NATIONAL NEWS
Nirmala Sitharaman second woman Finance Minister after Indira Gandhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised markets by naming Nirmala Sitharaman, formerly the country’s defence minister, as the next finance minister at a time when Asia’s third-largest economy is stuttering.
- Sitharaman, 59, will become the senior most woman minister in Modi’s cabinet and the second woman to head the finance department after late former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Delhi government sets 2020 deadline for WiFi, CCTVs
The Aam Aadmi Party government's flagship CCTV project, which is started from 8th June in the national capital, has the deadline of April next year, while the city government has set September 2020 to be the deadline for providing free WiFi facility to Delhiites, according to the Outcome Budget.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
'Gandhi cycle rally for peace' organized in Riyadh
The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia organised a "Gandhi cycle rally for peace" in Riyadh on 7th June to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
- More than 150 persons of different nationalities, gender and age, including many Saudi nationals participated in the cycle rally organized in association with the Diplomatic Quarter Authority and Saudi Cycling Federation.
Vietnam elected to Asian seat on UN Security Council
Vietnam has been elected unopposed to the Security Council on behalf of the Asian countries in an election that could reshuffle the dynamics of the UN's highest body that is already paralyzed on many important issues like Syria, Yemen and Venezuela.
Hong Kong holds dragon boat festival
Hong Kong held the annual dragon boat festival with teams competing to race the traditional craft.
- Each boat is crewed by a team of paddlers, plus a steer-person and a drummer to set the paddling rhythm. The boats are decorated with dragon heads and tails during competitions.
- The festival is held annually on the death anniversary of the poet and patriot Qu Yuan.
SriLankan Airlines named world's most punctual
SriLankan Airlines, the flag carrier of the island nation, has been named the 'World's Most Punctual Airline' for the second consecutive time with over 90 per cent of its flights in May being "on time".
Rihanna named world's richest female musician by Forbes
Singer Rihanna has been named as the "World's Richest Female Musician" by the Forbes magazine with an estimated fortune of $600 million with the bulk of that coming from her Fenty beauty range.
- She's overtaken Madonna and Beyonce, who previously topped the list.
BANKING & FINANCE
Fincare SFB, Kookmin Bank get included into second schedule of RBI Act
Fincare Small Finance Bank and Kookmin Bank have been included in the second schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, according to RBI notifications.
- Fincare Small Finance Bank was included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act vide notification dated March 28. Headquartered in Bengaluru
- The central bank in separate notification said that Kookmin Bank has been included in the Second Schedule vide notification dated April 4. Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. India Branch - Gurugram.
Paytm Payments Bank ahead of major banks in digital transaction target
Paytm Payments Bank has received a target of 501.16 crore digital transactions for the financial year 2019-20 from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), higher than the targets set for major banks including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Punjab National Bank.
- In a statement, Paytm Payments Bank said it is only behind the State Bank of India, which has the highest target for digital transactions.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
e-Money share in India's payment systems reaches 21.5%: RBI
Getting a leg-up from from the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in November 2016, the share of e-Money in India's payment systems grew to 21.5 per cent in 2017 from 0.8 per cent in 2012, according to a new report from the Reserve Bank of India.
- With 345.9 crore e-Money transactions, India was behind only Japan and US in 2017 with respect to volume of e-Money transactions, said the report titled 'Benchmarking India's Payment Systems".
- The report, which termed demonetisation "a game-changer for e-Money", provides a comparative position of the payment system ecosystem in India relative to comparable payment systems and usage trends in other major countries.
RBI issues revised norms on stressed assets
In February 2018, the RBI had issued a framework on the resolution of stressed assets under which banks were asked to initiate resolution or restructuring of loans worth Rs 2,000 crore or more even if there was a single day of default.
- The RBI has now revised the circular and said that a lender should initiate a resolution plan before the loan default. It should have the board approved policies for the resolution of stressed assets.
- In the revised prudential norms on stressed assets, the RBI said that in case of a default by a borrower, lenders have to undertake a prima facie review of the borrower account within 30 days from such default (called the review period).
Tata Mutual Fund launches India’s first mutual fund side pocket
Tata Mutual Fund has announced plans to introduce segregated portfolios (side pockets) in three schemes hit by the DHFL debt crisis – Tata Corporate Bond Fund, Tata Medium Term Fund and Tata Treasury Advantage Fund. It has also suspended fresh inflows into these schemes. This instance is India’s first formal use of the side pocketing provisions introduced by SEBI in December 2018. Other AMCs have made amendments to SIDs to allow side pocketing but this is the first time an AMC is actually proposing to carry out the procedure.
RBI cuts growth forecast to 7 per cent
The Reserve Bank of India lowered the economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7 per cent due to slowdown in domestic activities and escalation in global trade war.
- In the April monetary policy, the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2019-20 was projected at 7.2 per cent (in the range of 6.8-7.1 per cent for the first half of the fiscal and 7.3-7.4 per cent for the second half), with risks evenly balanced.
RBI raises retail inflation forecast for Q1 FY20 to 3-3.1%
The Reserve Bank raised the retail inflation forecast marginally to 3-3.1 per cent for the first half of the current fiscal, tracking uptick in food prices - mainly vegetables, albeit expectations of a normal monsoon this year.
- In its first bi-monthly policy for FY20 in April, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had forecast the retail inflation to be hovering in the range of 2.9-3 per cent for six months till September.
FDI in services sector up 37 per cent in 2018-19
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in services sector grew 36.5 per cent to $9.15 billion in 2018-19, according to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
- The sector attracted FDI worth $6.7 billion in 2017-18. Services sector includes finance, banking, insurance, outsourcing, R&D, courier, technology testing and analysis.
GDP growth may accelerate to 7.2% in FY20: Report
American brokerage Goldman Sachs pegged the Indian GDP growth to accelerate to 7.2 per cent in 2019-20 on lower oil prices, political stability and removal of infrastructure bottlenecks. Risks to the estimate, which is higher than the RBI’s projection for a 7 per cent growth, are on the “downside” because of the issues in the non-bank lenders.
MCA, SEBI sign MoU for data exchange
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for data exchange between the two regulatory organisations.
- The MoU comes in the wake of the increasing need for surveillance in the context of corporate frauds affecting important sectors of the economy.
IMF raises forecast for US to 2.6% in 2019
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised economic growth forecasts for the US to 2.6 per cent this year and 2 per cent in 2020, compared to 2.3 per cent and 1.9 per cent in April respectively, despite the trade war with China and threats to Mexico.
APPOINTMENTS
N Gopalaswami appointed BCCI's electoral officer
N Gopalaswami has been appointed as the BCCI's electoral officer to supervise the elections of the cricketing board and the Indian Cricketers Association.
- Gopalaswami is a former Chief Election Commissioner of India and he will be operating from the BCCI headquarters.
AWARDS
Women's prize for fiction goes to Tayari Jones novel
American novelist Tayari Jones’s portrait of a young African American’s wrongful incarceration, and its devastating impact on his marriage has beaten two Booker prize winners to take the Women’s prize for fiction for her novel "An American Marriage".
OBITUARIES
Former Doordarshan, All India Radio News Editor Laldingliana Sailo passes away
Former Doordarshan and All India Radio News Editor Laldingliana Sailo passed away in Aizawl. He was 76.He was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in April this year and returned to his home city Aizwal after undergoing treatment at CMC Vellore for some time.
Grammy Award winning singer Dr John passes away at 77
Six-time Grammy award winning singer and songwriter Malcolm John Rebennack Jr, popularly known as Dr John, passed away due to a heart attack at the age of 77.
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Food Safety Day
7 June 2019 marks the first ever celebration of the United Nations World Food Safety Day. It aims to strengthen efforts to ensure that the food we eat is safe.
- The celebration of the inaugural edition of World Food Safety Day will be facilitated by World Health Organisation (WHO), in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
- The theme of World Food Safety Day 2019 is "Food Safety, everyone's business".
World Oceans Day
World Oceans Day takes place every 8 June. The concept was originally proposed in 1992 by Canada's International Centre for Ocean Development (ICOD) and the Ocean Institute of Canada (OIC) at the Earth Summit – UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- The theme selected by the United Nations for this United Nations International Day (2019) is "Gender and Oceans".
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