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Table of Contents

Banking & Finance ................................................................................................................................. 3

Economy ................................................................................................................................................... 14
National .................................................................................................................................................... 21
International .......................................................................................................................................... 27
Sports ........................................................................................................................................................ 29
Agreements & MoUs ........................................................................................................................... 31
Schemes ................................................................................................................................................... 38
Appointments & Resignations ....................................................................................................... 39
Awards ...................................................................................................................................................... 44
Ranks & Reports ................................................................................................................................... 47
Important Days ..................................................................................................................................... 51
Summit & Conferences ...................................................................................................................... 58
Science & Technology ........................................................................................................................ 60
Defence ..................................................................................................................................................... 62
Books & Authors ................................................................................................................................... 65
Obituary .................................................................................................................................................... 65
Person in news ...................................................................................................................................... 66
Insurance ................................................................................................................................................. 67
India & World ........................................................................................................................................ 69
Apps & Portals ....................................................................................................................................... 71
Acquisitions & Mergers ..................................................................................................................... 73
FinTech ...................................................................................................................................................... 76
States & UT ............................................................................................................................................. 76
Committees ............................................................................................................................................. 77
Practise Questions............................................................................................................................... 85
Answer Keys ......................................................................................................................................... 124

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Banking & Finance

1. Karnataka Bank raises Rs 600 cr through qualified institutional placement

• Karnataka Bank said it has raised around Rs 600 crore through qualified institutional
placement by issuing shares to institutional investors.

• The qualified institutional placement opened on March 21 and closed on March 27. The institutions which
bought shares in the QIP include HSBC Mutual Fund, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore PTE, HSBC Global
Investment Funds, SBI Life etc.

2. Canara Bank launches loans for healthcare, savings accounts for women

• Canara Bank on 3 April, launched healthcare focused loan product Canara Heal, which will meet the
shortfall in hospitalization expenditure while settling through TPA healthcare insurance claims of self and/or
dependents. Bank also launched a customized savings account for women ' Canara Angel ' with unique
features like Cancer Care policy.

• It also launched pre-approved personal loan Canara ReadyCash and an Online Loan against term deposit
product Canara MyMoney.

• Canara bank exchanged Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with both MediAssist

Healthcare Services Ltd and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd. for enhancing
healthcare accessibility and affordability of product for its customers.

3. RBI defers implementing rules on exchange-traded forex derivatives to May 3

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deferred the implementation of norms on exchange-traded
currency derivatives (ETCDs) linked to Indian rupee until May 3 following concerns by investors.

• The norms were scheduled to take effect starting 5 April. Now, rupee-denominated currency contracts
traded on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the BSE require underlying exposure.

• Though traders are not required to provide evidence of underlying exposure for positions up to $100
million , they must confirm the existence of such exposure.

• As hitherto, participants with a valid underlying contracted exposure can continue to enter into ETCDs
involving the rupee up to a limit of $100 million without having to produce documentary evidence of the
underlying exposure.

• As per RBI the regulatory framework for participation in ETCDs involving the rupee is guided by the
provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act,1999, and regulations framed thereunder, which
mandate that currency derivative contracts involving rupee "both over-the-counter and exchange traded
"are permitted only for the purpose of hedging of exposure to foreign exchange

4. Bandhan Mutual Fund announces launch of the Bandhan Innovation Fund

• Bandhan Mutual Fund (MF) announced the launch of the Bandhan Innovation Fund. The scheme will
open for subscription on April 10 and will invest in companies with substantial R&D investment, high
skilled-employee costs, potentially higher margins or growth, unique products or services, non-linear
business models, and a notable brand presence.

• "The fund will allocate its investments across a spectrum of innovators: 35-45 per cent to leading
innovators with substantial industry R&D investments; 35-45 per cent to rising innovators utilising
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innovation for a competitive edge; and 10-15 per cent to emerging innovators," the fund house said in a
release.

5. RBI Projects Consumer Price Index Inflation For This Fiscal At 4.5%

• Shaktikanta Das announced the Bi-Monthly Monetary policy said the Monetary Policy
Committee (MPC) has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent. Consequently,
the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate remains at 6.25 per cent and the Marginal Standing
Facility (MSF) Rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75 per cent.

• The Governor said, real GDP growth for 2024-25 is projected at 7.0 per cent with Quarter 1 at 7.1 per
cent; Quarter 2 at 6.9 per cent; Quarter 3 at 7.0 per cent; and Quarter 4 also at 7.0 per cent.

• CPI inflation for 2024-25 is projected at 4.5 per cent. Mr. Das said, that two years ago, around this time,
CPI inflation had peaked at 7.8 per cent in April 2022.

6. RBI proposes to make CBDC-R accessible to non-bank payments system operators

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed to make Central Bank Digital Currency-Retail
(CBDC-R) accessible to a broader population by allowing non-bank payment system operators
to offer CBDC wallets.

• Non-bank payment system operators include third-party payment applications like PhonePe, Google Pay,
etc.

CBDC programme: -

• The RBI launched the CBDC pilot programme in 2022. The Indian CBDC, also known as digital rupee, is
a tokenised digital version of the rupee issued by the RBI.

• The main objective is to mitigate the risks and trim costs in handling physical currency, costs of
phasing out soiled notes, transportation, insurance and logistics.

7. RBI projects GDP growth at 7%, inflation at 4.5% for FY 2024-2025

• While announcing the bi- monthly monetary policy, the Reserve Bank of India has said, the
Consumer Price Index inflation for 2024- 25 is projected at 4.5 per cent.

• The real GDP growth for 2024-25 is projected at 7.0 percent with Quarter 1 at 7.1 percent; Quarter 2 at
6.9 percent; Quarter 3 at 7.0 percent; and Quarter 4 also at 7.0 percent.

• Consumer Price Index (CPI) is one of the price indices used to measure the change in the retail prices of
goods and services consumed by a defined population group in a given area.

• The National Statistical Office (NSO), under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
compiles CPI separately for rural, urban, and combined sectors on a monthly basis.

8. Consumer confidence for year ahead improves further: RBI survey

• Consumer confidence for the year ahead has improved further on the back of higher optimism, which
resulted in the Future Expectations Index (FEI) rising by 2.1 points to 125.2, the highest level since mid-
2019, according to a Reserve Bank of India survey conducted in March 2024.

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• Households' sentiments on the general economic situation and employment prospects recorded notable
improvements for both the current period as well as the upcoming year. The Reserve Bank released the
results of the March 2024 round of its bi-monthly Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS) along with the
monetary policy review. Female respondents accounted for 50.8%

• The RBI in a statement said the survey collects current perceptions and one-year-ahead expectations of
households on general economic situation, employment scenario, overall price situation, own income and
spending across 19 major cities. The latest round of the survey was conducted during March 2-11, 2024,
covering 6,083 respondents.

9. RBI penalises IDFC First Bank, LIC Housing Finance for non-compliance

• RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs. 1 crore on IDFC First Bank for non-compliance with certain
directions on 'Loans and Advances ' Statutory and Other Restrictions'. The Statutory Inspection
for Supervisory Evaluation for FY22 revealed that the bank had sanctioned term loans to a
public sector undertaking for financing infrastructure projects without undertaking due
diligence.

• The central bank also fined LIC Housing Finance Rs. 49.7 lakh for breach of norms. The housing
finance company did not comply with certain provisions of the Fair Practices Code when it did not disclose
the rate of interest and approach for gradation of risk and rationale for charging different rate of interest to
different categories of borrowers in loan application forms.

10. RBI cancels four NBFCs' certificate of registration

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on April 5 said it has cancelled certificate of registration of four non-
banking finance companies (NBFCs). These NBFCs are Kundles Motor Finance Pvt Ltd, Nithya
Finance Ltd, Bhatia Hire Purchase Pvt Ltd, and Jiwanjyoti Deposits and Advances Limited,

• In a separate notification, the central bank said five NBFCs have surrendered their licences due to exit
from NBFC business. These NBFCs are Growing Opportunity Finance (India) Pvt Ltd, Invel Commercial Pvt.
Ltd, Mohan Finance Ltd, Saraswati Properties Ltd, and Quicker Marketing Pvt Ltd, release said.

11. Union Bank raises Rs 42,000 cr from DIFC to fund overseas business growth

• State-owned Union Bank of India said it has raised $500 million (about Rs 4,200 crore) from
foreign markets to fund overseas business growth. The fund was arranged by Dubai
International Financial Centre, Dubai Branch, Union Bank of India said in a regulatory filing. A
syndicated term loan of $ 500 million would be drawn in two tranches with tenure of 3 and 5
years.

12. Private equity firm Bain Capital to sell remaining Axis Bank holding

• Private equity firm Bain Capital will offload its remaining 1.08 per cent stake (33.37 million
shares) in Axis Bank. The price range for the share sale has been set at Rs 1,071 - Rs 1,076 per
share, a discount of up to 0.47 per cent to Axis Bank's last close of Rs 1,076 per share. BofA
Securities India is the sole investment bank handling the transaction.

13. SBI, Standard Chartered do a CDS trade under new RBI norms

• Marking the first such transaction after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued fresh
guidelines for the instrument, State Bank of India and Standard Chartered Bank India carried
out a Credit Default Swap (CDS) trade worth Rs. 25 crore. The trade involved a 1-year rupee
CDS featuring REC.

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• Credit default swaps are derivative instruments that provide a form of insurance against the risk of
default of the issuer of a bond.

14. HDFC becomes first private bank to open branch in Lakshadweep

• HDFC Bank opened a branch at Kavaratti Island in Lakshadweep, making it the only private
sector bank to have a branch in the Union Territory. HDFC Bank has branches in the cold climes of
Kashmir, the southern tip of Kanyakumari and now the island of Lakshadweep - a prominent tourist place.
As of December 31, 2023, the HDFC Bank's distribution network was at 8,091 branches.

15. PSU banks beat private peers in market capitalisation gains during Q4

• State-owned banks beat their private-sector peers, posting the highest gains in their market
capitalisation in Q4 FY24, on the back of improved financial metrics. The government's focus on
long-term projects also largely benefits state-owned lenders, S&P Market Intelligence said in a
note.

• 15 of the 20 largest banks in India logged gains in market capitalisation, with 13 of them
posting double-digit increases. Market capitalisation of all PSU banks, on the list of the country's 20
largest banks, improved from the previous quarter. Indian Overseas Bank led the country's 20
largest banks with a 38.5% sequential increase in market cap to Rs. 1.13-lakh crore.

• Punjab & Sind Bank and Bank of Maharashtra ranked second and third, with gains of 38.4 per
cent and 38.1 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, only ICICI Bank and Yes Bank saw an
improvement among private banks, posting single digit growth in market capitalisation.

16. RBI rejects two applications for small finance bank

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rejected two more applications, including that of Dvara
Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services, for setting up small finance banks. Earlier in July 2023, it
had rejected three applications. RBI had received about a dozen applications to set up banks
under the guidelines for 'on tap' Licensing of Universal Banks and Small Finance Banks (SFBs).

• The guidelines for 'on tap' licensing of Universal Banks and SFBs in the private sector were issued on
August 1, 2016, and December 5, 2019, respectively. In a statement, the RBI said the examination of two
more applications for setting up a small finance bank has been completed as per the procedure laid down
under extant guidelines.

17. Revolut gets RBI nod to issue Prepaid Payment Instruments in India

• Revolut India on 12 April said that it has received an in-principal authorization from the
Reserve Bank of India to issue Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) including prepaid cards and
prepaid wallets in the country. Revolut, a London-based neobank and financial technology company,
has been gearing up for its entry into India, working closely with the RBI over the past 2 years.

• This approval builds upon the existing licences which Revolut India has successfully obtained from RBI to
operate as a Category-II Authorised Money Exchange Dealer (AD II) and to be able to provide multi-
currency forex cards and cross-border remittance services.

18. Japan-based MUFG to acquire 20% stake in HDFC Bank's non-banking arm at close $10 bn
valuation

• The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG) is getting ready to acquire a 20 per cent stake in
HDB Financial Services, a non-banking subsidiary of HDFC Bank, at a valuation of $9-10 billion.
HDFC Bank, the country's largest private lender, currently owns around 95 per cent of HDB Financial
Services, with the remaining 5% held by employees under an Employee Stock Ownership plan.

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