Banking Awareness 2017 Reference Guide For IBPS PO VII PDF

IBPS PO VII Main Exam 2017
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BANKING AWARENESS QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE FOR IBPS PO VII MAIN EXAM 2017 Gr8AmbitionZ.com
Definitions of Important Banking Terms in Simple English
 ATM : An Automated Teller Machine (ATM) is a computerized telecommunications device that provides
the clients with access to financial transactions in a public space without the need for a cashier, human clerk
or bank teller.
 Balance of trade: the part of a nation's balance of payments (difference between foreign entities with
domestic entities) that deals with merchandise (or visible) imports or exports.
 Bancassurance : Selling of insurance products through banks. It also refers as cross selling of insurance
products.
 Bank Rate : This is the rate at which the central bank (RBI) lends money to other banks or financial
institutions. If the bank rate goes up, long-term interest rates also tend to move up. and vice versa.
 Bounced Cheque : When the bank has not enough funds in the relevant account or the account holder
requests that the cheque is bounced (under exceptional circumstances) then the bank will return the cheque
to the account holder.
 Camels : It is a supervisory rating system . It refers to Capital adequacy, Assets, Management Capability,
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Earnings appraisal, Liquidity (also called asset liability management) and Sensitivity (sensitivity to market
risk, especially interest rate risk).
 Cash Reserve Rate : Specifies the percentage of their total deposits the commercial; bank must keep with
central bank or RBI. Higher the CRR lower will be the capacity of bank to create credit.
 CGT (Capital gain tax): It is a direct tax that will be levied on sales and purchases of capital assets such as
Shares, stakes, even costlier items which won’t have depreciation such as monuments, paintings.
 Cheque Book : A small, bound booklet of cheques. A cheque is a piece of paper produced by your bank
with your account number, sort-code and cheque number printed on it. The account number distinguishes
your account from other accounts, the sort-code is your bank’s special code which distinguishes it from any
other bank.
 Cheque Clearing : This is the process of getting the money from the cheque-writer’s account into the
cheque receiver’s account.
 CIBIL : CIBIL refers to Credit Information Bureau India Limited was first established by SBI and HDFC.
It deals with both commercial and consumer segments. It maintains the record of the borrowers by its
members.
 Clearing Bank : This is a bank that can clear funds between banks. For general purposes, this is any
institution which we know of as a bank or as a provider of banking services.
 Commercial Paper : Commercial Paper is an instrument in the form of a promissory note by the corporate
borrowers for their short-term borrowings.
 Core Banking Solution : The branches of a bank are connected to a central host, where online multiple
delivery channels like ATM, ABB, Debit Card, Mobile Banking etc under one roof.
 Credit Card : A credit card is one of the systems of payments named after the Small Plastic card issued to
users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder’s promise
to pay for these goods and services.
 Credit Rating : This is the rating which an individual (or company) gets from the credit industry. This is
obtained by the individual’s credit history, the details of which are available from specialist organizations
like CRISIL in India.
 Credit-Worthiness : This is the judgement of an organization which is assessing whether or not to take a
particular individual on as a customer. An individual might be considered credit worthy by one organization
but not by another. Much depends on whether an organization is involved with high risk customers or not.
 Crop Loans : Bank provide crop loans to the farmers for their seasonal operations (Kharif, Rabi) of
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agriculture like to purchase seeds, fertilizers.

 Cross Selling : Cross selling refers to selling of multiple products to the existing customers such as
insurance, mutual funds etc ( to the banking customers).
 Current Accounts : These accounts are maintained by the corporate clients that may be operated any
number of times in a day. There is a maintenance charge for the current accounts for which the holders
enjoy facilities of easy handling, overdraft facility etc.
 Debit Card : Debit card allows for direct withdrawal of funds from customers’ bank accounts. The
spending limit is determined by the available balance in the account.
 Deflation: Deflation is the continuous decrease in prices of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the
inflation rate becomes negative (below zero) and stays there for a longer period. In Inflation we have two
types demand pull (due to increase in demand), and cost push(due to increase in prices)
 Demand Deposit : A demand deposit is the one which can be withdrawn at any time, without any notice or
penalty; e.g. money deposited in a checking account or savings account in a bank.
 DTC (Direct tax code): This is a provision that can replace age old Income tax act 1961.Since this act have
loop holes (such as IT dept. Will have no jurisdiction over the fraud happened outside India even Indian
company purchased or shares of Indian company sold), so by this code Govt. Will have power to curtail the

menace of tax avoidance, and AAR (Authority for advanced ruling is a body by govt. Can act independently
over these issues and grant permission for MNC’s that their ‘transfer of shares’,’ absorption/amalgamation’
is legitimate or not.
 EMI (Emulated Monthly Instalment) : An equal amount repaid with the principal and interest amount of a
loan on every month.
 Endorsement : When the maker of the holder of the negotiable instruments sign on the back of the cheque
to “Pay certain person”. It means transfer from one person to another person.
 Equity: Equity is a one financial instrument by which company invite the public to invest their money in the
company and investor can become a partner of the company. Generally, when the company have
insufficient money to expand its business it comes with equity shares. Angel investors are the persons who
will give financial help to a novice company to develop leaps and bounds.
 Excise Tax: Tax imposed on specific goods and services, such as cigarettes and gasoline. Customs duty is
levied on inter market boundaries, ‘cess’ is defined as tax on tax.
 FCNR Accounts : Foreign Currency Non-Resident Accounts are the ones that are maintained by the
NRIs in foreign currencies like USD, DM and GBP etc. The account is a term deposit with interest rates
linked to the international rates of interest of the respective currencies.
 Financial inclusion: The purpose of this plan is ‘the fruits of development should be distributed among the
masses and the deprived classes of the society’, so different actions were taken up, such as BSBDA
accounts (Basic savings bank deposit accounts, general purpose accounts to provide for every citizen of
country by 01-01-2016 as part of financial literacy, and no frill accounts (no restriction loans will be given)
to bail out economically backward sections and alleviate them from poverty.
 Fiscal consolidation: It is the process at which the govt. Undertake austerity measures to put restrictions on
its economy such as de licensing of industries, disinvestment from stack etc. Our India is following under
RBI, a perfect measure by FRBM act (fiscal responsibility and budgetary management act) 2003.
 Fiscal policy: Fiscal policy defines the use of government spending and revenue collection to influence the
economy.
 Fixed Deposits : FDs are the deposits that are repayable on fixed maturity date along with the principal and
agreed interest rate for the period. Banks pay higher interest rates on FDs than the savings bank accounts.
 Floating Rate of Interest : It refers to the movement i.e., interest rate on a period basis due to outside
conditions of the market.
 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Investment of foreign assets directly into a domestic company's structures,
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equipment, and organizations. It does not include foreign investment into the stock markets
 GAAR (General anti avoidance rules): These are the provisions by which govt. Can restrict tax avoidance
(some MNC’s deliberately avoid tax by doing transactions in tax heavens such as Mauritius, Luxembourg
(Where Sahantha biotech fraud happened), Cayman Islands (where Vodafone fraud happened). Govt. India
wants to plan these rules from 2016.
 GDP: GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product. It is a method of measuring the size of economy of a
country. We can define as the total market value of all the goods and services produced in a given period of
time in a country.
 GNP: The total value in money of all finished goods and services produced in an economy in one full year,
and all net property income from abroad. The GNP growth rate is an important economic indicator for
country’s economic development.
 Inflation: Inflation is as an increase in the price of bunch of Goods and services that projects the Indian
economy. An increase in inflation figures occurs when there is more demand and less supply of the goods.
 Interest : The amount paid or charged on money over time. If you borrow money interest will be charged
on the loan. If you invest money, interest will be paid (where appropriate to the investment).
 Internet Banking : Online banking (or internet banking ) allows customers to conduct financial

transactions on a secure website operated by the bank. Banks are using internet as a channel to deliver their
service to their customers is referred to internet banking.
 Kissan Credit Card : Kissan Credit card is issued by the bank to farmers to meet their cultivation needs
and inputs, for a period of three years.
 Letter of Credit : The buyer of goods request his bank to give guarantee that the payment for the goods
will be paid to the seller. IN such case the bank issues LC.
 Loan : A loan is a type of debt. In a loan, the borrower initially receives or borrows an amount of money,
called the principal, from the lender, and is obligated to pay back or repay an equal amount of money to the
lender at a later time. There are different kinds of loans such as the house loan, auto loan etc.
 Mergers in Banking : Mergers refers to combination of two or more banking companies into a single one.
Further, it shall continue on a single name.
 Mobile Banking : Operating banking services on his / her mobile screens like checking his bank account
balances / fund transfers etc.., is referred mobile banking.
 Monetary Policy : The RBI issues monetary policy annually to control money supply in the economy and
flow of credit by banks to control inflation. CRR, SLR, BANK Rate are the tools of monetary policy (recent
monetary policy statement was released on 30th September 2014). Next will be on 2nd December 2014.
 Monetary policy: It is the process by which the central bank or monetary authority of a country controls (i)
the supply of money, (ii) availability of money, and (iii) cost of money or rate of interest.
 Monetized debt: The govt. Can restore the original situation before economic crisis period by offering
subsidies and royalties and different incentives to increase the total quality production of the country in
stipulated time, US govt. Did it in 2010-11.
 Moratorium : When the repayment of a loan starts after certain period of its disbursement, that period is
called moratorium.
 National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) : Transfer of funds involving inter banking at the national
level through national clearing cell of the RBI at free press house. It refers to transfer of amount from one
bank account to another bank account.
 NO-Frill Account : An account opened with Zero balance and where the transaction amount is limited to
certain limit is called No-Frill Accounts. Generally these are opened for Students.
 NRE Accounts : Non-Resident External Accounts are the ones in which NRIs remit moneyh in any
permitted foreign currency and the remittance is converted to Indian rupees for credit to NRE accounts. The
accounts can be in the form of Current, Saving, FDs, recurring deposits. The interest rates and other terms of
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these accounts are as per the RBI directives.

 Overdraft : This is when a person has a minus figure in their account. It can be authorized (agreed to in
advance or retrospect) or unauthorized (where the bank has not agreed to the overdraft either because the
account holder represents too great a risk to lend to in this way or because the account holder has not asked
for an overdraft facility).
 Participatory note: It is the economic instrument at which the FII’s not enlisted with the prime regulator of
a country and use this tool to lift the money by means of forward trading/pricing and crate financial chaos in
a particular country and SEBI of our India amended to stop this nonsense.
 Payee : The person who receives a payment. This often applies to cheques. If you receive a cheque you are
the payee and the person or company who wrote the cheque is the payer.
 Payer : The person who makes a payment. This often applies to cheques. If you write a cheque you are the
payer and the recipient of the cheque is the payee.
 Plastic Money : The payment system in mode of credit and other cards like debit card etc refers to plastic
money.
 Point of sale (POS) System : It allows payment to be made at point of sales by the way of electronic fund
transfer.

 Prime Lending Rate : It is the rate at which commercial banks give loan to its prime customers.
 Quantitative easing: This is the process at which govt. Can ease the money flow in to the system by buying
the toxic assets of banks, this was happened in USA in past recession period by the chairman of the then Fed
reserve “Ben Bernanke”.
 Recurring Deposits : These are also called cumulative deposits and in recurring deposit accounts, a
certain amounts of savings are required to be compulsory deposited at specific intervals for a specified
period.
 Repo Rate : Under repo transaction the borrower places with the lender certain acceptable securities against
funds received and agree to reverse this transaction on a predetermined future date at agreed interest cost.
Repo rate is also called repurchase agreement or repurchase option.
 Reverse Repo Rate : It is the interest rate earned by the bank for lending money to the RBI in exchange of
govt. securities or “lender buys securities with agreement to sell them back at a predetermined time”.
 Sales tax ‐ Taxes paid on the goods and services people buy, ‘Tobin tax’ is a tax which will be levied on
spot conversion of currencies in between countries, used curtail the ‘drain of market’.
 Savings account : Savings account is an account generally maintained by retail customers that deposit
money and can withdraw them whenever they need. Funds in these accounts are subjected to low rates of
interest.
 Security for Loans : Where large loans are required the lending institution often needs to have a guarantee
that the loan will be paid back. This takes the form of a large item of capital outlay (typically a house) which
is owned or partly owned and the amount owned is atleast equivalent to the loan required.
 Single Window System : Single window counters will enable the customers to get services at a single
counter.
 SLR : It is known as Statutory Liquidity Ratio. Each bank is required statutorily maintain a prescribed
minimum proportion of its demand and time liabilities in the form of designated liquid asset. (OR) “Every
Bank has to maintain a percentage of its demand and time liabilities by way of cash, gold etc.
 Subprime crisis: The banks which have obligation to facilitate money flow may get struck their revenue
assets with insolvents and become toxic assets, the process is called subprime crisis.
 Tax: A fee charged by a government on a product, income, or activity. If tax is levied directly on personal
or corporate income, then it is a direct tax. If tax is levied on the price of a good or service, then it is called
an indirect tax.
 Time Deposit : Time deposit is a money deposit at a banking institution that cannot be withdrawn for a
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certain “term” or period of time. When the term is over it can be withdrawn or it can be held for another
term.
 Transfer pricing: This is one tactic played by some fraudulent MNC’s which will have some suitcase
companies in tax heavens and purchase the share value of some reputed companies in a country by its
intermediary in that country so that pricing of transferred shares will not have exact value.
 UNCITRAL: United nations commission on International trade Law is an UN body looks after the peaceful
trade among countries without any legal problems and is denoted as the appellate authority for legal
violation of continental rules in trade and commerce.
 VAT (Value added tax): It is an indirect tax on the consumption of the goods, paid by its original producers
upon the change in goods or upon the transfer of the goods to its ultimate consumers. It is based on the value
of the goods, added by the transferor. It is the tax in relation to the difference of the value added by the
transferor and not just a profit. All over the world, VAT is payable on the goods and services as they form a
part of national GDP.
 WIPO: World intellectual property organization is a body looks after the issues of protection of Intellectual
property rights of a country of owner of patent, Marrakesh treaty for ‘Blind rights’ is associated with this
organization.

Recent RBI Committees in News
Committee on Date Chairman /
Convenor
Working Group to Review of the Guidelines for Hedging of Commodity Price November Chandan Sinha
Risk by Residents in the Overseas Market 2017
Internal Study Group to Review the Working of the Marginal Cost of Funds October 2017 Janak Raj
Based Lending Rate System
Household Finance Committee August 2017 Tarun Ramadorai
Internal Working Group on Rationalisation of Branch Authorisation Policy September Lily Vadera
2016
Working Group on Development of Corporate Bond Market in India August 2016 Harun R. Khan
Working Group on Import Data Processing and Monitoring System April 2016 A. K. Pandey
Working Group on Interest Rate Options February P. G. APte
2016
Committee on Ways and Means Advances to State Governments January 2016 SUmit Bose
Committee on Medium-Term Path on Financial Inslusion December Deepak Mohanty
2015
Committee on Differential Premium System for Banks in India September Jasbir Singh
2015
Working Group on Compilation of Flow of Funds Accounts for Indian Economy August 2015 D. K. Mohanty
Compilation of Flow of Funds Accounts of the Indian Economy August 2015 D. K. Mohanty
High Powered Committee on Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) June 2015 R. Gandhi
Committee on Data Standardization March 2015 LP. Parthasarathi
Internal Working Group (IWG) to Revisit the Existing Priority Sector Lending March 2015 Lily Vadera
Guidelines
Committee on Capacity Building in Banks and Non-Banks September G. Gopalakrishna
2014
Committee on Implementation of Counter-cyclical Capital Buffer July 2014 B. Mahapatra
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Committee on Data and Information Management in the Reserve Bank of July 2014 D. K. Mohanty
India
Committee on Productivity Growth for the Indian Economy June 2014 B. N. Goldar
Committee to Review Governance of Boards of Banks in India May 2014 P. J. Nayak
Working Group on Resolution Regime for Financial Institutions May 2014 Anand Sinha
GIRO Advisory Group April 2014 Umesh Bellur
Group on Enabling PKI in Payment System Applications April 2014 Anil Kumar Sharma
Working Group on Pricing of Credit April 2014 Anand Sinha
Committee to Recommend Data Format for Furnishing of Credit Information March 2014 Aditya Puri
to Credit Information Companies
Implementation Group on OTC Derivatives Market Reforms March 2014 R. Gandhi
Committee on Financial Benchmarks February P. Vijaya Bhaskar
2014
Technical Committee on Mobile Banking February B. Sambamurthy
2014
Technical Committee on Enabling Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) in Payment February Anil Kumar Sharma

System Applications 2014
Committee to Revise and Strengthen the Monetary Policy Framework January 2014 Nachiket Mor
Committee on Financial Benchmarks January 2014 P. Vijaya Bhaskar
Committee to review the form of presentation of the Balance Sheet and Profit June 2013 Y. H. Malegam
and Loss Account
Committee to Study the Feasibility of Implementation of GIRO Based Payment May 2013 G. Padmanabhan
System in India
Committee on Licensing of New Urban Co-operative Banks September Y. H. Malegam
2011
Committee on Issues and Concerns in the NBFC Sector August 2011 Usha Thorat
Committee on Customer Service in Banks August 2011 M. Damodaran
Committee on Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) October 2009 Deepak Mohanty
Committee to Review Lead Bank Scheme August 2009 P. Vijaya Bhaskar Rao
Committee on Estimation of Savings and Investment March 2009 C. Rangarajan
Committee on Technology UPgradation of Regional Rural Banks August 2008 G. Srinivasan
Traditional Banking GK - Important Points to Note
Bank :
 Bank is an institution which attracts deposits from the public and lends the
money to the needy persons at various interest rates.
 Under Banking Regulation Act 1949, controls Banking Activities in India.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was established in 1935 and Nationalized in 1949.
 Savings Account system in India was started by Presidency Bank, in 1833.
 Cheque system was first introduced by Bengal Bank which was established in 1784.
 Allahabad Bank is the oldest existing public sector bank in India.
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 Central Bank of India was the first public bank to introduce credit card.
 Central Bank of India is the first commercial bank which was managed by Indians.
 ICICI Bank was the first bank to provide Mobile ATM
 Bank of Baroda has the maximum number of overseas branches.
 India’s first “Talking” Automated Teller Machine (ATM) launched by Union Bank of India (UBI) for
visually impaired, was launched in Ahmedabad (Gujarat).
 The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launches India’s first rural bank ATM card with a
regional rural bank in Varanasi.
 First bank established in India : Bank of Hindustan in 1770.
 Second Bank : General Bank of India, 1786
 The Imperial Bank of India (IBI) was the oldest and the largest commercial bank of the Indian
subcontinent. It was created in Jan 1921 by amalgamation of three presidency banks, those are,
o Bank of Bengal
o Bank of Bombay

o Bank of Madras
 After nationalization in 1955, the Imperial Bank of India was named as State Bank of India (SBI)
 State Bank of India merged with three banks namely Bank of Bengal, Bank of Bombay and Bank of
Madras in 1921 to form the Imperial Bank of India which was converted as State Bank of India.
 First Indian bank got ISO : Canara Bank
 First Indian Bank started solely with Indian capital investment is PNB (Punjab National Bank).
 Founder of Punjab National Bank is Lala Lajpat Rai.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was instituted in 1935.
 First Governor of RBI : Mrs. Osborne Smith
 First Indian Governor of RBI : Mr. C. D. Deshmukh
 First Bank to introduce Savings Account in India : Presidency Bank in 1833
 First Bank to introduce Cheque System in India : Bengal Bank in 1833
 First Bank to introduce Internet Banking : ICICI Bank
 First Bank to introduce Mutual Fund : State Bank of India
 First Bank to introduce Credit Card in India : Central Bank of India
 Credit cards are known as Plastic Money
 Open market operations are carried out by RBI
 Capital Market Regulator is SEBI
 Largest Commercial Bank in India – State Bank of India
 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is known as – World Bank
 India’s First Financial Archive has been set up at – Kolkata
 CRR, SLR, Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate are decided by RBI
 Savings banks interest rates, fixed deposit interest rates, Loan Rates etc are decided by Individual Banks.
 The bank which has launched Mobile Bank Accounts in association with Vodafone’s m-paisa- HDFC Bank
 Minimum money transfer limit through RTGs : 2 Lakhs
 Maximum money transfer limit through RTGs : No Limit
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 Minimum & Maximum money transfer limit through NEFT : No Limit

 NABARD was established in – July 1982
 Largest Public Sector Bank in India – SBI
 Largest Private Sector Bank in India – ICICI
 Largest Foreign Bank in India – Standard Chartered Bank
 Frist Indian Bank to open branch outside India i.e. London in 1946 – Bank of India
 First RRB named Prathama Grameen Bank was started by Syndicate Bank.
 First Bank to introduce ATM in India : HSBC in 1987, Mumbai
 Bank of Baroda has the maximum number of overseas branches.
 Premium Credit Cards exclusively for women launched recently by HDFC Bank.
 Private Sector Bank that recently launched a product of Personal Loan called “SWIFT” – HDFC
 The RBI Central Board consists of One Governor and not more than Four Deputy Governors (Appointed /
Nominated for a period of Four years).
o Present(24th) Governor – Urjit Patel (from 4 September 2016)

 Present Deputy Governors :
 B.P. Kanungo - 3rd April 2017 onwards
 Viral V. Acharya - 23rd January 2017 onwards
 N. S. Vishwanathan - 4th July 2016 onwards
 S. Ganesh Kumar appointed as Executive Director of RBI on 1st June 2107.
 The first headquarter of RBI is Calcutta (1935)
 Present Headquarter of RBI – Mumbai (1937 to present)
 RBI has 29 Regional Offices in India
 The Financial year of the RBI starts on 1st July and ends on 30th June [It could shift to a January to
December financial year from 2018]
Printing of Currency Notes and Securities :
 Currency paper is imported from Dubai

 Paper for currency and securities process at Hoshangabad (MP)
 OVI (Optical Variable Ink) is used for printing currency which is imported from Switzerland.
 Currency denomination is printed in 15 Languages.
 Currency Notes Press, Nasik Road – Denomination of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100
 Bank Notes Press, Dewas (MP) : 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000
 Modenized Currency notes Press : at Mysore, Salboni (West Bengal)
 Minting of Coins : Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Noida (UP)
 Indian Security Press, Nasik Road : Printing of Postal Stamps, Postal Material, Judicial, Non-Judicial
Stamps, Cheques, Bonds, NSCs, Indira Vikas Patra, Kisan Vikas Patra, Securities of States and PSUs.
 Security Printing Press Hyderabad (1982) : Printing of Court Fee Stamps, Commemorative Stamps,
Kisan Vikas Patra, NSS Certificates
 “1 rupee” denomination printed under the control of Government of India.
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 “1 Rupee” note is signed by Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance and other denominations are Signed
by the Governor, RBI
 RBI authorized to print Rs. 2 to Rs. 2000 denomination.
 Parliament photo is printed on Rs. 50 note
 Dhandi Satyagraha picture is on Rs. 500 denomination.
 Rs. 10 is the largest circulation denomination.
 “Rupee” symbol is designed by Uday Kumar, Tamil Nadu.
 The symbol adopted for the Indian Rupee is Devanagari Script.
 Plastic Currency issued first by Australia.
 India is planning to issue plastic currency in Rs. 10 denomination.
Main Features of recently released RBI Notes
 Size :
o ₹2000 - 66 mm x 166 mm

o ₹500 - 66mm x150mm
o ₹200 - 66 mm x 146 mm
o ₹50 - 66 mm x 135 mm
 Colour :
o ₹2000 - Magenta
o ₹500 - Stone grey
o ₹200 - Yellow-Saffron
o ₹50 - Fluorescent blue
 Motifs :
o ₹2000 - Mangalayan
o ₹500 - Red Fort
o ₹200 - Sanchi Stupa
o ₹50 - Hampi with Chariot
Basel Committee :
 In 1988, the Basel Committee on banking supervision introduced the Basel-I accord or the risk based
capital requirements to deal with the weakness in the leverage ratio as a measure for solvency.
 IT was the very first attempt to introduce the concept of minimum standards of capital adequacy.
 Basel-I : Basel I addressed only one Credit Risk.
 Basel-II norms : Unfortunately India could not fully implement this but it is now gearing up under the
guidance from the Reserve Bank of India to implement it from 1st April 2009.
 Basel II : Basle II addresses 3 major pillars / Risks.
1. Credit Risk – 60%
2. Market Risk – 25%
3. Operational Risk – 15%
 Minimum capital to be maintained by banks under Basle II is 8%
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 Basel III norms are effective from 1st January 2013

 RBI extended the timeline for full implementation of Basel III norms to 31st March 2019 instead of
31st March 2018.
 Basel III proposes many new capital, leverage and liquidity standards to strengthen the regulation,
supervision and risk management of the banking sector.
RTGS
 The full form of RTGS is “Real Time Gross Settlement”.

 RTGS system is a funds transfer system where transfer of money or securities takes place from one
bank to another bank a “REAL TIME” and “Gross” basis.
 An RTGS payment system is one in which payment of Rs. 2 Lakh and above instructions between
banks is processed and settled individual and throughout the day (SBI PO 2014)
 The settlement is on Gross Basis unlike usual clearing system which is on Net basis.
 In RTGS, RBI acts as the settlement agent between the banks, settlement risk and systemic risk are

minimized because of RTGS. It is the fastest mode of transaction (SBI PO 2014)
 Credit is to be available within 2 hours.
 Timings : 9 AM to 4:30 PM for customers and 9 AM to 6 PM Indian Bank Transactions. For Saturdays
it is 9 AM to 1:30 PM, Customers and in case of Inter Bank 9 AM to 3 PM.
NEFT
 The full form of NEFT is “National Electronic Funds Transfer”

 Transaction Time increased to 9 AM to 7 PM on weekdays and 9 AM to 1 PM on Saturday, with 11
hourly settlement on weekdays and 5 on Saturdays.
 NEFT enables funds transfer from one bank to another but works a bit differently than RTGS.
 NEFT uses an Indian Financial System (IFS) code
o an alpha numeric code that identifies the bank branches. It has 11 digits – 1st four represent
Bank code, 5th reserved as control code (presently 0) and remaining 6 are branch code.
 Settlement period B+ (destination bank to credit within 2 hours or return). For delay repo rate +2%
interest payable to customer.
 Under this system, individuals, firms and corporate can electronically transfer funds from any bank
branch to any individual, firm or corporate having an account with any other bank branch in the country
participating in the system.
 What are the minimum and maximum amount of remittance under RTGs and NEFT :
RTGS NEFT
Minimum Amount Rs. 2 Lakhs No Minimum Limit (SBI PO
2014)
Maximum Amount No upper ceiling No upper ceiling
 CTS : Cheque Truncation System (CTS) or Image-based Clearing System (ICS), in India , is a project
undertaken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), for faster clearing of cheques. CTS is basically an
online image-based cheque clearing system where cheque images and Magnetic Ink Character
10
Recognition (MICR) data are captured at the collecting bank branch and transmitted electronically.
Truncation means, stopping the flow of the physical cheques issued by a drawer to the drawee branch.
 IFSC (Indian Financial System Code) :
- Indian Financial System Code is an alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies a bank branch
participating in NEFT system.
- This is a 11 digit code with the first 4 alpha characters representing the bank, the 5th character
is 0 (zero) and the last 6 characters representing the bank branch.
- IFSC is used by the NEFT system to identify the originating / destination branks / branches and
also to route the messages approximately to the concerned banks / branches.
- For Ex : SBIN0015986
 First 4 characters SBIN – refers to State Bank of India
 0 is a control number
 Last six characters (015986) represents the SBI branch Jail Road, Hari Nagar, New
Delhi.


MICR : Stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. MICR code is a numeric code which uniquely
identifies a bank branch participating in the ECS Credit Scheme. MICR code consists of 9 digits. E.g.
400229128 (SBI PO 2014)
- First 3 digits represent the city (400)
- Next 3 digits represent the bank (229)
- Last 3 digits represent the branch (128)
 BASIC SAVING BANK DEPOSIT ACCOUNT (BSBDA) : Under the guidelines issued on10th
August 2012 by RBI, any individual, including poor or those from weaker section of the society, can
open zero balance account in any bank. BSBDA guidelines are applicable to “all scheduled commercial
banks in India, including foreign banks having branches in India”.
 PAN Card as of November 2017, the Income Tax Department in India has made it mandatory for all
Indians to have a PAN card (Permanent Account Number), irrespective of their tax filing status.
 CRR : According to sect 42 (I) RBI Act 1934, every bank licensed by RBI should keep certain
percentage its NKTL (net demand and time liabilities) with RBI in the form of cash is known as CRR.
- No interest will be paid by RBI on CRR to the banks.
- The present CRR is 4.0%
- Till 22nd June 2006 the min CRR rate was 3% and max was 15%.
- Now there is no limit on max & minimum on CRR.
- RBI decreases CRR to promote economic growth of the country.
 SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) :
- Seciton 2(A) of Bankign Regulation Act 1943 says SLR is the percentage of NDTL that banks
need to maintain as reserves in the form of approved securities, gold and cash.
- The present SLR is 19.5 %
- The max SLR is 40%.
 Repo Rate :
- Repo is the rate at which RBI lends to commercial banks as term loans by keeping their
securities with RBI to meet their short term needs (Repo-Repurchase).
- The present Repo Rate is 6.00%
11
 Reverse Repo Rate :

- The process of borrowing money from banks by RBI by keeping its securities as collateral with
banks is known as Reverse Repo.
- The interest paid by RBI to banks on such borrowing is known as Reverse Repo Rate .
- The regular infection & absorption of liquidity through repo and reverse repo process by using
securities as collateral is known as liquidity adjustment facility.
- The present Reverse Repo Rate is 5.75 %
 Bank Rate
- Is defined in Sec (49) of RBI Act 1934 it is the interest rate charged by RBI on the long term
loans given to banks again rediscounting of the bills and other commercial paper.
- Present Bank Rate is 6.25 %
 Marginal Standing Facility (MSF)
- This was introduced by RBI in May 2011. This loan provided by RBI to banks at the rate of 2%
of its NDTL Banks should be request for MSF between 3-30 to 4-30 pm electrically under

negotiable dealing system (NDS).
- This loan is provided only for 1 day.
- If any bank takes this loan for Friday it can repay it on Monday with the same interest.
- Interest charged on MSF at present is 6.25 %
- The min loan provided by RBI under MSF is 1 Crore.
 Demand Draft : A demand draft is an instrument used for effecting transfer of money. It is a negotiable
instrument.
 Cheque : Cheque is a negotiable instrument instructing a bank to pay a specific amount from a specific
account held in the maker / depositor name with that Bank.
 From 1st April 2012, cheques, drafts, pay orders and banker’s cheques are valid for only three months.
 Parties to a Cheque : Basically there are three parties to a cheque viz., (1) Drawer, (2) Drawee and (3)
Payee
1. Drawer : A drawer is the person who has an account in the bank and who draws a cheque for
making payment. He is the customer or account holder.
2. Drawee : A drawee is the person on whom the cheque is drawn. He is liable to pay the amount.
In case of a cheque, the drawee happens to be the banker on whom the cheque is drawn, he is
also called the paying-Banker.
3. Payee : A payee is the person to whom the amount stated in the cheque is payable. It may be
either drawer himself (self-cheques) or only other third party states in the cheque.
 Types of Cheques : Cheques are of the following types
1. Order Cheque : A cheque payable to a particular person or his order is called an order cheque.
2. Bearer Cheque : A cheque which is payable to a person whosoever bears, is called bearer
cheque.
3. Blank Cheque : A cheque on which the drawer puts his signature and leaves all other columns
blank is called a blank cheque.
4. Stale Cheque : The cheque which is more than six months old is stale cheque.
5. Mutilated Cheque : If a cheque is torn into two or more pieces, it is termed as mutilated cheque.
12
6. Post Dated Cheque : If a cheque bears a date later than the date of issue, it is termed as post-
dated cheque.
7. Open Cheque : A cheque which has not been crossed is called an Open Cheque. Even if a
cheque is crossed and subsequently the drawer has cancelled the crossing at the request of the
payee and affixes his full signature with the words “crossing cancelled pay cash,” it becomes an
open cheque.
8. Crossed Cheque : A cheque which carries two parallel transverse lines across the face of the
cheque with or without the words “I and co,” is said to be crossed.
9. Gift Cheques : Gift cheques are sued for offering presentations on occasions like birthday,
weddings and such other situations. It is available in various denominations.
10. Traveller’s Cheques : It is an instrument issued by a bank for remittance of money from one
place to another.
State Bank of India (SBI)

 Imperial Bank of India acted as central bank of our country from 1921 to 1935.
 Imperial Bank of India was nationalized and renamed as “State Bank of India” in 1955. First
Chairman, A. D. Gorwala.
 SBI has 7 Subsidiaries (SBI Ground). They are : State Bank of Hyderabad, Mysore, Indore,
Patiala, Saurashtra, Travancore, Bikaner & Jaipur. All these were formed in 1959.
 The total number of associate banks of SBI currently working in the country is – Five
 SBI is the largest commercial bank of India
 SBI launched a New Scheme “Parvartan” to attract more customers by rendering better
services.
 SBI has introduced the Tiny-Card with biometric identification to achieve Financial Inclusion.
Tiny-Card provides easy banking services for under privileged communities.
 SBI Head Quarters : Mumbai
 State Bank of India launched “Mobi Cash Eash” a mobile wallet service that allows users to
transfer funds and make bill payment easily using Mobile Phone.
 On 7th October 2013, Arundhati Bhattacharya is appointed as the first lady chairperson for SBI
(Retired on 7th October 2017).
 SBI & Associated Banks :
S. No Name of the Bank Head Office Established Year

1 State Bank of India Mumbai 1806
2 State Bank of Hyderabad Hyderabad 1941
3 State Bank of Mysore Bangalore 1913
4 State Bank of Travancore Trivendram 1945
5 State Bank of Patiala Patiyala 1917
6 State Bank of Jaipur & Bikaner Jaipur 1963
 Note :
 In 2008 the State Bank of Sourashtra merged with SBI.
13
 In 2010 the above State Bank of Indore also merged with SBI.
 Five associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank became part of the State Bank of India
(SBI) from 1st April 2017.
 Slogans of SBI :
1. With you all the way
2. Pure Banking nothing else
3. The banker to every Indian
4. The Nation Banks on us
Indian Origin Banks Nationalization

On 19th July 1969 Central Government (Indira Gandhi) nationalized 14 Indian origin banks and on 15th
April 1980 again nationalized other 6 Indian origin banks.
Nos. Name of the Bank Head Established

Office Year
1 Allahabad Bank Kolkata 1865
2 Bank of Baroda Baroda 1908
3 Bank of Maharashtra Pune 1935
4 Bank of India Mumbai 1906
5 Central Bank of India Mumbai 1911
6 Canara Bank Bangalore 1906
7 Dena Bank Mumbai 1938
8 Indian Bank Chennai 1907
9 Indian Overseas Bank Chennai 1937
10 Punjab National Bank New Delhi 1895
11 Syndicate Bank Manipal 1925
12 Union Bank of India Mumbai 1919
13 United Commercial Bank (UCO Bank) Kolkata 1943
14 United Bank of India Kolkata 1950
15 Andhra Bank Hyderabad 1923
16 Corporation Bank Mangalore 1906
17 Oriental Bank of Commerce New Delhi 1943
18 Punjab and Sindh Bank New Delhi 1908
19 Vijaya Bank Bangalore 1931
20 IDBI Bank Ltd Mumbai 1964
21 ECGC (The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Mumbai 1957
Ltd)
Note : In 1993, the New Bank of India merged with Punjab National Bank due to the incurring losses.
 Bharatiya Mahila Bank was established on 19th November 2013 on the occasion of the 94th birth
anniversary of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Merged with SBI on 1st April 2017.
 RBI Permits 4 Non bank entities to set up white label ATMs :
 The Reserve Bank has issued “Certificate of Authorization” to four non bank entities :
1. Tata Communications Payment Solutions
14
2. Muthoot Finance
3. Prizm Payment Services and
4. Vakrangee Ltd., to set up White Label ATMs (WLAs) in the country.
 Note : Most of the ATMs belong to banks, but the cash dispensing machines which are owned and
operated by non banking companies are called White Label ATMs.
 RBI permits Srei to roll out White Label ATMs
 New bank license period – 18 months (SBI PO 2016)
 New bank licenses paid up capital – 500 Cr (SBI PO 2014)
 Asian games after which country withdrawal India ready to conduct ? – Vietnam (SBI PO 2014)
Stock Market
 A Stock market is a public or private market for the trading of company stock and derivatives of
company stock on agreed price. These are securities listed on a stock exchange.

BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange)
 It was established on 1875, and its head office is in Mumbai.

 BSE Index is known as SENSEX. SENSEX measure on the basis of 30 top companies.
 BSE Headquarters : Mumbai, India
 BSE Managing Director & CEO : Mr. Ashish kumar Chauhan
NSE (National Stock Exchange)
 NSE started trading in the equities segment on 3rd November 1994.

 NSE Headquarters : Mumbai, India
 Director & CEO : Chitra Ramakrishna
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) :
 It was established in the year 1988 and given statutory powers on 12th April 1992.
 The headquarters of SEBI is located in the business district of Bandra – Kurla complex in Mumbai.
 The Chairman of SEBI – Ajay Tyagi
 Whole time members of SEBI – G. Mahalingam and Madhabi Puri Buch
 The first Chairman of SEBI was – Dr. S. A. Dave
 Important Note : The Forward Markets Commission (FMC) was on 29th September 2015 was merged
with SEBI.
KYC (Know Your Customer)
 RBI introduced KYC in Banking sector under 35(A) of Banking Regulation Act 1949.
 This KYC was introduced in August 2002.
 To identify the people who wants to transact with any bank and to know about the customer before
opening an account. This process involves verification of customers id proof & address proof.
15
 The main objectives of KYC are :

o To prevent money laundering
o To prevent money transfer to and from illegal activities.
o Money Laundering : Acquiring, Owning, Processing (or) Transferring of money earned
through crime (or) knowingly entering in to any transaction related to crime within (or) outside
India (or) it is the process of conversion of illegally obtained money.
New KYC Norms Set :
 The Reserve Bank of India on 2nd September set new Know Your Customer (KYC) rules to facilitate
opening of bank accounts for foreign students studying in India.
 Banks can open Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) accounts for foreign students on the basis of their
passports after verifying their visa and immigration details and on production of the admission letter
from an educational institution, RBI said in a circular.
Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) :

 Established on 26th September 1946.
 IBA’s Chairman : Rajeev Rishi (Central Bank of India)
Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) :
 The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) is an autonomous agency in India, which started
its operation in 1975 as Personnel Selection Services (PSS). In 1984, IBPS became an independent
entity at the behest of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and public sector banks.
 The First Chairman of its Governing Board was Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Governor of RBI (at that
time).
 Present Chairman & Managing Director : Anup Shankar Bhattacharya
NABARD (National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development) :
 NABARD was established on the recommendations of Shivaraman Committee.

 NABARD was established by an act of Parliament on 12th July 1982 to implement the National Bank
for Agriculture and Rural Development Act 1981.
 NABARD replaced the (ACD) and Rural Planning and Credit Cell (RPCC) of Reserve Bank of
India, and Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC).
 Head Quarters of NABARD is situated in Mumbai.
 The present Chairman of NABARD is Dr. Harish Kumar Bhanwala.
 NABARD is the “Micro-Finance Regulatory Authority”.
 Water Shed Development Fund was instituted with NABARD.
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
 The SIDBI Act was passed by the Parliament on October 1989 and the bank commenced its operations
from 2nd April 1990.
16
 Headquarters : Lucknow (U.P)

 Chairman and Managing Director : Mohammad Mustafa
Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) :
 The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) was established on 1st July 1964 under an Act of
Parliament as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India.
 On 16th February 1976, the ownership of IDBI was transferred to the Government of India.
 Headquarters of IDBI is at Mumbai, India.
 Chairman and Managing Director of IDBI is Mahesh Kumar Jain.
Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) :
 ICICI was established in 1955.

 ICICI Head qurters : Mumbai, India


ICICI Present CEO : Chanda Kochhar.
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) : (World Bank)
 Established in : 1945
 IBRD Head Office : Washington DC
 President : Jim Yong Kim
IDFC (Infrastructure Finance Company)
 Established : 1997
 Head Office : Mumbai
 Chairman : Rajiv B. Lal
LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India)
 On 1st September 1956 Life Insurance Corporation of India was established with the capital of Rs. 5
Crore given by the Government of India.
 Head Office : Mumbai, India
 LIC Chairman : V K Sharma
 7 Zonal Offices : Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Kolkata
GIC (General Insurance Company)
 British Rule introduced GIC.

 In 1950, Tritan General Insurance Company Ltd was established at Calcutta.
 GIC Chairman : Alice Vaidyan
 Headquarters : Mumbai, India
 GIC insures Non Life things like Vehicle, Property, Stock etc.
17
 GIC premium has to be paid every year and payout is made only if the event for which insurance has
taken happens.
Subsidiaries of GIC Headquarter

National Insurance Company Limited Kolkata
New India Assurance Company Limited Mumbai
Oriental Insurance Company Limited New Delhi
United India Insurance Company Limited Chennai
EXIM (Export-Import) Bank of India
 Established on : 1st January 1982

 Setup under EXIM Bank of India Act 1981
 Headquarters : Mumbai
 EXIM Bank Managing Director : David Rasquinha

Micro Finance :
 Micro Finance represents an economic activity to promote employment and growth through the support
of micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses, of the low-income household, by extending various
financial services, such as Loans, Savings, Money Transfer, Insurance Services etc.
 The Father of Micro Finance : Md. Yunis Khan (Bangladesh)
 Y. H. Malegam is the chairman of the committee constituted by RBI to study issues and concerns in the
Micro Finance Institutions.
NASSCOM
 The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM).

 The Indian Chamber of Commerce is a consortium that serves as an interface to the Indian Software
industry and Indian BPO industry.
 It was established in 1988. NASSCOM is a Non-Profit Organization.
 Headquarters : New Delhi, India with Regional Offices in the cities of Mumbai, Chennai,
Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune and Kolkata.
 Raman Roy has been appointed as its chairman for 2017-2018.
ASSOCHAM
 The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)

 ASSOCHAM President : Sandeep Jajodia
 The Association’s Head Office is located in New Delhi, India and Regional Offices are located in the
cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata.
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
18
 Established Year : 1956

 Affiliate of the IBRD
 Headquarters : Washington D. C., United States
 The IFCI is a member of the World Bank Group.
 Major objective is economic development by encouraging growth of productive private enterprise.
International Development Association (IDA) :
 Established Year : 1960

 Headquarters : Washington D.C., United States
 Membership – 172 Countries
 The IDA is a member of the World Bank Group.
International Monetary Fund (IMF)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) was set up by 44 Nations under the Bretton Woods Agreement
of July 1944. This institute was established on 27th December 1945. But it is started its function on 1st
March 1947.
 Headquarters : Washington D.C., United States
 Members – 188 Nations (Founding), 188 Nations (To Date) 188 Countries, 29 Countries (Founding)
 The Head of IMF is known as Managing Director
 The Head of IMF – Chirstine Lagarde [Former Finance Minister of France]
 The financial year of IMF : 1st May – 30th April
 The head of IMF elected for 5 years (But can be removed earlier).
 Latest / Last Member of IMF – Nauru
 Quotas and Voting Ranking – India occupies 9th Place in IMF General Quotas where USA in 1st, Japan
in 2nd, Germany in 3rd Place.
 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) – It was created by IMF in 1970. It is also known as Paper Gold.
 Cuba is not a member of IMF. Cuba left IMF in 1964.
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
 Established in Manila in 22nd August 1966

 Headquarters : Manila
 ADB President : Takehiko Nakao (2013)
 Functioning from : 1st January 1967
Asian Clearing Union (ACU)
 Established year : 9th December 1974

 Headquarters : Taheran, Iran
 ESCAP : Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific
19
 Member Economies : 9 (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
and Myanmar)
Bank for International Settlement (BIS)
 Established Year : 17th May 1930

 Location : Basel, Switzerland
 General Manager : Jaime Caruana
 Membership : 60 Central Banks
 It also provides banking services, but only to central banks and other international organizations. It is
based in Basel, Switzerland, with representative offices in Hong Kong and Mexico City.
Some Important Talking ATM Questions :
 Which Bank established First Talking ATM in India ?

o Union Bank of India (Union Bank)

 Which city gets the country’s first Talking ATM ?
o Ahmedabad
 Which State gets the country’s first Talking ATM ?
o Gujarat
 Talking ATM Specially designed for ______ people ?
o Blind
 Who inaugurated the country’s first Talking ATM ?
o CMD of UBI, D. Sarkar
 Talking ATM has what kind of Special Interface ?
o Voice Interface
 Which was the second bank to launch the Talking ATM in India ?
o State Bank of India
 Which company installed White Lable ATM first in the country ?
o Tata
o White Label ATMs - 100%
List of countries and currencies

Country or territory Currency Algeria Algerian dinar
A American Samoa (USA) United States dollar
Afghanistan Afghan afghani Andorra European euro
Akrotiri and Dhekelia (UK) European euro Angola Angolan kwanza
Aland Islands (Finland) European euro Anguilla (UK) East Caribbean dollar
Albania Albanian lek Antigua and Barbuda East Caribbean dollar

20
Argentina Argentine peso Cambodia Cambodian riel
Armenia Armenian dram Central African CFA

Cameroon
franc
Aruba (Netherlands) Aruban florin
Canada Canadian dollar
Ascension Island (UK) Saint Helena pound
Caribbean
Australia Australian dollar United States dollar
Netherlands (Netherlands)
Austria European euro Cayman Islands (UK) Cayman Islands dollar
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan manat Central African CFA
Central African Republic
franc
B
Bahamas Bahamian dollar Central African CFA
Chad
franc
Bahrain Bahraini dinar
Chatham Islands (New Zealand) New Zealand dollar
Bangladesh Bangladeshi taka
Chile Chilean peso

Barbados Barbadian dollar
Chinese Yuan
China
Belarus Belarusian ruble Renminbi
Belgium European euro Christmas Island (Australia) Australian dollar
Belize Belize dollar Cocos (Keeling)

Australian dollar
Islands (Australia)
Benin West African CFA franc
Colombia Colombian peso
Bermuda (UK) Bermudian dollar
Comoros Comorian franc
Bhutan Bhutanese ngultrum
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Bolivia Bolivian boliviano Congolese franc
the
Bonaire (Netherlands) United States dollar Central African CFA
Congo, Republic of the
franc
Bosnia and
Bosnia and Herzegovina Herzegovina Cook Islands (New Zealand) Cook Islands dollar
convertible mark
Costa Rica Costa Rican colon
Botswana Botswana pula
Cote d'Ivoire West African CFA franc
Brazil Brazilian real
Croatia Croatian kuna
British Indian Ocean
United States dollar
Territory (UK) Cuba Cuban peso
British Virgin Islands (UK) United States dollar Netherlands Antillean

Curacao (Netherlands)
guilder
Brunei Brunei dollar
Cyprus European euro
Bulgaria Bulgarian lev
Czech Republic Czech koruna
Burkina Faso West African CFA franc
D
Burundi Burundi franc
Denmark Danish krone
C
Djibouti Djiboutian franc
Cabo Verde Cape Verdean escudo
21
Dominica East Caribbean dollar Guernsey (UK) Guernsey Pound
Dominican Republic Dominican peso Guinea Guinean franc
E Guinea-Bissau West African CFA franc
Ecuador United States dollar Guyana Guyanese dollar
Egypt Egyptian pound H

El Salvador United States dollar Haiti Haitian gourde
Central African CFA Honduras Honduran lempira

Equatorial Guinea
franc
Hong Kong (China) Hong Kong dollar
Eritrea Eritrean nakfa
Hungary Hungarian forint
Estonia European euro
I
Ethiopia Ethiopian birr
Iceland Icelandic krona

F India Indian rupee
Falkland Islands (UK) Falkland Islands pound
Indonesia Indonesian rupiah
Faroe Islands (Denmark) Faroese krona
International Monetary Fund SDR (Special Drawing
Fiji Fijian dollar (IMF) Right)
Finland European euro Iran Iranian rial
France European euro Iraq Iraqi dinar
French Guiana (France) European euro Ireland European euro
French Polynesia (France) CFP franc Isle of Man (UK) Manx pound
G Israel Israeli new shekel
Central African CFA Italy European euro

Gabon
franc
J
Gambia Gambian dalasi
Jamaica Jamaican dollar
Georgia Georgian lari
Japan Japanese yen
Germany European euro
Jersey (UK) Jersey pound
Ghana Ghanaian cedi
Jordan Jordanian dinar
Gibraltar (UK) Gibraltar pound
K
Greece European euro
Kazakhstan Kazakhstani tenge
Greenland (Denmark) Danish krone
Kenya Kenyan shilling
Grenada East Caribbean dollar
Kiribati Australian dollar
Guadeloupe (France) European euro
Kosovo European euro
Guam (USA) United States dollar
Kuwait Kuwaiti dinar
Guatemala Guatemalan quetzal
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstani som
22
L Mozambique Mozambican metical
Laos Lao kip Myanmar (Burma) Myanmar kyat
Latvia European euro N

Lebanon Lebanese pound Namibia Namibian dollar
Lesotho Lesotho loti Nauru Australian dollar
Liberia Liberian dollar Nepal Nepalese rupee
Libya Libyan dinar Netherlands European euro
Liechtenstein Swiss franc New Caledonia (France) CFP franc
Lithuania European euro New Zealand New Zealand dollar
Luxembourg European euro Nicaragua Nicaraguan cordoba
M Niger West African CFA franc

Macau (China) Macanese pataca Nigeria Nigerian naira
Macedonia (FYROM) Macedonian denar Niue (New Zealand) New Zealand dollar
Madagascar Malagasy ariary Norfolk Island (Australia) Australian dollar
Malawi Malawian kwacha Northern Mariana Islands (USA) United States dollar
Malaysia Malaysian ringgit North Korea North Korean won
Maldives Maldivian rufiyaa Norway Norwegian krone
Mali West African CFA franc O

Malta European euro Oman Omani rial
Marshall Islands United States dollar P

Martinique (France) European euro Pakistan Pakistani rupee
Mauritania Mauritanian ouguiya Palau United States dollar
Mauritius Mauritian rupee Palestine Israeli new shekel
Mayotte (France) European euro Panama United States dollar
Mexico Mexican peso Papua New Guinean

Papua New Guinea
kina
Micronesia United States dollar
Paraguay Paraguayan guarani
Moldova Moldovan leu
Peru Peruvian sol
Monaco European euro
Philippines Philippine peso
Mongolia Mongolian tugrik
Pitcairn Islands (UK) New Zealand dollar
Montenegro European euro
Poland Polish zloty
Montserrat (UK) East Caribbean dollar
Portugal European euro
Morocco Moroccan dirham
Puerto Rico (USA) United States dollar
23
Q South Africa South African rand
Qatar Qatari riyal South Georgia Island (UK) Pound sterling
Reunion (France) European euro South Korea South Korean won
Romania Romanian leu South Sudan South Sudanese pound
Russia Russian ruble Spain European euro
Rwanda Rwandan franc Sri Lanka Sri Lankan rupee
S Sudan Sudanese pound
Saba (Netherlands) United States dollar Suriname Surinamese dollar
Saint Barthelemy (France) European euro Svalbard and Jan

Norwegian krone
Mayen (Norway)
Saint Helena (UK) Saint Helena pound
Swaziland Swazi lilangeni
Saint Kitts and Nevis East Caribbean dollar
Sweden Swedish krona

Saint Lucia East Caribbean dollar
Switzerland Swiss franc
Saint Martin (France) European euro
Syria Syrian pound
Saint Pierre and
European euro
Miquelon (France) T
Saint Vincent and the Taiwan New Taiwan dollar
East Caribbean dollar
Grenadines
Tajikistan Tajikistani somoni
Samoa Samoan tala
Tanzania Tanzanian shilling
San Marino European euro
Thailand Thai baht
Sao Tome and Principe
Sao Tome and Principe Timor-Leste United States dollar
dobra
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian riyal Togo West African CFA franc
Senegal West African CFA franc Tokelau (New Zealand) New Zealand dollar
Serbia Serbian dinar Tonga Tongan pa’anga
Seychelles Seychellois rupee Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago
dollar
Sierra Leone Sierra Leonean leone
Tristan da Cunha (UK) Pound sterling
Singapore Singapore dollar
Tunisia Tunisian dinar
Sint Eustatius (Netherlands) United States dollar
Turkey Turkish lira
Netherlands Antillean
Sint Maarten (Netherlands) Turkmenistan Turkmen manat
guilder
Slovakia European euro Turks and Caicos Islands (UK) United States dollar
Slovenia European euro Tuvalu Australian dollar
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands dollar U
Somalia Somali shilling Uganda Ugandan shilling
24
Ukraine Ukrainian hryvnia Venezuela Venezuelan bolivar
United Arab Emirates UAE dirham Vietnam Vietnamese dong
United Kingdom Pound sterling W

United States of America United States dollar Wake Island (USA) United States dollar
Uruguay Uruguayan peso Wallis and Futuna (France) CFP franc
US Virgin Islands (USA) United States dollar Yemen Yemeni rial
Uzbekistan Uzbekistani som Z
V Zambia Zambian kwacha
Vanuatu Vanuatu vatu Zimbabwe United States dollar
Vatican City (Holy See) European euro

Important Foreign Banks and Country
Bank Country
Standard Chartered Bank UK
Royal Bank of Scotland UK
Berclays Bank UK
Citi Bank USA
JP Morgan Chase Bank USA
Bank of America USA
ABN AMRO Bank The Netherlands
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank UAE
Bank of Ceylon Sri Lanka
BNP Paribas Bank France
Societe Gednerale France
China Trust Commercial Bank Taiwan
Deustsche Bank Germany
Scotia Bank Canada
DBS Bank Singapore

Punch Lines of Banks
Trusted Family Bank : Dena Bank
 Good People to Bank with : Union Bank of
 Hum Hai Na : ICICI India
 Good People to Grow with : Indian Overseas  Banking for All : IDBI Bank
Bank  World’s Local Bank : HSBC
 With you All the Way : State Bank of India  We Understand your World : HDFC
 A Trusted Relationship : SBH  Friendly, Intelligent, Responsive : Andhra
 Tradition of Trust : Allahabad Bank Bank
 A Friend you can Bank upon : Vijaya Bank
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 Together we Prosper : Bank of Rajasthan  One Family, One Bank : Bank of Maharashtra
 Your Perfect Banking Partner : Federal Bank
Heads of Banks
 Taking Banking Technology to Common Man :
Indian Bank  Allahabad Bank - Usha Anathasubramanian
 Prosperity to All : Corporation Bank  Andhra Bank - Suresh N Patel
 We are changing for you : Canara Bank  Axis Bank - Shikha Sharma
 Experience our Expertise : Yes Bank  Bank of Baroda - P. S. Jayakumar
 Central to you Since 1911 : Central Bank of  Bank of India - Dinabandhu Mohapatra
India  Bank of Maharashtra - Ravindra Prabhakar
 Serving to Empower : J & K Bank Marathe
 The Changing Face of Prosperity : Lakshmi  Canara Bank - Rakesh Sharma
Vilas Bank  Central Bank of India - Rajeev Rishi
 Where service is a way of life : Punjab &  Corporation Bank - Jai Kumar Garg
Sindh Bank  Dena Bank - Ashwani Kumar

 Where Every individual is Committed :  HDFC Bank - Shyamala Gopinath
Oriental Bank of Commerce  ICICI Bank - Chanda Kochhar
 The Bank that begins with U : United Bank of  IDBI Bank Ltd - Mahesh Kumar Jain
India
 Indian Bank - Kishor Kharat
 Your Faithful & Friendly Financial Partner :
 Indian Overseas Bank - R. Subramaniakumar
Syndicate Bank
 Oriental Bank of Commerce - Mukesh Kumar
 Relationship Beyond Banking : Bank of India
Jain
 Honours your Trust : UCO Bank
 Punjab National Bank - Sunil Mehta
 Smart Way to Bank : Karur Vysya Bank
 Punjab & Sindh Bank - Jatinderbir Singh
 A Passion to Perform : Deutche Bank
 State Bank of India - Rajnish Kumar
 Experience Next Generation Banking : South
 UCO Bank - Ravi Kishan Takkar
Indian Bank
 Union Bank of India - Rajkiran Rai
 The Name you can Bank upon : Punjab
 United Bank of India - Pawan Kumar Bajaj
National Bank
 Vijay Bank - R A Sankara Narayanan
 India’s International Bank : Bank of Baroda
Banking and Financial Abbreviations

 ACF Auto-Correlation Function  AO Additive Outliers
 AD Authorized Dealer  AR Auto Regression
 ADB Asian Development Bank  ARIMA Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving
 ADR American Depository Receipt Average
 AFS Annual Financial Statement  AFS Available For Sale
 AGM Annual General Meeting  ASSOCHAM Associated Chambers of
 AIRCSC All India Rural Credit Survey Commerce and Industry of India
Committee  ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
26
 ATM Automated Teller Machine  DCA Department of Company Affairs, (Now

 BIS Bank for International Settlements known as Ministry of Companies Affairs,
 BOI Bank of India MCA)
 BoP Balance of Payments  Government of India
 BPM5 Balance of Payments Manual, 5th edition  DCB Demand Collection and Balance
 BPSD Balance of Payments Division,  DCCB District Central Cooperative Bank
DESACS, RBI  DCM Department of Currency Management,
 BSCS Basel Committee on Banking RBI
Supervision  DD Demand Draft
 BSR Basic Statistical Returns  DDS Data Dissemination Standards
 CAD Capital Account Deficit  DEIO Department of External Investments and
 CAG Controller and Auditor General of India Operations
 CBS Consolidated Banking Statistics  DESACS Department of Statistical Analysis &
 CC Cash Credit Computer Services, RBI

 CD Certificate of Deposit  DGBA Department of Government and Bank
 CD Ratio Credit Deposit Ratio Accounts, RBI
 CDBS Committee of Direction on Banking  DGCI&S Directorate General of Commercial
Statistics Intelligence and Statistics
 CF Company Finance  DI Direct Investment
 CFRA Combined Finance and Revenue  DICGC Deposit Insurance and Credit
Accounts Guarantee Corporation of India
 CGRA Currency and Gold Revaluation  DID Discharge of Internal Debt
Account  DMA Departmentalized Ministries Account
 CII Confederation of Indian Industries  DRI Differential Rate of Interest Scheme
 CO Capital Outlay  DSBB Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board
 CP Commercial Paper  DVP Delivery versus Payment
 CPI Consumer Price Index  ECB External Commercial Borrowing
 CPI-IW Consumer Price Index for Industrial  ECB European Central Bank
Workers  ECGC Export Credit and Guarantee
 CR Capital Receipts Corporation
 CRAR Capital to Risk Weighted Asset Ratio  ECS Electronic Clearing Scheme
 CRR Cash Reserve Ratio  EDMU External Debt Management Unit
 CSIR Council of Scientific and Industrial  EEA Exchange Equalization Account
Research  EEC European Economic Community
 CSO Central Statistical Organisation  EEFC Exchange Earners Foreign Currency
 CVC Central Vigilance Commission  EFR Exchange Fluctuation Reserve
 DAP Development Action Plan  EPF Employees Provident Fund
 DBOD Department of Banking Operations and  EUR Euro
Development  EXIM Bank Export Import Bank of India
 DBS Department of Banking Supervision, RBI  FCA Foreign Currency Assets
27
 FCCB Foreign Currency Convertible Bond  HICP Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices
 FCNR(B) Foreign Currency Non-resident  HO Head Office
(Banks)  HUDCO Housing & Urban Development
 FCNRA Foreign Currency Non-resident Corporation
Account  IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction
 FCNRD Foreign Currency Non-Repatriable and Development
Deposit  IBS International Banking Statistics
 FDI Foreign Direct Investment  ICAR Indian Council of Agricultural Research
 FEMA Foreign Exchange Management Act  ICICI Industrial Credit and Investment
 FI Financial Institution Corporation of India
 FICCI Federation of Indian Chambers of  ICMR Indian Council of Medical Research
Commerce and Industry  IDB India Development Bonds
 FII Foreign Institutional Investor  IDBI Industrial Development Bank of India
 FIMMDA Fixed Income Money Market and  IDD Industrial Development Department

Derivatives Association of India  IFAD International Fund for Agricultural
 FISIM Financial Intermediation Services Development
Indirectly Measured  IFC International Finance Corporation
 FLAS Foreign Liabilities and Assets Survey  IFC(W) International Finance Corporation
 FOF Flow Of Funds (Washington)
 FPI Foreign Portfolio Investment  IFCI Industrial Finance Corporation of India
 FRA Forward Rate Agreement  IFR Investment Fluctuation Reserve Account
 FRBM Fiscal Responsibility and Budget  IFS International Financial Statistics
Management Act, 2003  IGLS Iterative Generalized Least Squares
 FRN Floating Rate Note  IIBI Industrial Investment Bank of India
 FSS Farmers’ Service Societies  IIP Index of Industrial Production
 FWG First Working Group on Money supply  IIP/InIP International Investment Position
Manual on Financial and Banking Statistics  IMD India Millennium Deposits
 GDP Gross Domestic Product  IMF International Monetary Fund
 GDR Global Depository Receipt  IN India
 GFD Gross Fiscal Deficit  INR Indian Rupee
 GFS Government Finance Statistics  IOTT Input-Output Transaction Table
 GIC General Insurance Corporation  IP Interest Payment
 GLS Generalized Least Squares  IRBI Industrial Reconstruction Bank of India
 GNIE Government Not Included Elsewhere  ISDA International Swaps and Derivative
 GoI Government of India Association
 GPD Gross Primary Deficit  ISIC International Standard Industrial
 G-Sec Government Securities Classification
 HDFC Housing Development Finance  ISO International Standards Organization
Corporation  ITRS International Transaction Reporting
 HFT Held For Trading System
28
 IWGEDS International Working Group on  NEC Not Elsewhere Classified

External Debt Statistics  NEER Nominal Effective Exchange Rate
 KVIC Khadi & Village Industries Corporation  NFA Non-Foreign Exchange Assets
 LAF Liquidity Adjustment Facility  NFD Net Fiscal Deficit
 LAMPS Large-sized Adivasi Multipurpose  NGO Non-Governmental Organization
Societies  NHB National Housing Bank
 LAS Loan & Advances by States  NIC National Industrial Classification
 LBD Land Development Bank  NIF Note Issuance Facility
 LBS Locational Banking Statistics  NNML Net Non-Monetary Liabilities
 LERMS Liberalised Exchange Rate  NPA Non-Performing Assets
Management System  NPD Net Primary Deficit
 LIC Life Insurance Corporation of India  NPRB Net Primary Revenue Balance
 LS Level Shift  NPV Net Present Value
 LT Long Term  NR(E)RA Non-Resident (External) Rupee

 LTO Long Term Operation Account
 M1 Narrow Money  NR(NR)RA Non-Resident (Non-Repatriable)
 M3 Broad Money Rupee Account
 MA Moving Average  NRE Non-Resident External
 MCA Ministry of Company Affairs  NRG Non-Resident Government
 MIGA Multilateral Investment Guarantee  NRI Non-Resident Indian
Agency  NSC National Statistical Commission
 MIS Management Information System  NSSF National Small Savings Fund
 MMSE Minimum Mean Squared Errors  OD Over Draft
 MoF Ministry of Finance  ODA Official Development Assistance
 MOF Master Office File  OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation
 MRM Monitoring and Review Mechanism and Development
 MSS Market Stabilisation Scheme  OECO Organisaton for Economic Co-operation
 MT Mail Transfer  OFI Other Financial Institutions
 MTM Mark-To-Market  OLTAS OnLine Tax Accounting System
 NABARD National Bank for Agriculture and  OMO Open Market Operations
Rural Development  OSCB Other Indian Scheduled Commercial
 NAC(LTO) National Agricultural Credit (Long Bank
Term Operation)  PACF Partial Auto-Correlation Function
 NAIO Non Administratively Independent  PACS Primary Agriculture Credit Societies
Office  PCARDB Primary Cooperative Agriculture and
 NAS National Account Statistics Rural Development Bank
 NASSCOM National Association of Software  PD Primary Deficit
and Services Companies  PDAI Primary Dealers Association of India
 NBC Non-Banking Companies  PDO Public Debt Office
 NBFC Non Banking Financial Companies
29
 PDO-NDS Public Debt Office-cum-Negotiated  SC Schedule Caste

Dealing System  SCARDB State Cooperative Agriculture and
 PDs Primary Dealers Rural Development Bank
 PES Public Enterprises Survey  SCB State Cooperative Bank
 PF Provident Fund  SCB Scheduled Commercial Bank
 PIO Persons of Indian Origin  SCS Size Class Strata
 PMJDY Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana  SDDS Special Data Dissemination Standards
 PNB Punjab National bank  SDR Special Drawing Right
 PO Principal Office  SEBI Securities and Exchange Board of India
 PRB Primary Revenue Balance  SEBs State Electricity Boards
 PSE Public Sector Enterprises  SFC State Financial Corporation
 PUC Paid Up Capital  SGL Subsidiary General Ledger Abbreviations
 QRR Quick Review Report  SGSY Swarnajayanthi Gram Swarrojgar
 RBI Reserve Bank of India Yojana

 RD Revenue Deficit  SHGs Self-Help Groups
 RDBMS Relational Database Management  SIDBI Small Industries Development Bank of
System India
 RE Revenue Expenditure  SIDC State Industrial Development
 REC Rural Electrification Corporation Corporation
 REER Real Effective Exchange Rate  SI-SPA Systems Improvement Scheme under
 RFC Residents Foreign Currency Special Project Agriculture
 RIB Resurgent India Bonds  SJSRY Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana
 RIDF Rural Infrastructure Development Fund  SLR Statutory Liquidity Ratio
 RLA Recoveries of Loans & Advances  SLRS Scheme for Liberation & Rehabilitation
 RLC Repayment of Loans to Centre of Scavangers
 RMB Renminbi (Chinese)  SMG Standing Monitoring Group
 RNBC Residuary Non-Banking Companies  SNA System of National Accounts
 RO Regional Office  SRWTO Small road & Water Transport
 RoCs Registrars of Companies Operators
 RPA Rupee Payment Area  SSI Small-Scale Industries
 RPCD Rural Planning and Credit Department,  SSSBEs Small Scale Service & Business
RBI Enterprises
 RR Revenue Receipts  ST Schedule Tribe
 RRB Regional Rural Bank  SWG Second Working Group on Money
 RTP Reserve Tranche Position Supply
 RUF Revolving Underwriting Facility  TBs Treasury Bills
 RWA Risk Weighted Asset  TC Temporary Change
 SAM Social Accounting Matrix  TT Telegraphic Transfer
 SAS Statistical Analysis System  UBB Uniform Balance Book
 SBI State Bank of India  UBD Urban Banks Department
30
 UCB Urban Cooperative Bank  WGMS Working Group on Money Supply:

 UCN Uniform Code Number Analytics and Methodology of Compilation
 US United States  WPI Wholesale Price Index
 USD US Dollars  WSS Weekly Statistical Supplement
 UTI Unit Trust of India  YTM Yield to Maturity
 VC Venture Capital
 ZO Zonal Office
Credit Rating Agencies :

 Credit rating is the technique of credit risk valuation for the corporate debt instruments reflection
borrower’s expected capability and inclination to pay interest and principle in a timely manner.
 John Moody first introduced the concept in 1909.
 Methodology : A ration exercise is done at the request of the company. It applies to a particular debt

obligation of the company and is not a general purpose evaluation of the company.
Name of Agency Service Established Head Quarter Head / Key

People
Moodys Investor Bond Market 1909 New York, Raymon W. MC
Service USA City Daniel Jr
Standard and Financial Services 1860 New York, John Berisford
Poor USA City (President)
Fitch rating Financial Services 1913 New York City, Paul Taylor
USA & London, (CEO & President)
UK
Credit Rating Research, Risk and 1987 Mumbai, India Ashu Suyash
Information Policy Advisory (MD & CEO)
Services of India
Limited (CRISIL)
Investment Credit Rating and 1991 Gurgaon, India Naresh Takkar,
Information and Financial (CEO)
Credit Rating Consulting
Agency of India
(ICRA)
Credit Research, Risk and 2000 Mumbai, India M. V. Nair
Information Policy Advisory (Chairman)
Bureau India Ltd.
(CIBIL)
CARE Credit Rating, Risk 1993 Sion (East), O. V. Bundellu
Mumai, India (Chairman)
SMERA (FOR Research, Risk & 2005 Mumbai, India Sudesh Kumar
msme’s) Policy Advisor (Chairman)
Bric Work India Research, Risk & 2007 Bangalore, India Vivek Kulkarni
Advisory (Chairman & CEO)
31
Recent Banking Updates

From 1st January 2017 to 20th November 2017
January 2017
 Axis Bank became third Indian Bank to use block chain solutions for its operations, in association with
fintech firm Ripple. Axis bank will use Block chain technology for its cross-border remittances.
o ICICI Bank was first to announce block chain solutions in for international trade finance and
remittances in October 2016, followed up by Yes Bank in January 2017 (In Association with Bajaj
Eletricals) and now Axis Bank.
 Punjab National Bank and India Post Payments Bank signed MOU to enable IPPB to receive support from

PNB for pilot launch of IPPB.
 YES Bank launched unique Customizable Savings Account to enable customers to design an account as per
their convenience. Yes bank became bank in India to launch such type of account that enables customer to
choose features of that suits one’s own lifestyle.
 Future Generali India Insurance Company (FGII) announced bancassurance tie-up with Pune based Bank of
Maharashtra.
 In Cashless India Scorecard prepared by Walnut app, Gujarat, Telangana and Haryana emerged as the top
three states with the highest growth in going cashless.
 Karnataka Bank launched personal accident insurance scheme for savings bank account-holders with name
KBL Suraksha. Karnataka Bank also signed MoU with Tirth Agro Technology Pvt Ltd for financing
agricultural mechanisation.
 Online Travel Portal MakeMyTrip accquired Competitor IBIBO for Approx $1.8 (12000 Crores Approx).
 Vodafone India signed MoU with West Bengal government to invest 3,000 crore for capacity augmentation,
during Bengal Global Business Summit 2017.
 According to Central Statistics Office (CSO), India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow at a slower
pace at 7.1% in 2016-17 as compared to 7.6% in 2015-16.
o Per capita net national income in 2016-17 is estimated to be Rs. 1,03,007, rise of 10.4% as compared to
Rs. 93,293 during 2015-16.
o Agriculture, forestry and fishing - likely to grow at 4.1% during 2016-17, as against previous year’s
growth rate of 1.2%.
o Manufacturing sector - It is estimated to grow by 7.4% in 2016-17 as compared to growth of 9.3% in
2015-16.
 According to United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP), India’s economy will grow
by 7.7% in fiscal 2017 and 7.6% in 2018. India will remain the fastest growing large developing economy in
world.
 According to data by Finance Ministry, over 26 crore accounts have been opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) as of now., with Over 71500 crore rupees deposited in these accounts.
32
 According to research firm Counterpoint, Chinese mobile brands have taken control of 50% of India’s $10-
billion smartphone market in 2016, up from 19% in 2015.
 As part of alternative mechanism to decide how to use funds raised after stake sales in PSUs, Government
transferred role of Advising on utilisation of proceeds from disinvestment from Department of Investment
and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) to Department of Economic Affairs.
 BookMyShow acquired Online Movie Ticket Platform MastiTickets for undisclosed amount.
 Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) revised Indian Standard on gold hallmarking, making gold jewellery
available in 3 grades - 14 carat, 18 carat and 22 carat. Caratage will now also be marked on jewellery in
addition to fineness for convenience of consumers.
o Caratage for 22 carat jewellery 22K will be marked as 22K916, 18 carat be marked as 18K750 and 14
carat will be marked as 14K585.
o Hallmark on gold jewellery will now have four marks - BIS Mark, purity in carat and fineness, assaying
centre’s identification mark and jeweller’s identification mark.
 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved listing 5 government owned General Insurance

Companies in stock exchanges - National Insurance Company, New India Assurance Company, Oriental
Insurance Company, United India Insurance Company and General Insurance Corporation of India.
Shareholding of these Companies will be divested from 100 to 75 %.
 Central Board for Direct Taxes (CBDT) announced that General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) will start
from April 1, 2017 to check tax evasion and avoidance.
o GAAR was announced as part of the 2012-13 Budget speech. But its implementation was repeatedly
postponed because opposition by foreign investors.
 Citi Bank India introduced voice biometrics authentication system for its phone banking clients, replacing
current practice of interactive voice response.
 Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed penalty of 206 crores on 7 cement companies for bid-
rigging and cartelisation - Shree Cement, UltraTech Cement, Jaiprakash Associates, JK Cement, Ambuja
Cements, ACC and JK Lakshmi Cement.
 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Presented Economic Survey 2016-17, One day before presenting Union
Budget 2017 - 18 (Feb 1, 2017). Here are the main highlights :
o Survey is prepared by chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian.
o Growth Forecast - Gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2016-17 pegged at 7.1%, down from 7.6%
in 2015-16. It will stay between 6.75 % to 7.5% in 2017-18.
o Sectoral Growth - Agriculture sector to grow at 4.1% in 2016-17, up from 1.2% in 2015-16. Industrial
sector Growth came down to 5.2% in 2016-17, compared to 7.4% in 2015-16. Service sector has grown
at 8.9% in 2016-17 (same as 2015-16).
o Taxation - Cut in individual Income Tax rates and real estate stamp duties are prescribed. Time table for
cutting corporate tax should be accelerated.
o Inflation : Consumer Price Index (CPI) based Inflation declined to 4.9 % in 2015-16 from 5.9 % in
2014-15 and stood at 4.8 % during April-December 2016.
o Trade - Exports grew 0.7 % to US$ 198.8 billion and During 2016-17 (April-December) imports
declined by 7.4 % to US$ 275.4 billion. Trade deficit (Imports - Exports) declined to US$ 76.5 billion
in 2016-17 (April-December) as compared to US$ 100.1 billion in corresponding period last year.
33
Current account deficit (CAD) narrowed in the first half (H1) of 2016-17 to 0.3 % of GDP from 1.5 %
in H1 of 2015-16 and 1.1 % in 2015-16 full year.
o External Debt stood at US$ 484.3 billion at end of Dec 2016.
o Government Debt to GDP ratio: It was 68.5% in 2016, down from 69.1% in 2015.
o Banking : Suggests setting up public sector asset rehabilitation agency (PSARA) to take charge of large
bad loans in banks.
o Universal Basic Income (UBI): It is preferred as an alternative to various social welfare schemes in an
effort to reduce poverty. UBI would cost between 4 and 5% of GDP.
o Rabi crops have been sown in around six crore 16 lakh hectares till date which is about 35 lakh hectares
more than last year.
 Finance Ministry granted approval to 12 proposals of Public Sector Banks to raise Approx 2900 crores
through preferential allotment. It also allowed United Bank of India to raise INR 200 crores through QIP
(Qualified institutional placement) mode.
 Finance Ministry will contribute partially to new dedicated railway safety fund named as ‘Rashtriya Rail

Sanraksha Kosh’ in the upcoming Union Budget 2017-18.
 Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council decided to rollout GST (Goods and Services Tax) nationwide on 1
July 2017, deferred from 1 April 2017 Earlier.
 Government approved amendment in Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) for electronics
manufacturing, aiming Net Zero imports in electronics by 2020. Key Amendments are -
o Applications will be received under M-SIPS scheme till December 2018 or till such time that an
incentive commitment of Rs 10,000 crore is reached, whichever is earlier. On Reaching 10000 crores,
review will be held to decide further financial commitments.
 Government approved excluding States (except Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh)
from National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) investments with effect from 1 April 2016. Cabinet also
approved one-time loan of Rs 45000 crore from NSSF to Food Corporation of India (FCI) to meet its food
subsidy requirements.
o Arunachal Pradesh will be given loans to the tune of 100 % of NSSF collections within its territory,
while Delhi, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh will be provided with 50 percent of collections.
 Government approved interest waiver for the November and December 2016 for farmers accessing short
term crop loans from Cooperative Banks.
 Government approved new scheme for promotion of Rural Housing. It will provide interest subsidy to every
rural household not covered under Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (Grameen). Beneficiary who takes a loan
under the scheme would be provided interest subsidy for loan amount upto Rs. 2 Lakhs. National Housing
Bank would implement the scheme.
 Government approved package for augmentation of Corpus of Credit Guarantee Trust Fund for Micro and
Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) for supporting Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs).
o Corpus of Trust increased from 2500 crore to 7500 crores.
o Increase coverage of the loans covered under the credit guarantee scheme from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 2
crore.
o Increase coverage of credit guarantee scheme for loans extended to MSEs by NBFCs also.
34
 Government approved short term borrowings of approx 20000 Crores by National Bank for Agriculture &
Rural Development (NABARD), lending to Cooperative Banks at 4.5% rate of interest. Additional capital
of 2,000 crore to be provided to NABARD for through Union Budget. This will ensure increased
availability of short term crop loans to farmers through Cooperative banks at reduced rate of interest.
 Government launched Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana 2017, to be implemented through Life Insurance
Corporation of India (LIC).
o Meant to provide social security during old to and protect elderly persons aged 60 years and above.
o It will provide an assured pension based on a guaranteed rate of return of 8% per annum for 10 years,
with an option to opt for pension on a monthly / quarterly / halfyearly and annual basis.
 Government made Aadhaar Card mandatory for workers in rural areas enrolled under Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA). Registered Workers will be required to give
proof of possession of Aadhaar card till March 31, 2017. Aim is to prevent leakages of subsidies and ensure
that beneficiaries get their due.
 Government notified that Co-operative Banks are not authorised to accept deposits under the Pradhan

Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme (PMGKDS).
 Government will roll out Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) to boost export infrastructure by
tying up with States. It will help states to develop their own export strategy in alignment with National
Foreign Trade Policy.
 HDFC Bank launched IRA (Intelligent Robotic Assistant), a ‘humanoid’ at its Mumbai branch. It will
provide smoother customer service, employee assistance, marketing and automate the banking process.
o Earlier in November 2016, City Union Bank introduced India’s first banking robot named Lakshmi.
 HDFC Bank launched chatbot service OnChat to allow users to make payments through Facebook
Messenger.
 Hindustan Zinc Ltd of Vedanta Group received environment clearance for its Rs. 1,200 crore Zawar Mines
expansion project in Rajasthan, aimed at expaning production capacity of lead-zinc and ore beneficiation
from 1.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 4 MTPA at its Zawar underground mines.
 ICICI Prudential Life Insurance acquired 8.41 % stake in Fino Paytech Ltd (FPL) for of 100 crores.
 Income Tax Department (ITD) initiated Operation Clean Money to Identify Persons whose Tax Profile does
not match with deposits made by them between 9th November to 30th December 2016. It uses complex
Data Analytics to accomplish the task.
 India Post received final payments bank licence from Reserve Bank of India (RBI). India Post is third entity
after Bharti Airtel and Paytm to receive final payments bank licence to roll-out Payment banking
Operations.
 India Signed US$ 48 million Loan agreement with World bank for Nagaland Health Project.
 Indian Navy’s largest warship - INS Vikramditya became first warship to be equipped with its own
dedicated ATM (Automated Teller Machine), installed by State Bank of India (SBI).
 India’s factory output, measured by Index of Industrial Production (IIP) registered 5.7% growth in
November 2016, fastest growth recorded in over past four years.
 Kerala Gramin Bank launched FI@School Program to propagate financial literacy among school children.
 London Based insurance Firm Lloyd received final approval from the Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority (IRDA) to set up first branch in India.
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 Ministry of AYUSH and Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) signed MoUs to co-regulate
malpractices in advertisement of AYUSH sector.
 Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) launched mobile application named SEZ India. This app has
four sections - SEZ Information, Trade Information, Contact Details and SEZ online Transaction.
 Munich Reincurance Company (Germany Based) opened branch office in Mumbai to service property-
casualty, life, health reinsurance markets across India.
 Not Residing Indians (NRI) citizens have been allowed to exchange their old 500 and 1,000 rupees notes at
Reserve Bank of India (RBII) offices till the 30 June 2017.
 PM Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s first international stock exchange at International Financial Services
Centre (IFSC) in4 Gujarat International Financial Tech City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar. It is named as
International exchange-India (INX) and is subsidiary of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
 Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry announced discount of 5 rupees to LPG customers on every LPG refill
through online payment.
 Punjab National Bank (PNB) launched Contactless Credit Card - Wave N Pay (on Visa Platinum platform),

for transactions up to INR 2000.
 RBI Note Mudran printing press located in Mysuru (Karnataka) made record of printing highest number of
currency notes. It printed 1.09 Crore notes on a single day, breaking previous world record of 87 Lakh notes
printed in an American currency printing press. The press printed 1350 million currency notes in December
2016 by nearly 650 workers.
 Railways launched IRCTC Rail Connect - a new ticketing App to facilitate booking of train tickets in a
faster and easier way.
 Railways unveiled ‘Mission 41K’ to save Rs. 41,000 crore on Indian Railways’ expenditure on energy
consumption over next 10 years.
 Real estate portals PropTiger.com and Housing.com merged to form India’s largest online real estate
services company.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased daily limit of ATM withdrawal to Rs 4500 from current Rs 2500.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prohibited Indian entities from making direct investments in any entity located
in Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCT) as identified by Financial Action Task Force
(FATF).
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised daily cash withdrawal limits from ATMs to INR 10000 from existing
4500. Weekly cash withdrawal limit from Savings Accounts is unchanged at 24,000 and withdrawal limit
from current accounts is Hiked to INR 100000 per week from 50000.
 Reserve Bank of India has lifted restrictions on daily withdrawal of money from ATMs (automated teller
machines), starting 1 February 2017.
 Reserve Bank of India imposed penalty of 75 lakhs on Bombay Mercantile Co-operative Bank for violations
of norms related to KYC and anti-money laundering.
 Retirement fund body Employees’ Provide Fund Organisation (EPFO) made it mandatory for its pensioners
and subscribers to provide either Aadhaar to remain beneficiary of its social security schemes.
o EPFO will not transfer subsidy (1.16% of the employee’s salary upto Rs.6,500) towards Employment
Pension Scheme (EPS) till Aadhaar number provided.
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 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) amended SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 1993 to
provide an enabling framework for registration of Eligible Fund Managers (EFMs), aimed to develop fund
management industry in India. It make easier for foreign fund managers keen to enter India.
 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) tightened rules for mergers and amalgamations by Indian
companies in a bid to safeguard interests of the public shareholders.
o New rules will ensure that all classes of shareholders get an equitable treatment during mergers and
acquisitions. Holding of public shareholders post the merger cannot be less than 25%.
o e-voting will be mandatory in cases wherein the stake of public shareholders reduces by more than 5%
in the merged entity.
 Securities and Exchange Board of India lowered broker fees by 25 % to 15 rupees per transaction of one
crore rupees as part of calibration of various other fees collected by SEBI from different market
intermediaries, aimed at reducing overall cost of transactions.
 Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) tied up with Life Insurance Corporation of India
(LIC) for providing capital support to MSME enterprises in India.

 State General Reserve Fund of Oman (SGRF) and State Bank of India (SBI) have signed pact to infuse $150
million and $50 million respectively in second Oman India Joint Investment Fund (OIJIF), a private equity
fund.
 Steel Ministry released new draft National Steel Policy 2017, aiming to double India’s domestic steel
production capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030-31. It mentions requirement of INR 10 lakh crore
investments to meet production goal and expects creation of 11 lakh new jobs in steel sector.
 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended use of Aadhaar-based e-KYC for verification
of existing mobile subscribers and for outstation customers.
 Telecom operator Vodafone announced SuperHour scheme - under which it will offer unlimited 3G / 4G
data for 1 hour at a starting price of Rs. 16 for pre-paid customers.
 Transportation app Uber will launch its on-demand food delivery app ‘UberEATS’ in India.
 World Bank in its Global Economic Prospects report reduced India’s growth for 2016-17 fiscal to 7% from
its previous estimate of 7.6%. Note that India's NITI Aayog estimated growth rate of 8% for 2016-17.
World Bank projected a global growth of 2.7% in 2017.
 World Economic Outlook (WEO) by International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut India’s growth rate for the
fiscal year 2016–17 to 6.6% from its previous estimate of 7.6%, due to temporary negative consumption
shock of demonetisation.
o Global growth is forecast at 3.4% in FY17 against 3.1% in FY16.
o For China, the growth forecast for FY 2017 was revised upwards, to 6.5%. In 2018, China’s growth rate
is projected to be 6% against India’s 7.7%.
February 2017
 Canara Bank signed MoU with Ministry of Human Resource Development to operationalise Higher
Education Financing Agency (HEFA), with authorised capital of INR 2000 crores. HEFA aims to push
creation of high quality infrastructure in premier educational institutions (IITs/IIMs/NITs).
 Economic Freedom Index 2017 released by US based Think Tank The Heritage Foundation -
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o India ranked 143rd out of 186 economies with score of 52.6 points, compared to 123rd rank last year.
o Top 5 countries - Hong Kong (1st), Singapore (2nd) and New Zealand (3rd), Switzerland (4th) and
Austria (5th).
o Bottom 5 - Eritrea (176), Congo (177), Cuba (178), Venezuela (179) North Korea (180)
o Neighbours - Nepal (125th), Sri Lanka (112th), Pakistan (141st), Bhutan (107th), and Bangladesh
(128th).
o BRICS - Brazil (140), Russia (114), China (111th) and South Africa (81).
 2nd National Conference on “Economics of Competition Law organised by Competition Commission of
India (CCI) in New Delhi.
 Union Budget 2017-18 - Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2017-18 in Lok Sabha. It
was Third full year Budget of NDA government and Fourth budget of Arun Jaitley. Main Points are -
o Budget 2017-18 contains 3 major reforms -
 Presentation of Budget advanced to 1st February to enable Ministries to operationalise all activities
from commencement of financial year.

 Merger of Railways Budget with General Budget to bring Railways to centre stage of
Government’s Fiscal Policy.
 Removal of plan and nonplan classification of expenditure to facilitate a holistic view of allocations
for sectors and ministries.
o Agenda for 2017-18 is Transform, Energise and Clean India (TEC India).
o 2017 Budget focused on 10 themes - farming sector, rural population, youth, poor and underprivileged
health care, financial sector for stronger institutions, infrastructure, speedy accountability, prudent fiscal
management, public services and tax administration.
o Total resources being transferred to States and UTs is 4.11 lakh crores.
o Net market borrowing of Government restricted to 3.48 lakh crores, lower than 4.25 lakh crores of
previous year.
o Expenditures (Total 2147000 Crores)
 Plan and Non Plan Expenditure have been abolised.
 Capital expenditure in 2017 - 18 is set at at Rs 3.09 lakh crores, 25.4 % up from previous year.
o Revenue Deficit - 1.9 % of GDP), Definition - (Revenue Expenditure - Revenue Receipts).
o Fiscal Deficit -
 3.2 % of GDP (FRBM Committee has recommended 3% fiscal deficit for the next three years.)
 Definition - (Total Expenditure - (Revenue Receipts + Recoveries of Loans + Other Receipts))
o Transfer of Resources to States and UTs - 410509 Crores
o North East Staes - 43244 Crores
o Centrally Sponsored Schemes Allocation - 278433 Crores
 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme - 48500 Crores. Women
participation in MGNREGA has increased to 55% from less than 48%.
 Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana ( Gramin) - 23,000 Crores
 Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana - 19,000 crores.
 BharatNet - 10000 Crores
 Defence capital outlay - 87000 Crores
 MRTS and Metro Projects - 18000 Crores
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 Recapitalization of Public Sector Banks - 10000 Crores

 Integrated Power Development Scheme - 5821 Crores
 Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna - 4814 Crores
 National Infrastructure Investment Fund - 1000 Crores
 Namami Gange- National Ganga Plan - 2250 Crores
 Sagarmala - 600 Crores
 LPG connection to poor households - 2500 Crores
 Subscription to Share Captial of National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development
(NABARD) - 3500 Crores
 Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana - 7377 Crores
 Swachh Bharat Mission - 16248 Crores
 National Health Mission - 27131 Crores
 National Education Mission - 29555 Crores
 Integrated Child Development Services - 20755 Crores
 National Livelihood Mission - Ajeevika - 4849 Crores

 Urban Rejuvenation Mission : AMRUT - Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
& Smart Cities Mission - 9000 Crores
 Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission (Department of Rural Development) - 1100 Crores
 Pension schemes - 15400 Crores
 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana - 2924 Crores
 Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana - 9000 Crores
 National Health Protection Scheme - erstwhile RSSY (Department of Health and Family Welfare) -
1000 Crores
 DIGITAL INDIA Programme - 700 Crores
 National Social Assistance Programme - 9500 Crores
 Green Revolution - 13741 Crores (Krishonnati + Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna) Crores
 Mid-day Meal - 10000 Crores
 White Revolution - 1633 Crores
 Blue Revolution - 400 Crores
 Modernisation of Police Forces - 2000 Crores
 Defence Capital Outlay - 86000 Crores
o Subsidies - 240338 Crores
o Defence Expenditure - 2.74 lakh crores
o Expenditure for science and technology is Rs. 37,435 crores.
o Taxation -
 Time period for revising a tax return is being reduced to 12 months.
 No Income tax on Income upto 2.5 Lakh.
 Existing rate of taxation for individual assesses between income of 2.5 lakhs to 5 lakhs reduced to
5% from present rate of 10%.
 Surcharge of 10% of tax payable on categories of individuals whose annual taxable income is
between 50 lakhs and 1 crore.
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Proposed a fee for delayed filing of income tax return. If income tax return is furnished after due
date but on or before December 31 of assessment year, there will be a fine of Rs 5,000. In other
cases, there will be an imposition of a fine of Rs 10,000. However, if total income iis under 5 lakh,
fee amount shall not exceed Rs 1,000.
o Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare -
 Government will set up mini labs in Krishi Vigyan Kendras for soil testing.
 Agriculture credit target is 10 Lakh Crore for 2017-18
 In the year 2017-18, agriculture is expected to grow at 4.1 per cent.
 Corpus of Long Term Irrigation Fund in NABARD to be increased to 40,000 crores
 To ensure flow of credit to small farmers, Government will support NABARD for computerisation
and integration of 63,000 functional Primary Agriculture Credit Societies with Core Banking
System of District Central Cooperative Banks. This will be done in 3 years at estimated cost of `
1,900 crores.
 Micro Irrigation Fund to be created in NABARD to achieve ‘per drop more crop’ with initial

corpus of 5,000 crores.
 Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund to be set up in NABARD with a corpus of
2000 crores and will be increased to 8000 crores over 3 years.
 Coverage under Fasal Bima Yojana scheme will be increased from 30% of cropped area in 2016-17
to 40% in 2017-18 and 50% in 2018-19 for which a budget provision of 9000 crore has been made.
o Rural Sector
 Over Rs 3 lakh crore will be spent for rural India. Government’s Mission Antyodaya targets to
bring 1 crore households out of poverty by 2019.
 100% rural electrification will be archived by May 2018.
 Total allocation for rural, agricultural and allied sectors for 2017-18 is 1,87,223 crores, 24% up
from Last year.
 50000 Gram Panchayats will be poverty-free by 2019.
o Education, Skills and Job Creation
 SWAYAM platform to be launched with at least 350 online courses. This would enable students to
virtually attend courses taught by the best faculty.
 National Testing Agency to be set-up to conduct all entrance examinations for higher education
institutions.
 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras to be extended to more than 600 districts and 100 India
International Skills Centres to be established.
 Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion programme (SANKALP) to
be launched at a cost of 4000 crores. SANKALP will provide market relevant training to 3.5 crore
youth.
 Next phase of Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE) will be launched in
2017-18 at a cost of 2,200 crores.
 For purpose of carry forward of losses in respect of start-ups, condition of continuous holding of
51% of voting rights has been relaxed subject to condition that holding of the original promoter
continues. Profit (linked deduction) exemption available to the start-ups for 3 years out of 5 years is
changed to 3 years out of 7 years.
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 MAT credit is allowed to be carried forward up to a period of 15 years instead of 10 years

presently. To make MSME companies more viable, income tax for companies with annual turnover
upto 50 crore is reduced to 25%.
 Allowable provision for Non-Performing Asset of Banks increased from 7.5% to 8.5% and Basic
customs duty on LNG reduced from 5% to 2.5%.
 100 Indian international skill centres will established with courses in foreign languages. 4,000 crore
allocated to launch skill acquisition and knowledge awareness.
o Transport and Infrastructure -
 For Infrastructure sector as a whole, 391000 crores have been allotted in 2017-18, 241347 crores
allotted for transportation sector.
 Railways -
 For 2017-18, total capital and development expenditure of Railways is pegged at 1,31,000
crores.
 For passenger safety, Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh will be created with corpus of 1 lakh

crores over 5 years.
 Railway lines of 3,500 kms will be commissioned in 2017-18. Min 25 stations will be
awarded for station redevelopment.
 500 stations to be made differently-abled friendly.
 Introduction of Coach Mitra facility and By 2019, biotoilets for all coaches.
 Roads -
 Budget allocation for highways increased to 64,900 crores.
 2,000 kms of coastal connectivity roads will be constructed and developed.
 Pace Of Construction Of Roads Has Increased To Rs 133 Km/Day In 2017.
 High speed broadband connectivity on optical fibre to be available in over than 1,50,000 gram
panchayats under BharatNet with investment of 10000 Crores. DigiGaon initiative will be launched
to provide tele-medicine, education and skills through digital technology. Government aims to
bring high-speed broadband connectivity to every village by 2018.
 Strategic crude oil reserves will be set up at 2 more locations - Chandikhole in Odisha and Bikaner
in Rajasthan. It will take our strategic reserve capacity to 15.33 MMT. Strategic policy for crude
reserves will be set up. Rs. 1.26,000 crore received as energy production based investments.
 Second phase of Solar Park development to be taken up for additional 20,000 MW capacity.
 For creating an eco-system to make India a global hub for electronics manufacturing, provision of
745 crores in 2017-18 in incentive schemes like M-SIPS and EDF.
 A new and restructured Central scheme with a focus on export infrastructure - Trade Infrastructure
for Export Scheme (TIES) will be launched in 2017 - 18.
 Panel will be constituted to study legal framework for spot and derivative markets.
 Computer emergency response team (CERT) to be set up for Cyber-security.
 2 new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Jharkhand and Gujarat as part of
increasing healthcare in country.
o Financial Reforms
 Foreign Investment Promotion Board to be abolished in 2017-18.
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 Allocation of 10000 crore for recapitalisation of Public Sector Banks.

 Lending target under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana to be set at 2.44 lakh crores. Priority will be
given to Dalits, Tribals, Backward Classes and Women.
 A Mission will be set up with target of 2,500 crore digital transactions for 2017-18 through UPI,
USSD, Aadhar Pay, IMPS and debit cards.
 Proposed to create a Payments Regulatory Board in RBI by replacing existing Board for Regulation
and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems.
 No transaction above 3 lakh would be permitted in cash subject to certain exceptions.
 Threshold for audit of business entities who opt for presumptive income scheme increased from 1
Crore to 2 crores. Threshold for maintenance of books for individuals and HUF increased from
turnover of 10 lakhs to 25 lakhs.
o BPL, Women and Underprivileged
 Mahila Shakti Kendra will be set up with allocation of 500 crores in 14 lakh ICDS Anganwadi
Centres.
 Under Maternity Benefit Scheme, 6,000 each will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of

pregnant women who undergo institutional delivery and vaccinate their children.
 Spending on women related schemes rose 18% to 113,326 crores.
 Welare of Children - 71345 Crores
 Gender Budget - 113326 Crores
 National Housing Bank will refinance individual housing loans of about 20,000 crore in 2017-18
 Government plans to eliminate Kala-Azar and Filariasis by 2017, Leprosy by 2018, Measles by
2020 and Tuberculosis by 2025.
 2 Two new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences to be set up in Jharkhand and Gujarat.
 Allocation for Scheduled Castes increased by 35% to 52393 Crores. Allocation for Scheduled
Tribes increased to 31,920 crores and for Minority Affairs to 4,195 crores.
o Other Reforms -
 Maximum amount of cash donation, a political party can receive, will be 2000 from one person.
 Head post-office to be used for passport services.
 Limit of cash donation for charitable trusts reduced to Rs. 2,000.
 According to data by Controller General of Accounts, fiscal deficit in first nine months (April-December
2016) of FY 2016-17 touched 93.9% of Budget estimate. In earlier year during same period, fiscal deficit
was 87.9% of Budget. Tax revenue so far is 71.4% of the full-year budget estimate with expenditure being
74.3% of full-year estimate.
 According to data by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), India received $46 billion
foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2016. It is 18% more than $39.32 billion in 2016. Most of FDI came from
Singapore followed by Mauritius, Netherlands and Japan.
 Ahmedabad based India’s first listed ecommerce startup Infibeam accquired payment aggregator company
CC Avenue for 2000 Crores.
 Airtel Payments Bank and Mastercard launched India’s first online debit card along with a prepaid card,
accessible via Myairtel App. Online debit card will enable customers of Airtel Payments Bank to make
digital payments to online merchants.
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o Airtel was first to launch payment bank operations in November 2016 by launching pilot programme in
Rajasthan.
 As per India's Central Statistics Office Revised Data, Indian economy expanded by 7 % in 3rd quarter of
2016-17, keeping growth projection for current fiscal at 7.1 % (compared to 7.9 % in 2015-16.
o Real GDP (Gross Domestic Product at constant (2011-12) prices) in 2016-17 is likely to be 121.65 lakh
crores (compared to 113.58 lakh crore in 2015-16).
o Real GVA (Gross Value Added) will increase from 104.70 lakh crore in 2015-16 to 111.68 lakh crore
in 2016-17.
 Bancassurance Tie-ups -
o Apollo Munich Health Insurance - Dena Bank.
o Chennai based general insurance provider Cholamandalam General Insurance Company - Oriental
Bank of Commerce.
o Cigna TTK Health Insurance - Bank of Maharashtra.
o Religare Insurance - Corporation Bank.

 Bharti Airtel acquired telecom operator Telenor India for approx 6,500 crores.
 Cash purchases of jewellery (Over 2 lakh) will attract 1% TCS (Tax Collected at Source) from April 1,
2017. After Finance Bill 2017 is passed, jewellery will be treated on par with general goods which attract
1% TCS on cash purchase of above Rs 2 lakh.
 Catholic Syrian Bank initiated name and shame campaign against wilful defaulters in Kerala.
 Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) launched mobile application for Goods and Services Tax
(GST) to inform taxpayers of latest updates on GST, under Digital India initiative.
 Citi Bank launched instant chat services for its customers named Citibank Online, First such customer
support service in India by a Bank.
 Dena Bank introduced Radio Frequency Identification Card (RFID) enabled banking cards. It enables
branch manager to identify a valued client entering a branch with the card. Client's Info will flash on
Manager's desktop as soon as he enters the branch.
 Direct-to-home operator Dish TV signed agreement with ICICI bank for digital payments, to enable
customers to recharge through unified payment interface (UPI) transactions.
 Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das announced that Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be
implemented from 1st July 2017.
 Federal Bank partnered with online data and information portal Commodity Online for distribution of loans
against warehouse receipts and collateral management services across country.
 Government Raised Rs 1670 Crores from 5% Disinvestment of Its 74.41 % Stake in BEL (Bharat
Electronics Limited) through Offer for Sale (OFS).
 Government allocated INR 500 crores to India Post Payments Bank for 2017-18, to help it in setting up 650
branches by September 2017.
 Government approved Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) to make 6 crore
rural households digitally literate by March 2019. Under This, 25 lakh candidates will be trained in 2016-17,
27.5 Crore in 2017-18 and 30 Crore in 2018-19. Outlay for this project is 2,351 crores.
 Government approved extension of tenure of loans under Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) of Pradhan
Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) to 20 years from 15 years. Scheme is also renamed as CLSS for EWS/LIG
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(for economically weaker sections (EWS) / Lower Income Group (LIG)). A new CLSS for middle income
group with a provision of Rs 1000 crores in 2017-18 is also Introduced.
 Government approved setting up Electronic Development Fund with total corpus of INR 6,831 crores to
support entrepreneurship and innovation in electronics and IT.
 Government asked all banks to provide mobile banking facility to all customers by March 31, 2017. This is
part of government’s efforts to boost digital payments.
 Government cleared proposal to conduct single entrance test for Admission to all engineering colleges in
country, from 2018 onwards. It will replace multiple tests conducted by central agencies, state governments
and private institutions.
o This is similar to National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test launched in 2016, for admission to all medical
and dental colleges.
o Students seeking admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will have to clear JEE-Advanced
after taking unified engineering entrance exam.
 Government increased Cash Credit (CC) limit for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to 30%

of turnover (from 20%), to encourage them to conduct businesses digitally.
 Government launched Bharat QR code, a quick response (QR) code to enable digital payments without card
swiping machines, jointly developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Visa, MasterCard
and American Express.
 Government notified Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act 2017 to prohibit holding scrapped
old Rs.500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes, that were demonetized earlier. This Act ends liability of Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) and government on demonetised Rs.500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes.
 Government shifted responsibility of promoting digital transactions in country to Ministry of IT and
Electronics (MEITY) from NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog.
 Government sold 2 % stake in ITC to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to raise Rs 6690 crores,
under Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI).
 Government will investINR 2200 crores in start-ups working on new technologies in electronic sector under
Electronics Development Fund (EDF) by 2019.
 Government will launch Misison Indradhanush 2.0 as plan for recapitalisation of public sector Banks. It will
be finalised by RBI after completion of Asset Quality Review (AQR) to be completed by March 2017.
o It aims to clean up balance sheets of PSBs to ensure they remain solvent and comply with global capital
adequacy norms Basel-III.
o Under ‘Indradhanush’ roadmap announced in 2015, Government announced infusion of 70,000 crore in
Govt banks over 4 years. Banks also were allowed to raise a further Rs. 1.1 lakh crore from the markets
to meet their capital requirement in line with global risk norms, Basel-III.
o In line with plan, PSBs were given Rs. 25,000 crore in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Now, 10,000 crores will
be infused in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
 HDFC life launched life insurance plan Pragati for low income group families.
 IDFC Bank collaborated with fintech startup IndiaLends to enable first-time borrowers who do not have a
credit history to take loans.
 India Post Payments Bank rolled out services in Raipur and Ranchi in Chhattisgarh. IPPB is 2nd payments
bank to start operations after Airtel Payments Bank.
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o It will offer an interest rate of 4.5% on deposits up to Rs. 25,000; 5% on deposits of Rs. 25,000 to
50,000 and 5.5% on Rs. 50,000 to 1,00,000.
 India Signed Loan agreement with World bank for USD 201.50 million for Third Technical Education
Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP III), aimed at enhancing quality and equity in participating
Engineering Education Institutes.
 India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed $375 million pact for loans to develop 800 km
Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor. It is first phase of a planned 2,500-km East Coast Economic
Corridor.
 India signed US$ 63 million Loan agreement with World Bank for Tejaswini - Socio-Economic
Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women Project.
 Indian Software Firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rated among top 3 most-valuable brands in
Information Technology (IT) sector by global brand valuation firm - Brand Finance (IBM and Accenture are
top 2). Overall global position of TCS stayed 25th in 2016.
 Indian construction Firm Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and European missile major MBDA will set up joint

venture to develop and manufacture missiles in India.
 Indian e-Commerce Firm Flipkart signed partnership with Microsoft, to adopt Microsoft Azure as Flipkart's
public cloud computing platform.
 International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) has signed agreement with India's Finance Industry
Develoment Council (FIDC) to conduct training programmes for Non Banking Finance Companies
(NBFCs).
 Lakshmi Vilas Bank partnerec with Bangalore based fin-tech startup firm Fisdom to launch mobile
application FINFIT, to offer customers with financial planning and personal wealth management services
based on Robo advisory.
 Lok Sabha passed Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill 2017 to enable employers to pay wages to workers
through cheque or directly crediting to their accounts.
o Bill will replace Ordinance promulgated by President in December 2016 to amend Payment of Wages
Act 1936.
o Earlier in parent Act, employer could only pay salaries by cheque or by crediting into bank account
after obtaining employee's written authorisation. Now, employer can pay employee by cheque or by
crediting into his bank account without written authorisation.
o Government issued an ordinance in Dec 2016 to amend Payment of Wages Act 1936 because after
demonetisation of 500 and 1000 banknotes, empoyers were facing difficulties paying workers in cash.
 Ministry of Finance amended Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme (PMGKDS) 2016, to allow
declarants to make deposits in more than one Installements. Earlier, declarants were allowed to deposit in
scheme in only one installment.
 Ministry of Women & Child Development clarified that Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (B3P) Scheme has no
provision for individual cash transfer component and warned unauthorised websites/organisations, NGOs,
individuals distributing forms in name of cash incentives under B3P Scheme.
 National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) signed MoU with IoT Acceleration
Consortium (ITAC) Japan., To address digital technology shifts and accelerate IoT (Internet of Things)
adoption at a global level across industry.
45
 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) stated India’s GDP growth at 7% for
current fiscal, 7.3% for next and 7.7% for 2018-19. As per IMF (International Monetary Fund), India's
growth is projected to slow to 6.6% in 2016-17.
 Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) Celebrated 75th Foundation Day. As part of it -
o Mobile wallet ‘Oriental Batuaa’ was launched.
o 2 MSME schemes - Oriental Sanjeevani for doctors for setting up new hospitals and clinics
and‘Oriental Budget Hotels and Restaurants for individuals, proprietors, companies etc.
 Paytm launched Paytm Mall as a mobile app and online shopping portal, aiming to offer combination of
Mall and Bazaar concepts to Indian consumers on online platform.
 Reserve Bank Of India will reimburse MDR (Merchant Discount Rate) charges to banks for payments made
since January 1, 2017 through debit cards by citizens. It is in line with government's move to push digital
solutions further.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted NRIs access exchange traded currency derivatives (ETCD) market,
enabling NRIs to hedge currency risk due to making investment in India. Upto now, NRIs were allowed to

hedge their currency risk through Over-The-Counter (OTC) transaction with Authorized Dealer (AD) banks.
Access to ETCD market will provide them additional hedging options.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted multilateral and regional financial institutions (FIs) to invest in
‘masala bonds’, rupee denominated bonds issued by Indian entities. This will allow multilateral agencies
like Asian Development Bank (ADB) and BRICS led New Development Bank (NDB) to invest in these
bonds. It also provides more choices for investors to Indian entities issuing rupee-denominated bonds
abroad.
 Reserve Bank of India emhanced limit on weekly withdrawal of cash from savings bank accounts to
INR50000. Now, There is no limit on current account and there is a cap of 50,000 for farmers a week and
2.5 lack for marriage.
 Reserve Bank of India increased gold loan limit for RRBs (Regional Rural Banks) to Rs 2 lakh from 1 lakh,
to help farmers / artisans to have access to credit who are willing to pledge gold as collateral.
 Reserve Bank of India will set up separate Enforcement Department to efficiently monitor banks in case
they violate KYC and Money Laundering regulations. Department will be operational from April 1, 2017.
o RBI will also set up a Committee on cyber security to examine various threats and suggest measures to
deal with it.
 Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) signed MoU with Vijaya Bank for providing
concessional finance to micro and small enterprises (MSEs).
 South Indian Bank (SIB) has been awarded ISO 27001: 2013 certification for its Information Security
Management System (ISMS). This certification involves extensive audit by British Standards Institution
(BSI) on various domains of IT functions.
 State Bank of India (SBI) rebranded its website as bank.sbi from earlier sbi.co.in.
o New domain name bank.sbi is the highest domain protocol known as generic top level domain (gTLD).
o SBI became first banking organisation in India to use a gTLD for its online presence.
 Tamilnadu High Court ordered state government to enact law to eradicate Seemai Karuvelam (prosopis
juliflora) trees within 2 months. Seemai Karuvelam is invasive species of tree harmful to environment as it
sucks lot of water, affecting environment and agricultural activities.
46
 Tata Communications partnered with Hewlett Packard to support roll-out of Its Internet of Things platform,
LoRa network.
 Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd installed 15 MW solar plant at Bellampally in Telangana, taking Tata
Power's installed capacity to 10500 MW.
 Telangana Government signed MoU with NABARD for loan of 874 crores, to be used for Horticulture
Development Corporation to cover 3.15 lakh acres under Micro Irrigation scheme for 2016-17 and 2017-18.
 To push digitalisation and cashless economy, Bank of Baroda (BOB) tied up with IFFCO to provide co-
branded debit cards with inbuilt overdraft facilities to farmers.
 Ujjivan Small Finance Bank started its operations with 5 pilot branches in Bengaluru.
 United Bank of India (UBI) launched railway ticket booking facility by having a direct tie-up with IRCTC.
March 2017
 Airline Jet Airways announced partnership with cab aggregator Uber to book airport cabs through Jet

Airways app.
 Airtel acquired 4G business of Tikona Networks including Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) business for
1600 crores. Now Airtel will be second company after Reliance Jio to have pan-India presence in 2300 Mhz
band.
 Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed $350 million loan with India for improving 1,500 kilometers of
major district roads in Madhya Pradesh.
 Bandhan Bank signed agreement with payment solution provider Avenues India Pvt Ltd, to improve
customer service.
 Bengaluru based Vijaya Bank opened it’s 2000th Branch in Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh).
 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IndianOil) to
sell its 24 % equity in Lubrizol India Private Limited (LIPL) to Lubrizol Corporation, USA.
 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved Policy for Early Monetization of Coal Bed
Methane (Methane obtained from Coal Mines) Gas Marketing and Pricing Freedom for CBM Gas. It
provides marketing and pricing freedom to CBM Contractors to sell CBM at Arm’s Length Price in
domestic market.
 Cabinet approved 4 GST Bills, to step up towards implementing GST from July 1, 2017. Bills are -
o CentralGST - It provides for levy and collection of tax on intra-state supply of goods / services by
Central Government.
o iGST - It makes provisions for levy and collection of tax on inter-state supply of goods / services by
Central Government.
o UTGST - Similar to States Goods and Services Tax (SGST) which shall be levied and collected by
States/Union Territories on intra-state supply of goods / services.
o Compensation Bill -It provides for compensation to the states for loss of revenue arising due to
implementation of goods and services tax for 5 years as per section 18 of Constitution (One Hundred
and First Amendment) Act 2016.
o Additionally, central government has been empowered to impose additional tax of up to 1 % on inter-
state supply of goods for 2 years.
47
 Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce life insurance company launched iSelect term plan to expand its
online product suit with family protection, providing enhanced protection cover for family at an affordable
premium.
 Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched TIES (Trade Infrastructure for Export
Scheme), for developing export linked infrastructure in states to promote exports.
o A Committee for sanctioning and monitoring of the project will be set up, to be headed by commerce
secretary (Rita Teaotia currently).
o Beneficiaries - All central and state agencies including Commodities Boards, Export Promotion
Councils, SEZ authorities and Apex Trade Bodies recognised under EXIM policy of Central
Government are eligible for financial support.
o Funding - Cost of projects will be equally shared by Centre and states. Centre will borne 50% of total
equity in project, except in case of projects in north-eastern and Himalayan states, where Centre may
bear 80% of cost.
 Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved demerger of Reliance Communications wireless division

into Aircel and Dishnet Wireless Ltd.
 Completely Government owned Housing and Urban Development Corp (HUDCO) received Securities and
Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) approval to raise funds through an IPO (Initial Public Offering).
 E-commerce firm Amazon India launched new program for sellers to get insights and help related to goods
and services tax - A-Z GST Guide. It provides resources in the form of tutorials, blogs, and free online
training sessions.
 ESAF Microfinance Company issued Commercial Papers (CP) worth Rs 330 crore, that can be subscribed
by Private Sector Banks and NBFCs. ESAF Microfinance is also the first company from Kerala to open a
Small Finance Bank recently.
 Facebook launched SheLeadsTech programme to mentor start-ups founded by women by giving them
access to year-long program that provides tools and resources.
 Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed penalty of 591 crores on Coal India
Limited and its subsidiaries for violating Competition Act by imposing unfair conditions in Fuel Supply
Agreements (FSAs) with power producers for supply of non coking coal.
 Few banks, including ICICI, Axis and HDFC will charge penalty of minimum Rs 150 on cash withdrawals
and deposit at bank branches after four free monthly transactions. It is aimed at discouraging cash
transactions and promoting digital payments.
 Finance Minisry approved re-organisation of field formations of Central Board of Excise & Customs
(CBEC) for implementation of Goods & Services Tax (GST). CBEC will be renamed as Central Board of
Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) after approval.
 Finance Ministry allowed Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to conduct trials of plastic (polymer-based) currency
notes of Rs 10 denominations in 5 cities.
 Finance Ministry approved public sector banks (PSBs) to offer Employee Stock Option plans (ESOPs) to
their employees from FY 2017-18. It will help PSBs to motivate employees to work towards strengthening
financial status of their banks so that their share value rises.
 Finance Ministry lowered interest rates on all small saving schemes by 0.1% for April-June 2017 - 18
quarter. These schemes amd their updated interest rates are -
48
o Public provident fund (PPF) - 7.9 %

o National Savings Certificate (NSC) - 7.9 %
o Kisan Vikas Patra - 7.6 %
o Sukanya Samriddhi Account - 8.4 %
o Senior Citizens Savings Scheme - 8.4 %
o Term deposits of 1-5 years - 6.9 - 7.7 %
o 5-year recurring deposit has been pegged lower at 7.2%.
 Finance Ministry will merge Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) with State Bank of India (SBI), to ensure
greater banking services outreach to a larger number of women.
 Global rating agency Fitch predicted Indian economy to grow by 7.1% in 2016-2017. It will step up to 7.7%
in next two years.
 Government announced that total 29 lakh debit cards were subjected to malware attack through ATMs that
were connected with switch of Hitachi.
 Government approved 2% additional Dearness allowance for Central government employees and Dearness

relief for pensioners.
 Government approved amendments in National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act 1981 -
o Increase authorized capital of NABARD from Rs. 5,000 crore to Rs. 30,000 crore and further if needed.
o Transfer of 0.4% equity of RBI in NABARD amounting to Rs. 20 crores to Government.
 Government approved establishing Fund of Funds of Start-ups (FFS) with total corpus of Rs 10000 crore.
 Government approved special financial assistance for bifurcated Andhra Pradesh, as special dispensation in
funding of Externally Aided Projects (including irrigation component of Polavaram project).
o Central Government will make up for additional central share that state might have received during
2015-16 to 2019-20 and repayment of loan and interest for the Externally Aided Projects (EAPs) signed
and disbursed during 2015-2016 to 2019-20 by State.
 HDFC Bank launched electronic virtual assistant (EVA), India’s first artificial intelligence-driven banking
chatbot, for customer services. It can answer millions of customer queries across multiple channels
instantly. HDFC Life also recently India’s first life insurance chatbot Haptik to help users choose most
suitable life insurance plans.
 HDFC Bank launched instant digital Loan Against Securities (LAS) facility in collaboration with National
Securities Depository Ltd.(NSDL).
 ICICI Bank launched Mera iMobile as India’s first one stop banking app for range of digital services for
rural customers.
 IDFC Bank became first bank in India to launch biometric-based payment system Aadhaar Pay through its
network to enable merchants to receive payments from customers without any physical payment instrument.
To pay, customer has to select bank’s name and enter Aadhaar number.
 India signd US$ 100 Million loan agreement with World Bank for Uttarakhand Health Systems
Development Project.
 India signed its first loan agreement with New Development Bank (BRICS Bank), as $350 million credit for
development of district roads in Madhya Pradesh.
 Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) approved loans of 13000 Crore Rupees for clean
energy projects in FY18, that plays major role in reducing pollution.
49
 India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has incorporated SBI Infra Management Solutions Pvt. Ltd
(SBIIMS) to manage its premises and estate related matters.
 IndusInd Bank accquired 100% stake in IL& FS Securities Services Ltd (ISSL).
 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) proposed increasing insurance premium
to 50 % for cars, motor cycles as well as commercial vehicles from April 1, 2017.
 Karnataka Bank launched MoneyPlant RuPay International Platinum Debit Card to provide more privileges
to its premium & High net worth individual (HNI) customers.
 Karur Vysya Bank launched 3 tech-services FASTag, UPI (Unified Payment Interface) and BBPS (Bharat
Bill Payment System).
 Kerala achieved maximum registrations under Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime with 60% of total 2.5
lakh traders migrating to new platform - GST.
 Lakshmi Vilas Bank tied up with Centrum Group, in which LVB will refer its High Net Worth Individuals
(HNI) to Centrum for wealth management and family office services.
 McNally Bharat Engineering Company bagged 415 crore order from Andhra Pradesh Power Generation

Corporation Ltd, for operation and maintenance of 500 MW grid connected solar power project.
 Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) issued draft Information Technology
(Security of Prepaid Payment Instruments) Rules 2017 for Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) company / e
wallet firms (Like Paytm, Freecharge, Mobikwik etc).
o Draft rules seek to ensure integrity, security and confidentiality of electronic payments made through
PPIs.
o Key Features include Definition of e-PPI issuer, Information security policy, Privacy policy and terms,
Risk assessment, Chief grievance officer, End-to-end encryption and Indian Computer Emergency
Response Team’s responsibility.
 Mobile Wallte Firm Paytm has set up a new company - Paytm Financial Services, to sell financial products
like insurance and mutual funds to its planned payments bank account holders. As Payment banks can't give
loans, selling these financial products will be core source of revenue. Paytm has recently launched Insurance
of upto INR 20000 for its e-Wallet.
 ONGC accquired GSPC’s (Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation) 80% state in KG (Krishna Godavari)-basin
natural gas block for $1.2 billion.
 Paytm became first e-commerce firm to become member of self-regulatory voluntary organization
Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
 RBI proposed to fix upper limit for Pre-paid Payment Instruments (PPIs) at Rs 1 lakh in view of growing
usage of PPIs for a purchase of goods and services.
 Reliance Communications received approvals from markets regulator SEBI and stock exchanges for merger
of its wireless business with Aircel.
 Reliance General Insurance entered into bancassurance tie-up with Catholic Syrian Bank. Now, RGI will
offer its general insurance products to Catholic Syrian Bank's 1.5 million customers. Similar MOU is signed
between Karnataka Bank and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue new Rs 10 currency notes with enhanced security features. New
notes will be in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 with inset letter ‘L’ in both number panels.
50
 Reserve Bank of India announced that all branches of SBI's 5 associate banks will operate under State Bank
of India from April 1, 2017.
 Reserve Bank of India ruled that Non-banking Financial Company (NBFC) cannot lend more than Rs
25,000 in cash against gold as against earlier Rs 1 lakh.
 Reserve Bank of India stated that Bank branches that refuse to exchange soiled notes from people will have
to pay penalty of INR 10000.
 Rs 3-lakh limit proposed for cash payments in Budget 2017-18 will be brought down to Rs 2 lakh, from
April 1, 2017. This is aimed at tightening large deals in cash.
 Rural Electric Corporation donated INR 25 crores Towards Government's Swachh Bharat Kosh (SBK).
 Russian bank VTB decided to close its only office in New Delhi, India to cut costs but will continue to work
in India.
 SBI Card has launched Unnati Credit Card to spread its Credit card userbase. It targets SBI customers with
balance of at least Rs 25,000 in savings account.
 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) allowed celebrities to endorse Mutual Fund products at

industry level purpose of increasing awareness of mutual funds as a financial product category.
 State Bank of India (SBI) announced a one-time farm loan settlement scheme worth Rs 6000 crore primarily
for tractors.
o Under this, loans disbursed before 2011 and falling under doubtful / loss category will be considered.
SBI’s total farm loan portfolio is Rs. 1.25 Lakh Crore and tractor loan book is about 6,000 crore.
 State Bank of India (SBI) launched Work from Home facility to enable its employees to work while at home
using mobile devices, to address any urgent requirement employees may have.
 State Bank of India (SBI) will charge customers for not maintaining Monthly Account Average Balance
(MAB) in savings bank accounts from April 1, 2017. Minimum monthly balance for savings bank account
holders is -
o Metropolitan - INR 5000.
o Urban - INR 3000.
o Semi-urban - INR 2000
o Rural - INR 1000.
 State Bank of India and Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) signed
MoU to conduct various initiatives towards development of realty sector.
 State Government Budgets 2017 - 18
o Arunachal Pradesh -
 Budget Size approx 16000 Crores, with fiscal deficit of 285 Crores predicted.
 To provide better IT facilities, Rs.15 crore has been proposed under the Digital Arunachal scheme.
o Andhra Pradesh -
 Budget Size approx 1.57 lakh crores.
 Approx 1050 Crores allocated for developing state capital at Amravati.
o Assam -
 Budget proposes Deficit of INR 2349 Crores.
51
 Swami Vivekananda Assam Youth Empowerment (SVAYEM) Yojana to be launched, under

which loans of Rs 1 lakh for new businesses and Rs 2 lakh for existing ones at a subsidised rate of
20% will be given.
 Self help groups (SHGs) under Kanaklata Mahila Sabalikaran Yojana will be provided with
assistance of 5 lakh.
 Tejasvi Navadhitamastu Edu-Infra Funds for development of colleges and universitiesm at approx
667 crores expenditure.
 Rs 5000 to each of 6.5 lakh tea garden workers, with allocation of 287 crores.
 Under Deen Dayal Divyang Sahajya Achani - INR 5000 will be given to 4.5 Lakh Divyang in state.
 Mission Muga launched to Increase Muga Silk Production 10 Times by 2026.
 Housing Loans to be given to Govt employess at 5.05 % Interest Rate.
o Bihar -
 Budget size approx 1.60 lakh Crores.
 3 universities will be opened - Purnia University, Pataliputra University and Munger University.
o

Chhattisgarh -
 Budget size approx 76032 Crores.
 Under Suchna Kranti Yojana, Rs 200 crore has been allocated for 45 lakh smartphones to be
provided to rural families.
 Under Dial 112 scheme, police assistance will arrive within 10 minutes in urban areas, and in 30
minutes in rural areas.
 Divyang college will be set up at Raipur for educational upliftment of special children.
o Delhi -
 Budget size is 48000 Crores (Tax-Free).
 24 % of Total Budget has been alloted to education.
 Tax on air turbine fuel to be reduced to 1% from 25%
o Gujarat
 Budget Size is Approx 172000 Crores.
 State government will provide bicycles to 45,000 female students of class IX under the Vidya
Sadhna Yojana (VSY).
 An independent State Food Commission (SFC) will be set up to monitor the functioning of the
Food Security Act, 2013.
 A new corporation will be set up for undertaking welfare measures related to differently-abled
persons (Divyangs).
 An exclusive university will be set up in Narmada District, to undertake studies and research
related to tribal issues.
o Haryana -
 Budget size is approx 102000 Crores.
 Under Deenbandhu Gram Uday Yojana (in name of Choudhry Chhotu Ramji), 1,500 villages with
populations between 3,000 and 10,000 will be Developed, with outlay of INR 5000 crores. Scheme
is funded by NABARD, with current fiscal's expenditure being 1,200 crores.
 Mangal Nagar Vikas Yogna (In name of Noted Harayna Leader Mangal Sein) to be implemented
with outlay of Rs 1,000 crore for maintenance of existing infrastructure.
52
 Discount of 5 % (up to Rs 50) on electricity and water bills paid through BHIM app for residents in
Haryana.
 New scheme Manohar Jyoti to provide 1,00,000 solar based home systems, at cost of 230 crores.
 New scheme for farmers to meet their irrigation energy needs through solar power by providing
3050 solar water pumping systems (2 & 5 HP).
o Himachal Pradesh -
 Budget Size Approx 36000 Crores.
 2 new Software Parks to be set up in Shimla and Kangra.
 Honorarium to Anganwadi workers and helpers will be increased from Rs 450 to Rs 1,450 and Rs
300 to Rs 600 per month respectively. Unemployment allowance increased to INR 1000.
o Jammu and Kasmir -
 Budget size is 80000 Crores.
 Implementation of the 7th pay commission from 1 April 2018.
 Create a social security fund and provide a universal basic income to below the poverty line people.
 Provide specially designed micro-credit ATM cards with cash credit limit of 10000 to all registered

construction workers.
 Set up an Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC) in association with J&K bank.
 Set up a Mufti Memorial Gold Cup Football League
o Jharkhand -
 Budget Size is approx 75000 Crores
 Tana Bhagat Development Authority and Jharkhand Irrigation Commission would be set up.
 A new scheme to launched with name - Mukhyamantri Kitchen.
o Karnataka
 'Namma’ canteen (on lines of Amma canteen in Tamil Nadu) will provide meal at affordable price
in Bengaluru. Similarly, Saviruchi Mobile Canteens in all 30 districts will be established.
 Karnataka State Road Safety Authority will be constituted, to reduce road accidents and to improve
road safety
 Free laptops to 1.5 lakh students getting into engineering, medical, polytechnic and first-grade
colleges.
 LPG connections to 2 lakh BPL families of SC/ST communities.
 Ksheera Bhagya scheme of providing milk to school children to be increased from 3 days to 5 days
in a week.
 Rs 1600 per beneficiary under new scheme named Anila Bhagya.
 New program Yuva Yuga will be implemented to train 1.1 lakh persons in IT, electronics,
animation and other sectors
o Kerala
 Free internet for 20 lakh economically-backward families.
 10,000 young artists to be given Rs 10,000 per month each in the state.
 A new scheme under Carbon Neutral Program through NABARD proposed.
o Madhya Pradesh
53

 To provide food at subsided rate to poor in urban areas, Deendayal Rasoi Yojna will be launched
(cost of Rs 10 crores).
 Setting up a Vedant Peeth at Omkareshwar, dedicated to Adiguru Shankaracharya. Vir Bharat Nyas
will be set up to preserve memories of martyrs.
 2017 - 18 to be named as Garib Kalyan Varsh by State Government.
o Meghalaya
 Budget Size approx 12000 Crores, with 1200 Crores fiscal deficit predicted.
 Tax slabs for transportation has been raised to raise additional revenue.
 To counter issue of shrinking revenue resources, fresh taxes will be imposec on liquor, tobacco,
hotels and restaurants.
 Mizoram
 Budget Size is approx 8800 Crores, with approx 300 crore revenue surplus.
 750 crore were allocated for New Economic Development Policy (NEDP) to boost state’s

agriculture-based economy.
o Odisha
 Budget Size approx 106000 Crores.
 Chief Minister Health Service Mission proposed.
 To develop Puri into a world class heritage city, new scheme called ABADHA- Augmentation of
Basic Amenities & Development of Heritage & Architecture will be rolled out with sum of 100
crores.
 Drinking water scheme ‘Basudha’ named after Buxi Jagabandhu.
 Urban Transformation Initiative (UNNATI) proposed with outlay of Rs 294 crore in recognition of
the need for improvement of urban infrastructure.
o Rajasthan
 Budget size approx 166000 Crores, with 24753 crores fiscal deficit predicted.
 1 lakh new rural electricity connections to farmers and One lakh farmers will get soil health cards.
 15 per cent hike of VAT on cigarettes.
 190 Cities to get fre WIFI in 2018.
 Under Deendayal Upadhyay Varisht Naagrik Programme, Pilgrimage for 20 thousand senior
citizens will be arranged.
 Slashing stamp duty from 5 to 3 %.
o Tamil Nadu
 Budget size approx 183000 Crores (Tax-Free).
 Government to replace State Planning Commission with State Development Policy Council.
 To prevent fragmentation of land holdings, new scheme called farmer producer groups will be
federated into farmer producer organisations to promote collective farming for credit mobilisation,
better adoption of technology.
 10000 blind people will be provided with smart canes and Disability pension was increased to INR
2000 from 1000.
o Tripura
 Budget Size approx 16000 Crores (Tax-Free), with budget deficit of 198 Crores.
54
 MLALAD (Member of legislative assembly local area development) funds are from 30 to 35 lakh /
year. Subsidy for unemployed youths under 'Swabalamban' is increased from 75,000 to 1 lakh.
 5 pension schemes will be introduced for folk artistes, carpenters, blacksmiths, potters and harijans
at rate of Rs 700 / month.
o Telangana
 Piped drinking water programme Mission Bhagiratha gets 3000 crores.
o West Bengal
 Budget size is approx 143000 Crores (Tax-Free).
 Slashing stamp duty from 5 to 2 %.
 As a relief for small businesses, it is proposed to increase threshold for payment of tax from Rs. 10
lakh to Rs.20 lakh.
o Combined Budget of all Northeast States is collectively around 50000 Crores this year.
 Supreme Court held that Aadhaar card cannot be made mandatory by the government for extending the

benefits of its welfare schemes to people.
 Syndicate Bank inaugurated 40 transformed branches under Project Ananya, a 2 year large-scale
transformation project aimed ar providing customers with best in class services.
 Tamil Nadu Government launched a housing scheme for Below Poverty Line Families, estimated at INR
1580 crores.
 Tata Capital launched mobile application ‘myLoan’ To Offer Personal Loans upto 13 Lakh, to young and
mobile savvy audience. It is like any social networking profile which will make a real-time assessment of
borrower’s loan application, using several digital, social and financial data.
 Telecom operator Idea Cellular will merge with Vodafone India, to create world’s second largest (after
China Mobile) and India’s largest telecom company with 40 crore customers and 41% revenue market share
in India.
o Kumar Mangalam Birla will be chairperson of the merged entity. Vodafone will own 45.1% in
combined entity, with Kumar Mangalam Birla and other promoters of Idea Group to have 26%.
 Trade Mark Rules 2017 came into effect, replacing erstwhile Trade Mark Rules 2002. In Revamped trade
mark rules, number of Trade Mark (TM) forms has been brought down to 8 from existing 74 and fee for
online filing has been kept at 10 % lower than that for physical filing. Fees for individuals, start-ups and
small enterprises were reduced to Rs 4500 for e-filing of trade mark applications.
 Truecaller partnered with ICICI Bank to launch its new Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based mobile
payment service “Truecaller Pay”.
 World Bank approved $175 million loan (23 years maturity) for India’s ambitious National Hydrology
Project to improve its ability to forecast floods and reduce vulnerability to recurring floods and droughts.
 World Bank approved USD 210 million loan to strengthen gram panchayats (GPs) in West Bengal.
 World Bank offered assistance of over $1 billion to Maharashtra State, in areas of urban transport and
climate resilient agriculture.
 World Bank will provide loan to develop internal transmission arrangements for upcoming Rewa Ultra
Mega Solar project in Madhya Pradesh, under its Clean Technology Fund (CTF). Loan amount will be 25%
of loan amount and Interest rate will be .25 %.
55
April 2017
 2 phased Budget session of Parliament ended with approval of landmark Goods and Services Tax (GST)
Bill and passage of Union Budget 2017-18. It has been a successful session as 18 Bills were passed by both
Houses during the session, including some key bills.
o Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016
 It amends Enemy Property Act 1968 and empowers government to seize properties left behind by
those who migrated to Pakistan or China after wars.
o Central Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2017
 It provides for levy and collection of tax on intra-state supply of goods / services by Central
Government.
o Integrated Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017
 It makes provisions for levy and collection of tax on inter-state supply of goods / services by
Central Government.

o Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Bill, 2017
 It provides for compensation to the states for loss of revenue arising due to implementation of
goods and services tax for 5 years as per section 18 of Constitution (One Hundred and First
Amendment) Act 2016.
o Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2017
 Similar to States Goods and Services Tax (SGST) which shall be levied and collected by
States/Union Territories on intra-state supply of goods / services.
o Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2017
 Seelkd to amend the customs and excise acts to make them compliant with new GST regime.
o Finance Bill 2017
 It's a Money Bill and is A bulk bill of 40 amendments to different laws. Key proposed changes are -
 Cash Transactions - Maximum amount of cash transaction is capped at 2 Lakh Rupees,
Lowered from 3 Lakh rupees as proposed earlier in budget 2017-18.
 Tax Evasion - Income tax returns to be filed along with Aadhaar Number.
 Electoral Bonds - Incentives for political donations to be paid through digital payments and
cheques. Cash donations to political parties have been capped at 2,000 rupees.
 Lowering taxes -
o Corporate Cut by 5 %to 25 %for small firms with annual turnover of up to 50 crore
rupees.
o Personal income tax on annual incomes of 250,000 to 500,000 rupees is lowered to 5
%from 10 %. 15 %surcharge will be imposed on tax on annual income of over 1
million rupees.
o Start-ups will be exempted from paying income tax for any 3 consecutive years out of
initial 7 years after incorporation.
 Private Investment - Tax exemptions for real estate developers if they complete their projects
in 5 years (up from 3 years earlier).
o Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Bill 2017
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 Provides for holding, transfer and receiving of old 500 and 1000 rupee notes a criminal offence.
o Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill 2017
 Enables employers to pay wages to workers through cheque or directly crediting to their accounts.
o Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016
 Seeks to amend Maternity Benefit Act 1961 to provide for the following -
 Maternity leave available to working women to be increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for
first two children.
 Maternity leave of 12 weeks to be available to mothers adopting a child below age of 3
months.
 Employer may permit a woman to work from home if it is possible to do so.
o Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016
 Provides for healthcare and services to people with mental illness and also decriminalises suicide.
o HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill 2017 -
 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

(Prevention and Control) Bill is first national HIV law in South Asia. It seeks to safeguard rights of
people living with HIV and affected by HIV, by preventing social discrimination against these
people.
 According to Randstad survey, Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry named as highest paying
industry in India with average annual cost to company (CTC) of Rs. 11.3 lakh.
 Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Ltd became seventh entity to receive final licence from Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) to set up a payments bank.
 Axis Bank tied up with American Bank Wells Fargo to offer real-time remittances from Indian diaspora in
USA to their relatives in India. Similar pact has been signed between South Indian Bank and Flyworld
Money, for Inward remittances by Indians in Australia.
 Bank Board Bureau (BBB) recommended to bring reforms in compensation process in public sector banks
(PSBs), on lines of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs). It will be important in attracting high-quality
talent in PSBs.
o Bank Board Bureau is super authority of eminent banking professionals for public sector banks (PSBs).
It replaced Banks' Appointments Board of Government.
 Bank Boards Bureau (BBB) evolved a Governance, Reward and Accountability Framework (GRAF) for
public sector banks to ensure that they have the ability to compete with other banks and non-banking
finance companies.
 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved listing 11 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) on
stock exchanges, for public offer of shares up to 25 per cent of Government's shareholding. CPSEs are -
o Rail Vikas Nigam Limited
o IRCON International Limited
o Indian Railway Finance Corporation
o Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation
o RITES Ltd
o Bharat Dynamics Limited
o Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers
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o Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited

o North Eastern Electric Power Corporation
o MSTC Ltd
o Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd.
 Canara Bank signed agreement with BSNL, for upgrading bandwidth at all its branches to 2 Mbps for faster
customer services.
 Department of Posts signed pact with State Bank of India to promote 'SBI buddy e-wallet' and Point of Sale
(POS) machines for cashless transactions at post office counters.
 Finance Ministry approved 8.65 % interest proposed In December 2016, on employee provident fund (EPF)
for 2016-17 fiscal.
 Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) committee Heady by N K Singh has recommended
a fiscal deficit target of 3% by 2020.
 Flipkart-owned online fashion retailer Myntra acquired Bengaluru-based logistics start-up InLogg.
 Government decided to keep education, healthcare and pilgrimages out of service tax under GST regime.

GST is targeted to be rolled out from July 2017. It is also to be noted that Max INR 10000 will be deposited
on One challan, Under GST.
 Government raised 1200 crores by divesting 9.2% of its Stake in National Aluminum Company Ltd.
(NALCO), bringing Government’s shareholding in NALCO down to 65.37%.
 Government will now issue PAN (Permanent Account Number) and TAN (Tax Deduction Account
Number) in electronic format in a day to new corporations.
 Hyderabad based Microfinance institution Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd launched instant loan approval
Bassi in Jaipur (Rajasthan), to help rural areas embrace cashless transactions.
 ICICI Bank and Axis Bank sold loans worth 1,800 crores to Asset Reconstruction Company Edelweiss.
Loans were given to paper maker Ballarpur Industries Ltd.
 IDBI Bank reduced interest rates on retail term deposits (RTD), bringing highest interest rate offered by
IDBI bank to 6.40% (earlier 6.90%).
 Income Tax department launched second phase of Operation Clean Money to investigate over 60,000
individuals with an aim to detect black money generation post demonetisation.
 Income tax department asked Banks to get self-certification from account holders by 30 April, 2017 to
comply with FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) provision and avoid blocking of accounts. It
is applicable for accounts opened between July 1, 2014 and August 31, 2015.
 India signed $175 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB), to help improve Solar
Transmission System in Country.
 Indian Railways will Issue Global tender for procurement of steel for First time in 30 years. SAIL's Bhilai
Plant has been Primary supplier of steel for Railways so far. Demand for Steel by Railways in 2017-18 is
1.35 million tonnes, against SAIL's supply of Only 1.1 million tonnes.
 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) launched web portal isnp.irda.gov.in for
insurers, to will allow them to register and sell policies online.
 Investment trust sponsored by IRB Infrastructure Developers - IRB InvIT Fund has received SEBI’s
approval to raise Rs. 4,300 crore through initial public offering.
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 Kerala-based NBFC Manappuram Finance launched co-branded prepaid card with YES Bank, that can be
pre-loaded up to maximum amount of Rs. 50,000.
 Kotak Mahindra Bank launched 811 banking app as part of Bank's vision to double customer base in 18
months. Customers will be able to open an account on 811 banking app with zero balance.
 Loans disbursed under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) crossed target of INR 1.8 lakh crore in
2016-17. In 2017-18’s budget, Rs 2.44 lakh crore has been set as target for Mudra loans.
 Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) launched Micro and Small Enterprises
Facilitation Council (MSEFC) portal (http://msefc.msme.gov.in/) and MyMSME Mobile App.
o MSEFC portal would facilitate implementation of the delayed payment provisions of the MSMED Act
2006 and also assist in monitoring of delayed payment cases.
o MyMSME mobile app will provides information on all schemes implemented by Ministry of MSME at
one place.
 Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries became most-valued Indian company with market cap of Rs 4.60
Lakh crores. It has put IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on second spot, that has Market cap of

4.59 Lakh Crore. .
o In Government Sector, State Bank of India (SBI) became most valued Company with market cap of
2.35 Lakh Crores. SBI surpassed Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) as most valued Public sector
company.
 NITI Aayog unveiled vision document 2031-32 with several features -
o Every Indian will have houses with toilets, two-wheelers or cars, air-conditioners, power and digital
connectivity by 2032.
o Per capita income would go up by three fold to Rs 3.14 lakh in 2031-32 from Rs 1.06 lakh in 2015-16.
o Gross domestic product would rise from Rs 137 lakh crore level in 2015-16 to Rs 469 lakh crore in
2031-32.
o Expenditure would rise from Rs 38 lakh crore in 2015-16 to Rs 130 lakh crore in 2031-32.
 Non Agriculture Credit Given by Banks in 2016-17 has been Lowest in last several decades, with Growth of
Just 5.12 %. It has been due to banks restraining from lending amid Increase in NPAs.
 Non-banking finance company (NBFC) AU Financiers India has converted itself into a small finance bank -
AU Small Finance Bank.
 PM Narendra Modi launched 81 cashless / less cash townships across 12 states, Including 56 in Gujarat and
25 in 11 other states. Model has been developed by Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd
(GNFC) and GNFC’s Bharuch (Gujarat) township is India’s first 100% cashless township.
 PM Narendra Modi launched BHIM-Aadhaar platform from Nagpur, as merchant interface of BHIM App
that has been launched for making digital payments using the Aadhaar platform. BHIM-Aadhaar platform
enables citizens to make digital transactions, without access to smart phones / internet / debit/credit cards.
 Private Bank Yes Bank won ‘Golden Peacock Innovative Product/Service Award 2017’ (in Financial
sector), for its innovative mobile technology product - SIMsePAY. Yes Bank also Partnered with
Paisabazaar.com, to offer conditionally approved loans to Paisabazaar’s existing customers.
 RBI allowed Aditya Birla Group's Grasim Industries to raise foreign shareholding to 49% from existing
limit of 30%.
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 RBI issued Revised Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework for banks from April 2017 Onwards,
applicable to all banks operating in India. It was required as bad loans reached USD 80 billion or 15% of
system. NPAs of Govt. banks reached Rs 6.3 lakh crore as of September compared to Rs 5.5 lakh crore in
June 2016.
o Revised framework will be again reviewed after three years.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved introduce banknotes of 200 denomination, from July 2017 Onwards.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked all existing asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) to have minimum
net owned fund (NOF) of Rs 100 crore by March 2019.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept key policy rates unchaged, in its first bimonthly monetary policy review
of 2017-18. It however increased the reverse repo rate to 6% (from 5.75%). RBI Monetary Policy Rates as
on 05-04-2017 -
o Repo Rate - 6.25 %
o Reverse Repo - 6.00 %
o Bank Rate - 6.50 %

o Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate - 6.50 %
o CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) - 4 %
o SLR(Statutory Liquidity ratio) - 20.50 %
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) slashed clearance time for National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) to 30
minutes (from an hour), as part of Vision 2018 for Payment and Settlement Systems. 11 additional
settlement batches will be introduced at 8.30 am onwards, taking total number of half hourly settlement
batches during day to 23.
 Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to invest (upto 20% of Net Owned Fund) in Real Estate
Investment Trust (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), to help revive infrastructure sector.
o RBI permitted banks to invest up to 10% of unit capital of a Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) or
Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs).
 Reserve Bank of India has set up 2 new Offices of Banking Ombudsman for States of Jammu and Kashmir
(in Jammu) and Chhattisgarh (in Raipur).
 State Bank of India reduced its benchmark lending rate from 9.25% to 9.1%.
 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) ordered Reliance Jio Infocomm to withdraw its
complimentary ‘Jio Summer Surprise’ that offered 3 months of free services to a user who paid an initial
fee.
o Jio’s two promotions Welcome Offer and Happy New Year led to a rate war, that had badly affected
telecom industry’s finances. It led to a sharp fall in government revenue.
 To digitally empower Atal Pension Yojana (APY) and improve quality of service, statement of transaction
(e-SOT) and e-PRAN card have been launched by Government. These facilities are available at
www.npscra.nsdl.co.in and www.npstrust.org.in. This online tool enables viewing Subscribers' Transaction
and pension related details of APY account.
o Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is an old age pension scheme for unorganized sector workers (Non Income
tax payers) that promises pension between 1 to 5 Thousand after age of 60. Any Indian unorganized
sector worker can join it by age of 40 years.
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o APY Scheme is being implemented through 235 APY Service Providers (Mainly Banks) all over
country and has 45 lac subscribers currently.
 Under Central GST (CGST) Act, tax evasion of over Rs 5 crore under GST regime will be cognizable and
non-bailable offence with police having authority to make an arrest without warrant.
 World Bank approved $375 million loan for India’s first inland water transport fairway National Waterway
1 (NW1) project on a 1,360 km stretch of the Ganga river between Varanasi and seaport of Haldia.
o This amount will be utilized for capacity augmentation of National Waterway-1 (NW-1) between
Haldia in West Bengal and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on river Ganga. It will enable commercial
navigation of vessels of 1,500-2,000 tonnes capacity along the stretch.
 World Bank report Globalization Backlash stated that India’s gross domestic product will rise to 7.2% in
2017-18, from 6.8% the in 2016-17. It expects that India'a GDP growth will rise to 7.7% by 2019 - 20.
 e-Commerce Firm Flipkart raised total fund USD 1.4 billion from China’s Tencent, US-based e-commerce
firm eBay and Microsoft. Flipkart also acquired eBay’s Indian operations, to counter Amazon.
May 2017

 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved restructuring plan for Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd.
(HOCL), a loss making and sick PSU under Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals.
o Plan involves closing down operations of all non-viable plants at Rasayani unit of HOCL except Di-
Nitrogen Tetroxide (N2O4) plant which is to be transferred to ISRO. N2O4 plant is of strategic
importance as it is the only indigenous source of N2O4 which is used as liquid rocket propellant by
ISRO in space launch vehicles.
o Financial implications of plan is Rs. 1008.67 crores, to be met partly from sale of 442 acres HOCL land
at Rasayani (618 crores) and balance (365 crores) through bridge loan from Govt.
 HDFC Life signed bancassurance tie-up with Catholic Syrian Bank,to distribute its life insurance products
to Bank’s customers.
o Karnataka Bank also has recently signed Similar Bancassurance tie-ups with Life Insurance
Corporation (LIC) and HDFC Capital Asset Management Ltd.
 Madhya Pradesh became first Indian state to switch to January-December Period Financial Year.
o MP has broken 150-year old British tradition of an April-March financial year.
o MP State Government stated that as agricultural income is very important, budgets need to be prepared
immediately after receipt of agricultural incomes for the year.
 The Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2017 Report by UN Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific -
o India will achieve 7.1 % economic growth in 2017 as re-monetisation restores consumption and
infrastructure spending increases. India's growth would edge up to 7.5 % in 2018-19.
 As a first of its kind transaction in India, Kotak Mahindra Bank enabled end to end trade financing for one
of its clients by applying blockchain technology. With This, Time for processing letter of credit (LC)
reduced from 20-30 days to few hours.
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 As per fDi Report 2017 by fDi intelligence (a division of the Financial Times) - India retained its position as
world’s top greenfield Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) destination for second consecutive year. Attracting
$62.3 billion FDI inflows.
 Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Punjab National Bank (PNB) signed $100 million loan agreement,
that will finance large solar rooftop systems on industrial and commercial buildings throughout India.
o This is first tranche loan of the $500 million multi tranche finance facility Solar Rooftop Investment
Program (SRIP) approved by ADB in 2016.
 BSNL signed agreements with Facebook and MobiKwik to popularize internet and its value added services
among its customers. BSNL also signed MOU with Disneyland India to offer premium online gaming
services to its mobile customers.
 Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance 2017 has inserted 2 new Sections (35AA and 35AB) in
Banking Regulation Act 1949, to enable Government to authorize Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to direct
banking companies to resolve specific stressed assets by initiating insolvency resolution process, where
required.

o Government is looking to expedite resolution of stressed assets in banking system. Examples Include
Enactment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, SARFAESI and Debt Recovery Acts have been
amended to facilitate recoveries.
 Cash and ATM management companies will soon be allowed to attract 100 % foreign direct investment
(FDI), as they are not required to comply with Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act (PSARA).
 China sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved $ 160 MN loan for a Power Project
in Andhra Pradesh.
 Dena Bank become first bank to classify Electronic Goods Maker Videocon Industries' loans as Bad Loans.
Total loans of lenders to Videocon is approx 40000 crores.
 Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) amended definition of start-ups. As per the new
definition, an entity will be considered as a Start-Up if -
o Turn over is less than Rs 25 crore.
o Has not completed seven years from date of its incorporation / registration.
 Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) achieved Disinvestment worth Over
INR 87700 crores in last 3 years (2014-15 to 2016-2017), compared to INR 53670 crores Disinvestment in
previous 3 year period.
 Department of Revenue opened a new Twitter Handle @askGST_GoI to invite queries from all taxpayers
on GST (Goods and Service Tax).
 Disha Microfin became 12th Entity to receive RBI's approval to Start Operations as a Small Finance Bank.
 Edelweiss Tokio launched a simple life insurance product that can be bought at a point of sale (PoS), First
of Its Kind Life Insurance Product in India. Product name is PoS Saral Nivesh, which is a non-linked, non-
participating endowment life insurance plan that offers protection and saving.
 Employees Provident Fund Organisation approved hike in investment limit in exchange traded funds (ETFs)
to 15%, from the existing 10%.
 FICCI predicted India’s gross domestic product (GDP) to growth at 7.4% for fiscal 2017-18. Sector wise
expected Growth - Agricultural (3.5%), Industry (6.9%), Services (8.4%).
 Federal Bank (in association with Geojit) launched a new trading platform for customers, called Selfie.
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 Finance Minister Arun Jaitely launched Portal of Operation Clean Money https://www.cleanmoney.gov.in,
aiming to tab citizens hiding their income to authorities and Government. There have been 18 lakh people
who have been identified by Income Tax Department after demonetisation.
 Finance Ministry has set up an Investor Facilitation Platform, to provide information about stocks of public
sector units. It has been set up the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and
developed by PRIME Database.
 GST Council (headed by finance Minister Arun Jaitley) finalised tax rates and 7 rules for GST regime
scheduled to be implemented from July 1.
o This Crucial Meet of GST Council was held in Srinagar (J & K).
o 7 rules for GST regime pertaining to composition, valuation, input tax credit, invoice, payment, refund
and registration are approved while remaining 2 rules (pertaining to transition and return) are under
purview of legal committee.
o Council has fixed rates of 1211 items while rates for some other items and services will be finalised in
coming days.

 4-slab service tax structure at rates of 5, 12, 18 and 28 % has been finalised. In next GST Council
meeting, tax rates on gold and other precious metals will be taken up for discussion.
 Out of These Items, 7 % of items fall under exempt list, hile 14 % Are in 5 % tax bracket , 17 %
items are in 12 % tax bracket, 43 % items are in 18 % tax slab and 19 % of goods are in top tax
bracket of 28 %.
 Cars will will be 28 % Tax Bracket with additional cess - 15 % on Luxury Cars, 1 % on Small
Petrol Cars and 3 % on Small Diesel Cars.
 Bikes with engine capacity of over 350cc will see a new cess of 3 %.
 Tax on Coal will be reducted from 11.69 % to 5 %, helping lower the cost of power.
 Luxury hotels, gambling, race club betting and cinema services will attract a tax rate of 28%.
Education, healthcare and non-AC rail travel will remain exempted from GST tax.
 Global agency Fitch Ratings retained BBB sovereign rating (lowest investment grade) for India as weak
public finances continue to constrain India’s ratings. Fitch forecasts India’s real gross domestic product
(GDP) to grow at 7.7% in FY17 and FY18.
 Government exempted residents of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Meghalaya and citizens above 80 years
(all states) from quoting Aadhaar Number to obtain PAN cards and file Income Tax Returns.
 Government hiked price for sugarcane by Rs 25 / quintal to benefit 5 crore farmers across cane producing
states. Fair and remunerative price (FRP - minimum price sugar mills have to pay to farmers) has been
increased from INR 230 per quintal to 255 for 2017-18 seasons, that starts from October.
 Government released new-look index of industrial production (IIP) and wholesale price index (WPI) , built
onnew series of data.
o Instead of earlier 2004-05, base year for IIP and WPI will now be 2011-12. Consumer Price Index
(CPI), Gross Domestic Product (GDP) etc already have 2011-12 as base year.
 Government will sale 3 % of its stake in IOC (Indian Oil Corporation), which will fetch approx INR 6000
crores to Government.
 HDFC Life launched artificial intelligence-based application 'SPOK' that can automatically read,
understand, categorize, prioritize and respond to customer emails instantly.
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 ICICI Bank, Under its special project has made 100 villages as digitally enabled in 2017 so far. It plans to
transform total 600 Villages Digitaly enabled by 2017 end.
 In report World Economic Situation and Prospects, United Nations projected 7.3% growth for India in 2017
and 7.9% for 2018.
 India Signed Loan Agreement of USD 36 Million with World Bank for Himachal Pradesh Public Financial
Management Capacity Building Program. Credit will be processed y World Bank's IBRD (International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development).
 India's GDP grew 6.1 % during January-March Quarter (Q4 2017). China's GDP grew 6.9 per cent during
the same quarter, taking away India's fastest growing Economy Tag. GDP growth rate for full year (2016-17
) remained 7.1 %. India's Quarter wise GDP Growth in 2016-17 -
o Q1 - 7.1 %
o Q2 - 7.3 %
o Q3 - 7 %
o Q4 - 6.1 %

 India's Revenue from Exports in Coir sector remained at all time high of 2282 Crores by value and 9.57
Metric Tonnes in quantity in 2016-17 FY.
o Coir or coconut fibre is a natural fibre extracted from husk of coconut and used in products such as
floor mats, doormats, brushes and mattresses. Coir is the fibrous material found between the hard,
internal shell and the outer coat of a coconut.
 Indian Oil Corporation Overtook Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to become India’s most
profitable Government owned company.
o IOC received 70 % jump in net profit to Rs. 19,106.40 crore in the FY 2016 - 17.
o In Private Sector - Reliance Industries is most profitable with Net Profit of INR 29,901 crores. Tata
Consultancy Servicesis 2nd with 26,357 crores Net Profit.
 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) constituted Technical Committee Under R B Barman, to
give recommendations for laying down Technical Standards for performance of core services and other
services under TBBI (Information Utilities) Regulations 2017.
 International Monetary Fund in its regional economic outlook has predicted growth rate of India as 7.2% in
the 2017-18 fiscal and 7.7% in 2018-19 fiscal. Asian Development Bank estimated India's GDP to grow by
7.4 % in 2017-18 and 7.6 % in the 2018-19.
 Japan’s Softbank invested 1.4 billion (over Rs.9,079 crores) in digital payments platform paytm, as largest
ever investment by a single investor in an Indian Firm.
 LIC Housing Finance launched new product Griha Siddhi, That will offer loans for construction, house
purchase or renovating existing properties. Borrowers will be offered interest rate of 8.40% up to Rs 25 lakh
and for loans up to Rs 1 crore the interest rate will be 8.50%. For women, special interest rate of 8.35% for
loans up to Rs 25 lakh is applicable.
 Mainstream IT Firm Wipro unveiled its new brand identity, aimed at signifying higher level of engagement
with Clients and yield better outputs.
 Mobile Wallet Firm PayTm acquired Another Mobile Wallet Firm FreeCharge. Deal value is expected to be
between 50 - 90 Million USD. Note that FreeCharge was bought by e-Commerce Firm Snapdeal in 2015 for
400 Million USD.
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 New Chiefs appointed for 7 public sector banks -

o Usha Ananthasubramanian - Allahabad Bank.
o Melwyn Rego - Syndicate Bank.
o Rajkiran Rai G - Union Bank of India.
o R Subramaniakumar - Indian Overseas Bank.
o Sunil Mehta - Punjab National Bank.
o Dinabandhu Mohapatra - Bank of India.
o R A Sankara Narayanan - Vijaya Bank.
 Noted Swiss Climber Ueli Steck passed away, in an Accident near Mount Everest in Nepal.
 Paytm Payments Bank Launched, as Third Payments Bank in India
o Renu Satti is of CEO Paytm Payments Bank.
o Paytm Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma Holds 51 % Stake in Paytm Payments Bank, while Paytm Parent
Company One97 Communications holds 49 %.
o It will offer 4 % interest per annum on deposits, less than Airtel and India Post who are Offering

respectively 7.25 % and at 4.5 to 5.5 % in their Payments Banks.
o Payments Banks can accept Rs 1 lakh per account, as per RBI guidelines. Payments bank cannot give
loans. It can issue cheque books and debit cards but not credit cards.
 Punjab Government Updated Criteria for Pensioners, replacing Ration Card with Aadhaar Number.
Pensioners will have to fill up new form by June End to continue getting pension.
 RBI announced rate of interest on Floating Rate Bonds 2024 (FRB 2024) for half year May 7, 2017 to
November 6, 2017 has been fixed at 6.30% per annum. This rate is average of implicit yields at he cut-off
prices of last 3 auctions of Government 182 day Treasury Bills held up to May 7, 2017.
 RBI will observe week June 5 - 9, 2017 as Financial Literacy Week across the country, with focus on 4
themes - KYC, Exercising Credit Discipline, Grievance Redressal and Going Digital (UPI and *99#).
 Reliance Corporate IT Park Ltd signed MoU with enterprise application software firm SAP SE to launch
'SARAL GST' solution, enabling taxpayers to be GST compliant and smoothly access government's GST
System.
 Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd (RDEL) received approval from Group of Lending Banks (Led by
IDBI Bank) to exit from corporate debt restructuring scheme. RDEL’s existing debt of Rs650 crore will be
converted into equity shares at a price of 59.35 a piece.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended deadline for companies undertaking billing business under the Bharat
Bill Payment System (BBPS) to December 31, 2017. Extension is for companies intending to become an
agent of an authorised Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) or wants to exit business of bill
payments.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened rules around making Joint Lenders’ Forum (JLF), To make them
more effective.
o JLFs are meetings of Banks' held to revitalise stressed assets. In JLF, stressed assets are red-flagged
early and a corrective action plan (CAP) is formed for tackling them.
o RBI has now lowered threshold needed for implementing corrective action plan (CAP). Now, decisions
agreed to by a 60% of creditors by value and 50% of creditors would be valid to implement CAP.
 Reserve Bank of India announced that new 1 rupee note will be soon put into circulation.
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o The 1 rupee note was discontinued in 1994, due to high cost of printing.
o New Re.1 one will be predominantly pink-green on the obverse and reverse in combination with other
colours. It will be 9.7 by 8.3 cm in dimension.
o It will have inset Letter L.
 Reserve Bank of India has put restriction on Kolkata based UCO Bank’s lending and branch expansion
plans as UCO Bank made net losses for 2 successive years.
o RBI initiated Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework on UCO bank on account of negative return
of assets. UCO Bank is second to face business restrictions after IDBI Bank.
 Reserve Bank of India permitted co-operative banks having their own ATM network to issue semi-closed
prepaid payment instruments PPIs like mobile wallets, up to a limit of Rs INR 10,000.
 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) allowed investors to buy mutual fund schemes for up to INR
50000 through digital wallets.
 Singapore - based fintech firm FinMomenta launched online platform Tachyloans that targets both
individuals and SMEs that are not tapped by banks as they have poor credit score.

o Note that RBI's Final regulations about digital peer to peer (P2P) lending space are yet to be finalized. It
is assumed Risky as Lenders and Borrowers Meet directly here.
 State Bank of India (SBI) launched a National Hackathon for developers, start-ups and students. Aims is to
come up with innovative ideas and solutions for the banking sector.
 State Bank of India Revised Service Charges (To Take effect from June 1, 2017) -
o IMPS Fund Transfer Charges -
 Upto 1 Lac - INR 5
 1 - 2 Lc - INR 15
 2 - 5 Lac - INR 25
o Service Charges for exchange of Soiled/Imperfect Notes -
 Uptp 20 Pieces and Upto Value of INR 5000 - Nil
 Over 20 Pieces - Rs 2 Per Piece
 Value Above INR 5000 - Rs 2 Per Piece OR Rs 5 Per Rs 1000 Value (Whichever is Higher)
o ATM Cards - Only RuPay classic card will be issued free of cost
o Withdrawls -
 Four withdrawals in a month including ATM withdrawals free of charges.
 Beyond 4 withdrawals - At Branch - Rs 50 per transaction, At other bank ATMS - Rs 20 per
transaction, SBI ATMs - Rs 10 per transaction
o STATE BANK BUDDY WALLET Service Charges -
 Cash withdrawal from Wallet Balance through ATM - Rs 25 Per Transaction (Not to be confused
with ATM Card Transactions)
 Tech Firm Oracle launched its cloud computing service for India, aiming to support government's GST
rollout in July. Oracle's ERP solution will provide support for GST Network integration, statutory reporting
and payment processing etc.
 Telangana launched digital wallet T-Wallet for people to make financial transactions, as first such Initiative
by any state government in India.
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 To promote financial inclusion, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed opening mini branches / banking
outlets without any prior permission from RBI, applicable to all domestic scheduled commercial banks
except Regional Rural Banks. Banks need to open atleast 25 % of banking outlets in a year in unbanked
rural centres.
 US-based think tank Global Financial Integrity (GFI) in its report Illicit Financial Flows to and from
Developing Countries: 2005-2014, has stated that $770 billion worth of black money entered India during
2005-2014, while $165 billion Black money went out of country.
 Yes Bank tied up with Cashkaro.com , to launch India’s first Card Linked Offers (CLO) cash-back
proposition. This customer loyalty platform will enable online and offline shoppers to avail cash-back offers
with personalized merchant deals.
June 2017
 Indian Online financial services marketplace BankBazaar begun its operations in Malaysia to strengthen its

presence in South East Asia.
 According to Code Compliance Rating of banks done by Banking Codes and Standards Board of India
(BCSBI)
o IDBI Bank is Only Bank out of 26 public sector banks to Get High Rating.
o 8 out of 17 private sector banks got high rating and 3 foreign banks (Citibank, HSBC and Standard
Chartered Bank) Received High Rating.
o Code compliance rating is based on 5 parameters - information dissemination, transparency, grievance
redressal, customer-centricity, and customer feedback.
 According to Handbook of Statistics on States 2016-17, gross fiscal deficits of all states has increased to
INR 4,93,360 crores in 2016 from INR 18,790 crore in FY1991. This is 2nd edition of RBI’s statistical
publication.
 According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s current account deficit (net difference between inflows
and outflows of foreign currencies) narrowed during 2016-17 to 0.7% of the GDP, from 1.1% in 2015-16.
o CAD came down due to India's trade deficit narrowing down to $112.4 billion in 2016-17 from $130.1
billion in 2015-16.
o Net FDI inflows in 2016-17 also got narrowed to $35.6 billion from $36 billion during 2015-16.
 According to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2017, US, China and India are top 3 FDI Receiving
Destinations. FDI inflows into India remained USD 44 billion.
 Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved $150 million equity investment loan for India
Infrastructure Fund as AIIB’s first equity investment to fund private projects. IIIF will invest this amount in
mid-cap infrastructure companies in India.
 Axis Bank in association with Kochi Metro Rail Corporation (KMRL) has launched KMRL Axis Bank
Kochi1 Card as India's first open loop EMV contactless metro card to make travel a convenient and hassle
free.
 Bank of India conducted a mass-contact programme Star Mahotsav, to contacting every customer at their
doorstep for several activities including recovery of bad loans, disbursement of loans such as housing and
vehicle loan, disbursement under MSME and agriculture etc.
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 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved strategic disinvestment of Air India and five of its
subsidiaries.
 Canara Bank inked Bancassurance pact with the The New India Assurance Company Ltd, to sell NIACL
policies through its branches.
 Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) signed MoU with Housing and Urban Development
Corporation (HUDCO) to enable members of its housing scheme to avail subsidy and interest subvention
under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). Under housing scheme, EPFO allows its subscribers for
withdrawing up to 90 % of their EPF accumulations to buy homes.
 European Union (EU) released final tranche of Euro 25 million of its euro 80 million grant to the Indian
government’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).
 European Union released final tranche of Euro 25 million of its euro 80 million grant to the Indian
government’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).
 Finance Ministry asked all ministries tasked with clearing foreign direct investment proposals in the 12
sectors that require government’s nod to take a decision on such proposals within 60 days. It is being done

to speed up the FDI Process.
 GST Council constituted 18 Sectoral Groups representing various sectors of economy to ensure smooth
implementation of GST by timely responding to the issues and problems of the respective Sector. GST
Council also reduced the GST Rates of 66 items.
 GST Council decided to set up a five-member anti-profiteering authority to decide on levying the penalty if
businesses do not pass on the benefit of price reduction to consumers under GST regime.
 Government approved Initial Public Offer of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited, for
issuing 139000000 fresh equity shares of Rs.10 each to The public.
 Government approved Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to enter into 2 separate MoUs with
Securities market regulators of the European Union and Iran.
 Government approved introducing Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill 2017 that will provide
resolution framework for financial sector entities to deal with bankruptcy situation in banks, insurance
companies, and other entities.
o It will also result in repealing of the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961 to
transfer the deposit insurance powers and responsibilities to the Resolution Corporation.
 Government approved recommendations of 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) on allowances -
o After examining total 197 allowances, 7th CPC recommended that 53 allowances be abolished and 37
be subsumed in an existing or a newly proposed allowance. Government decided not to abolish 12 of 53
allowances which were recommended to be abolished by 7th CPC. It has also been decided that 3 of 37
allowances recommended to be subsumed by 7th CPC will continue as separate identities.
o House Rent Allowance - Currently paid @ 30% for X (population of Over 50 lakh), 20% for Y (5 - 50
lakh) and 10% for Z (below 5 lakh) category of cities. 7th CPC recommended reduction in existing
rates to 24% for X, 16% for Y and 8% for Z category of cities.
o Other Allowances Include -
 Siachen Allowance - Over 200 % Increase.
 Dress Allowance - To be paid annually in four slabs @ Rs 5000, Rs 10,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs
20,000.
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 Tough Location Allowance - To be in the ranges of Rs 1000 - Rs 5300 per month.

 Allowances paid to D/o Posts (Postmen / Trackmen) were recommended to be abolished by 7th
CPC. However, These have been continued and Rates increased INR 90 to 180 per month.
 Recommendations of 7th CPC to abolish Launch Campaign Allowance and Space Technology
Allowance have not been accepted. Rate of Launch Campaign and Space Technology Allowance
has been increased from Rs 7500 to 11250 per annum.
 Fixed Medical Allowance (FMA) for Pensioners has been increased from Rs 500 per month to Rs
1000 per month.
 Railways -
 Rates of Additional Allowance have been increased from Rs 500 / 1000 per month to Rs
1125 / 2250 per month. This has also been extended to Loco Pilot Goods and Senior
Passenger Guards also @Rs 750 per month.
 New Allowance namely Special Train Controller’s Allowance @5000 per month for Train
Controllers of Railways has been introduced.

 Recommendations in respect of some important allowances paid to Nurses & Ministerial
Staffs of Hospital - Nursing Allowance increased from 4800 to 7200 per month. Operation
Theatre Allowance increased from 360 to 540 per month.
 Uniformed Services (Defence, CAPFs, Police, Indian Coast Guard and Security Agencies ) -
 7th CPC had recommended abolition of Ration Money Allowance (RMA) and free ration to
Defence officers posted in peace areas. However, this recommendation has not been accepted
and Ration Money Allowance will continue t0 be paid.
 Most Other allowances have also seen considerable hike.
 Other Misc Alliowances -
 Children Education Allowance (CEA) increased from Rs 1500 per month / child (max 2) to
Rs 2250 per month / child (max 2). Hostel Subsidy gone up from Rs 4500 to 6750 per month.
 Special Allowance for Child Care for Women with Disabilities has been doubled from 1500
to 3000 per month.
 Higher Qualification Incentive for Civilians increased from Rs 2000 - 10000 to 10000 - Rs
30000.
 Government has cut interest rates on farmers' loans by 5 % (earlier 9% to now 4%), on loan up to Rs 3 lakh.
Farmers who do not pay interest in time, will have to pay interest at rate of 7 %.
 Government has made Aadhaar card mandatory for government subsidy on purchase of kerosene and
benefits of Atal Pension Yojana.
 Government made Aadhaar mandatory for Opening bank accounts and Carrying out financial transactions
above of Rs 50,000. All existing Bank accounts are to be linked to Aadhaar numbers by December 31, 2017.
 HDFC Bank will impose new transaction charges on all outward UPI transactions from July 10, 2017.
Transactions from Rs 1 - 25000 will be charged Rs 3 and transactions above Rs 25,000 to 1 lakh will be
charged Rs 5.
 HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) Predicted India's GDP Growth To Remain 7.1 % In
2017-18. As per Official Data, India's GDP grew 6.1 % during January-March Quarter (Q4 2017) and GDP
growth rate for full year (2016-17 ) remained 7.1 %.
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 India signed $275 Million Loan agreement with Manila (Philippines) based Asian Development Bank
(ADB) for improving urban services in 64 small towns in State of Madhya Pradesh.
 India signed loan agreement of USD 35 million with World Bank for Assam State Public Financial
Institutional Reforms Project.
 Indian Overseas Bank (Lead Bank for Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala) has launched Retail Mart as a
retail lending concept in Thiruvananthapuram.
 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) took over management of Sahara India
Life Insurance Company as it was not acting in customer friendly manner. IRDAI appointed RK Sharma as
administrator of Sahara India Life Insurance Company.
 Kerala Passed State State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Act, leaving J & K as only remaining state to not
have passed State GST, which is to be implemented from July 01, 2017.
o Telangana was first state to Pass State GST (on 9th April 2017).
 Largest Indian Bank State Bank of India has cut interest rate on home loans above Rs 75 lakh by 10 basis
points (bps) to 8.60 percent (8.55 % For salaried women borrowers).

 Leading bourse National Stock Exchange (NSE) launched its international exchange in the Gujarat
International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). NSE IFSC Ltd (global exchange promoted by NSE) will
remain operational for a longer period than NSE during a trading day.
 Markets regulator SEBI has barred USA Firm Cypress Money from acting as Investment Advisor as it was
found guilty of providing unauthorized trading tips to investors.
 NHB (National Housing Bank) approved merger of Wadhawan Family Owned Entities Aadhar Housing
Finance and DHFL Vysya Housing Finance.
 National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
released report Key Indicators of Unincorporated Non-Agricultural Enterprises (Excluding Construction) in
India -
o Survey coveres non-agricultural enterprises which are not incorporated or not registered under
Companies Act, 1956. It Includes, proprietary and partnership enterprises (excluding limited liability
partnerships), Self Help Groups (SHGs), Non-Profit Institutions (NPIs) and Trusts etc.
o Results are based on sample consisting of 8484 villages and 7839 urban blocks spread over all States
and Union Territories.
o During 2015-16, 6.34 crore unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises (excluding construction) were
estimated at all India level with 11.13 crore workers. Out of These -
 31 % are engaged in manufacturing, 36.3 % were in trading and 32.6 % in other services.
 Approx about 51 5 are in rural areas and 49 % in urban areas.
 Own Account Enterprises (OAEs) have a dominant share of 84.2 %.
 Pradesh has highest share of 14.20 % in total number of unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises
(and workers), followed by West Bengal (13.99 % cent), Tamil Nadu (7.80 %), Maharashtra (7.54
%) and Karnataka (6.05 %).
o Operational Characteristics
 Proprietary enterprises had the highest share (96 %), Followed by Partnership enterprises (2 %),
Self Help Groups (1.8 %).
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o During 2015-16, aggregate GVA by the unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises engaged in market
production was estimated at Rs 1152338 crores. Delhi reported the highest annual GVA per enterprise
of Rs 497524 and West Bengal had the lowest GVA per enterprise of Rs 96686.
o Emoluments per hired worker stayed approx Rs 87544 annually. Kerala (Rs 125616) and Assam (Rs
53726) reported highest and lowest value of average annual emoluments per hired worker.
 Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) introduced “APY@eNPS” as a digital
enrolment processfor Atal Pension Yojana (APY).
 Private Bank DCB launched new services – India’s first Aadhaar based iris eye scan customer verification
and fingerprint operated ATM in Telangana.
 Private sector's Yes Bank partnered with mobile payments switch TerraPay to enable real-time money
transfer to bank accounts in India. Yes Bank also tied up with messaging app Hike for Launching In-app
Wallet.
 RBI extended scope of Banking Ombudsman Scheme by enabling customers to lodge a complaint against
defaulting bank for its non-adherence to RBI instructions with regard to mobile banking/ electronic banking

services. Pecuniary jurisdiction of Banking Ombudsman to pass an award has been also doubled to 20 lakh
rupees.
 RBI has placed Central Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra under prompt corrective action (PCA)
which puts restricts on banking activities such as from lending, hiring and expanding branches. RBI has so
far triggered PCA for 6 banks – IDBI Bank, UCO Bank, Dena Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of
India and Bank of Maharashtra.
 RBI identified 12 bank accounts constituting nearly 25% of gross bad loans for immediate referral and
resolution under the bankruptcy law. Each of 12 identified accounts was having more than 5,000 crore
rupees of outstanding loans.
 RBI second bi-monthly monetary policy review of 2017 -
o Only change in Monetary Policy is that RBI has cut Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) by 50 basis points
to 20% (To be applicable from June 24, 2017). RBI reduced growth projection for the current fiscal to
7.3% from 7.4%.
o Monetary policy decision has been taken by the 6 member monetary policy committee headed by RBI
Governor (Currently Urjit Patel).
 Reliance Communications (RCom) and Aircel's Merged entity will be called Aircom. R-Com will demerge
its wireless business and transfer it to the new entity Aircom. Merged company will be one of India’s largest
private sector companies with asset base of 65000 crores and net worth of 35000 crores.
 Reserve Bank of India identified 12 non-performing accounts representing 25% of gross NPAs in Indian
banking system, which will be immediately taken up under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
 Reserve Bank of India initiated prompt corrective action (PCA) for Dena Bank in view of high net non-
performing assets. In May 2017, RBI initiated PCA for IDBI Bank and UCO Bank for similar reasons.
 Reserve Bank of India will release new batch of Rs 500 currency notes whose design will be similar to Rs
500 rupee banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series which were released post demonetisation. New
batch of Rs 500 banknotes will have inset letter “A” in both the number panels.
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 SEBI allowed options trading on futures contract of commodities. However, capital market regulator
allowed commodity derivatives exchanges to initially launch options on futures of only one commodity.
Eligibility critreia for commodity exchanges to start trading in options contract of commodities -
o Only top 5 commodities in terms of total trading turnover value of previous 12 months will be allowed.
o Average daily turnover of underlying futures contract of such commodities over past 12 months should
be minimum 200 crores for agricultural and agri-processed commodities, and 1,000 crore for other
commodities.
 SEBI asked Commodity derivatives exchanges to compulsorily set up investor protection and service funds,
along with separate bank accounts for maintaining corpus of IPF and the ISF.
o Investor Service Fund (ISF) - It is aimed at providing minimum facilities at various investor service
centres. Initially, commodity exchange has to contribute at least Rs 10 lakh towards ISF. Subsequently,
commodity exchanges will be required to transfer 1% of turnover fees charged from its members on
monthly basis towards the ISF.
o Investor Protection Fund (IPF) - It must have maximum 5 trustees. IPF will comprise of all penalties

levied and collected by the commodity exchanges except for the settlement related penalties.
 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approved Telenor India's Merger with Bharti Airtel. The
deal is now pending final approval by other authorities such as CCI (Competition Commission of India).
 Software Firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) launched BaNCS App Development Kit (ADK), to enable
banks to fast design and build their own apps and install it across devices and desktops. Vision for ‘BaNCS
ADK’ is to transfer flexibility and increase speed of development in Banking.
 State Bank of India (SBI) announced financing of solar rooftop projects worth 400 crores, adding over 100
MW of solar rooftop capacity. It is a significant step towards meeting India’s target for 40 GW of solar
rooftop installations.
 Uttar Pradesh Government signed agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for loan of 1950 crore
rupees for strengthening of roads in different districts.
 Vijaya bank developed 5 villages into Digital Villages and plans to develop as many as 100 digital villages
in various States.
 World Bank approved USD 250-million loan for Skill India mission, aimed at making Indian youth more
employable through reskilling. SIMO is a 6 year programme in support of National Policy for Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship (2017-23). Under this, persons in age group of 15-59 will acquire skill
training irrespective of their employment status.
 World Bank's Global Economic Prospects (GEP) projected GDP growth rate of 7.2% for India in 2017-18
as against 6.8% growth in 2016-2017. World bank also expects India’s growth rate to remain at 7.5% in
2018 and 7.7% in 2019. Global growth forecast in 2017 and 2018 at 2.7% and 2.9% respectively.
July 2017
 36th National Bank For Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) Foundation Day and Silver Jubilee
of SHG Bank Linkage Programme held in New Delhi. Self Help Group Bank Linkage Programme (SHG
BLP) is a Financial Inclusion initiative of NABARD.
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 According to 2nd National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) State Investment Potential
Index (N-SIPI 2017) report -
o Gujarat retained top position in list of 21 states and UTs with most investment potential, followed by
Delhi and Andhra Pradesh.
 According to Asian Development Bank, India will achieve GDP growth rate of 7.4 % in 2017-18 and 7.6 %
in 2018-19.
 According to BMI Research, India is expected to register a growth of 6.9% in financial year 2017-18. While
RBI predicted 7.3 % GDP Growth Rate for current fiscal year (2017-18).
o BMI Research was founded in 1984 by Business Monitor International and was acquired by Fitch
Group later in 2014.
 Aiming to eliminate all subsidies by March 2018, Government ordered oil companies to raise subsidised
cooking gas, LPG prices by 4 rupees per cylinder every month.
 Axis Bank acquired digital payment platform FreeCharge in an all-cash deal valued at INR 385 Crores.
o Freecharge was founded in 2010 and was sold to Snapdeal in 2015 for USD 400 Million.

 Axis Bank has entered into a collaboration with Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) to facilitate
trade with Latin America and Caribbean. Axis Bank became first Indian bank to participate in the Trade
Finance Facilitation Programme as a confirming bank.
 Axis Bank introduced a special loan product, offering to fund up to 95 % of Bikes with engine displacement
of over 500 cubic centimetres (cc).
 Bank of Baroda signed agreement with Directorate General of Supplies & Disposal (DGS&D) for extending
various banking services to Government e-Marketplace (GeM). e-GeM is an initiative intended to bring
transparency and efficiency in public procurements.
 Banking Digital Innovation firm Aurionpro Solutions launched its Branch-in-a-Box product, the Virtual
Teller Machine (VTM) as a fully integrated self-service kiosk for automating 90% of banking transactions
at branch level.
 Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2017 presented in Lok Sabha, seeking to amend Banking Regulation
Act 1949 and replace Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance 2017. It authorises RBI to -
o Direct banking companies to resolve the problem of stressed assets and Initiate insolvency resolution
process on specific stressed assets.
o Issue other directions for resolution, appoint or approve authorities or committees to advise banking
companies for stressed asset resolution. Recovery proceedings will be carried out under Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code 2016.
 Canara Bank launched its first ‘Digital Banking Branch’ named ‘CANDI’ in Bengaluru, to provide end-to-
end digital experience to customers.
 Chhattisgarh government will merge all district cooperative central banks (DCCBs) of state into a single
State Cooperative Bank, to serve farmers with better and efficient banking facilities.
 China based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved USD 329 million loan to build access
roads to 4,000 villages in Gujarat.
 Consumer Affairs Ministry amended Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011 (PCR), To
benefit consumers and protect them from paying different prices at different locations. Rules will be known
as Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Amendment Rules 2017.
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o In accordance with new rules to come into effect from 1 January 2018, price of packed goods would no
longer depend on where the product is purchased - A mall / five-star hotel / airport or a local Kirana
store.
o Retail sale price of any packed product will be Maximum Retail Price (MRP) inclusive of all taxes,
with provision to round off price to nearest rupee or 50 paise.
o New legal provision will make sure that no person is able to declare different MRPs on an identical pre-
packed commodity, curbing possibility of any vendor charging differential prices for same product.
o e-commerce marketplaces will ensure that declarations (except month and year of manufacturing) shall
be displayed on digital and electronic network used for e-commerce transactions. It include companies
like Grofers and BigBasket, who stock the inventory. Other e-Commerce entities like Amazon and
Flipkart who do not own an inventory, responsibility of correctness of declarations will be of
manufacturer / seller / dealer / importer.
 Credit rating agency ICRA launched a new system for rating of infrastructure projects in association with
India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL), to focus on overall recovery of dues by investor and

lender over lifecycle of project.
 Digital payments company MobiKwik partnered with Samsung Pay, under which consumers will be able to
make payments with a single tap using select Samsung handsets.
 Domestic android-based mobile operating system Indus OS partnered with YES Bank to launch OS-
integrated UPI (Unified Payment Interface) payment platform in India.
o It will enable users to use UPI payment platform on SMS, dialler interface, and on third party apps like
WhatsApp. It means P2P transactions, as well as utility payments, can be made via SMS or messaging.
 Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) signed agreement with 4 private banks (ICICI Bank,
HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank) and Bank of Baroda for collecting provident fund dues
from employers and payments to its subscribers.
o This is the first time that EPFO has joined hands with private banks for this purpose. It will save INR
300 crores annually for EPFO as these five banks have agreed up on zero transaction charges.
 FINO Payments Bank commenced operations as a payments bank.
o FINO Payments Bank is 4th entity to start functioning as a Payments Bank in India, after Airtel, India
Post and Paytm.
 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley released National Trade Facilitation Action Plan that gives a time bound map
for implementing WTO-Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and also includes India’s initiatives for trade
facilitation and ease of doing business which goes beyond TFA.
 GMR Goa International Airports Ltd signed a INR 1330 Crore Loan Agreement with Axis Bank, for
development of Greenfield airport at Mopa.
 Goods and Services Tax (GST) Came into Effect, bringing in One Nation, One Indirect Tax.
o GST simplifed Indirect Taxes by abolishing set of Different Indirect Taxes at State and Central Level.
Tax Slabs are - 0 %, 5%, 12 %, 18% AND 28%.
o Goods and Services Tax (GST) - Highlights
 Finance Minisry approved re-organisation of field formations of Central Board of Excise &
Customs (CBEC) for implementation of Goods & Services Tax (GST). CBEC will be renamed as
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
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 Cabinet approved 4 GST Bills, to step up towards implementing GST from July 1, 2017. Bills are -
 CentralGST - It provides for levy and collection of tax on intra-state supply of goods /
services by Central Government.
 iGST - It makes provisions for levy and collection of tax on inter-state supply of goods /
services by Central Government.
 UTGST - Similar to States Goods and Services Tax (SGST) which shall be levied and
collected by States/Union Territories on intra-state supply of goods / services.
 Compensation Bill -It provides for compensation to the states for loss of revenue arising due
to implementation of goods and services tax for 5 years as per section 18 of Constitution
(One Hundred and First Amendment) Act 2016.
 Additionally, central government has been empowered to impose additional tax of up to 1 %
on inter-state supply of goods for 2 years
 Max INR 10000 will be deposited on One challan, Under GST.
 Under Central GST (CGST) Act, tax evasion of over Rs 5 crore under GST regime will be

cognizable and non-bailable offence with police having authority to make an arrest without
warrant.
 Department of Revenue opened a new Twitter Handle @askGST_GoI to invite queries from all
taxpayers on GST (Goods and Service Tax).
 GST Council (headed by finance Minister Arun Jaitley) finalised tax rates and 7 rules for GST
regime.
 This Crucial Meet of GST Council was held in Srinagar (J & K).
 7 rules for GST regime pertaining to composition, valuation, input tax credit, invoice,
payment, refund and registration are approved while remaining 2 rules (pertaining to
transition and return) are under purview of legal committee.
 Council has fixed rates of 1211 items while rates for some other items and services will be
finalised in coming days.
o 4-slab service tax structure at rates of 5, 12, 18 and 28 % has been finalised. In next
GST Council meeting, tax rates on gold and other precious metals will be taken up for
discussion.
o Out of These Items, 7 % of items fall under exempt list, hile 14 % Are in 5 % tax
bracket , 17 % items are in 12 % tax bracket, 43 % items are in 18 % tax slab and 19 %
of goods are in top tax bracket of 28 %.
o Cars will will be 28 % Tax Bracket with additional cess - 15 % on Luxury Cars, 1 % on
Small Petrol Cars and 3 % on Small Diesel Cars.
o Bikes with engine capacity of over 350cc will see a new cess of 3 %.
o Tax on Coal will be reducted from 11.69 % to 5 %, helping lower the cost of power.
o Luxury hotels, gambling, race club betting and cinema services will attract a tax rate of
28%. Education, healthcare and non-AC rail travel will remain exempted from GST
tax.
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 Kajal Singh has been appointed as Executive Vice President (Services) in Goods and Services Tax
Network (GSTN). GSTN is a special purpose vehicle set up to provide Information Technology
infrastructure for implementation of the GST.
 Government has set up a GST facilitation cell in Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
(DIPP) to facilitate rollout of Goods and Services Tax. The cell is headed by Economic Advisor
Sudhansu Sekhar Das.
 Government appointed Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan as ambassador for promotion of Goods
and Services Tax (GST).
 GST Council decided to set up a five-member anti-profiteering authority to decide on levying the
penalty if businesses do not pass on the benefit of price reduction to consumers under GST regime.
 J & K is last state to pass GST implementation in state. Telangana was first state to Pass State GST
(on 9th April 2017).
 GST Council constituted 18 Sectoral Groups representing various sectors of economy to ensure
smooth implementation of GST by timely responding to the issues and problems of the respective

Sector. GST Council also reduced the GST Rates of 66 items. GST on Fertilizers has been reduced
to 5%.
 Home Ministry will examine Structure and Operations of Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN)
before giving it security clearance.
 GSTN is IT backbone of Goods and Service Tax (GST). It is a not for profit and private
limited company incorporated in 2013.
 Government holds 24.5% equity in GSTN. It has been set up primarily to provide IT
infrastructure and services to the Central and State Governments, tax payers and other
stakeholders for implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
 E-commerce firm Amazon India launched new program for sellers to get insights and help related
to goods and services tax - A-Z GST Guide. It provides resources in the form of tutorials, blogs,
and free online training sessions.
 Threshold limit for exemption from levy of GST is Rs 20 lakh for the States except for the Special
Category, where it is Rs 10 Lakh.
 Petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel have been kept out of GST.
Alcohol has also been kept out of GST.
 Government allowed manufacturers/companies to sell their Pre GST stock until 30 September
2017. Also, if rates of commodities have gone up following imposition of GST, then companies
have to display revised and previous rates on packets and publish it in at least two newspapers.
 Government listed 22 products or devices for physically challenged persons that will attract a
concessional GST rate of 5 % only.
 Finance ministry stated that Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) rate of 5 % will not be
applicable on supply of goods unless brand name or trade name is registered under Trade Marks
Act 1999. However, supply of goods that are put up in unit container and bear a registered brand
name, attracts 2.5 % CGST rate.
 Government of India has setup a Central Monitoring Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary,
to monitor the impact of GST.
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 Google acquired Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence startup Halli Labs for an undisclosed sum, founded
by Pankaj Gupta in 2017 (4 months into operations).
 Government Launched Aaykar Setu as a new tax payer service module, To enhance mobile access
experience for Taxpayers.
o It is aimed at reducing physical interface between assesses and tax assessing authorities and thereby
minimizing chances of any tax harassment.
o The module compiles various tax tools, live chat, dynamic updates, and important links to various
processes within Income Tax Department in a single module.
 Government Stated that Gifts up to a value of Rs 50,000 per year by an employer to his employee are
outside ambit of GST. Gifts of value over INR 50000 made without consideration are subject to GST.
 Government approved Labour Code on Wages Bill which will ensure a minimum wage across all sectors by
integrating existing labour related laws. The Labour Code on Wages Bill consolidates the Minimum Wages
Act 1948, Payment of Bonus Act 1965, Payment of Wages Act 1936 and Equal Remuneration Act 1976.
 Government approved revision of guidelines of Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB) Scheme, which is aimed at

converting part of 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for Investment into ‘demat’
gold bonds. Mobilisation target was 15,000 crore in 2015-16 and at Rs.10,000 crore in 2016-17. But,
amount credited so far in scheme's account is approx 4700 crores, triggering need for changes in guidelines.
o Specific changes in attributes of scheme to make it more attractive, mobilise more and reduce economic
strains caused by imports of gold and reduce Current Account Deficit (CAD).
o Flexibility to design and introduce variants of SGBs has been given to Ministry of Finance.
o Investment limit per fiscal year has been increased to 4 kg for individuals, 4 Kg for Hindu Undivided
Family (HUF) and 20 Kg for Trusts and similar entities.
 Government approved selling government’s entire 51.11% stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd to Oil
and Natural Gas Corp.
o Government is 51% owner of HPCL and 68% owner of ONGC. HPCL's addition will make ONGC
third-largest refiner in country after IOC and Reliance Industries.
 Government exempted import of aircraft, aircraft engines and its parts via leasing route from the purview of
Goods and Services Tax (GST), providing relief to aviation industry as it was facing dual levy of 5 % at
import and another 5 % at the time of payment of lease rent.
 Government has set up Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM) as a new wing to
provide intelligence inputs taking action against tax evaders. It has been has been set up will be under the
Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). DGARM was set up on 1 July 2017, coinciding with rollout
of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
 Government imposed 10% basic customs duty (BCD) on Cellular mobile phones and specified parts of
cellular mobile phones like charger, battery, wire headset, Microphone and Receiver, Key Pad, USB Cable
etc.
 Government launched GST Rates Finder appn to verify accurate tax rate on commodity and services under
Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
 Government lowered interest rate on small saving schemes by 0.1 % for July- September quarter. However,
Interest on savings deposits has been retained at 4 % annually. New Rates are -
o PPF - 7.8%
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o KVP (Kisan Vikas Patra) - 7.5% (mature in 115 months)

o Sukanya Samriddhi - 8.3%
o Five-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme - 8.3%
 Government saved around INR 57,000 crore in 2016-17 through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme
under which subsidies are given directly to beneficiaries.
o In 2017-18, beneficiary base rose from 10.71 crore in 2013-14 to 35.62 crore. Total of 485 schemes
have been identified for DBT.
o LPG subsidy scheme ‘Pahal’ alone accounted for Rs 29,769 crore savings, followed by 14,000 crores
savings in Public Distribution System (PDS).
 Home Ministry will examine Structure and Operations of Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN) before
giving it security clearance.
o GSTN is IT backbone of Goods and Service Tax (GST). It is a not for profit and private limited
company incorporated in 2013.
o Government holds 24.5% equity in GSTN. It has been set up primarily to provide IT infrastructure and

services to the Central and State Governments, tax payers and other stakeholders for implementation of
Goods and Services Tax (GST).
 ICICI Bank will be selling personal loans of up to Rs 15 lakh through its ATMs. Using data from credit
information companies, ICICI Bank will pre-qualify select customers for personal loans. Such customers
will get a message on ATM screen after completing a transaction, informing about their eligibility for
personal loans. Such customers can avail 5 year personal loan of upto Rs 15 lakh and amount will be
credited instantly to their account.
 India signed $220 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for improving connectivity
as well as transport efficiency and safety on State Highways of Rajasthan.
 India's YES Bank received $150 million funding from USA government and Wells Fargo to increase
lending to support women entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises in India.
 India's Yes Bank signed MoU with British Bank Santander to promote India-UK trade and business
opportunities.
 Indian Overseas Bank started offering Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) services introduced by National
Payments Corporation of India. BBPS is an integrated bill payment system that offers inter-operable online
bill payments to customers. IOB is among 4 government banks (apart from Bank of Baroda and Union Bank
of India) to get approval from RBI for providing BBPS services.
o National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) recebntly received final nod from Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) to function as Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit and operate Bharat Bill Payment System
(BBPS).
o BBPS pilot project started on 31 August, 2016 with 8 BBPS operating units, which now stands at 24
certified units.
 Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani along with venture capitalist Sanjeev Aggarwal has launched a $100
million venture fund called Fundamentum to back mid-stage startups that solve unique Indian problems in
consumer technology space.
 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) notified rules for inspection and investigation of service
providers registered with it (professional agencies, entities, professionals and information utilities). Now,
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investigation authority has to serve a notice intimating entity concerned about probe at least 10 days in
advance.
 International Monetary Fund (IMF)', World Economic Outlook (July 2017 Update) -
o India - GDP growth rate will be 7.2% for 2017-18 (up from 7.1% in 2016-17). India’s growth would
accelerate to 7.7% in 2018-19. India’s economy will still be the fastest growing among large
economies. Worls bank also predicted 7.2 % GDP Growth rate for India in current Year and also stated
that India will remain World's 4th Fastest Growing Economy.
o Global economic growth rate will be 3.5% in 2017 and 3.6% in 2018.
o China’s - projected to grow by 6.7% in 2017 and 6.4% in 2018.
 Janalakshmi Financial Services (largest microfinance company) appointed Ajay Kanwal as its New CEO.
JFS has been gearing up for launch of their Small finance bank.
 Karnataka Bank in association with PNB MetLife launched Met Loan and Life Suraksha (MLLS) as a single
premium plan covering loan liability of a customer.
 Karnataka Bank launched KBL-Image Debit Card, that will enable its cardholders to personalise their Debit

card with an image of his/her choice.
 Kolkata based Srei Infrastructure Finance signed MoU with Russia’s Vnesheconombank to create a $200
million IT and Innovation Fund.
 Lok Sabha passed Companies (Amendment) Bill 2016 to amend Companies Act 2013, to strengthen
corporate governance standards, initiate strict action against defaulting companies and help improve the ease
of doing business in India. Threshold for easy compliance scheme has been raised to Rs 100 crore from Rs
20 crore, making more companies eligible for simple compliance regime.
 Ministry of Power announced that approx 97% of outstanding debt of all state power distribution companies
(approx 3.95 lakh crores) has been covered under the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY).
o As of now, 26 states and 1 UT which have joined UDAY scheme, accounting for total outstanding debt
of Rs. 3.82 lakh crores.
 National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE) will merge with Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) to
form India's third biggest commodity exchange.
o This is first merger in commodity exchange space in India. In merged entity, ICEX will hold 62.8%
stake and NMCE will own the rest.
o New exchange will offer a wide range of contracts and will also offer world’s first diamond futures
contract, which has already received approval from SEBI.
 Private life insurance company Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance signed
bancassurance agreement with Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank, for marketing its various life insurance
products to Bank's customers.
o As name depicts, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance is Joint venture of Canara
Bank, HSBC and Oriental Bank of Commerce.
 Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance have signed an agreement for the
distribution of insurance products through the branches (Bancassurance).
 Punjab National Bank (PNB) will block all Maestro debit cards from 31st of July 2017 if card holders do
not replace it with a more secure EMV chip based card by end of July.
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 RBI imposed penalty of Rs. 3 crore on Union Bank of India for non-compliance with directions on Know
Your Customer (KYC) norms.
 RBI issued revised directions on Customer Protection in case of authorised / failed online Transactions -
o It aims at Limiting Liability of Customers in unauthorised Electronic Banking Transactions.
o In cases of negligence caused by the customer by sharing of payment credentials, the customer is liable
to bear the entire loss.
o Customers will be entitled to zero liability when authorised transaction occurs due to contributory
fraud/negligence/deficiency on part of bank irrespective of whether or not unauthorised transaction has
been reported by customer.
o If Fault is at Third Party End -
 If customer reports to bank within 3 days - All amount involved will be credited to their accounts
within 10 days by bank.
 If customer reports to bank within 3 - 7 days - All Amount or INR 25000 (whicheever is less)
within 10 days by bank.

 If customer reports to bank after 7 days - as per bank's policy.
 Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for the first time crossed Rs 5 lakh crore in market capitalisation. RIL is
second firm to cross Rs 5 lakh crore in market capitalisation and is also currently most valued company in
India. Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) was first company to hit Rs 5 lakh crore in market capitalisation
milestone in July 2014.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to sell and market new
pension scheme (NPS). Profit Making NBFCs with asset size of Min 500 crores are now permitted to sell
NPS after registration with pension regulator.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up Supervisory Colleges for 6 Scheduled Commercial Banks which
have sizeable international presence - State Bank of India, ICICI Bank., Bank of India, Bank of Baroda,
Axis Bank and Punjab National Bank.
 Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue bank notes of denomination Rs 20 in Mahatma Gandhi series 2005
with inset letter ‘S’.
 SBI (State Bank of India) slashed interest rates given on savings bank accounts from 4 % to 3.5 % on
deposits below Rs. 1 crore.
 Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) started merchant banking operations to benefit
expanding number of growth-oriented micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), especially those with
a strong technology and innovation quotient.
 South Indian Bank tied up with Peregrine Financial Group (PFG) Forex for remittance facility for Indian
expatriates from Australia. Under this, NRIs can enjoy fast remittance services using SIB’s Express facility.
 State Bank of India (SBI) and Carlyle Group acquired 26 % stake of American Financial major GE Capital
in SBI Card. SBI Card is operated through two joint-ventures - SBI Cards & Payment Services (SBICPSL)
and GE Capital Business Process Management Services (GECBPMSL).
 State Bank of India (SBI) launched SBI Realty as a dedicated portal to help home buyers to choose flats
from its 3,000 approved projects across country (over 9.5 Lakh Home Units).
 State Bank of India Online Funds Transfer Fee Rates Reduced -
o IMPS -
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 INR 0 for fund transfer up to INR 1,000.

 For More Funds, charge will be Rs 5 for fund transfer in range 1,000 to 1 lakh and Rs 15 for
transactions of Rs 1-2 lakh.
o NEFT / RTGS -
 75 % Reduction in Fees attached with all NEFT / RTGS Fund Transfers.
o GST of 18 per cent on Processing fee is applicable on all financial transactions.
 Tata Industries' preclinical contract research company Advinus Therapeutics has been acquired by
laboratory testing major Eurofins Scientific.
 Travel Bookings Firm Yatra acquired corporate travel service provider Air Travel Bureau (ATB, India’s
largest corporate travel services provider.
 United Forum of Bank Unions observed July 19 (48th anniversary of nationalization of major banks) as
‘Save public sector banks’ day.
 YES Bank launched YES GST program for MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) to help them
get familiar with GST taxation system.

August 2017
 Shubh Aarambh Home Loans scheme has been launched by Axis Bank, which will see 12 equated monthly
installments (EMIs) waived off (4 EMIs each after 4th, 8th and 12th year from the of disbursement) on
regular repayments of loans of up to Rs 30 lakh.
 Airtel Payments Bank partnered with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) to boost to enanle
14,000 HPCL fuel stations to act as banking points for Airtel Payments Bank.
 As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report of Return of SBN (Specified Bank Notes), 99 % of demonetised
notes (Worth INR 15.28 lakh crores) have been returned to bank. Value of Specified Bank Notes (SBNs).
Approx INR 16000 crores worth of demonetised notes have not come back to RBI so far.
 As per report, SBI accounts for over 27 % of total amount owed to public sector banks by wilful defaulters,
with 1,762 wilful defaulters owing SBI INR 25,104 crore. Punjab National Bank (PNB) is 2nd with 1,120
wilful defaulters Owing INR 12,278 crores.
 Bajaj Finance picked 10.83 % stake in Mobile wallet Firm MobiKwik for approx Rs 225 crore. Aim is to
offer Bajaj Finance's lending (purchase finance, credit card, mortgage loans and personal loans) and
insurance products through MobiKwik app.
 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) launched bespoke mobile wallet to enable its existing 10 crore
customers to make Bill payments, developed by Mobikwik on behalf of BSNL.
 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved Scheme of providing Budgetary Support under
Goods and Service Tax (GST) Regime for eligible industrial units in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand,
Himachal Pradesh and North Eastern States including Sikkim.
o Budgetary support of INR 27,413 crore for said Scheme has been approved for period from 1-7-2017
till 31-03-2027 for industrial units located in aforesaid States which availed benefit of Central Excise
exemption prior to GST implementation.
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 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved revision in the procedure and mechanism for
strategic disinvestment, recommended by Department of Investment and public Asset Management
(DIPAM). It will enable completion of strategic disinvestment transactions.
o Setting up an Alternative Mechanism (AM) to decide on matters relating to terms of sale from stage of
inviting of Express of Interests (Eols) till inviting of financial bid.
o Enabling Core Group of Secretaries (CGD) to take policy decisions with regard to procedural issues
and consider deviations for effective implementation of decisions of CCEA.
 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved closing of loss making Central PSU Bharat Wagon and
Engineering Company Limited (BWEL), under Ministry of Railways.
 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved renaming Central Sector Scheme - SAMPADA (Scheme
for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters) as Pradhan Mantri Kisan
Sampada Yojana (PMKSY).
o SAMPADA was approved in May 2017, to supplement agriculture, modernize processing and decrease
Agri-Waste.

o PMKSY with an allocation of Rs. 6,000 crore is expected to handle 334 lakh MT agro-produce valuing
over 1 Lakh Crores INR, benefit 20 lakh farmers and generate over 5 lakh employment by 2020.
 Cabinet approved proposal of Finance Ministry to amend Schedule of Section 8 of GST (Compensation to a
State) Act 2017, allowing GST Council to hike maximum rate of compensation cess levied from current cap
of 15% to 20%.
o Final decision to increase compensation cess will be taken by GST Council. Hike in rate of
compensation cess will be levied on SUVs, mid-sized, large and luxury cars.
 Canara Bank launched 2 new digital services for online payments - payment settlement mechanism Bharat
QR (Quick Response) and Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).
 Canara Bank will raise $400 million as part of its $2 billion medium-term note programme, by issuing a
benchmark dollar bond with tenor of 5 years. Bond sale will be drawn through London branch of Canara
Bank and bonds will be listed on Singapore Stock Exchange. Rating agency Moody’s assigned a Baa3
rating to the issue.
 Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company (CHOICE) launched ‘Point-of-Sale’
product targeted at mass-market segment - PoS - Easy Bima Plan. It is first PoS product for company and is
a pure term insurance plan.
 Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) extended deadline for linking of Aadhaar with PAN till 31
December 2017. Aadhaar - PAN linkage is mandated through Section 139 AA (2) of Income Tax Act 1961
which says that person having PAN as on 1 July 2017 and is eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his
Aadhaar number to the tax authorities.
 City Union Bank offered instant credit cards for its Net banking customers. Customer is allowed a credit
limit of up to 80% of the deposit or a maximum of 3 lakh.
 Commodity derivatives bourse Multi Commodity Exchange Ltd (MCX) received Securities and Exchange
Board of India’s (SEBI) approval to launch India’s first gold options contract with bi-monthly duration. The
option will also have existing gold kilo futures contract as its underlier.
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 Corporation Bank won best performance awards for SHG-bank linkage program for Karnataka for 2015-16
and 2016-17 from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). It formed more than
1.32 lakh self-help groups (SHGs).
 Cryptocurrency trading platform BitBay launched dedicated platform for trade and exchange of digital
currencies (bitcoin, litecoin etc.) in India. It will also work towards creating awareness about digital
currencies and also removing misconceptions about them in India.
 Dara Khosrowshahi has been appointed by Cab Aggregator Major Uber as its CEO.
 Defence Ministry approved delegation of administrative and financial powers to Border Roads Organisation
(BRO), to improve functioning of BRO and speed project works.
 Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) (Commerce and Industry Ministry) will release a
new industrial policy by October 2017, to replace National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) released in 2011.
o It will review existing foreign direct investment (FDI) policy regime to facilitate greater technology
transfer. Policy will aim to attract $100 billion of FDI in a year, up from $60 billion in 2016-17.
o DIPP has adopted consultative approach for formulating industrial policy by setting up six thematic

focus groups - Manufacturing and MSME, Technology and Innovation, Infrastructure, Investment,
Trade and Fiscal Policy, Ease of Doing Business and Skills and Employability for Future.
 Digital wallet app Samsung Pay tied up with State Bank of India to store higher variants of SBI debit cards
on app, turning Samsung smartphones into electronic card-holders and users can pay at point-of-sale (PoS)
terminals with just a tap on cards stored in Samsung Pay.
 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented 2nd volume of Economic Survey 2016-17 on last day of monsoon
session of Parliament. It has been authored by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian and his team.
Key Highlights are -
o Transparency of Rules Act (TORA) has been proposed, to help citizens overcome an opaque mesh of
complicated rules that often leads to corruption and endless litigation.
 TORA is needed as At present due to opaque mesh of regulations prevalent in India make life of
ordinary citizens (as well as businesses) difficult as it is not easy for ordinary citizens for them to
navigate the multitude of rules, regulations, forms, taxes and procedures imposed by various tiers
of government.
o Fiscal Developments -
 Fiscal Deficit -
 Kept Under 3.5 % of GDP in 2016-17 and expected to decline to 3.2 % of GDP in 2017-
2018. Fiscal deficit target of 3 % of GDP under FRBM framework is projected to be achieved
in 2018-19.
 Reforms undertaken in Budget 2017-18 are Integration of Railway Budget with Union Budget,
advancing of date of the Budget to February 1, elimination of the classification of expenditure into
‘plan’ and ‘non-plan’ etc. Introduction of Goods and Services Tax from July 01, 2017 has been
most highlighted reform among all.
o Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Energy -
 India ratified Paris Agreement on 2nd October 2016. India’s actions for the post-2020 period are
based on its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). NDC targets to lower the emissions
intensity of GDP by 33 - 35 % by 2030 from 2005 levels, to increase share of non-fossil based
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power generation capacity to 40 % of installed electric power capacity(cumulative) by 2030, and to

create an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 Gt CO2e through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
 India has ambitious targets of increasing renewable energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022. This
includes 100 GW of solar, 60 GW of wind, 10 GW of biomass, and 5 GW of small hydro power
capacity.
 A number of initiatives have been taken in the Indian financial sector also. In the renewable energy
segment, bank loans of up to Rs.15 crore for solar-based power generators, biomass-based power
generators, wind mills, micro-hydel plants, etc. will be considered part of Priority Sector Lending.
External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) norms have been further liberalized so that green projects
can tap this window for raising finance across the borders.
o External Sector
 India’s balance of payments improved in 2016-17, as a result of low and falling trade and current
account deficits and moderate and rising capital inflows, resulting in further accretion of foreign
exchange reserves.
 India’s exports increased 12.3 % in 2016-17 and a marginal decline in imports by 1.0 % resulted in

narrowing down of trade deficit to US$ 112.4 billion (5 % of GDP) in 2016-17 as compared to US$
130.1 billion (6.2 % of GDP) in 2015-16.
 Current account deficit (CAD) narrowed down to 0.7 % of GDP in 2016-17 from 1.1 % of GDP in
2015-16
 Net capital inflows were slightly lower at US$ 36.8 billion (1.6 % of GDP) in 2016-17 as compared
to US$ 40.1 billion (1.9 % of GDP) in the previous year, mainly due to fall in NRI deposits.
 Gross FDI inflows to India increased to US$ 60.2 billion in 2016-17 from US$ 55.6 billion in
2015-16. FDI equity inflow of 43.4 Billion USD in Financial Year 2016-17, which is highest ever
FDI Equity inflows.
 Mauritius, Singapore and Japan have been top three source countries of FDI inflows to India
contributing 36.2%, 20% and 10.8%, respectively, during 2016-17, according to survey.
 Among major economies running current account deficit, India is second largest foreign exchange
reserve holder after Brazil with reserves at US$ 386.4 billion as on 7th July, 2017.
 India’s aggregate external debt stock at end-March 2017 stood at US$ 471.9 billion registering a
decline of US$ 13.1 billion (2.7 %) over end-March 2016. Ratio of external debt to GDP fell to
20.2 % from 23.5 %.
o Agriculture and Food Management - Several multi-dimensional Agricultural and Food Management
Reforms Measures have been suggested -
 Challenges Include -
 Small Operational Land Holdings - Average farm size in India is small and declining since
1970-71.
 Credit - Predominance of informal sources of credit for farmers is a concern. Moreover, there
is regional disparity in the distribution of agricultural credit.
 Problems like Post - harvest losses, availability of quality planting material and lack of
market access for horticultural produce of small farmers.
 Reforms suggested -
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 Price risks in agriculture and allied sectors - Strengthening and building marketing
infrastructure along the entire value chain.
 Production risks - Share of irrigated area should be expanded by increasing the coverage of
water saving irrigation systems like micro irrigation systems.
 To Increase productivity of crops, Standards should be set and enforced for better quality,
pest and disease resistant seeds.
 Trade and domestic policy changes should be announced well before sowing and should stay
till arrivals and procurement is over.
 Enhance women’s involvement in the dairy projects.
 Formal and institutional credit should be provided in timely and affordable manner to small
and marginal farmers.
o Industry and Infrastructure -
 Industrial performance moderated from 8.8 % during 2015-16 to 5.6 % in 2016-17. Industrial
growth as per Index of Industrial Production (IIP) new series of 2011-12 shows overall IIP growth

at 5 % in 2016-17 as compared to 3.4 % last year. Index of Eight Core Industries growth during
2016-17 was 4.8 % as compared to 3.0 % in 2015-16.
 Steps taken by government have borne fruit since imports of Steel by India have declined by 36.2
% while exports have risen by 102 % in 2016-17. It has been helped by imposition of Minimum
Import Price (MIP) to counter dumping of Steel into Indian markets.
 Apparel sector is a highly employment intensive industry especially for women. Government in
June 2016 approved Rs.6,000 crore special package for textile & apparel sector.
 Indian Railways registered freight earnings at Rs.104339 crore (P), registering negative growth of
4.5 % over 2015-16 due to carrying larger volume of low fare freight in 2016-17. Passenger
earnings were Rs.46280 crore (P) registered an increase of 4.5 % during 2016-17.
 Government launched the UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana) for financial turnaround of
power distribution companies in November 2015. 26 states and 1 UT which have joined UDAY
scheme account for outstanding debt of Rs. 3.82 lakh Cr. So far, 15 states have issued UDAY
bonds totaling Rs.2.09 lakh Cr. and DISCOMs have issued Bonds worth Rs. 0.23 lakh Cr.
 After introduction of UDAY, National average (all UDAY states) of AT&C loss has come down to
20.2 % in FY 2017 from 21.1 % in FY 2016.
 Under Smart Cities Mission, 57 projects worth Rs.941 crore have already been completed as of
April 2017. An estimated additional 462 projects worth Rs.15307 crore are likely to be completed
through 2018.
 GST Council recommended increasing maximum ceiling of cess leviable on motor vehicles falling under
headings 8702 and 8703 including SUVs, to 25% instead of present 15%. Such vehicles Include mid-
segment, large cars, SUVs and motor vehicles which can carry 10 - 13 Persons.
 Goods and services tax (GST) collections exceeded revenue target for first month (July 2017) with INR
92,283 crores collections. Different Components (Approx) CGST - 15000 Crores, SGST - 23000 Crores,
IGST - 47000 Crores, Cess - 7000 Crores.
 Government approved 100% disinvestment through strategic sale of Central Electronics Limited (CEL),
with net worth approx 50 crores.
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 Government approved raising Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR) of upto Rs. 9020 crore during 2017-18 by
NABARD through issuance of Bonds for ensuring lending at 6% per annum under borrowings for
implementation of Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) works of 99 ongoing prioritized
irrigation projects under PMKSY.
o Several irrigation projects taken up under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) were
languishing due to inadequate provision of funds. To cater to large fund requirement and ensure
completion of these projects, Government created Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) in NABARD with
an initial corpus of Rs. 20,000 crore for funding of Central and State share for identified ongoing
projects under PMKSY (AIBP and CAD).
o To make loan from NABARD attractive for states, rate of interest was kept around 6% by providing
requisite cost free funds to NABARD every year during 2016-17 to 2019-20 on which interest cost
would be borne by Govt. of India.
 Government banned exports of gold jewellery, medallions and other articles above 22- carat purity in a bid
to check round tripping of Gold.

 Government disinvested 6.83% of its stake in Hindustan Copper Limited through Offer for Sale (OFS),
raising approx 400 crores.
 Government formulated National Trade Facilitation Action Plan (2017-20) as a detailed action plan with
timelines for smooth implementation of WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). Implementation of the
plan has been divided into short term (0-6 months), medium term (6-18 months) and long term (18-36
months).
 Government imposed anti-dumping duty on 93 Chinese products to protect profitability of domestic
industry from import of cheap Chinese goods. Also, 40 cases concerning imports from China initiated by
Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD).
 Government imposed penalty of USD 264 million (1,700 crores) on Reliance Industries and its partners for
producing less than targeted natural gas from eastern offshore KG-D6 fields in 2015-16.
 Government launched a new Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) named BHARAT 22, consisting 22 stocks of
CPSE's, PSB's & strategic holding of SUUTI.
o It is more diverse as Compared to energy heavy CPSE ETF, and has a Diversified portfolio with 6
sectors (Basic Materials, Energy, Finance, FMCG, Industrials & Utilities).
o Bharat 22 Index will be rebalanced annually. ICICI Prudential AMC will be the ETF Manager and Asia
Index Private Limited (JV BSE and S& P Global) will be the Index Provider.
 Government ruled that Banks importing gold and precious metals will have to pay 3 % tax under GST
which can be claimed as input tax credit.
 HDFC Bank launched a software update to enable point-of-sale (PoS) machines to accept payments through
Unified Payments Interface (UPI), BharatQR, SMS Pay and bank’s mobile wallets, in addition to traditional
mode of swiping cards. For this, HDFC Bank issued POS machines are to be updated with a free software.
 ICICI Bank launched instant credit cards enabling its savings account customers to get a credit card
instantly, in a completely digital and paperless manner, initially available for some pre-qualified customers
who can apply for card online and generate card details and start shopping using it instantly.
o The credit limit is up to Rs 4 lakh, based on pre-checked bureau scores.
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 ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund launched new website PlanYourGoal.com to help users plan their
investments according to their future financial goals. It guides =users to plan their big spends, tax
investments and corpus required during retirement.
 IDFC Bank partnered with digital payments company Zeta, to launch IDFC Bank Benefits as a payment
solution for corporates that digitizes employee spends and claims, making the process simple, real-time and
paperless.
 In 3rd Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Review by RBI, Repo rate has been cut by 25 basis points. New
Monetary Policy rates stand at-
o SLR(Statutory Liquidity ratio) - 20 %

 Income Tax Department imposed INR 7900 crores penalty on tax demand of same amount on a unit of Li
Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd, over its decade-old sale of mobile phone business in India to
Vodafone India. Vodafone in 2007 acquired 67% stake in mobile-phone business owned by Hutchison
Whampoa (now part of CK Hutchison).
 India signed Global Environment Facility (GEF) Grant Agreement with World Bank for USD 24.64 Million
for “Ecosystems Service Improvement Project”.
 India signed US$ 329 million Loan agreement with Beijing (China) based Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB) for Gujarat Rural Roads Project.
 India's GDP growth declined to 5.7 % in Q1 (April - June) of FY 2017-18, with growth in manufacturing
sector declining rapidly. This is slowest quarterly GDP growth since January-March quarter in 2014. GDP
Growth was 7.9 % Strong in Q1 of FY 2016-17 and 6.1% in Q4 of FY 2016-17.
 Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) launched world’s first diamond futures contracts to provide exporters
with a hedging tool, enabling companies involving in cut and polished gems business to better hedge price
risks. ICEX has started trading in 1 carat/100 cent contracts and eventually in future will add 50 cent and 30
cent contracts.
o Note that India is a global diamond polishing hub where 14 out of every 15 rough diamonds in the
world are polished.
 Indian Navy's Band participated in International Military Music Festival "Spasskaya Tower" held in
Moscow (Russia). A 66-member Indian Navy band also joined historic Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in
the UK.
 Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart received investment of $2.4 Billion from Japan's SoftBank Vision Fund,
world’s largest technology-focused investment fund. This is as biggest ever private investment in an Indian
technology company.
o Flipkart is now world's 3rd most funded private company with almost $7 billion capital raised so far.
Top 2 are both ride hailing platforms – Chinabased Didi Chuxing ($15 Billion) and US based Uber
($12.9 billion).
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 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) launched a Central Database of all
Insurance Sales Persons in country, Named as Envoy.
 Karnataka Bank updated interest rates on savings bank account balances -
o Under 1 lakh - 3%.
o 1 Lakh t0 50 Lakh - 3.5 %
o 50 Lakh to 1 Crore - 4 %
o Above 1 crores - 5%
 Karur Vysya Bank became First Private Sector Bank to roll out an Aadhaar Enrollment Centre, at its Nelson
Manickam Road Branch in Chennai.
 Kotak Mahindra Bank launched an Aadhaar-based integrated outward forex remittance service - Kotak
Remit for both customers and non-customers. It offers a paperless process that enables users to register
online using Aadhaar and PAN numbers, and initiate remittances instantly.
 Leading FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) Britannia Industries will set up its largest plant in
Maharashtra in a food park at Ranjangaon, with investment of INR 1000 crores.

 Lok Sabha passed Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2017 to replace Banking Regulation
(Amendment) Ordinance 2017 and amend Banking Regulation Act 1949 to insert provisions for handling
cases related to stressed assets or non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks. Key Features -
o It enables Central government to authorize Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to direct banking companies to
resolve specific stressed assets by initiating insolvency resolution process, as per Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code 2016.
o It empowers RBI to issue directions to banks for resolution of stressed assets from time to time.
o It inserts provision to make above provisions applicable to the SBI and its subsidiaries and also
Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).
 Lok Sabha passed National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Amendment) Bill 2017 that
amends NABARD Act 1981. Key features -
o Capital of NABARD is increased to INR 30000 crores from 5000 crores. Government is also allowed to
increase it to over INR 30000 crores in consultation with RBI.
o Government must hold at least 51% capital share of NABARD. and .04% shares of NABARD held by
RBI (valued 20 crores) will be transferred to Government.
 Lok Sabha passed State Banks (Repeal and Amendment) Bill 2017 that repeals State Bank of India
(Subsidiary Banks) Act 1959 and State Bank of Hyderabad Act 1956. It also amends State Bank of India
(SBI) Act 1955 to remove references to subsidiary banks and powers of SBI to act as an agent of the RBI
for subsidiary banks.
 Messaging app Hike Messenger acquired Bengaluru-based tech start-up Creo for an undisclosed amount.
 Ministry of Commerce and Industry will shut down over 100-year-old Directorate General of Supplies and
Disposals (DGS&D), government's procurement arm. Now public procurement of goods and services will
be managed by Government’s e-market platform (GeM).
 Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) and Mahindra Agri Solutions signed MoU to provide
agriculture related price information, through their recently launched mobile application MyAgriGuru.
 NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation) signed loan agreement for Rs. 3,000 crore with ICICI Bank
for partially funding its capital expenditure, with tenure of 15 years.
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 National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) sanctioned Loan of INR 1349.55 crores
to Rajasthan government for creation of rural infrastructure in the state under the Rural Infrastructure
Development Fund (RIDF).
 National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved merger between Aircel and Reliance Communications
wireless business and sale of Reliance's tower business to Canada's Brookfield. RCom and Aircel will ot
have to get permission from Supreme Court before filing their merger plea. Merged entities will be called as
'Aircom' and both will have 50% equity stake.
 National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) approved Spice Digital Ltd. for processing bill payments
under Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU).
o NPCI launched a pilot project for BBPS with eight BBPS operating unit, Spice Digital was one of them.
 PNB (Punjab National Bank) customers will have to pay charges for depositing cash above Rs. 5,000 (down
from 25000 Currently) in a non-base branch even if it is located in same city. Customer will have to pay Re
1 per Rs 1,000 for above Rs 5,000 cash deposit or part thereof with a minimum of Rs 25 per transaction.
 Power transmission utility Powergrid received loan of USD 500 million from Asian Development Bank

(ADB) for its various projects.
 Private Sector's Axis Bank and Government Owned Indian Bank reduced interest rate on savings bank
accounts to 3.5 % for deposits up to Rs 50 lakh (4 % on deposits of above Rs 50 lakh). It has came after SBI
slashed interest rate on savings accounts to 3.5% on balance of under INR 1 crore.
 Public procurement portal Government eMarketplace (GeM) and industry body Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) have signed a MoU to establish GeMSamvad, a GeM -Industry forum. GeMSamvad aims to
create awareness about online purchase of goods and services by government agencies and departments.
 Punjab National Bank (PNB) introduced biometric attendance, to enforce punctuality among employees.
Timings will be uploaded in HR system automatically.
 RBI Stated that out of 56 regional rural banks (RRBs), Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank and Andhra
Pragathi Grameena Bank recorded net profit of more than Rs 150 crore during 2016-17. Overall, 49 RRBs
recorded net profit in 2016-17.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will pay INR 30,659 crore dividend to government for year ended June 30, less
than half of what it paid in 2016 (65,876 crores).
 Reserve Bank of India advised banks to make Aadhaar linkage mandatory for availing short-term crop loans
up to Rs 3 lakh in 2017-18, To ensure hassle-free benefits to farmers under Interest Subvention Scheme.
o To provide short-term crop loans to farmers at an interest rate of 7 % during 2017-18, RBI decided to
offer interest subvention of 2 % to lending banks on use of their own resources.
 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) directed companies that fail to disclose any default on
payment of interest or repayment of principal to banks or financial institutions within a day, from October 1
Onwards.
 Solar energy services company Freyr Energy tied up with Axis Bank to offer term loans ranging from Rs 5
to 50 lakh for up to 5 years, for solar rooftop installations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
 State Bank of India (SBI) announced waiver of up to 100% of processing fee on car loans, personal gold
loans and personal loans for 2017 festive season. Bank has waived processing fee on car loans till 31st
December 2017 and half of he processing fee on personal gold loans till 31st October 2017.
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 State Bank of India has launched a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiative SBI Gram Seva, which
will work in areas of health, education, environment and rural infrastructure. SBI Foundation will partner
with NGOs to carry out CSR initiatives under which it adopt 5 villages each from 10 village panchayats
with each village getting around Rs 2.40 crore over 3 years.
 State Bank of India held Home Loan Utsav in Bengaluru, in association with several sponsors. SBI offered
0.25% concession in interest rate from 4th year of home loans availed at SBI Utsav.
 State Bank of India will raise INR 2,000 crores by allotting Basel-III compliant bonds to various investors.
It will allot 20,000 AT1 Basel-III compliant non-convertible, perpetual, subordinated bonds in the nature of
debentures. Bonds will carry a coupon rate of 8.15% per annum with a call option after 5 years.
 Substantial increase observed in number of Income Tax Returns(ITRs) filed, with over 2.8 Crore ITRs filed
as compared to 2.26 Crore ITRs last year.
 Tata Power became first power utility to introduce a QR code based bill payments system in India. QR code
linked to Unified Payments Interface (UPI) will be printed on electricity bills and customers can scan QR
code with BHIM app or any other UPI linked app and pay bills..

 Uber launched Uber for Business model to enable new use cases like daily commute, late-night rides home
from work, between-office transportation and much more. This organisations targeted service would help
businesses save costs as they can ensure that employees travel within company policy.
 Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Ltd (subsidiary of Ujjivan Financial Services) has been given scheduled bank
status by RBI. Currently, Ujjivan SFB has 65 branches in 10 states / UTs.
 Union Bank of India signed Bancassurance agreements with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance for distribution of their insurance products. Similar Bancassurance
tie up has been signed between DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance Company and Dhanlaxmi Bank.
 e-Commerce Firm Flipkart launched Budding Star Programme, a program aimed at Flipkart employees to
help them achieve their dreams by providing them financial assistance and paid leaves, open for employees
who have completed 6 months with company.
September 2017
 Finance Ministry imposed 18.95% countervailing duty (CVD) on certain Chinese flat steel products for 5
years to protect domestic players from cheap subsidised imports.
 Fitch declared that Indian banks will need an additional capital of $65 billion in order to satisfy all banking
rules of global Basel III norms,by March 2019.
 ADB (Asian Development Bank) signed Loan deal worth $200 Million with India's IndusInd Bank to
provide loans for low income women in rural areas.
 Aditya Birla Group will shut down its e-commerce site Abof.com by December 2017, amid strong
competition in sector.
 Air India tied up with PNB and IndusInd Bank to secure loans of over Rs 3,000 crore for meeting working
capital requirements.
 Airtel Business (part of Bharti Airtel) launched GST Advantage as a solution designed to enable small
businesses and start-ups to file GST returns securely and seamlessly.
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 Airtel launched Office-In-a-Box for start-ups registered under Karnataka government’s Start-Up Cell
initiative.
 As per Report, West Bengal leads with 77% registration in new tax regime of GST, leaving behind national
average of 23%.
 As per survey by Brand Finance, State Bank of India (SBI) is India’s most trusted and popular bank,
followed by HDFC Bank and Central Bank of India. On popularity charts, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank
take 2nd and 3rd spots respectively.
 Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved loan of $80 million (about Rs 524 crore) for modernization of
Himachal Pradesh’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions.
 Asian Development Bank (ADB) will increase its annual lending to India to maximum of $4 billion between
2018 and 2022, much higher than average $2.65 billion a year in loans extended during 2012 and 2016.
 Bandhan Bank appointed Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Axis Bank, JM Financial and Kotak Mahindra
Bank as lead managers to manage its proposed initial public offering (IPO). Bandhan Bank will look to raise
INR 5000 crores by IPO in 2018.

 Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) wlll become 8th Maharatna company, upgrading from its Navratna
status.
o Maharatna category for CPSEs was introduced in 2009, to empower them to expand their operations
globally.
o At present, there are 7 Maharatna companies — Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), Coal India (CIL),
GAIL (India), Indian Oil Corporation, NTPC, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Steel
Authority of India (SAIL).
o Criteria for grant of Maharatna status Include annual turnover of Over INR 25000 crores, annual net
worth of Over 15000 crores and annual net profit after tax of Over 5000 crores, during last 3 years.
 E-Commerce Firm Amazon tied up with the Bank of Baroda to offer micro loans to its sellers, to attract
more sellers. Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd (ASSPL), is bringing in more financial partners so that it can
cater to its 225,000 seller base.
 Finance Ministry announced to launch Project Insight from October 2017, to restrict black money holdings
and transactions.
o Project Insight has been developed by L&T Infotech Ltd and costs approx $156 Million USD.
o It will observe and check high value transactions and track tax evaders with the help of technology to
restrict black money holdings.
o It will also check social media posts and activity of people, to determine tax evasion practices.
 Finance Ministry will launch Project Insight in October 2017 to monitor high value transactions and detect
tax evaders using technology, in partnershop with IT Major Infotech. Linking of Aadhaar and PAN will be
key mechanism in this project.
 Fincare Small Finance Bank (previously Disha Microfin Limited) started its banking operations with
branches across Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
 Fino Payments Bank launched its mobile banking app called BPayi in India, as extension of its already
existing wallet in same name that was launched in December 2016.
 GDP Growth Rate Forecasts -
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o Japanese financial services company Nomura stated that India’s GDP growth will be around 7.1 % in
2017-18.
o Asian Development Bank (ADB) predicted 7 % for India in 2017 - 18 and 7.4 % in 2018 - 19.
o OECD (Paris based think tank) announced that Indian economy will grow at 6.7 % in 2017-2018.
 GST Network (GSTN) reopened registration for composition scheme for small taxpayers with turnover of
up to Rs.75 lakh, that offers easy compliance for business as returns are to be filed only quarterly (not
monthly).
 Google launched mobile wallet and payments app Tez in India, that will let users link their phones to their
bank accounts to pay for goods in physical stores and online, also enabling person to person money
transfers.
 Governement extended Deadline for linking Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar extended by
4 months to 31st December, 2017.
 Government approved Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) with outlay of Rs
10881 crore during 2017-18 to 2028-29.

o DIDF will be set up as a corpus of INR 8004 crores with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD), INR 2001 crores shall be end borrowers contribution, Rs 12 crore would be
NDDB/NCDC‘s share and Rs 864 crore shall be contributed by DADF towards interest subvention.
o DIDF activities will include building efficient milk procurement system by setting up of chilling
infrastructure & installation of electronic milk adulteration testing equipment,
creation/modernization/expansion of processing infrastructure.
o DIDF will be implemented by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and National Dairy
Development Cooperation (NCDC) through End Borrowers such as Milk Unions, State Dairy
Federations, Multi-state Milk Cooperatives, Milk Producer Companies etc. End borrowers will get the
loan @ 6.5% per annum with repayment period 10 years.
o With this, Approx 1 crore farmers in about 50,000 villages would be benefitted in form of Additional
Milk processing capacity of 126 lakh litre per day, milk drying capacity of 210 MT per day, milk
chilling capacity of 140 lakh litre per day etc.
 Government approved releasing additional 1 % Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government
employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners with effect from 1 July 2017. It will benefit about 49.26
lakh Central Government employees and 61.17 lakh pensioners.
 Government extended deadline for obtaining Aadhaar to avail benefits of government schemes and
subsidies by three months to 31 December 2017. Extension would cover 135 Government schemes.
 Government kept unchanged interest rates on small savings schemes for October-December quarter.
o Investments in Public Provident Fund (PPF) scheme - 7.8 percent
o Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) - 7.5 percent (matures in 115 months)
o Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme - 8.3 percent annually.
o 5-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme - 8.3 percent (interest paid quarterly)
 Government notified that Peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platforms will be treated as non-banking financial
companies (NBFCs) and thus regulated by Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
o It will help P2P lenders to gain official recognition and opens new avenues for fund-raising and
business expansion.
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o P2P lending is a form of crowd-funding used to raise loans which are paid back with interest. It enables
individuals to borrow and lend money, without use of an official financial institution as an
intermediary.
 Government reconstituted 6 Cabinet Committees after recent ministry reshuffle.
o Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is inducted as full time member of Cabinet Committee on
Security, Cabinet Committees on Economic and Political Affairs.
o Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan are included in Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs (CCEA).
o Cabinet Committees Constituted under Transaction of Business Rules (TBR) 1961 are -
 Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
 Cabinet Committee on Accommodation (CCA).
 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
 Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA).
 Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA).
 Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

 HDFC Bank has retained its No.1 position in BrandZ India Top 50 report 2017, with its brand value doubled
from $9.4 billion to $18 billion since 2014. Others in top 5 are - Airtel, State Bank of India, Asian Paints,
ICICI Bank.
 HDFC Bank surpassed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to become country’s 2nd most valued firm in
terms of market valuation on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
o Reliance Industries is India’s most valued firm with market cap of Rs. 533818.72 crores.
 Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) signed agreement with Indian microfinance industry
association Sa-Dhan to develop digital ecosystem for India's unbanked segment.
 ICICI Bank announced a new home loan scheme that offers borrowers benefit of 1% cashback on every
EMI, for entire tenure of loan (15 - 30 years). Cashback will be accrued from first EMI and will given to
customer after completion of 36th EMI.
 IDBI Bank launched ‘Project Nishchay’ in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to
accelerate its turnaround program and improve financial performance.
 India signed a loan deal worth $76 million with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to upgrade
environment management plan at Alang-Sosiya ship recycling yards in Gujarat.
 Indian IT Firm Infosys acquired London-based Brilliant Basics for GBP 7.5 million.
 India’s top 50 brands report by WPP Plc and Kantar Millward Brown -
o HDFC Bank remains India's Top Brand for 4th year in a row. Airtel is 2nd and State Bank of India is
3rd.
 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) approve online non-life insurance
company Acko General Insurance Ltd. and it will start operating in December 2017. It will sell multiple
insurance products through online channel.
 International Finance Corporation (Member of World Bank Group) invested $10 million in Indian Power
Sector startup firm Power2SME.
o IFC will also invest USD 50 million (about Rs 320 crore) in realty firm Mahindra Lifespace Developers
industrial park projects.
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 Law ministry approved Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill 2017 to empower government to confiscate
property of economic offenders and defaulters who flee India.
o A fugitive economic offender is any individual against whom warrant for arrest in relation to economic
offence has been issued and person has left India to avoid criminal prosecution.
 Markets regulator Sebi barred Orion Capital, Orion Broking and their partners from securities markets for
10 years for failing to redress several investor grievances pertaining to non- settlement of funds due to the
clients.
 Ministry of Commerce and Industries has set up Contact@DGFT online service for effective resolution of
foreign trade-related issues of importers and exporters. It will enable traders to raise all trade related matters
to Directorate or other agencies of Centre and States.
 Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) signed MoU for
automatic and regular exchange of tax information, to curb menace of shell companies, money laundering
and black money.
 Ministry of Development of Northeast invited start-ups from across country to avail benefits of Northeast

Venture Fund. NVF is first dedicated venture capital fund for North-Eastern region, set up by North Eastern
Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFI) to encourage entrepreneurship in North-eastern region.
 Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MHUA) ordered review of Floor Space Index (FSI) and Floor Area
Ratio (FAR) norms in mega cities.
o FSI is ratio of building’s total floor area to size of piece of land on which it is built. It will be taken up
in all 53 cities with population above 1 million.
 Multilateral funding agency ADB approved USD 300 million loan for carrying forward fiscal reforms in
West Bengal.
o West Bengal for the first time in 2012 received a USD 400 million from ADB.
 National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) sanctioned loan of Rs.119 crore for
Haryana to construct 7 bridges and improvement of one rural road project in five districts.
 New Gross State domestic product data by Central Statistics Office, with 2011-12 as base year -
o Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh were fastest expanding State economies in 2015-16.
Arunachal Pradesh’s gross State domestic product (GSDP) expanded 16.5 % and that of Jammu and
Kashmir 14.7 %. National growth rate remained 8 %.
o Top 5 - Maharashtra (16.6 lakh crores), Tamil Nadu (9.4 lakh crores), Gujarat (9.013 Lakh Crores),
Uttar Pradesh (9.012 Lakh crores).
 Paytm partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch a RuPay-powered digital
debit card for its Payments Bank users. Ccustomers will be able to transact at merchants accepting credit /
debit cards.
 Private Bank IndusInd Bank and India's second largest Microfinance company Bharat Financial Inclusion
signed confidentiality agreement for proposed merger between them.
 Punjab National Bank and BSNL partnered to roll out open mobile wallet Speedpay across 10 states.
 Reliance General Insurance received in-principle approval from Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority of India (IRDAI) for its initial public offering (IPO).
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that Masala bonds (rupee-denominated overseas bonds) will be
treated as External Commercial Borrowings (ECB), thereby freeing up more investments by FPIs. Current
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limit for investment by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in corporate bonds is Rs 244323 crore (including
masala bonds of 44,001 crores).
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its 2017 list of the Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs)
and added private lender HDFC Bank Ltd as a D-SIB. Now, HDFC has joined State Bank of India (SBI)
and ICICI bank, that are tagged as D-SIBs or too-big-to-fail for consecutive 3rd year.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated that it uses sophisticated Currency Verification & Processing (CVPS)
Machines for checking numerical accuracy and genuineness of currency notes including Specified Bank
Notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 instead of counting machines.
 Reserve Bank of India will introduce 100 rupees coin to mark 100th birth anniversary of AIADMK founder
M G Ramachandran, weighing 35 grams.
 SBI (State Bank of India) launched its new Management Institute in Kolkata (overall 6th) named as State
Bank Institute of Management (SBIM).
 SBI Life Insurance received approval from Securities and Exchange Board of India for an IPO (Initial
Public Offering) of up to Rs 8,400 crore ($1.3 billion). SBI owns 70.1 % of SBI Life Insurance and BNP

Paribas Cardif holds 26 % stake.
o SEBI also allowed ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company to launch its approx INR 6,000 crores
initial public offer (IPO).
 SEBI allowed Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits) and Infrastructure Investments Trusts (InvITs) to raise
capital by issuing debt securities. REITs now require to have 50% stake in holding company, marginally
less from earlier limit of 51%. REITs have been allowed to lend to an underlying holding company or a
special purpose vehicle (SPV).
 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has imposed Rs 2,423 crore fine on PACL Ltd, as highest
ever Sebi penalty on a defaulter for illegal fund mobilisation through various schemes.
 Singapore Based DBS Bank received RBI approval to convert its existing India franchise to a locally
incorporated wholly-owned subsidiary (WOS) in India.
 State Bank of India (SBI) launched FTSE SBI Bond Index series in partnership with global index provider
FTSE 100, which will give tools to investors from India, the UK and globally to analyse India’s government
bond market, and drive growth in market.
 State Bank of India (SBI) launched its first ever chatbot called SBI Intelligent Assistant or SIA, which
would be powered by AI and will assist customers. It has been developed by Artificial intelligence banking
platform Payjo.
 State Bank of India lowered Minimum Average Monthly Balance (MAB) requirement in a savings account
to Rs 3,000 from Rs 5,000 and also revised downwards penalties for not maintaining such balance.
 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has cut mobile termination charges (MTC) by 57% to 6
paise per minute (currently 14 paise per minute) with effect from October 1, 2017. MTC would be
completely cut by January 1, 2020.
o MTC is paid by operator whose subscriber makes a call to the operator whose subscriber receives the
call.
o This will lead to reduction in call rates and will benefit subscribers further.
o This decision has originated from a dispute between Reliance Jio and other top telecom operators.
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 Ujjivan Small Finance Bank replaced 75% of its bank loans with borrowings using money market
instruments including certificate of deposits, to bring down costs by 75%. Bank will issue 90-day CDs to
mutual funds and insurance companies and FDs to corporates, trusts and cooperative banks.
 Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) ruled that banks without Aadhaar enrolment centres in 10
% of branches will pay Rs.20,000 fine for per uncovered branch from October 2017.
 United Bank of India removed 100% processing fee for retail home loans, car loans and two-wheeler loans.
 e-Commerce Firm Flipkart developed India’s first “anti-theft” packaging to prevent goods from in-transit
theft and damage, exclusive pilferage protection box specially designed for electronic goods and high-end
mobiles.
October 2017
 Refining and Marketing - Asia Report by credit rating agency Moody’s -
o India will surpass China as the fastest-growing product market in Asia for petroleum consumption,

growing at 6 % in 2018, as compared to 2.5-3 % Growth rate for China.
o In absolute terms, China will still account for nearly half of demand in region.
o China and India will be key growth engines within Asia Pacific region, representing over 80 % of
sector’s expected growth in 2018.
 India signed $200 Million Loan Agreement with World Bank for Assam Agribusiness and Rural
Transformation Project, to support Assam Government to facilitate agri-business investments and increase
agriculture productivity and market access
o AU Small Finance Bank signed Bancassurabce agreement to sell health insurance products of Aditya
Birla Health Insurance.
 AU Financiers was initially a non-banking finance company (NBFC) and got licence of Small Finance bank
from RBI in Dec 2016.
 AU Small Finance Bank tied up with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to launch an
INR 200 crore fund for providing loans to MSMEs. It will fund term loans in the 25 lakh to 2 crore ticket
size.
 Abu Dhabi Global Market (Abu Dhabi) and Yes Bank have signed MOU to boost cross-border exchange
between United Arab Emirates and India. It will enable fintech innovators from Middle East region and
India to apply into Yes FinTech programmes and ADGM’s Regulatory Laboratory and will get to expand
into each other’s markets.
 According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Maruti Suzuki India is largest passenger
cars exporter from India in first half (April-September) of ongoing fiscal with 57,300 units exported in
period, followed by Volkswagen and Hyundai.
o Additionally, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) left past Bajaj Auto to become 2nd biggest
bike seller in India during first half of ongoing fiscal. While Hero MotoCorp continues to top the list.
 Andhra Pradesh government signed MoU with Mastercard to pave way for digital financial transactions in a
secure environment.
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 As per Data, Direct Tax Collections in first half (April-September) of FY 2017-18 shows growth of 15.8 %
over previous year with net direct tax collections at 3.86 lakh crore rupees. These collections are 39.4 % of
total budget estimates of Direct Taxes for FY 2017-18.
 As per Morgan Stanley, India will be world’s fastest-growing large economy by 2026-27 with digitisation
providing enhancement of 50-75 bps to GDP growth. India will grow to a 6-trillion-dollar economy and
achieve upper-middle income status by 2026-27.
 As per a world bank report -
o India will maintain its place as top remittances receiving nation with overseas Indians sending in USD
65 billion in 2017, compared to 62.7 Billion USD in 2016.
o Other top 5 remittances receiving countries after India - China (USD 61 billion), Philippines (USD 33
billion), Mexico (USD 31 billion), and Nigeria (USD 22 billion).
 Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) will co-finance a USD
100-million loan for boosting power sector in India.
 BNP Paribas Securities Services teamed up with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to deliver an innovative

blockchain- based platform named Corporate Event Connect. It will provide fast, accurate and secure
corporate event announcements to clients around world.
 Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) will develop Integrity Index of 25 Government Organizations in line
with its broader strategy and emphasis on preventive vigilance. Index will be for bench-marking internal
processes and controls within organisation as well as management of relationships and expectations of
outside stakeholders.
o CVC will observe vigilance awareness week from 30 October to 4 November 2017 with theme My
Vision Corruption Free India.
 Chhattisgarh Government reduced rate of interest on loan given to women and their self-help groups
(SHGs) under ‘Saksham Yojna’ from 6.5 % to 5 %, operated by Chhattisgarh Mahila Kosh.
 Digital payments firm MobiKwik partnered with IRCTC to allow customers to book railway tickets using
MobiKwik’s payment gateway in IRCTC Rail connect app.
o Rukaiya Rangwala is recently Appointed as MobiKwik's Payment Gateway Business Head.
 E-commerce Firm Myntra launched its CSR initiative in association with Textile Ministry to work directly
with weavers and elevate their economic stature and uplift handlooms Industry in India.
 Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has been reconstituted with Bibek Debroy as
Chairman. Its First meeting has been held in Delhi.
 Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of India inked MoU with Punjab National Bank (PNB) to
provide easy access to export finance for SMEs and merchant exporters of council.
 European Securities & Markets Authority (ESMA) certified clearing arms of National Stock Exchange
(named National Securities Clearing Corporation Ltd) and Bombay Stock Exchange (named Indian Clearing
Corporation Limited) as qualified central counterparty (CCP).
o CCP is a corporate entity which guarantees the terms of a trade even if a buyer or seller defaults on the
agreement.
o As per Basel III framework, entities are subjected to lower capital requirement/charges while
participating in capital markets through qualified central counterparty (CCP).
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o This certification will now enable European entities to have lower capital requirements to participate in
Indian Capital Markets.
 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched mandatory use of Public Finance Management System (PFMS) for
all Central Sector Schemes, to ensure that benefits of Government Schemes reach directly to real
beneficiaries. He stated that soon PFMS will become a Government wide Integrated Financial Management
System (GIFMIS) as a comprehensive Payment, Receipt and Accounting System.
 Finance Ministry allowed public sector banks (ICICI, HDFC and Axis) and top 3 private banks to accept
deposits under various small savings schemes to encourage savings. Until now, most of small savings
schemes were sold through post offices.
o Now banks will sell National Savings Time Deposit Scheme 1981, National Savings (Monthly Income
Account) Scheme 1987, National Savings Recurring Deposit Scheme 1981 and NSC VIII issue.
o So far, these banks were allowed to receive subscription only under Public Provident Fund (PPF), Kisan
Vikas Patra-2014, Sukanya Samriddhi Account, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme-2004.
 Finance Ministry imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of certain steel wire rods from China for a period

of five years.
 First Small Finance Bank in North East India commenced operations with name RGVN (North East)
Microfinance Limited. It is based in Guwahati. In April 2017, it received final licence from RBI under
Banking Regulation Act 1949 to carry on business as a small finance bank.
 Flipkart launched in-house brand for large appliances named MarQ to expand Flipkart’s self-branded
offerings on its marketplace.
 GDP Growth Rate Forecasts -
o Japanese financial services company Nomura stated that India’s GDP growth will be around 7.1 % in
2017-18.
o Asian Development Bank (ADB) predicted 7 % for India in 2017 - 18 and 7.4 % in 2018 - 19.
o OECD (Paris based think tank) announced that Indian economy will grow at 6.7 % in 2017-2018.
o International Monetary Fund (IMF) trimmed India’s growth forecast for 2017-18 to 6.7% from 7.2
earlier. Forecast for 2018-19 is 7.4 %.
o World Bank reduced India’s GDP growth forecast to 7% for 2017-18 from 7.2% estimated earlier.
o NITI Aayog expects GDP to grow at 6.9-7 % in 2017-18 and 7.5% in 2018-19.
 GST Council reduced tax rates on 27 items Including dried mangoes, Khakhra, plain chapatis, unbranded
Namkeen, unbranded ayurvedic medicines and paper wastes to (5 % from 12 %). Food packets used in
ICDS scheme, plastic and rubber wastes will now be taxed at 5 % instead of 18 5. GST Council approved
quarterly filing of returns for businesses with turnover up to 1.5 crore rupees and raised threshold for
composition scheme from 75 lakh rupees to 1 crore rupees.
 Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) launched excel-based offline tool for businesses to file initial
GSTR- 3B returns. Taxpayers can download the offline utility and upload on GST portal after filling. It will
automate filing GSTR-3B Returns.
 Government announced Bank Recapitalisation Plan to infuse Rs. 2.11 lakh crore ( $32.4 billion) capital over
next 2 years into public sector banks (PSBs) and prioritised financing support for MSMEs in 50 clusters.
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o Capital infusion will be done to check widening losses of PSB Banks due to Rise in NPAs. NPAs of
banks had more than doubled to Rs. 7.33 lakh crore in June 2017 from Rs. 2.75 lakh crore in March
2015.
o Under this plan, PSBs will get Rs 1.35 lakh crore from Recapitalisation Bonds, 18,000 crore from
Budgetary and 58,000 through sale of share of banks.
o Government also constituted Alternative Mechanism Panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to
oversee merger proposals of public sector banks (PSBs).
 Government announced that subscribers to General Provident Fund (GPF) and other similar funds shall get
interest at rate of 7.8% with effect from 1st October, 2017 to 31st December, 2017.
 Government announced to build 83,677km of roads, highways, greenfield expressways with investment of
Rs.6.92 lakh core by 2022. It also includes first phase of new umbrella programme BharatMala Pariyojana
that involves construction of 34,800 km highways by 2022.
o It was announced as part of INR 9 lakh crore package to Boost economy, that also includes 2.11 lakh
crore for bank recapitalisation.

o Bharatmala -
 It will include economic corridors (9,000 km), inter-corridor and feeder route (6,000 km), national
corridors efficiency improvement (5,000 km), border roads and international connectivity (2,000
km), coastal roads and port connectivity (2,000 km) and greenfield expressways (800 km).
 BharatMala project will be funded in three-pronged manner – market, private investment and asset
recycling of NHAI’s toll assets. Of total INR 5,35,000 crore, 2.09 lakh crore will be raised as debt
from market, 1.06 lakh crore will be mobilised through public-private partnership (PPP) mode and
2.19 lakh crore will flow from accruals of Central Road Funds and toll collections.
 Government has launched Sovereign Gold Bonds 2017-18 – Series-III, from October 09, 2017 to December
27, 2017.
o Sovereign Gold Bonds were launched under sovereign gold bond scheme in November 2015, to reduce
demand for physical gold and shift part of domestic savings, used for purchase of gold, into financial
savings.
o Features of Sovereign Gold Bonds -
 Denomination in units of one gram of gold and multiples thereof. Minimum investment in bonds is
one gram. Maximum limit will be of 4 kg for individual and HUF (Hindu Undivided Family) and
20 kg for trusts and similar entities.
 Issue price will be fixed in Rupees on basis of simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity
published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association.
 Interest rate will be 2.50% per annum payable semi-annually on nominal value.
 Tenor will be 8 years with exit option from 5th year, that can exercised on the interest payment
dates.
 Bonds can be used as collateral for loans and will be also tradable on stock exchanges.
 Capital gains tax on it has been exempted.
 Government increased its stake IDBI to 77.79% by acquiring 3.81% shares through preferential allotment.
Previously government owned 73.98% of IDBI Bank.
 Government made Aadhaar linking mandatory for Public Provident Fund, National Savings Certificate and
Kisan Vikas Patra schemes till December 31, 2017.
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o Government already made mandatory to link Aadhaar to PAN by December 31, 2017 and SIM
connections by February 2018.
o Some 135 welfare schemes are to be linked to Aadhaar by March 31, 2018.
o Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) also launched new online facility for its members to
Aadhaar number with their Universal Account Number (UAN) to ensure speedy EPFO services.
 Government reduced Basic Excise Duty rate on Petrol and Diesel by Rs. 2 per litre, to contain impact of
rising international prices of crude petroleum oil and keep petrol and diesel Prices under control. Revenue
loss on account of these reductions in excise duty is about Rs. 26,000 crore annually.
 HDFC Bank launched SmartUp zones in its branches across India, to become preferred banker for the start-
up community. An exclusive area inside the branch premises of HDFC Bank (SmartUp Zones) will be
dedicated to start-ups and trained bank staff will offer tailor-made banking and advisory solutions to
entrepreneurs.
 HDFC Life Insurance Company launched service bot Neo that uses artificial intelligence for customer
service. It is second bot put in operation by HDFC Life after SPOK, which was an email answering bot for

customer queries.
 HDFC Life Insurance and Apollo Munich Health Jointly launched Click2Protect Health plan that provides
both life and health cover under a single plan. It combines HDFC Life’s Click2Protect 3D Plus protection
plan and Apollo Munich’s Optima Restore health indemnity plan.
 HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) launched mobile app Trade Transaction Tracker to
help customers track status of their trade transactions on a real-time basis. It will provide global view of
import and export documentary transactions across markets in single app.
o HSBC recently appointed John Flint as its next CEO.
 ICICI Bank committed assistance of INR 10 crores to Indian Armed Forces in 2 equal tranches. First
tranche will support post-graduation education of widows of soldiers and education for their children.
Second program will provide financial assistance for marriages of daughters of ex-servicemen.
 Income Tax Department launched online chat service for taxpayers so that they can seek answers to their
basic queries and doubts relating to direct tax issues. Experts and independent tax practitioners have been
deputed to answer the general queries of a taxpayer.
 India signed $300 Million Loan Deal with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Promote Further Fiscal
Reforms in West Bengal and improve quality of public service delivery in state.
 Indian Government signed $65.5 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to continue
interventions to check coastal erosion on Western Coast in Karnataka. It is 2nd Tranche of a $250 million
financing facility under Sustainable Coastal Protection and Management Investment Program.
 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Hyderabad) developed tGST app to ease up process of GST calculations
for Commercial Taxes Department of Telangana.
 IndusInd Bank acquired Micro-lender Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd for $2.4 billion. It will boost
IndusInd’s presence in microfinance lending and rural banking.
 IndusInd Bank and e-Wallet Firm MobiKwik launched co-branded wallet ‘IndusInd MobiKwik’ that allows
its customers to pay at the MobiKwik merchant network using their accounts, with a ’Direct Debit Feature’.
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 Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) will exit infrastructure and private equity funds
management business, called IDFC Alternatives that has assets worth $2.6 billion. IDFC is currently
engaged in merger discussions with Shriram Group.
 Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) raised INR 660 crores as Fully Serviced Bonds through e-
bidding on BSE Portal. Proceeds will be utilized by IWAI for capital expenditure for development of
National Waterways (NWs) under National Waterway Act 2016 during 2017-18.
 International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested a 3-pronged approach for structural reform in India that
includes -
o Addressing banking and corporate sector weaknesses
o Continued fiscal consolidation through revenue measure
o Improving efficiency of labour and product markets.
 Kotak Mahindra Bank andf Fintech Firm Zeta launched multi-wallet digital prepaid solution for salaried
employees named Paymint. Paymint’s single digital interface will enable firms to manage multiple
reimbursements and allowances offered to employees including meal vouchers, medical reimbursements

etc.
o Kotak Mahindra Bank also tied up with Samsung Pay to enable its credit and debit cardholders to tap
and pay using Samsung smart phones at merchants. It uses the Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST)
that enables consumers to make in-store payments without need for a physical card.
 LG Electronics launched exclusive OEM co-branded card in partnership with Bajaj Finserv that will enable
customers to buy all LG products at no-cost EMI option across all LG formats, for invoices valuing INR
7,000 - 2 lakh.
 Madhya Pradesh, which was first state to switch to January-December financial year from existing April-
March cycle starting 2018, has put plan on hold till Central Government shifts to January-December fiscal
cycle.
 Maharashtra Government released sum of INR 4000 crores under first phase of over 34,000 crore farm loan
waiver scheme for benefit of 8 lakh farmers.
 Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution brought into effect Bureau of Indian standards
(BIS) Act 2016 that replaces Bureau of Indian Standards Act 1986.
o It aims to help in ease of doing business, enhance ‘Make In India’ campaign and ensure availability of
quality products and services to consumers.
o BIS Act 2016 establishes BIS as the National Standards Body of India for the purpose of
standardization, marking and certification of articles and processes. It has broaden BIS’s ambit and
allows central government to make it mandatory for certain notified goods, articles, processes, etc to
carry standard mark.
 Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas launched Start-up Sangam initiative to develop new business
models, marketing plans, technology and innovations in heavy oil and gas industry sector by supporting 30
start-ups. For this, 10 oil and gas PSUs have setup Rs. 320-crore venture capital fund to encourage start-ups
based on innovative ideas in energy sector.
 Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of RBI kept policy rates unchanged with current values -
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o SLR(Statutory Liquidity ratio) - 19.5 % (Changed from 20 %)
 Moody’s affirmed Baa3 rating on SBI’s senior unsecured debt (issued via its London branch) and (P)Baa3
rating on its senior unsecured medium-term note (MTN) program. Baa3 denotes lowest rating in investment
grade on long-term corporate obligation, which carries moderate risks.
 Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) launched India’s first commodity options in Gold. with bi-
monthly duration. The option will also have existing gold kilo futures contract as its underlier.
o Options are an instrument that gives buyer right to buy or sell an underlined at present price on a future
date. They are of two types: puts (right to sell) and calls (right to buy).
 National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) acquired 7% stake in Small Industries
Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for INR 900 crores from IDBI Bank. NABARD now holds 10% Stake
in SIDBI.

o NABARD also sanctioned amount INR 273 crore to Andhra Pradesh Government for Rural Water
supply, Road and Bridge projects. These funds have been sanctioned under Rural Infrastructure
Development Fund (RIDF).
 Odisha government's Directorate of Treasuries and Inspection and State Bank of India signed MOU for
integration of SBI e-Pay with State's cyber treasury to facilitate revenue collection from citizens through
digital banking platform.
o Odisha government also launched porta for Open State Government Data Platform at
odisha.data.gov.in, to share data with people.
 Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) plans to raise crude oil production by 4 metric tonne (MT) and
double natural gas output by 2020, inline with Government’s aim to cut country’s oil imports by 10% from
77% in 2013-14. by 2022.
 Property Portal Magicbricks launched India's first online bidding platform for residential and commercial
properties under name My Bid, My Home that allows consumers to bid for ready-to-move-in residential
properties in Gurugram (Haryana).
 RBI issued guidelines to banks will provide funds to women self-help groups, SHGs, in rural areas at 7 %
under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in the current
fiscal (2017-18).
 Re-Insurer General Insurance Corp of India (GIC Re) launched its INR 11,370 crore initial public offer
(IPO), as India's third biggest IPO ever after Coal India's 15,200 crore and Reliance Power's 11,700 crore
IPOs.
 Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd signed agreement with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency
Ltd (IREDA) for INR 300 crore loan.
 Reliance Communication received final approval from Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for its
merger with Sistema. It will extend validity of RCom's spectrum portfolio in highly valued 800 and 850
MHz band in 8 major telecom circles across country for 12 years period (2021 to 2033).
 Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) became first Indian company to cross Rs 6 trillion market capitalization after
its shares surged over 75% and hit a fresh lifetime high with current market cap of INR 6.02 trillion.
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Rsecent rally in stockss was due to 15% tariff hike by its telecom arm Jio that is expected to improve
company’s profitability.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved directions for peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. P2P lending is online
mechanism which raises loans for people who need to borrow, from people who want to invest.
o Recently RBI notified that peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms would be treated as non-banking
financial companies (NBFCs).
o RBI has now stated that aggregate exposure of a lender to all borrowers and Aggregate loans taken by a
Borrower shall not exceed 10 lakh, across all P2P Platforms.
o Exposure of a single lender to the same borrower is capped at Rs. 50,000. Tenure of the loan should not
exceed 36 months.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has Put penalties on Yes Bank and IDFC Bank -
o Yes Bank - 6 crore penalty for misreporting data on non-performing assets. Yes Bank reported Its
NPAs to be INR 748.9 Crores as of March 2016 while RBI stats tell that its is 5.5 Times more than this
figure. Yes Bank has also been penalized for failing to report a security incident involving its ATMs on

time.
o IDFC Bank - 2 crore penalty for breaching regulations on giving loans. RBI said That IDFC Bank failed
to comply with regulations pertainting to sanction/renewal of loans and advances.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) initiated prompt corrective action (PCA) on Oriental Bank of Commerce
(OBC) that restricts several banking activities in view of high non-performing assets. Activities Include
openin branches, hiring staff and lending activities. OBC is 7th Govt. bank to face such restrictions by RBI
after Dena Bank, Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and UCO
Bank.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched financial literacy drive in 80 blocks in 9 states to educate people on
e-transactions, formal sector borrowings and insurance purchases. States are Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh,
Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) compulsory for companies having with
Loans of Rs 5 crore. Banks will capture this number in Central Repository of Information on Large Credits
(CRILC) database that captures details of loan above Rs 5 crore.
o LEI number will help banks in monitoring the aggregate exposure of corporate borrowers. Firms can
obtain their LEI code from Legal Entity Identifier India Ltd. (LEIL).
o LEI is a global reference number that uniquely identifies every legal entity or structure that is party to a
financial transaction. It is a unique 20 digit alphanumeric code that is assigned to a legal entity.
o LEI system has been set up Global authorities to enable identification and linking of parties to financial
transactions in order to manage counterparty risk.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated that Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio for NBFCs has
increased to 5 % at end of March 2017 from 2.9 % in March 2012.
o Bad loans of NBFCs amount to around Rs.74,230 crores. However, compared to banks, NBFCs
reported a fairly higher Return on Assets.
o Capital to Risk-weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of NBFCs has declined in recent years. Still, it was
higher than the prescribed regulatory level of 15 %.
 Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) OR Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) is ratio of a
bank's capital to its risk. It marks bank's ability to absorb a reasonable amount of loss.
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 Reserve Bank of India opened a branch in Dehradun (Uttarakhand) to ease up Related financial transactions
for State government. Earlier, state government had to do financial transactions through Kanpur (UP)
branch of RBI.
 Reserve Bank of India will soon allow inter-operability among prepaid payment instruments (PPI) like e-
walllets (Paytm, Mobikwik etc.). It will enable users to transfer funds from one mobile wallet to another as
per vision for Payment and Settlement Systems in country.
o RBI also announced fresh KYC guidelines for PPIs (Prepaid Payment Instruments). With these
guidelines to complete full KYC formalities, mobile wallet user can now send-receive money between
wallets of different companies and banks seamlessly through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
o E-Wallet firms have been instructed to ensure KYC compliance of existing users by December 31,
2017.
o Users who do not have stipulated KYC in place, will be allowed to keep only up to Rs 10,000 in wallets
post deadline.
o No credit facility will be provided to such users, if KYC is not completed within next 12 months.

 SBI Collaborative Innovation Centre (CIC) launched 2nd edition of its Hackathon named Digitize For Bank
and to be held in first half of November 2017. It focuses on 4 Cognitive themes - Facial Recognition,
Signature Recognition, Voice based Authentication and Cheque Truncation Value Enhancers. It aims to
bring out solutions based on digital technologies to counter challenges faced by Banking sector.
 SBI Foundation granted INR 10 crore for conservation and restoration of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
Terminus (CSTM) of Mumbai over 3-5 years.
 SEBI announced that listed companies not following the norms with regard to Minimum Public
Shareholding (MPS) would face penalty as INRT 5000 / Day.If non-compliance continues for over 1 year,
amount of fine per day will double to 10,000.
o As per MPS Norms, Any listed company must have at least 25 % as public shareholders and 75 % can
be held by promoters.
 SEBI reorganised its committee on Market Infrastructure Institutions (MII) that advises it on reviewing
norms related to stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depository participants. Now the panel will be
headed by former RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi.
 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revised framework for block deals on stock exchanges by
providing two separate trading windows of 15 minutes each and increasing minimum order size to Rs 10
crore.
o Earlier, a trade with a minimum quantity of 5 lakh shares or minimum value of Rs. 5 crore, executed
through a single transaction was referred to as ‘Block Deal’. Buyers and seller were allowed to enter
Block Deal Orders only during first 35 minutes of continuous trading session i.e. from 9:15 am to 9:50
am.
 Shipping Ministry sanctioned INR 25 crore to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and INR 50 crore to Karwar port
in Karnataka for development of coastal berth under flagship Sagarmala project.
 Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) revamped its portal www.udyamimitra.in with
enhanced features to provide easy access to credit and hand-holding services for micro small medium
enterprises (MSME).
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 Star Health Insurance Launches First-ever Insurance Policy for Persons Diagnosed with Cancer, called Star
Cancer Care Gold.
 State Bank of India (SBI) signed agreement with Escorts Ltd to finance farmers for purchase of Escorts
tractors under name Powertrac and Farmtrac.
 State Bank of India (SBI) waived off account closing charges for Savings accounts that are over an year old.
Earlier, SBI levied closure charges of Rs 500 for its savings account customers.
 State Bank of India (SBI) will lend 2317 Crore rupees ($357 million) to 6 companies for 575 megawatts of
grid-connected rooftop solar projects under a World Bank programme. SBI already has given approx 12000
Crore as loans in Solar Sector.
o India aims to raise renewable energy capacity to 175 gigawatts (GW) by 2022, from 57 GW currently.
Solar Energy accounts for 100 GW in that target.
 State Bank of India has slashed Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) charges up to 80 %. New IMPS service
charges are -
o No charges for transactions under Rs 1000.

o INR 1 - Between 1000 - 10,000
o INR 2 - Between 10001 - 100000
 State Bank of India launched a new product to provide a short-term working capital demand loan to MSME
clients, called SME Assist. It would offer loans to MSME customers on basis of their input credit claims
under Goods and Services Tax (GST).
 State Bank of India will create a 15,000-sqft innovation center in Navi Mumbai, investing around Rs 100
crore. It will be largest innovation center by any financial services company in India.
 Tata AIA Life launched Chatbot Eazy Connect that will extend online customer service to social media
platforms. It will be available through social media platforms and is developed to respond to most
frequently asked queries.
 Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan launched first regional language version of
‘GST Rate Finder’ App in Telugu.
o English version of GST Rate Finder was launched in July 2017 and now telugu version is first regional
language version of this app.
 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended 40% reduction in carbon emissions in
telecom networks by 2022-23 considering 2011-12 as base year in order to make telecom sector greener.
 Union Bank of India launched Bilingual (Hindi and English) Android app Union Sahyog to digitise
customer-facing banking services such as missed call/SMS-based services, Internet banking, deposit and
loan product information, online account opening and online loan application etc.
 Vijaya Bank signed MoU with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) for enabling all HPCL retail
outlets with BHIM/UPI merchant solutions. It will empower all petrol pumps to accept digital payments.
 Visa tied up with Andhra Pradesh government for Digital Dhan Sankalp project to develop Visakhapatnam
into India’s first ‘less cash’ city.
 Zee Entertainment acquired 100 % stake in 2 media entities - 9X Media and INX Music for Rs 160-crore.
9X Media operates five music channels- 9XM (Hindi), 9X Jalwa (Hindi), 9X Jhakkas (Marathi), 9XO
(English) and 9X Bajao (Hindi).
105
November 2017
 Anand Rajeshwar Baiwar appointed as an executive director of Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI).
 RBI Governor Urjit Patel has been appointed to Financial Stability Institute Advisory Board of the Bank of
International Settlement (BIS), a global financial organisation owned by major central banks from across
world. FSI assists financial sector authorities worldwide in strengthening their financial systems.
o BIS is based in Basel (Switzerland) with Jaime Caruana as its current Chief (General Manager).
 Sethurathnam Ravi has been appointed as chairman of BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange).
 Yes Bank signed MoU with Innovation Centre Denmark – India (ICDK India), to bring financial technology
innovations and startups from Denmark to India, and facilitate entry of Indian startups in Denmark.
o YES Bank also signed bancassurance agreement with Reliance General Insurance.
 Interim Meeting of Steering Committee of International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s South Asia Regional
Training and Technical Assistance Centre (SARTTAC) held in New Delhi.

 It is first IMF Regional Capacity Development Centre to fully integrate training and technical assistance
activities, located in New Delhi.
 As per rankings released by Fortune Magazine, Qatar is World’s Richest Country in terms of Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) Per Capita. Top 5 Nations -
1. Qatar ($124930)
2. Luxembourg ($109190)
3. Singapore ($90530)
4. Brunei ($76740)
5. Ireland ($72630)
 Indian NBFC Centrum Capital acquired South Africa-based First Rand Bank’s (FRB’s) microfinance
business in India, aimed at boosting its lending operations focused on retail and small & medium enterprises
(SMEs).
 Nepal Electricity Authority signed a joint venture agreement with China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC)
to construct 750 MW West Seti Hydropower Project, with expenses estimated at 1.8 billion USD. CTGC
will have 75% stake and NEA will hold remaining 25% in JV.
 Moody's Investors Service upgraded India's local and foreign currency issuer ratings to Baa2 from Baa3 and
changed outlook on rating to stable from positive. India’s rating has been upgraded after a period of 13
years, that was last upgraded in January 2004 to Baa3 (from Ba1).
o Moody's also upgraded ratings of 9 Indian PSUs -
 BPCL, HPCL, IOC and Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL) -upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3.
 ONGC’s rating upgraded to Baa1 from Baa2.
 NTPC, NHPC, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and GAIL India upgraded to Baa2.
As Per CRISIL, NHAI reforms resulted in doubling of daily highways construction rate from 12
km to 23 km in 2017.
 Mobile Wallet Firm Paytm tied-up with ICICI Bank to launch Paytm-ICICI Bank Postpaid short-term credit
facility to ICICI customers using Paytm App. Current Borrowing Limit is INR 20000, to be repaid in 45
days.
106
 RBI panel under Chandan Sinha recommended a list of commodities which can be hedged in overseas
markets by all Indian residents (including gold, silver, zinc, tin, crude oil and its derivatives, coal, natural
gas, tea, coffee, sugar and cocoa).
o Panel also recommended that domestic banks should be allowed to offer commodity hedging facility
to their customers, on both Over The Counter (OTC) as well as international and domestic exchanges.
 Central Government approved assistance of INR 10,000 crores to fund 107 irrigation projects in drought-hit
Vidarbha and Maratha regions of Maharashtra.
 India’s Ambani family topped Forbes list of Asia’s Richest Families for first time with a net worth of $44.8
billion, up $19 billion from previous year. 2nd is South Korea’s Lee family ($40.8 billion) and Hong Kong’s
Kwok family ($40.4 billion).
 Government approved setting up India’s first mega coastal economic zone (CEZ) at Jawaharlal Nehru Port
(JNPT) in Maharashtra. It will stretch along north Konkan region spread across Mumbai, Thane, Pune,
Nashik and Raigarh.
o CEZs are spatial economic regions comprising group of coastal districts or districts with strong

linkage to ports in region to tap into synergies with planned industrial corridor projects.
 Reserve Bank of India rejected HDFC Bank's plea to declassify its parent Housing Development Finance
Corporation Limited (HDFC) as a foreign institutional investor (FII), impacting HDFC Bank's fundraising
program from qualified institutional placement (QIP).
 Nagaland became first North Eastern state to launch Point of Sale (PoS) for electricity bill payment,
launched at Kohima Electrical Sub-division-1.
 BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) launched BEST (BSE Electronic Smart Trader)as an advanced hosted
trading solution built on Thomson Reuters Omnesys NEST platform. It will facilitate smooth trading for
BSE customers across multiple exchanges, including BSE, NSE, MCX and NCDEX for a wide range of
investment categories like equity, equity derivatives, bonds etc.
 Government launched Bharat 22 exchange traded fund (ETF) managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund,
targeting initial amount of INR 8000 crore. This ETF is open for subscription till 17 November and a
discount of 3% is being offered to all investors.
o The fund aims to replicate S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index, which will invest in 22 stocks in CPSE
universe, stakes held under Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), and state-run
banks.
o S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index
 This index has stocks representation of 39 % Private and 61 % Government Firms in 6 sectors -
Finance, Industry, Energy, Utilities, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Basic
Materials. This index was launched in August 2017 and since then it has performed better than
Sensex and NIFTY-50.
 As per report titled India 2028 by Bank of America Merrill Lynch - India will emerge as third-largest
economy, overtaking Japan in nominal GDP by 2028. By 2019, India will overtake France and Britain to
emerge as world’s fifth largest economy.
 Uttar Pradesh tops in opening new Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts in past 1 year,
followed by Bihar and Maharashtra.
107
 Ratings firm Crisil and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) signed MoU to launch
CriSidEx - a sentiment Index for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). Iindex will provide
insights into employment, business environment and foreign trade trends in MSME sector. CriSidEx will be
compiled on basis of real-time, ground-level information procured directly from MSMEs.
 Cab Aggregator Uber approved SoftBank Group Corp.’s offer to buy a multibillion-dollar stake in UBER. It
will let SoftBank and other firms to invest up to $1 billion in Uber.
 RBI decided not to introduce Islamic banking in India, that prohibits charging interest as it is not accepted
under Islam. It has been decided in view of keeping equal opportunities available to all citizens to access
banking & financial services.
 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting held in Da Nang (Vietnam) with
theme Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future.
o APEC is 21 Pacific Rim countries Grouping. APEC summit for 2018 will be held in Papua New
Guinea.
 PNB MetLife tied up with Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) to sell retail and group insurance products to

BBK’s customers in India.
 GST Council 23rd Meeting (Guwahati) -
o Under GST Composition Scheme - Annual turnover eligibility increased to 2 crore from 1 crore
Presently, Making eligibility for composition increased to 1.5 Crore per annum.
o Major Changes in GST Rates for several goods / services (213 Headings (Items / Class of Items)) -
 28 % to 18% - 178 Headings . Now Only 50 Headings are in 28 % Slab.
 28 % to 12% - 2 Headings
 18 t0 12 % - 13 Headings
 18 % to 5 % - 6 Headings
 12 % to 5 % - 8 Headings
 5 % to 0 % - 6 Headings
 Government revised House Building Advance (HBA) rules for Central Government Employees -
o Total amount of advance that a central government employee can borrow has been revised up to 34
months of basic pay (max 25 lakhs), compared to earlier limit of INR 7.50 lakhs.
o Amount for expansion of house is revised to max INR 10 lakhs or 34 months of basic pay (whichever
is least), compared to earlier limit of INR 1.80 lakhs.
 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) simplified Foreign Exchange Management Regulations to ease up norms for
foreign investors to invest in India-
o All 93 amendments have been put under one notification. New regulation combines earlier two
regulations on foreign investments - FEMA 20 (investment in Indian company or partnership or in a
limited liability partnership) or FEMA 24 (investment in a partnership firm).
o Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)
 FEMA was passed by Parliament in 1999 and so far was amended 93 times. It replaced FERA
(Foreign Exchange Regulations Act), 1973 that become incompatible after economic reforms
and pro-liberalization policies of Government.
 Private Sector's Federal Bank obtained RBI approval to open representative offices at Kuwait and
Singapore.
108
 RBI asked banks to provide doorstep banking facilities to senior citizens who are more than 70 years of age
and differently-abled persons by December 2017. RBI also asked banks to provide a minimum of 25 cheque
leaves every year for a savings bank account free of charge.
 American digital payments company PayPal launched domestic operations in India.
o Merchants offering PayPal will be able to process both local and global payments through the
platform, getting access to PayPal’s more than 20 Crore customers across world.
 IDFC Bank sigend agreemnt mobile wallet firm MobiKwik to launch a co-branded virtual Visa prepaid card
for MobiKwik customers. The co-branded pre-paid card can be used by non IDFC Bank Customers also.
 Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) made Aadhaar linkage Manadatory for
insurance policies. At present, 24 life insurance and 33 general insurance companies are operating in India.
 USA announced grant of nearly USD 500,000 for organisations that work to promote religious freedom in
India and Sri Lanka.
 United Arab Emirates (UAE’s) second largest bank, Emirates NBD started operations in India by opening a
branch in Mumbai. It is Emirates NBD’s fifth international branch.

 Adani Power signed 25 year Power purchase agreement (PPA) for net capacity of 1,496 MW with
Bangladesh Power Development Board to supply electricity from its upcoming 1,600 MW plant at Godda in
Jharkhand.
 Grant Thornton’s International Quarterly Business Report (IBR) -
o India remained 7th in business optimism index In Jul - Sep 2017 quarter, compared to 2nd slot in
previous Quaeter.
o Indonesia is at top, followed by Finland and the Netherlands.
 India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) will become operational in all 650 districts of the country by April 2018
to facilitate financial inclusion.
o Payments Banks may accept Deposit upto INR 1 Lakh. IPPB will offer Interest Rates Upto 5.5%.
o Other Payments Banks in India - Paytm PB (upto 4 %), Fino PB (upto 4 %), Airtel PB (Upto 7.25%)
 Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) doubled import duty on wheat to 20% from 10% to curb
cheap shipments and give positive price signal to farmers in ongoing Rabi season. It also imposed import
duty of 50% on peas to check cheaper shipments.
 As per a Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) Report -
o Bengaluru is best host among 45 cities worldwide in terms of highest confidence in their digital
environment based on people and skills, financial environment, innovation and entrepreneurship and
new technology development.
o San Francisco (USA) is second followed by Mumbai and New Delhi.
 Bank of China formally launched its operations in Pakistan by opening its first branch in Karachi.
 Syndicate Bank formed a human chain to create awareness among the public to fight corruption, in
Bengaluru (Karnataka).
 Sanjeev Kaushik has been appointed as whole-time member of SEBI.
 A committee headed by M Vinod Kumar (GST chief commissioner for Karnataka) started review of laws
governing Goods and Services Tax (GST).
 e-Wallet Firm Paytm Added BHIM-UPI feature in its App, to enable users to make UPI payments without
loading money into wallet.
109
o Paytm Payments bank appointed Sudhanshu Jain as its CFO (Chief Financial Officer).
 India signed Financing Agreement for IBRD loan of US$ 119 million for Odisha Higher Education
Programme for Excellence & Equity (OHEPEE) Project.
 India pledged additional US $100 million towards UN-India Partnership Fund to significantly scale up its
support to sustainable development projects across developing world, in addition to US $10 million already
contributed by India to various UN programmes.
o India-UN Development Partnership FundThe fund was set up as partnership between India and United
Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) on 9 June 2017 (World Oceans Day).
 Hasmukh Adhia Has been appointed as new Finance Secretary of India. He wa previously serving as
Revenue secretary.
o Additionally, Binoy Kumar has been appointed as Special Secretary in Commerce Ministry.
 HDFC Bank Removed Services Charges on Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and the National
Electronics Funds Transfer (NEFT) Online transactions to promote digital economy. HDFC Bank also
limited availability of cheque book to 25 Cheques per year.

 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) fixed purchase price for latest Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) series at INR 2,945
per gram.goldi. These bonds can be subscribed from Monday to Wednesday every week. Investors applying
online and making payment digitally will be eligible for a discount of Rs 50 per gram.
 Maharashtra State government formed a panel to study feasibility of merging financially weak District
Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) with Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank, to be headed by
Yashwant Thorat.
 Industrial Awards -
o Tata Power Solar won ‘Dun & Bradstreet – Everest Infra Awards 2017’ under Infrastructure Project
category for commissioning India’s largest solar project under Domestic Content Requirement for
NTPC at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.
o ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) honoured CMC Skills’
Founder Ms. Maya Swaminathan Sinha with the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2017’ award.
o Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company has been awarded at 21st Asia Insurance Industry Awards
in Singapore in General Insurance Company of the Year.
o ADI PEC (Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference) Excellence in Energy
Awards 2017 adjudged Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) as winner for
2nd position in category social contribution in country value.
o Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) received Kalinga Safety Award in 8th Odisha State Safety
Conclave.
 TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) announced that Reliance Communications will shut down
voice call service from 1st December 2017 and its customers can move to other networks by the end 2017.
 HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) Pledged to provide $100billion of finance for low-
carbon technology and sustainable development by 2025 as part its commitment to tackling climate change
and other “green” goals.
 State Bank of India (SBI) slashed marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 0.05 percent across
maturities.
110
 China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved USD 2 Billion loan (Rs. 13,000
crores) for 5 projects in Andhra Pradesh.
 Private sector lender Yes Bank signed an agreement with the government to provide Rs 1,000 crore
financing for food processing projects. The funding will be provided to around 100 food processing projects
with an average ticket size of Rs 10 crore each.
o Yes Bank also recently updated its BHIM Yes Pay app and integrated 3 other products of National
Payment Corporation of India (NPCI)– RuPay Virtual Card, BharatQR and Bharat Bill Payment
Service (BBPS) in addition to other payment infrastructures like UPI and IMPS.
 AU Small Finance Bank received Reserved Bank of India (RBI) approval to operate as Scheduled
Commercial Bank.
o With this, AU SFB's has been included in 2nd Schedule of Reserve Bank of India Act 1934. Now, it
can do borrowing and lending with RBI under Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) and Marginal
Standing Facility (MSF).
 Income Tax Department clarified that cash sales of agricultural produce by a cultivator to a trader for less

than 2 lakh rupees will not attract tax under Income Tax Act and PAN is not needed for them.
 ICICI Bank launched India's first voice-based international remittance service to enable non-resident Indians
(NRIs) to send money to any bank in India. Now, an NRI customer can instantly initiate a remittance to
India with just a simple voice command to Apple's virtual voice assistant, Siri, on their iPhone/iPad, using
ICICI Bank's Money2India app.
 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will bring Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) under its existing
legal framework.
o Recenly, popularity of crypto currencies (bitcoin, ethereum etc) has increased rapidly and number of
entities looking at raising funds through ICO. RBI beliwves that these instruments are securities and
so SEBI should be regulating body. But crypto-currencies are neither ‘commodities derivatives’ nor
‘securities’ under Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act 1956.
o Initial Coin Offering (ICO) -
 Its an unregulated means of crowd funding for project via use of cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin
etc. ICOs are not controlled by any legal entity, unlike IPOs that are regulated by SEBI.
 In ICO, rights of ownership are offered to investors in form of digital coins in exchange for legal
tender or other cryptocurrencies.
 China’s Central Bank recently banned ICO as dubbed it as an illegal public finance mechanism
used for issue of securities and money laundering.
 Forbes list of top-earning dead celebrities -
o Michael Jackson remained at top for 5th straight year, with $75 million earnings.
o Golf legend Arnold Palmer claims No. 2 spot with $40 million and Peanuts creator Charles Schulz
ranks third with $38 million income.
 Government approved ONGC's acquiring 51.11 % stake in HPCL, to create an integrated energy major with
businesses spread across hydrocarbon value chain. Government’s stake in HPCL is sold to ONGC for
approx INR 28,000 crores.
 Bharti AXA Life Insurance appointed Vikas Seth as its CEO.
111
 Chairman of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani overtook China’s Hui Ka Yan (Evergrande Group
Chairman) to become Asia’s richest person with total wealth of $42.1 billion, according to Forbes’ real time
billionaire’s list. Globally, Ambani is at 14th spot.
 World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap index 2017 (144 Nations) -
o India - India came down 21 places to ranked 108 in 2017 List, due to less participation of women in
economy and low wages.
o Top 5 - Iceland (1), Norway(2), Finland (3), Rwanda (4), Sweden (5)
o Bottom 5 - Iran (140), Chad (141), Syria (142), Pakistan (143), Yemen (144)
o BRICS - Brazil (90), Russia (71), India (108), China (100), South Afirca (19)
o Neighbours - Bangladesh (47), Sri Lanka (109), Nepal (111), Pakistan (143)
 Global Retailing Major Walmart launched its first fulfillment centre in India in Mumbai.
 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved continuation of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
as Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana- Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied sector
Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR) for 2017-18 to 2019-20 with Financial allocation if INR 15,722 crores,

aimed at making farming as a remunerative economic activity through strengthening farmer's effort and
promoting agri-business entrepreneurship.
o RKVY-RAFTAAR funds would be provided to the States as 60:40 grants between Centre and States
(90:10 for North Eastern States and Himalayan States).
o RKVY is continuing scheme from XI Five Year Plan and provides considerable flexibility and
autonomy to states in planning and executing programmes for incentivizing investment in agriculture
and allied sectors.
 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved implementation of Special Banking
Arrangement (SBA) with SBI (State Bank of India) for INR 10000 crores for payment of outstanding claims
on account of fertilizer subsidy in year 2016-17.
o Government is making available P&K fertilizers and Urea to farmers at subsidized prices through
fertilizer manufacturers and importers. For making funds available to fertilizer companies against
subsidy claims, Finance Ministry approved SBA for amount of 10000 crores Government interest
liability limited to G-Sec rate.
 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved revision in price of ethanol under Ethanol
Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme for supply to Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) at INR
40.85 per litre.
 Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) and Asean Development Bank reviewed $13.5 billion ADB
Sponsered Project Portfolio in India -
o Works worth $9.6 billion is ongoing and $5.4 billion has been disbursed.
o Best project implementation performance awards -
 Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission and Distribution System Improvement Project
 Kolkata Environmental Improvement Investment Program (Tranche-1)
 Uttarakhand Emergency Assistance Project.
 Tata Steel Limited appointed T V Narendran as global CEO and MD.
- End -
112
Important Note : In IBPS PO VII Main Exam they are asking more than 85% of
questions from Banking / Economy Background and remaining 15% from recent
current affairs. So, we have not added the regular Current Affairs stuff in this pdf
file. You can download the Current Affairs material and practice sets from below
link. All the Best 
Download Monthly Current Affairs PDF Files & Expected Questions from below link
http://www.gr8ambitionz.com/2012/08/current-affairs.html

Dear Friends, All the study materials of Gr8AmbitionZ.com are free. We
just would like to listen when you say, “Those are the people who helped
me cracking my exam with good marks”. So, if you found this small book
interesting and enlightening, we would appreciate if you share this with
your Friends. That’s the only FEE we are expecting from you 
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Gr8AmbitionZ Team
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IBPS PO VII Main Exam 2017

Definitions of Important Banking Terms in Simple English

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agriculture like to purchase seeds, fertilizers.

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these accounts are as per the RBI directives.

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Traditional Banking GK - Important Points to Note

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 Minimum & Maximum money transfer limit through NEFT : No Limit

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Printing of Currency Notes and Securities :

 Currency paper is imported from Dubai

Main Features of recently released RBI Notes

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 Basel III norms are effective from 1st January 2013

 The full form of RTGS is “Real Time Gross Settlement”.

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 The full form of NEFT is “National Electronic Funds Transfer”

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 Reverse Repo Rate :

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State Bank of India (SBI)

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S. No Name of the Bank Head Office Established Year

Indian Origin Banks Nationalization

Nos. Name of the Bank Head Established

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 It was established on 1875, and its head office is in Mumbai.

NSE (National Stock Exchange)

 NSE started trading in the equities segment on 3rd November 1994.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) :

KYC (Know Your Customer)

 The main objectives of KYC are :

New KYC Norms Set :

Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) :

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Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) :

NABARD (National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development) :

 NABARD was established on the recommendations of Shivaraman Committee.

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)

 Headquarters : Lucknow (U.P)

Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) :

Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) :

 ICICI was established in 1955.

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International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) : (World Bank)

IDFC (Infrastructure Finance Company)

LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India)

GIC (General Insurance Company)

 British Rule introduced GIC.

Subsidiaries of GIC Headquarter

EXIM (Export-Import) Bank of India

 Established on : 1st January 1982

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 The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM).

 The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

 Established Year : 1956