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
