DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 13 OCT 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 13 OCT 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.   CABINET APPROVES SANKALP & STRIVE SCHEMES TO BOOST SKILL INDIA MISSION

i. In a bid to provide a boost to ‘Skill India Mission’, Union Cabinet approved two new skill development schemes named Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement. Both these schemes are result oriented programmes focusing on vocational education and training.

ii. SANKALP is a centrally sponsored scheme having financial outlay Rs 4,455 cr out of which 3300 cr will be in the form of a loan from World Bank.

iii. STRIVE is a central sector scheme having financial outlay Rs 2200 cr out of which half the amount will be in the form of loan assistance from World Bank.

2.   SEBI FIXES PENALTY FOR NON-COMPLIANCE OF SHAREHOLDING NORMS

i. SEBI announced that, listed companies not following the norms with regard to Minimum Public Shareholding would be taken action including fine (penalty) and delisting.

ii. According to MPS norms, any listed company must have at least 25 % as public shareholders and 75 % can be held by promoters. Companies not following these norms should to pay a fine of Rs.5,000 a day.

iii. The entire promoter holding, except for compliance to MPS, will be frozen by depositories. The promoter group and directors of the particular company will not be allowed to hold any position in other companies.

iv. If the non-compliance continues for more than 1 year, the amount of fine per day will double to Rs.10,000. Such companies might be de-listed of their shares from stock exchanges.

3.   NBFC BAD LOANS RISE TO 5% IN 5 YEARS: RBI

i. The Reserve Bank of India said that, Gross Non-Performing Assets ratio for NBFCs has increased to 5 % at end of March 2017 from 2.9 % at end of March 2012.

ii. Non-Banking Financial Companies have faced a steady reduction in asset quality in the past 5 years. Bad loans of NBFCs amount to around Rs.74,230 cr. RBI said that, the reduction in asset quality could be mapped to the change in NPA recognition norms.

iii. Return on Assets of NBFCs declined from 2013 onwards. However, compared to banks, NBFCs reported a fairly higher RoA.

iv. The Capital to Risk-weighted Assets Ratio of NBFCs has declined in recent years. Still, it was higher than the prescribed regulatory level of 15 %.

4.   SBI LAUNCHES SME ASSIST TO PROVIDE SHORT-TERM LOANS TO MSME CLIENTS

i. State Bank of India launched a new product called ‘SME Assist’ to provide a short-term working capital demand loan to its Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises clients.

ii. The loans shall be provided on the basis of clients’ input credit claims under Goods and Services Tax, subject to submitting of a certificate from their chartered accountant confirming the input credit claims.

iii. These loans will help clients to manage their working capital requirement till the time they get input credit and will thereby ensure stability in operations. Loans under ‘SME Assist’ will be provided at concessional interest rates.

iv. Borrowers of loan under ‘SME Assist’ will have the benefit of a moratorium period for the first three months.

5.   MASTERCARD LAUNCHES ITS FIRST INNOVATION CENTRE IN INDIA

i. American financial technology company Mastercard launched its first innovation lab in India in Pune, Maharashtra. This centre is Mastercard’s ninth lab in the world and the second in Asia Pacific besides Singapore.

ii. The centre in Pune will focus on new payment technology ideas for the rapidly growing digital economy in India. In India, Mastercard will collaborate with financial institutions, merchant partners and the technology community to identify and experiment with future technologies in a few key areas including digital payments, data solutions, financial inclusion, alternative payments and safety and security.

iii. The first project to be undertaken by this centre will be about providing Indian farmers, access to more buyers which will enable them to run a more profitable business and will eventually pave the way to a cashless agricultural sector.

6.   JOHN FLINT APPOINTED AS CEO OF HSBC

i. HSBC announced that, it has appointed John Flint as its next CEO, in London.

ii. John Flint currently runs HSBC’s retail and wealth management business. John Flint would replace current CEO Stuart Gulliver. Gulliver is retiring after seven years in this job.

iii. Flint has worked across most of HSBC’s business lines. He spent the first 14 years of his career with the bank in Asia, which gave him a great experience that is necessary to the CEO role.

iv. Flint’s main task will be to grow revenues across HSBC’s businesses. As HSBC plans to grow profits again, following a period of restructuring after the 2008-09 financial crisis.

7.   VISA, ANDHRA PRADESH TIES UP FOR DIGITAL DHAN SANKALP PROJECT

i. Visa has tied up with the Andhra Pradesh government for Digital Dhan Sankalp project. It is an initiative to develop Visakhapatnam into India’s first ‘less cash’ city.

ii. The e-transformation of large state-owned service providers of the state into digital payments mode under the Vizag Digital Dhan Sankalp project is now accessible to over 90 percent of the city’s two million-strong population.

8.   NISHA DESAI BISWAL APPOINTED AS PRESIDENT OF USIBC

i. Nisha Desai Biswal, former Indian-American assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia has been appointed as the new president of US India Business Council.

ii. As Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs in the US Department of State from 2013 to 2017, Biswal oversaw the US-India strategic partnership during a period of unprecedented cooperation, including launching the US-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHAT ARE THE TWO SCHEMES INTRODUCED BY CABINET TO BOOST SKILL INDIA MISSION?

a)  MNREGA & SANKALP

b)  SANKALP & STRIVE

c)  Atal Pension Yojana & Digital India Programme

d)  Gramin Bhandaran Yojana & Integrated Rural Development Program

Q2.  WHAT IS THE NEW PROJECT LAUNCHED BY STATE BANK OF INDIA TO PROVIDE A SHORT-TERM WORKING CAPITAL DEMAND LOAN TO ITS MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES CLIENTS?

a)  Project Vivek

b)  Traders easy loan Scheme

c)  SME Assist

d)  Project Uptech

Q3. AMERICAN FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY MASTERCARD LAUNCHED ITS FIRST INNOVATION LAB IN WHICH PART OF INDIA?

a)  Trichy, TamilNadu

b)  Kolkata, Westbengal

c)  Chennai, TamilNadu

d)  Pune, Maharashtra

Q4. WHAT IS THE TIME PERIOD GIVEN BY RESERVE BANK OF INDIA TO THE BANKS AND NON-BANK ENTITIES TO MAKE THEIR DIGITAL WALLETS/PREPAID PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS, INTEROPERABLE THROUGH THE UNIFIED PAYMENTS INTERFACE?

a)  6 months

b)  10 months

c)  12 months

d)  8 months

Q5. WHO IS APPOINTED AS THE NEW CEO OF HSBC?

a)  Peter Oborne

b)  Mark Tucker

c)  John Flint

d)  Arthur Anderson

ANSWERS: 

1 - A      2 - D  3 - C    4 - B    5 - A