RBI suspended licence of seven non-banking finance companies (NBFCs)
i. On 17 August the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suspends licence of seven non-banking finance companies (NBFCs). The seven NBFCs whose licences were suspended are – Religare Finance, Artisans Micro Finance, Eden Trade & Commerce, RCS Parivar Finance, Nott Investments, Dewra Stocks & Securities, Swetasree Finance.
ii. Being a dormant entity, Religare Finance licence was suspended by RBI as it did not conducted lending operation for long period of time.
iii. A Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956, whose principal business is lending, investments and receiving deposits. At present there are around 12,000 NBFCs in India. NBFC does not include any institution whose principal business is agricultural activity, trading activity, industrial activity or sale/purchase/construction of immovable property.
iv. RBI has power under RBI Act 1934 to register, regulate, lay down policy, inspect, issue directions, supervise and exercise surveillance over NBFCs that meet the 50-50 criteria of principal business. Any NBFCs that does not carry out its principal business according to the directions or orders issued by RBI under RBI Act is eligible for penal action that can also result in cancelling the Certificate of Registration issued to the NBFC.
IDBI appointed Kishor Piraji Kharat as its MD and CEO
i. Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has appointed Kishor Piraji Kharat as its new Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer. Kishor Kharat is a graduate in commerce and law who is also a certified associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers. He had earlier assumed post of executive director of Union Bank of India and before that he had served Bank of Baroda for three decades.
ii. He has wide exposure across various verticals of banking, international business, including credit, information technology and general administration in India as well as overseas.
iii. IDBI was constituted on 1 July 1964 under IDBI Act 1964 based on the model of Developmental Bank of Canada with a motive to provide direct and indirect finance to Industries. Government of India took over the controls of IDBI in 1975 and then transformed into independent autonomous statutory organisation.
iv. It was regarded as a Public Financial Institution and continued to serve as a DFI for 40 years and was formally transformed into a Bank on 28 September 2004. It thus became 28th Public Sector Bank. IDBI Bank was earlier known as IDBI Ltd which was change to its existing name IDBI Bank Ltd on 7 May 2008.
Sachin Tendulkar to be Maharashtra’s Tiger ambassador
i. Maharashtra government has roped Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar as its new ambassador for the Tiger Conservation Project. His association will help state government to raise awareness about saving the tigers in the state.
ii. In this regard Mr. Tendulkar has accepted an offer which was forwarded by state Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on July 29, 2015 on the eve of World Tiger Day.
iii. State government had forwarded this proposal to Mr. Tendulkar after Tiger Protection Foundation approved a proposal of his appointment along with superstar Amitabh Bachchan as ambassador to promote the Save Tiger campaign in July 2015. Earlier Mr. Amitabh Bachchan had accepted the request from the government and met the minister to discuss details of his role and involvement in the project.
iv. Currently, Maharashtra state has six tiger reserves viz. Tadoba, Melghat, Pench, Nagzira, Sahyadri and Bor. It should be noted that except Sahyadri tiger reserve (located in Kokan region) remaining 5 are located in Vidharbha region of state.
v. Maharashtra has recorded around 190 tigers as per the 2014 Tiger census (usually conducted every four years). Tiger population has recorded a steady rise from 103 in 2006 to 169 in 2010. The increase population of Tigers in state has been attributed to the successful implementation of various conservation efforts.
Union Government appoints two private sector professionals to head BoB, Canara Bank
i. Union government has appointed two private sector banking professionals as Mangling Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Baroda (BoB) and Canara Bank. This is the first time that Union government has appointed the two candidates from the private sector to head the Public Sector Banks (PSBs).
ii. P S jayakumar: MD and CEO of Bank of Baroda (BoB). Rakesh Sharma: MD and CEO of Canara Bank.
iii. Apart from these appointments, Union Government also appointed MD and CEO of other three PSBs who are serving government officials. They are MO Rego: MD and CEO of Bank of India (BoI). Kishore Kharat Piraji: MD and CEO IDBI Bank. Usha Ananthasubramanian: MD and CEO of Punjab National Bank (PNB).
iv. Union government appointment non-executive chairman for 5 PSUs namely Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Indian Bank and Vijaya Bank. It should be noted that these appointments were made by Union Finance Ministry as part seven pronged plan called Indradhanush Mission to revamp functioning of PSBs.
Telangana Government launched Grama Jyothi Scheme across the state
i. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on 17 August 2015 launched a flagship programme Grama Jyothi across the state. The scheme is aimed at comprehensive development of rural areas allowing planning and execution of works by villages themselves.
ii. For the successful implementation of the scheme, the state government has decided to invest 25000 crore rupees to empower villages. The scheme will focus on improving the Human Development Index (HDI) by addressing core issues such as drinking water and sanitation, health and nutrition, education, infrastructure, natural resources management, agriculture, social security and poverty reduction.
iii. The Grama Jyothi programme aims to empower gram panchayats. The programme introduces a participatory approach in preparing village development plans involving the panchayats, self help groups, people and all interested in the holistic development of the village.
iv. Grama Jyothi programme will be a game-changer to inclusive and holistic development of backward villages of Telangana. The government will also incentivise villages that achieve 100 percent targets in the areas of sanitation, immunisation, nutrition, literacy and green cover.
ICICI Bank launched locker facility named Smart Vault
i. ICICI Bank on 18 August 2015 launched Smart Vault, a first-of-its-kind locker facility by a bank in India with latest robotic technology. The facility was launched by Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO of ICICI Bank at the Defence Colony branch of Delhi.
ii. The Smart Vault uses robotic technology to access the lockers from the safe vault and enables customers to conveniently access their lockers at any time of their preference, in the comfort of a secure lounge where the locker automatically comes up to the customer.
iii. Smart Vault locker is equipped with multi-layer security system, including biometric and PIN authentication and debit cards, among others. Customers can access it without any intervention by the branch staff.
iv. The lockers are of two-three different sizes and the charges of availing this facility would depend on their size. Also, the locker charges in a city would vary depending on the real estate cost.
State Bank of India launches mobile wallet app 'Buddy'
i. Country's largest lender State Bank of India today launched a mobile wallet app, SBI Buddy, in collaboration with Accenture and Mastercard. The service will be available to existing as well as non-SBI customers.
ii. The app was launched by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance and Hasmukh Adhia, Secretary, Department of Financial Services.
iii. The mobile wallet app can be used to send money to new and registered customers, book for movies, flights, hotels as well as for shopping. It also has features like reminders to settle dues, recharge and pay bills instantly.
iv. State Bank of India also launched SBI Foundation, which will be the implementing agency for corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of the lender. The Finance Minister unveiled the logo and website of SBI Foundation. The foundation will promote, encourage, develop causes related to education, environment, women empowerment, children welfare and manage all the CSR activities of the SBI Group.
Andy Murray wins Rogers Cup Masters Tournament 2015
i. Andy Murray of Great Britain has won Rogers Cup Masters Tournament 2015 also known as the Canada Masters. In the final match played at Montreal, Canada he defeated world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia by 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 score.
ii. It was Murray’s overall 11th Masters Title and first victory against the world number 1 since Wimbledon final of 2013.
iii. 18-year old Belinda Bencic of Switzerland won maiden Canadian Open Masters title in women’s single category. In the final match she defeated world number two Simona Halep by 7-6, 6-7, 3-0 score. It was Belinda’s overall second career title.
iv. French-Slovenian team of Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik. Garcia and Srebotnik won Canadian Open Masters title in women’s double category. In the final match they defeated top seeded American-Czech team of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova.