – Washington D.C., USA
MD, Executive Vice President – Makhtar Diop
24. Who is the chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs?
1) Rani Singh Nair
2) Shushil Chandra
3) Vipul Seghal
4) BN Bhaskar
5) M. Ajit Kumar
Answer- 5) M. Ajit Kumar
Explanation:
About Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs:
It is a part of the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance
Chairman – M. Ajit Kumar
25. Name the person who is not the Deputy Governor of RBI (in Aug’ 21).
1) Mahesh Kumar Jain
2) Michael Debabrata Patra
3) M Rajeshwar Rao
4) T. Rabi Sankar
5) Kaushik Basu
Answer- 5) Kaushik Basu
Explanation:
About RBI:
Governor – Shaktikanta Das
Deputy Governors – Mahesh Kumar Jain, Michael Debabrata Patra, and M Rajeshwar Rao, T. Rabi Sankar.
26. Who is the current president of the World Bank (in Aug’ 21)?
1) Audrey Azoulay
2) Kristalina Georgieva
3) David Malpass
4) Christine Lagarde
5) Anshula Kant
Answer- 3) David Malpass
Explanation:
About World Bank
President – David Malpass

27. What is the minimum transfer Limit under Real-time gross settlement (RTGS) in August 2021?
1) Rs.1 lakh
2) Rs.2 lakh
3) Rs. 50,000
4) Rs.5 lakh
5) Rs.10 lakh
Answer- 2) Rs.2 lakh
Explanation:
The minimum transfer limit under RTGS is Rs.2 lakh as of August 2021.
28. When was the EXIM Bank established by the Government of India?
1) 1978
2) 1982
3) 1988
4) 1992
5) 2002
Answer- 2) 1982
Explanation:
About Export and Import (EXIM) Bank of India:
Regulated By– Reserve Bank of India
29. Who is the current MD & CEO of National Payments Corporation of India (in Aug’ 21).
1) Ritesh Shukla
2) Nilesh Kumar Purey
4) Supratim Bandyopadhyay
5) Dilip Asbe
Answer- 5) Dilip Asbe
Explanation:
About NPCI:
MD & CEO – Dilip Asbe
30. Which one of the following is the correct statement regarding increase in the CRR in India?
1) It reduces credit creation
2) It increases credit creation
3) It does not affect credit
4) It is same throughout its inception
5) All the Above
Answer- 1) It reduces credit creation
Explanation:
When CRR is increased, then the banks would not have more money at their disposal to sanction loans. So When
CRR is increased, it reduces credit creation.
31. Who is the current (in Aug’ 21) MD & CEO of Small Industries Development Bank of India?
2) Harsha Bangari
3) N.Ramesh

4) R. Chintala
5) M R Kumar
Answer- 1) Sivasubramanian Ramann
Explanation:
Establishment – April 1990.
Chairman & Managing Director – Sivasubramanian Ramann
Headquarters– Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
32. Match the given organizations with their Headquarters:

i. EXIM Bank a. Mumbai, Maharashtra
ii. UNICEF b. Paris, France
iii. OneWeb c. New York, USA
iv. UNESCO d. London, UK
1) i-a, ii-b, iii-d, iv-c
2) i-a, ii-d, iii-c, iv-b
3) i-a, ii-b, iii-c, iv-d
4) i-a, ii-c, iii-d, iv-b
5) i-b, ii-c, iii-d, iv-a
Answer- 4) i-a, ii-c, iii-d, iv-b
Explanation:
Organization Headquarters
EXIM Bank Mumbai, Maharashtra
UNICEF New York, USA
OneWeb London, UK
UNESCO Paris, France
33. Who is the current (in Aug’ 21) chairman of NABARD?

2) PVSLN Murty
3) Dinesh Kumar Khara
4) G. R. Chintala
5) M R Kumar
Answer- 4) G. R. Chintala
Explanation:
Chairman – G. R. Chintala
34. Currently (in Aug’ 21), how many Public Sector Undertaking Banks are there in India?
1) 14
2) 12
3) 18
4) 16
5) 22
Answer- 2) 12
Explanation:
India has 12 Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Banks and RBI is the central authority that manages all the banking
operations in India.

35. Mutual Funds are regulated by which organization?
1) PFRDA
2) IRDA
3) RBI
4) SEBI
5) SBI
Answer- 4) SEBI
Explanation:
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regulates the securities market in India and protects the
interests of investors in securities. It also regulates the functioning of the stock market, mutual funds.
36. Who is the current (in Aug’ 21) MD & CEO of Bank of Maharashtra?
1) S.S. Mallikarjuna Rao
2) Atul Kumar Goel
3) M R Kumar
4) A S Rajeev
5) Mahabaleshwara M. S
Answer- 4) A S Rajeev
Explanation:
About Bank of Maharashtra:
MD & CEO– A S Rajeev
Headquarters– Pune, Maharashtra
Incorporated on 16th September 1935.
37. Who was the 1st Governor of the Reserve Bank of India?
1) CD Deshmukh
2) C. Rajagopalachari
3) Benegal Rama Rau
4) Osborne Smith
5) IG Patel
Answer- 4) Osborne Smith
Explanation:
• The First Governor of RBI was Sir Osborne Smith (1935 – 1937).
• The First Indian Governor of RBI was CD Deshmukh (1943 – 1949).
38. Foreign Exchange (Forex) reserves in India are managed through the guidelines issued under the
Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), when was FEMA 1st introduced?
1) 2005
2) 1987
3) 1991
4) 1999
5) 2008
Answer- 4) 1999
Explanation:
Foreign Exchange (Forex) reserves in India are managed through the guidelines issued under Foreign Exchange
Management Act (FEMA). FEMA was 1st introduced in 1999.
39. CFMS is a system operated by the RBI to enable operations on current accounts maintained at various
offices. What does “F” denote in the acronym CFMS?
1) Fiscal
2) Finance

3) Funds
4) Formation
5) Flagship
Answer- 3) Funds
Explanation:
The Centralised Funds Management System (CFMS), is a system to enable operations on current accounts
maintained at various offices of the Bank, through standard message formats in a secure manner.
40. Match the given Banks with their Taglines:

i. Indian Overseas Bank a. Banking With Personal Touch
ii. UCO Bank b. Badhti Ka Naam Zindagi
iii. Axis Bank c. Honours Your Trust
iv. Nainital Bank d. Good People To Grow With
1) i-d, ii-b, iii-d, iv-c
2) i-d, ii-c, iii-a, iv- b
3) i-d, ii-c, iii-b, iv-a
4) i-d, ii-b, iii-c, iv-a
5) i-c, ii-d, iii-b, iv-a
Answer- 3) i-d, ii-c, iii-b, iv-a
Explanation:
Bank Tagline
Indian Overseas Bank Good People To Grow With
UCO Bank Honours Your Trust

Axis Bank Badhti Ka Naam Zindagi
Nainital Bank Banking With Personal Touch
41. How many digits are there in the Mobile Money Identifier (MMID)?
1) 5
2) 6
3) 7
4) 8
5) 9
Answer- 7
Explanation:
Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) is a 7-digit unique number, typically a combination of your mobile number and
bank account number. It is a code that allows for interbank transfers via the mobile banking platform.

GA Questions Asked in Exams

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• SBI Clerk Mains 2020
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• GA Questions Asked in IBPS Clerk Mains Exam 2020 – 90% Questions Covered by AC
• GA Questions asked in SBI PO 2019 Main Exam
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• GA Questions asked in RBI Grade B Prelims Exam 2019
• GA Questions asked in IBPS RRB Clerk Mains Exam 2019
• GA Questions asked in IBPS RRB PO Mains Exam 2019
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Banking, Finance & Economy PDF 2021 - August

Banking, Finance & Economy News: August 2021 ....................................................................................................... 4

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Banking, Finance & Economy News: August 2021

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Highlights of the Third Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy of FY21-22

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RBI Introduced Scheme to Penalise Banks for Cash Out in ATMs

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RBI Issues Draft Proposals to Liberalise Overseas Investments Norms

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RBI Cancelled the License of Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank

RBI Introduced Financial Inclusion Index

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RBI Allowed HDFC Bank to Issue New Credit Cards

RBI Issued Revised Guidelines for Locker in Banks

RBI Introduced Automation System ‘PRISM’ to Strengthen Supervision

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RBI Imposes Rs 27.5 Lakh Penalty On Dhanlaxmi Bank

RBI Empaneled South Indian Bank as Agency Bank

RBI Imposed Rs 15 lakh Penalty on Baghat Urban Co-operative Bank

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RBI Issued Master Direction on PPIs

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RBI Extended the Scope of Tokenisation to Laptops, Wearable Devices

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

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Govt Appointed Deepak Das as 25th CGA

Mini Ipe Appointed as the Managing Director of LIC

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RBI Approves Reappointment of Prakash Chandra as Non-Executive Chairman of RBL Bank

Anthony Heredia Appointed as CEO of BOI AXA Investment Managers

Shanti Lal Jain Appointed as the MD and CEO of Indian Bank

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RBI Promoted 3 Grade F officers as Executive Directors for 2021-22

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SBI Launches ‘SIM Binding’ Feature in YONO, YONO Lite

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SEBI Ordered Forensic Audit of MSE’s Accounts

PM Narendra Modi Launched e-Voucher Digital Payment Solution e-RUPI

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Suryoday SFB Launched ‘Health and Wellness Savings Account’

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SEBI allows Payments Banks to act as Investment Bankers

GyanDhan Received NBFC Licence; Plans to Disburse Rs 650 crore in FY22