Banking Affairs 16th February 2017 | Financial Awareness 16th February 2017

1. SBI plans Korea-Nepal, Korea-India remittance corridors

• SBI is planning to soon start two remittance corridors between Korea & Nepal and Korea & India.
• It is also considering starting a Nepal desk in the bank to promote Indian investments in the Himalayan country and vice-versa.

2. Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey appointed new President of ICAI

• Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey was elected as the new President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for the year 2017-18.
• The 40-member Central Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) also elected Naveen N D Gupta as the Vice-President for the year 2017-18.

3. Syrian Bank starts paying dividends

• The ‘name and shame campaign’ initiated by Catholic Syrian Bank Employees and Retirees against wilful defaulters in Kerala seems to have started paying dividends.
• 30 defaulters identified by the bank with dues of more than ₹50 lakh each, 10 borrowers have already approached the bank.
• The bank has succeeded in sending a strong message to defaulters not to avoid loan repayments.

4. Agreement between India and Croatia

• India and the Republic of Croatia signed an agreement on Economic Cooperation was on 14th February 2017 in Zagreb, Croatia.
• India and Croatia had earlier signed an Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation in September 1994 with an aim to promote and develop bilateral trade and economic relations.
• The present Agreement would be a step in continuity as the last one expired in Nov 2009.

5. India slips to 143 in economic freedom index: US thinktank

• India ranked a dismal 143 in an annual index of economic freedom by a top American thinktank, behind its several South Asian neighbours including Pakistan, as progress on market-oriented reforms has been “uneven”.
• India’s overall score of 52.6 points is 3.6 points less than that of last year, when India ranked 123rd.
• South Asian countries, only Afghanistan (163) and Maldives (157) were ranked below India. Nepal (125), Sri Lanka (112), Pakistan (141), Bhutan (107), and Bangladesh (128) surpassed India in economic freedom.

6. RBI signs info exchange pact with Bank of Zambia

• The Reserve Bank has inked an information exchange pact with Bank of Zambia aimed at forging greater cooperation.
• “The Reserve Bank signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on supervisory cooperation and exchange of supervisory information with Bank of Zambia,” RBI said in a release. The MoU was signed by Denny H Kalyalya, Bank of Zambia Governor, and Urjit Patel, the RBI chief.

7. HDFC life launches ‘Pragati’, a trad plan for low income group

• HDFC life today launched Pragati, a traditional life insurance plan that has been specifically designed to empower low income families.
• Pragati makes life insurance easily accessible to every person who wishes to financially secure his family, the private life insurer said in a release issued here.

8. Non-life insurance sector looks for lower GST rates

• The non-life insurance industry is looking for centralised registration facility and comparatively lower rates for a smooth implementation of GST, a senior official from the sector said.
• Goods and Services Tax (GST), which seeks to turn India into a single market for the first time, is likely to be implemented by the Government during the next fiscal.

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