1. World’s largest Wind Solar Hybrid Power Plant commissioned by Adani Green
Tags: place in news Economy/Finance State News
Gautam Adani owned Adani Green Energy has commissioned the world's largest 750 MW Wind-Solar hybrid power plant at Jaisalmer Rajasthan. Both the wind and the solar power plant are located at the same location.
The Solar power plant has an installed capacity of 600 MW and the Wind power plants has an installed capacity of 150 MW.
The company has entered into Power Purchase Agreements with the Government of India’s owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). Under the agreement the power generated at the plant will be bought by SECI at Rs 2.69 Kwh for the next 25 years.
2. The Union Finance ministry raises the interest rates on select small saving schemes
Tags: Economy/Finance Government Schemes
The Union Ministry of Finance has increased interest rates on certain small saving schemes on 29 September 2022. It will be applicable from 1 October 2022. This is the first time small savings rates have been hiked since the January to March quarter of 2019.
The interest rates on the small savings scheme are revised after every quarter.
Small Saving Schemes are deposit schemes of the government of India where the people are assured of safety and return and the government uses the money for development purposes. These schemes are operated through Post offices in India.
Unlike Banks where interest rates are decided by the banks, the interest rates in the small saving scheme are decided by the government of India.
New Interest rates on Small Saving Schemes
Name of the Scheme | Interest Rates (from 1October 2022) |
Senior Citizens Savings Scheme | 7.6% (earlier 7.4%) |
Kisan Vikas Patra | 7 %( earlier 6.9%). The amount will double in 123 months. |
Monthly Income Schemes | 6.7% (earlier 6.6%) |
3 year Term deposit (fixed deposit) with Post Office | 6.7% (earlier 6.6%) |
No Change in Interest rates of the following Small Saving Scheme
Scheme | Interest rates |
Public Provident Fund (PPF) | 7.1% |
National Savings Certificate (NSC) | 6.8 % |
one-year Term Deposit scheme of the Post Office | 5.5% |
Sukanya Samridhdhi Yojana | 7.6% |
Post Office Saving Account | 4% |
3. RBI continues its aggressive monetary policy and raises repo rate by 50 basis points
Tags: Economy/Finance
Continuing its aggressive stance on inflation the Monetary Policy Committee headed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on 30 September 2022 announced a hike of 50 basis points (0.50%) in the policy repo rate. It is the fourth consecutive rate hike in the repo by the RBI to control inflation.
RBI has been increasing the Repo rate since 4 May 2022 and it has been increased by 1.90% since then.
Inflation control a priority
- RBI has maintained consumer price index (CPI) inflation forecast for 2022-23 at 6.7%
- The MPC also decided to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth.
- It means that RBI will follow a tight monetary policy where money supply in the market will be reduced so as to control inflation.
- That is why RBI has been increasing Repo rate which in turn will force the bank to increase their lending rate. It makes car loans, home loans etc costly. It will reduce demands and will lead to reduction in money supply in the market.
- According to the RBI the medium term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation is of 4 percent within a band of +/- 2 percent. It means that RBI will be comfortable if the inflation rate is maximum 6% or minimum 2%.
Change in rates
Policy Rates
Policy Repo Rate
- The policy repo rate has been increased from 5.40 % to 5.90 % with immediate effect.
- The rate at which RBI lends to the banks for a short term period is called the Repo rate.
Reverse Repo Rate
- There was no change in the fixed reverse repo rate and it is 3.35 %.
- In Reverse repo, the commercial banks deposit their excess liquidity with RBI for a short term period and the RBI pays interest on such deposits.
Standing Deposit Facility (SDF)
- The Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) has been increased from 5.65% to 6.15%.
- The interest rate offered on SDF is always 0. 25 % below the repo rate.
Marginal Standing Facility (MSF)
- The marginal standing facility has been increased from 5.65% to 6.15%.
- MSF is the rate at which RBI provides short term loans to the banks.
- It is kept 0. 25% above the policy repo rate.
Bank Rate
- The bank rate has been increased from 5.65% to 6.15% .
- Bank rate is the rate at which RBI lends to the banks for a long term period.
- Bank rate and marginal standing facility are always kept the same by the RBI.
Reserve Ratios
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)
- There has been no change in the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR). It is 4.50%.
- Banks have to keep a certain percentage of their Net Time and Demand Deposit Liabilities (NDTL) with the RBI in the form of cash called as CRR.
Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)
- There has been no change in Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR). It is 18%.
- Banks have to keep a certain percentage of their Net Time and Demand Deposit Liabilities (NDTL) with themselves in the form of cash, gold or approved government securities called SLR.
GDP growth forecast for 2022-23
RBI has cut the GDP growth for 2022-23 to 7.0 % from 7.2%
Note: 100 basis points (bps) is equal to 1%.
What is Monetary Policy Committee?
- Under Section 45ZB of the amended RBI Act 1934, the Central government is empowered to constitute a six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to determine the policy interest rate required to achieve the inflation target.
- The first such MPC was constituted on September 29, 2016.
- Currently, the 6 members of the Monetary Policy committee are Shaktikanta Das (Governor of RBI), Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra (Deputy Governor of RBI), Dr Mridul K. Saggar, Prof. Jayanth R. Verma, Dr. Shashanka Bhide, Dr. Ashima Goyal. All four are economists.
- As per the RBI Act, the MPC must meet a minimum of four times in a year.
- The next MPC meeting will be held on 5-7 December 2022 and the final meeting of the current fiscal year will be held on 6-8 February 2023.
4. India climbs to the 40th rank in the Global Innovation Index of WIPO
Tags: Economy/Finance International News
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on 29 September released the Global Innovation Index 2022.
Important facts
India has reached the 40th position in the Global Innovation Index of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
India has moved up from 81st in 2015 to 40th in 2022 in the Global Innovation Index (GII).
India was 46th position in the ranking last time.
In the index Switzerland has emerged as the world's most innovative economy for the 12th consecutive year.
Switzerland continues to be the world leader in innovation for the 12th year in a row.
It is a leader globally in patents by innovation output, origination, software spend, high-tech manufacturing, production and export complexity.
The US ranks second in the index, followed by Sweden, the UK and the Netherlands.
About Global Innovation Index
WIPO began its publication in 2012 along with GII.
Key criteria to measure innovation cover institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, credit, investment, linkage, creation, dissemination of knowledge, and creative output.
It is calculated by three measures-
Innovation Input Sub-Index
Innovation Output Sub-Index
The overall GII score is the average of the Input and Output Sub-Indices, on which the GII economy rankings are then produced.
About WIPO
It is the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information and cooperation.
It is a self-funding agency of the United Nations and its member states are 193.
Its mission is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international Intellectual Property system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all.
5. SEPC session on Services Sector Exports Strategy for India@2047 held in New Delhi
Tags: Economy/Finance National News
Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC), an apex trade body set by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on 29 September 2022 held its 12th Annual General Meeting(AGM) at New Delhi on 29 September 2022.
As part of its AGM,the SPEC also organised an interactive session titled “Services Export Promotion Councils’s (SEPC) India@2047: Services Sector Exports Strategy ‘Skilling And Internationalization Of Higher Education’.
Addressing the interactive session the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal said that the service sector export target for the 2022-23 has been set at $350 billion dollars .
In 2021-22 the service sector export was $254 billion .
Speaking on the occasion ,the SEPC Chairman,Sunil H Talati, said “the services sector currently contributes 55% of the total exports. By 2023 we aim to reach 75% and internalization of education and skill development is key to witnessing such unprecedented growth.
Services Export Promotion Council, was set up in 2006 by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It has been mandated to facilitate global business opportunities for India’s services sector.
6. Union Minister Anupriya Patel represented India in the 21st Meeting of SCO Ministers responsible for Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade
Tags: Economy/Finance International News
The Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Smt. Anupriya Patel represented India at the 21st Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Ministers responsible for Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade. The meeting was held virtually and was attended by the representative of SCO Secretariat and Heads of Delegations of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
She lauded the recent initiative of SCO, wherein City of Varanasi has been nominated as the first-ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital for the period of 2022-2023.
India took over the Presidency of the SCO from Uzbekistan after the Council of Heads of State of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting held in the Uzbekistan city of Samarkand on 16 September 2022.
SCO is a regional organization consisting of China, Russia, India ,Pakistan and the four central Asian countries of Uzbekistan , Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan .
7. Surging cost of inflation makes Global Recession most likely: World Economic Forum
Tags: Economy/Finance
In a report released on 28 September 2022, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said that due to persistently high inflation and fall in real wages continuing to fall, a global recession is becoming increasingly likely.
According to the WEF Chief Economists Outlook report, real wages are expected to continue falling across the world in 2022-2023 and the cost of living crisis is threatening social unrest, though inflationary pressures are expected to ease in the next year.
The survey of over 50 economists from the finance, insurance, professional services and technology industries, as well as international organizations and regional development banks, found that they expect reduced growth, stubbornly high inflation and continuing fall in real wages for the remainder of 2022 and 2023.
An average of seven out of ten economists consider a global recession to be at least "somewhat likely".
World Economic Forum (WEF)
The World Economic Forum was founded by German engineer, economist Professor Klaus Schwab as the European Management Forum, in Geneva, Switzerland.
In 1987 its name was changed to World Economic Forum.
The WEF engages the top political, business leaders of the world to influence and set the global, regional and Industry agenda.
It organises an annual meeting at Davos, Switzerland where world political and business leaders gathers to discuss international issues
It releases following reports;
Global Gender Report;
Chief Economist Outlook;
Global Risk Report;
Environmental Performance Report;
Global Competitive Index
Headquarters of WEF: Geneva, Switzerland
8. Kunal Shah-led fintech start-up Cred has topped LinkedIn’s Top Start-ups list
Tags: Economy/Finance
According to the Microsoft-owned LinkedIn ``Top Startups List” of the year , the Unified payment interface CRED, online higher education firm upGrad and investment platform Groww took the top three spots in the list .
The fifth edition of the list which was released on 28 September 2022 is released annually and features 25 Indian companies.
The start-ups are finalised based on four aspects - employee growth, jobseeker interest, member engagement within the company and its employees.
The top ten startups on the list include (1) CRED (2) upGrad (3) Groww (4) Zepto (5) Skyroot Aerospace, (6th) MBA Chai Wala ,(7th) Spinny (8th) The Good Glamm Group , (9th GrowthSchool) and (10th) BluSmart.
According to LinkedIn, 13 out of the top 25 startups are based in Bengaluru, affirming its reputation as the 'Silicon Valley of India'.
The start-up ecosystem in India is the third largest in the world after the US and China.
9. Government of india formally scraps the disinvestment of Central Electronics Limited
Tags: National Economy/Finance National News
The central government has formally scrapped the 100% disinvestment of the Central Electronics Limited on 28 September 2022 and disqualified the successful New Delhi based bidder Nandlal Finance and Leasing limited.
On 29 November 2021,the government approved the 100% sale of Central Electronics Ltd (CEL) for Rs 201 crore.
The reason given by the government for canceling the deal was that Nandlal company failed to disclose that an insolvency case was pending against the company in the National Company Law Tribunals (NCLT) while it bidded for the CEL.
Government of India Disinvestment target for the financial year 2022-23
In the 2022-23 Union Budget the Government of India has set a disinvestment target of Rs 65,000 crores.
In 2021-22 the total money raised by the Government of India through disinvestment was Rs 13,531 crore against the target of Rs 78,000 crore.
Central Electronics Limited
Central Electronics Ltd (CEL) is a Central Public Sector Enterprises(CPSE) under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR),Union Ministry of Science and Technology.
It was established in 1974, with an objective to commercially exploit indigenous technologies developed by National Laboratories and Research and Development Institutions in the country.
10. NASSCOM Foundation, DXC Tech to offer digital-skilling to over 1 million people
Tags: National Economy/Finance National News
NASSCOM Foundation on September 28 announced its partnership with DXC Technology to open resource centres for imparting digital skills to rural communities in 20 aspirational districts.
Important facts
It will focus on skilling Indian youth as part of an eight-month project that is expected to collectively benefit 1 million people.
It will address the digital divide, especially in Tier-II and Tier-III cities where there are access barriers to technology.
20 resource centers for digital literacy and e-governance will be set up in aspirational districts of seven states namely Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
These centres will help in providing need-based information, e-resources and digital services that will impact citizens’ lives in alignment with the United Nation's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Resource centers will be equipped with digital resources such as computers and printers, online resources such as subscription channels, and physical resources such as books, magazines and newspapers to make digital tools accessible to the entire community.
Communities will also be linked to appropriate government schemes and e-governance services apart from receiving training in digital skills.
Through this initiative, youth in India will receive advanced technical training that will improve their employability skills to meet the market demands and 60% of the beneficiaries will get placement facilities after completing the course.
National Association of Software and Services Companies- NASSCOM
It is a not-for-profit industrial association which is the apex body for the IT industry in India.
It was established in 1988.
Due to its significant efforts, India's IT (Information Technology) and BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) industry is getting a lot of support.
NASSCOM has made unprecedented contributions to India's GDP, exports, employment, infrastructure and global visibility.
