Today's Current Affairs 28th December 2022

NATIONAL

Home Ministry nod to name change of two places in Uttar Pradesh

• Stage is all set in Uttar Pradesh to rename two places after the state government got the approval by Union Home Ministry. The Union Home Ministry has given its consent to change the names, a Municipal Council in Gorakhpur and a village in Deoria, both in eastern UP, following recommendations from the state government. The ‘no-objection’ certificates were issued by the Union Home ministry for changing the name of ‘Mundera Baazar’ municipal council in Gorakhpur district to ‘Chauri-Chaura’ and that of ‘Telia Afghan’ village in Deoria district to ‘Telia Shukla’.
• Mundera Bazar Municipal Council will now become Chauri-Chaura Municipal Council to commemorate 100-years of the Chauri-Chaura incident which had taken place on February 4, 1922 in Gorakhpur district. The police under British rule had opened fire on a large group of protesters then participating in the Non-Cooperation Movement called by Mahatma Gandhi. Consequently, the demonstrators had retaliated by setting a police station ablaze killing all of its occupants. The incident led to the death of three civilians and 22 policemen.

 APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

RBI approves Baskar Babu’s re-appointment as Suryoday Bank’s Chief for 3 years

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the reappointment of Baskar Babu Ramachandran as the MD & CEO of Suryoday Small Finance bank for three years effective from 23rd January 2023. The founder of the bank, Baskar Babu Ramachandran sold the bank’s 50 lakh shares on 16th December for ₹55.44 crores to close a loan for exercising warrants to maintain the promoter’s stake at the minimum of 26 percent for the first 5 years.
• Baskar Babu Ramachandran holds 63,01,911 shares amounting to 5.94 percent after the aforementioned same of which 62.40 lakh shares are pledged.
• Suryoday Small Finance Bank is a scheduled commercial bank. The bank has a widespread presence across 13 states and UTs across India through its 565 banking outlets. The bank has reported a net profit of Rs 13 crore in Q2 FY22 as against a net loss of Rs 1.92 crore.

Lieutenant General Arvind Walia Has Been Appointed as the Next Engineer-in-Chief of the Army

• Lieutenant General Arvind Walia has been appointed as the next Engineer-in-Chief of the Indian Army. He would be succeeding Lt Gen Harpal Singh who is superannuating on December 31. An officer of the 1986 batch, Lt Gen Walia is an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, and also received the prestigious Silver Medal there.
• Lt Gen Walia has previously commanded an independent squadron in the desert sector, a regiment in Jammu and Kashmir and an Engineer Brigade along the western front. He has also commanded the MEG & Centre in Bengaluru.

 BOOKS & AUTHOR

Book “Forks in the Road: My Days at RBI and Beyond” by Indian economist C. Rangarajan 

• C Rangarajan authored a book titled “Forks in the Road: My Days at RBI and Beyond”. It was published by the Penguin Business (Penguin Group). The book is the memoir of Dr C. Rangarajan, an Indian economist, a former Member of Parliament, and the 19th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It discusses India’s transition from its post-independence planning era to the present times. The book is divided into 3 parts. Part 1- ‘RBI and Planning Commission’, Part 2-‘Governor of RBI’ and Part 3- ‘Beyond RBI’.
• In this book, the veteran economist and policymaker provides a captivating account of his professional journey, starting with his purely accidental entry into the RBI in 1982. Rangarajan, regarded as one of the tallest figures in the history of India’s economic reforms, provides crucial insights into the role he played as part of the team which initiated far-reaching reforms in India’s economy in the early 1990s.

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

Government gives official recognition to Esports

• Esports received a huge boost from the Indian government. It is incorporated into the nation’s mainstream sports disciplines. Droupadi Murmu, the President of India, amended the regulations governing eSports in accordance with the authority “conferred by clause (3) of article 77 of the Constitution” and requested that “e-Sports be included as part of multi-sports events” from the Ministries of Electronics and Information Technology and Sports.
• E-sports after being added to the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta as a demonstration sport, which meant that medals earned in the sport were not included in the official total of medals.
• There had been an increase in desire for Esports to be included in the curriculum of multi-discipline competitions.

Bajaj Allianz Launches ‘Respect Senior Care Rider’ for Elderly

• Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, one of the leading private general insurers of India, announced the launch of its unique health insurance rider ‘Respect Senior Care Rider’. This rider helps one fulfill their parental responsibility smoothly. In order to accomplish this goal, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has tied up with a wide network of service providers to assist the insured with their worries.
• This network can be accessed by them or their family members at any time, this product will protect the customers from shelling out significant sums of cash and reduces worries and brings a plethora of services at their fingertips.
• The intention of the rider is to minimize the worries of senior citizens and of their family members who might not be living in the same city. Anyone who is aged 50 years & above and has the company’s base health insurance policy can opt for this rider.
• Bajaj Allianz General Insurance is India’s leading private general insurance company. Bajaj Allianz is a joint venture between Bajaj Finserv Limited, India’s most diversified non-bank financial institution, and Allianz SE, the world’s leading insurer and largest asset manager.

 Financial literacy poor across urban, rural population: RBI

• It is often believed that in India, the majority of the rural people is not familiar with digital banking. But in what might be considered a revelation, a pan-Indian “Financial Literacy and Inclusion survey” conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) found that awareness and knowledge of digital banking are on par between the rural and urban population nationwide, with the average for both segments being 11.7 on a scale of 21.
• Three criteria—financial knowledge, attitude, and behavior—were used to base the poll. The average urban and rural scores on a scale of 1 to 21 were 11.7. The scores, zone-wise, were as follows: Both the urban and rural areas in the north zone had scores of 11.5 apiece, which was par. The scores were 12.1 for both rural and urban areas in the east zone as well. In the middle zone, urban areas had a score of 12.5 while rural regions received a slightly lower score of 12.1. In the west zone, scores were nearly identical, with urban areas scoring 12.6, and rural regions scoring 12.5. The urban area score in the south zone was 11.2 while the rural area score was 10.3.

Frauds fall nearly 50% at banks: RBI Data

• According to an RBI report, public sector banks (PSBs) accounted for the majority of frauds reported in 2018–19, with 55.4% of the cases reported and 90% of the money involved. This is primarily due to an inadequate internal process, lack of personnel, and inadequate systems to address operational risks.
• Private banks and foreign banks contributed 30,7% and 11.2 percent, respectively, to the total number of frauds, while contributing 7.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, to the latter.
• According to the Reserve Bank of India’s “Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2018-19” report, PSBs contributed even more to big frauds in 2018–19, accounting for 91.6% of their total value.
• The value of incidents involving various aspects of banking, such as card/internet, off-balance sheet, and foreign exchange transactions, has decreased (in terms of reporting date) in 2018–19 compared to the previous year.

Ambani-Led Reliance Retail Acquires Metro AG’s India Business For Rs 2,850 Crore

• Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd signed definitive agreements to acquire 100 percent equity stake in Metro Cash and Carry India Pvt Ltd, which operates under the ‘Metro India’ brand, for a cash consideration of Rs 2,850 crore.
• Through this acquisition, Reliance Retail gets access to a wide network of METRO India stores located in prime locations across key cities, a large base of registered kiranas and other institutional customers, strong supplier network and some of the global best practices implemented by METRO in India.
• Metro India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mero AG, started operations in India in 2003 as the first company to introduce cash-and-carry business format in the country and now runs 31 large format stores across 21 cities with about 3,500 employees.

IRDAI WILL Introduce ‘Bima Vahaks’ to Expand Insurance Force a “BIMA VAHAK”

• To enhance the insurance force in India, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) will soon introduce “Bima Vahaks” in each gram panchayat. Each Gram Panchayat will have a ‘Bima Vahak’ who would be tasked to sell and service simple parametric bundled insurance products, Bima Vistar, covering health, property, life and personal accident.
• The insurance companies have adopted a state each and with the help of state governments are looking to develop state-level insurance plans. Much like what has been done in the banks.
• There’s arguably a case for having differentiated operations which cater to niche sectors, the same way we have NBFCs and microfinance institutes in lending.
• There is a big protection gap in the country, and it was an “urgent need” for insurance companies and caregivers to collaborate and ensure wider coverage.