DOWNLOAD PDF- Banking/Finance/Economy News- May 2017 for SBI PO Mains Exam

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• MP has broken 150-year old British tradition of an April-March financial year.
• 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 -
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 -
• Turn over is less than Rs 25 crore.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 -
• Q1 - 7.1 %
• Q2 - 7.3 %
• Q3 - 7 %
• 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.
• 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.
• IOC received 70 % jump in net profit to Rs. 19,106.40 crore in the FY 2016 - 17.


• 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.
• New Chiefs appointed for 7 public sector banks -
• Usha Ananthasubramanian - Allahabad Bank.
• Melwyn Rego - Syndicate Bank.
• Rajkiran Rai G - Union Bank of India.
• R Subramaniakumar - Indian Overseas Bank.
• Sunil Mehta - Punjab National Bank.
• Dinabandhu Mohapatra - Bank of India.
• 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
• Renu Satti is of CEO Paytm Payments Bank.
• Paytm Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma Holds 51 % Stake in Paytm Payments Bank, while Paytm Parent Company One97 Communications holds 49 %.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The 1 rupee note was discontinued in 1994, due to high cost of printing.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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) -
• IMPS Fund Transfer Charges -
• Upto 1 Lac - INR 5
• 1 - 2 Lc - INR 15
• 2 - 5 Lac - INR 25
• 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)
• ATM Cards - Only RuPay classic card will be issued free of cost
• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• e-Commerce Firm Flipkart Agreed to Acquire Another Mainstream e-Commerce Firm Snapdeal.

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