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The Monthly Hindu Review Current Affairs May 2021PM Modi announces Rs 10 Lakh PM CARESFund for kids orphaned due to COVIDPrime Minister Narendra Modi has announced anumber of welfare measures for children who lost theirparents to COVID-19. All children who have lost eitherboth parents or surviving parents or legal guardians oradoptive parents due to COVID-19 will be supportedunder PM-CARES for Children scheme. The welfaremeasures have been listed below:Fixed Deposit in the name of the child The government has announced the “PM-CARESfor Children” scheme under which fixed depositswill be opened in the names of such children fromthe PM-CARES fund. The total corpus of the fund will be Rs 10 lakh foreach child. This corpus will be used to give a monthly financialsupport/ stipend when the child reaches 18 years ofage, for the next five years to take care of his or herpersonal requirements. Upon reaching the age of 23 years, the child will getthe corpus amount as one lump sum for personaland professional use.Education Children under 10 years will be given admission tothe nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a privateschool as a day scholar. Children between 11-18 years of age will be givenadmission to any central government residentialschool such as Sainik School and NavodayaVidyalaya. For higher education, children will be assisted inobtaining education loan for professional courses orhigher education in India according to existingnorms. The interest on this loan will be paid fromthe PM-CARES fund.Health Insurance Each child will be enrolled as a beneficiary underAyushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY) with a healthinsurance cover of Rs 5 lakh. The premium amount for these children will bepaid by PM CARES, till they attain the age of 18years.Govt announces scheme to provide pension fordependents of Covid victimsThe Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Government ofIndia has announced two major measures for thosefamilies who have lost the earning member due toCovid, to mitigate financial difficulties that may befaced by them. Firstly, the government have decided to6www.bankersadda.com provide family pension to such families and secondly,provide them with enhanced & liberalised insurancecompensation.Key Facts relating to the schemes1. Family Pension under Employees State InsuranceCorporation (ESIC) Dependent family members of such persons will beentitled to get the benefit of a pension equivalent to90% of the average daily wage drawn by the workeras per the existing norms. This benefit will be applicable with effect from 24March 2020 till 24 March 2022.2. Employees Provident Fund OrganizationEmployees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme (EDLI) The insurance benefits under the EDLI schemehave been enhanced and liberalized, particularly tohelp the families of employees who have lost theirlives due to COVID. The amount of maximum insurance benefit hasbeen increased from Rs 6 lakh to Rs. 7 lakh. The provision of minimum insurance benefit hasbeen retained at Rs. 2.5 lakh. This benefit will apply retrospectively from 15February 2020 for the next three years, that is 15February 2022.GST Council forms 8-member panel toexamine tax exemption on Covid materialThe Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council hasconstituted a group of ministers (GoM) in order todecide on the rates of COVID-19 relief material.Currently, 5% GST is levied on domesticallymanufactured vaccines, while it is 12% for COVIDdrugs and oxygen concentrators. Alcohol-basedsanitisers, hand wash, disinfectants and thermometersattract 18% GST.An eight-member ministerial panel under theMeghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma toconsider Goods and Services Tax (GST) exemptions ona range of Covid-19 essentials such as vaccines, drugs,testing kits and ventilators. The other members of thegroup of ministers (GoM) are Gujarat deputy chiefminister Nitinbhai Patel, Maharashtra deputy chiefminister Ajit Pawar, Goa transport minister MauvinGodinho, Kerala finance minister KN Balagopal,Odisha finance minister Niranjan Pujari, Telanganafinance minister T Harish Rao and UP finance ministerSuresh Kumar Khanna.www.sscadda.com www.careerpower.in Adda247 App

The Monthly Hindu Review Current Affairs May 2021In the 43rd meeting of the GST Council, the financeminister Nirmala Sitharaman had said a ministerialpanel will be constituted to decide on the rates on thevaccines and medical supplies. According to its terms ofreference, the GoM will examine the need for GSTconcession or exemption on Covid vaccines, drugs andmedicines for Covid treatment, testing kits for Coviddetection, medical-grade oxygen, pulse oximeters, handsanitisers, oxygen therapy instruments (concentrators,generators and ventilators), PPE kits, N95 masks,surgical masks, temperature checking thermometersand any other items required for Covid relief. Banking and Financial Current Affairs The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed amonetary penalty of 3 crores on ICICI Bank fornon-compliance with its directions in the matter ofshifting of securities from one category to another.The monetary penalty has been imposed on theBank for contravention of certain directionscontained in its Master Circular on ‘PrudentialNorms for Classification, Valuation andOperation of Investment Portfolio by Banks.’The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) GovernorShaktikanta Das has announced a Covid-19healthcare package of Rs 50,000 crore, for lending toentities such as vaccine makers, medical equipmentsuppliers, hospitals and related sectors, besides thepatients in need of funds for treatment.Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMBL) announced it hasbeen selected as a digital payments partner by theNational Agriculture Market (eNAM), a pan-Indiaelectronic trading portal for farm produce. KMBLwill enable and facilitate online transactions for allstakeholders on the eNAM platform, includingfarmers, traders and farmer producer organisations(FPOs).The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has excludedLakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) from the SecondSchedule of the RBI Act after it was merged withDBS Bank India Ltd (DBIL) last year. A bankmentioned in the Second Schedule of the ReserveBank of India Act is known as 'ScheduledCommercial Bank'.HDFC Bank and Common Services Centres(CSCs) launched chatbot ‘Eva’ on CSCs Digital SevaPortal to support the Village Level Entrepreneurs(VLEs) in providing banking services for the lastmile rural consumers. This initiative will bridge thegap between India and Bharat. Urban India hasbeen quick to learn and adapt to the digital world.Rural India has faced challenges as it has lowerInternet penetration.7www.bankersadda.com Jana Small Finance Bank has announced thelaunch of the “I choose my number” feature for allits customers across India. This new feature givesthe bank’s existing and new customers the option toselect their favourite numbers as their savings orcurrent account number. The bank will allow itscustomers to choose their favourite numbers as thelast 10 digits of their bank account, savings orcurrent.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has grantedauthorisation to Eroute Technologies to operate asa prepaid payment instruments (PPI) company.The RBI issued authorisation to ErouteTechnologies Pvt Ltd with perpetual validity tocommence issuance and operations of semi-closedpre-paid instruments in the country.Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled thelicence of United Co-operative Bank Ltd overinadequate capital, regulatory non-compliance,based in Bagnan, West Bengal. Through an orderdated May 10, 2021, the central bank has prohibitedthe co-operative lender from carrying on bankingbusiness, with effect from the close of business onMay 13, 2021.The RBI has imposed monetary penalty on CityUnion Bank, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank and twoother lenders for contravention of certaindirections issued by the central bank. A penalty ofRs 1 crore has been imposed on City Union BankLimited for contravention of/non-compliance withcertain provisions contained in the RBI (Lending toMSME Sector) Directions and Rs 1 crore onTamilnad Mercantile Bank for non-compliance.The Reserve Bank of India will transfer Rs 99,122crore surplus to the Central Government for theaccounting period of nine months ended March 31,2021 (July 2020-March 2021). The Contingency RiskBuffer will remain at 5.50%.The Reserve Bank of India has increased themaximum amount outstanding in respect of fullKYC PPIs (KYC-compliant PPIs) from Rs. 1 lakh toRs. 2 lakh. Apart from this, The Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) has mandated that all prepaid paymentinstruments (PPIs) or mobile wallets such as Paytm,PhonePe and Mobikwik are fully KYC-compliant bemade interoperable by March 31, 2022.RBI has increased the limit of cash withdrawal fromPoints of Sale (PoS) terminals using debit cardsand open system prepaid cards (issued by banks) toRs 2000 per transaction within an overall monthlylimit of Rs. 10,000 across all locations (Tier 1 to 6centres). Earlier this limit was Rs 1000 for Tier 1and 2 cities while Rs 2000 for Tier 3 to 6 cities.www.sscadda.com www.careerpower.in Adda247 App

The Monthly Hindu Review Current Affairs May 2021 RBI has permitted cash withdrawal from Full-KYCPPIs of Non-Bank PPI Issuers. The condition onsuch cash withdrawal shall be: Maximum limit ofRs. 2,000 per transaction with an overall limit of Rs.10,000 per month per PPI. All cash withdrawaltransactions performed using a card/wallet shall beauthenticated by an Additional Factor ofAuthentication (AFA) / PINThe Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) hasextended the due date for filing income tax returnsfor assessment year (AY) 2021-22, for individuals,by two months, to September 30, 2021. Earlier thedeadline was July 31, 2021. The government hasalso extended the due date of Income Tax Returnsfiling for companies for Assessment Year 2021-2022from October 31 to November 30, 2021.Kotak Mahindra Bank has issued the first-everforeign portfolio investor (FPI) licence to the GIFTIFSC alternative investment fund (AIF) of TrueBeacon Global. This is the first FPI licence issued toan AIF incorporated in GIFT IFSC by any custodianbank or designated depository participant (DDP) inthe country.Equitas Small Finance Bank has now become thefirst Small Finance Bank to offer its NRI customersegment the ease of account opening online. Thecompany will also be the only one in the SmallFinance Bank sector to have Virtual RelationshipManagers based on time zones. The online processof account opening for NRIs can be done viasmartphone or computer connected to the Internet.ICICI Bank has announced the launch of a uniquefacility of linking a UPI (Unified PaymentsInterface) ID to its digital wallet ’Pockets’, markinga departure from the current practice that demandssuch IDs be linked with a savings bank account.This initiative enables users to undertake smallvalue everyday transactions directly from their‘Pockets’ wallet. Further, customers who alreadyhave a UPI ID, will get a new ID when they log onto the ‘Pockets’ app.The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a fine of Rs10 crore on HDFC Bank for deficiencies inregulatory compliance found in the auto loanportfolio of the bank. As per the RBI, HDFC Bankhas violated the provisions of section 6(2) andsection 8 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.8www.bankersadda.com Economy Current Affairs Gross revenues from the Goods and Services Taxhit a record high of 1.41 lakh crore in April 2021 inIndia, suggesting economic activity may not yet beas badly affected amidst the ongoing second waveof the COVID-19 pandemic, as last year.UK-based global brokerage firm Barclays has cutIndia’s GDP growth estimate for 2021-22 (FY22) to10 per cent from its earlier estimate of 11 per cent.Apart from this, Barclays has estimated theeconomy to contract by 7.6 per cent in FY21.Wall Street brokerage, Goldman Sachs has cut theGDP growth rate estimate for the Indian economyto 11.1 per cent in fiscal year FY22 (April 01, 2021,to March 31, 2022), due to increasing intensities oflockdowns by states to check the spread ofcoronavirus infections. Goldman Sachs has alsorevised the 2021 Calendar Year growth forecast to9.7 per cent, from the previous estimate of 10.5 percent.The US-based S&P Global Ratings has lowered theGDP growth forecast of the Indian economy to 9.8per cent for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22). TheUS-based rating agency in March had an 11 per centGDP growth forecast for India for April 2021-March2022 fiscal. on account of a fast economic reopeningand fiscal stimulus.Fitch Solution has estimated the GDP of theIndian economy to grow 9.5 per cent in 2021-22(April 2021 to March 2022). The cut in the real GDPis due to the economic damage caused as a result ofstate-level lockdowns imposed because of thesudden and steep surge in the number ofcoronavirus cases.Nomura has cut the GDP growth estimate of Indiafor the current 2021-22 fiscal (FY22) to 10.8 per centfrom the earlier projection of 12.6 per cent. The cutin the GDP rate is due to the impact of the secondwave-induced lockdowns. Nomura is a Japanesebrokerage having its headquarter in Tokyo.The rating agency Moody’s has cut the grossdomestic product (GDP) forecast of India for FY22(01 April 2021-31 March 2022) to 9.3 per cent.Earlier this rate was projected at 13.7 per cent. Thedownward revision in GDP estimates is due to thesecond wave of Covid infections across the country,which have triggered localised lockdowns andmobility curbs.www.sscadda.com www.careerpower.in Adda247 App

The Monthly Hindu Review Current Affairs May 2021 The United Nations has projected that the Indianeconomy would grow at 10.1 per cent in thecalendar year 2022, nearly double the 5.9 per centgrowth forecast for the country in the Januaryreport. But cautioned that the growth outlook of2021 was “highly fragile” as the country was the“new hotbed of the pandemic.”HDFC Bank has cut India’s growth projection to 10per cent from 11.5 per cent for the current financialyear, citing the adverse effect of the second Covid19 wave. In a worst-case scenario of COVID-19, thebank has predicted the GDP rate to be at 8%.The domestic rating agency, Care Ratings, hasrevised the GDP growth forecast of India for thecurrent fiscal year 2021-2022 (FY22) to 9.2 per cent.This is lower than 10.2 per cent estimated earlier inApril 2021.The country’s retail inflation, measured by theConsumer Price Index (CPI), eased to 4.29 per centin the month of April. Separately, India’s factoryoutput, measured in terms of the Index ofIndustrial Production (IIP), witnessed a growth of22.4 per cent in March, two separate data releasedby the Ministry of Statistics & ProgrammeImplementation (MoSPI). The retail inflationduring the month of March was at 5.52 per cent.The Department for Promotion of Industry andInternal Trade recently released Wholesale Price inIndia for the month of April 2021. The annual rateof inflation for the month of April 2021 was 10.49%.The WPI for the month of April 2021 stood at 128.1.The base year in calculating WPI is fixed as 2011-12.Foreign direct investments (FDI) into the countrygrew 19 per cent to USD 59.64 billion during 202021 on account of measures taken by the governmenton the fronts of policy reforms, investmentfacilitation and ease of doing business. Total FDI,including equity, re-invested earnings and capital,rose 10 per cent to the “highest ever” of USD 81.72billion during 2020-21 as against USD 74.39 billionin 2019-20. Business Current Affairs 9www.bankersadda.com Barclays has pegged India’s economic growth forfiscal 2021-22 (FY22), as measured by grossdomestic product (GDP) at 7.7 per cent in the bearcase scenario

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