Yuva Sangam Registration Portal Launched in New Delhi

Why In News

The Yuva Sangam registration portal was launched in New Delhi. The Yuva Sangam is an initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Key Points

The Yuva Sangam registration portal was launched in New Delhi. The Yuva Sangam is an initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build close ties between the youth of the Northeast Region and the rest of India under the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat. Under the initiative, over 20 thousand youth will travel across the country and gain a unique opportunity for cross-cultural learning.

At the launch event, Minister of DoNER, Culture, and Tourism G. Kishan Reddy noted that the Yuva Sangam program will work to connect the youth of the Northeast with the whole country.

He added that the program is an opportunity for the youth of the Northeast to explore the country.

Mr. Reddy stressed that the Wide Cultural Exchange Program will also allow the country’s youth to celebrate the ancient culture and natural diversity of India.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur expressed that through ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, Yuva Sangam’, the youth of 18 years to 30 years will get an opportunity to see different states of the country, to understand their art, culture, and languages.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, and other dignitaries also graced the event.

Sculpture Park at Bikaner House Inaugurated in New Delhi

Why In News

The Sculpture Park at Bikaner House in New Delhi was inaugurated by Rajasthan Chief Secretary Usha Sharma. Sculpture Park showcases a fusion of modern and contemporary art and culture.

Key Points

The Sculpture Park at Bikaner House in New Delhi was inaugurated by Rajasthan Chief Secretary Usha Sharma. Sculpture Park showcases a fusion of modern and contemporary art and culture in the traditional setting of Bikaner House.

The Sculpture Park is a trailblazer in the national capital and offers a premier platform for emerging artists to showcase their work with ease.

The Sculpture Park at Bikaner House is the first of its kind in the capital and will serve as a milestone in promoting modern and contemporary art.

It showcases works from renowned and emerging artists from India and the world, connecting Rajasthani art, culture, and heritage with national and international recognition.

Chief Secretary Sharma highlighted that the launch of the sculpture park and the “Bikaner House Dialogues on Art, Literature, and Culture” is a unique initiative that provides a platform for young artists to showcase their contemporary works.

It will also allow senior artists to connect with their roots through the recognition of architecture in sculpture parks.

Sculpture Park at Bikaner House Inaugurated in New Delhi- Featured Works

The first open-air exhibition at Bikaner House features the works of the following artists:

Akhil Chandra Das (Monk)

Tapas Biswas (Benares Ghats, Three Girls)

Satish Gupta (Garuda and Zen Forest)

Satish Gujaral (The Trinity), KS Radhakrishnan (Airbond Maya on The Move)

Tutu Patnaik (Tree), Dhananjay Singh (Faces 2)

Neeraj Gupta (Between Heaven and Earth)

Elanchezhiyan Pichaikannu (Krishna and Bull)

G Reghu (Two Untitled Heads)

Subodh Kerkar (Cowrie Disk)

Seema Kohli (Saraswati)

Sudip Roy (12:40 pm K R Nariman Windswept)

Paresh Maity (The Pair).

‘BizKhata’ for small businesses and merchant partners launched by Airtel Payments Bank

Why In News

'BizKhata' launched by Airtel Payments Bank: Airtel Payments Bank announced the availability of its current account, BizKhata, which offers limitless transactions.

Key Points

Airtel Payments Bank announced the availability of its current account, BizKhata, which offers small businesses and business partners across the nation fast activation and limitless transactions. Because they cannot maintain the minimum amount required for business accounts, many small business owners continue to use savings accounts for business-related expenses. This makes it difficult to distinguish between personal and corporate dealings.

The BizKhata business platform from Airtel Payments Bank was created with these small company owners and retailers in mind.

It unifies all corporate transactions on a single platform and enables them to keep accurate records while taking advantage of several financial advantages.

Do an unlimited number of credit and debit transactions, within five minutes of opening the account, the customer can begin utilizing it.

PhonePe launches cross-border UPI payments service

Zero Minimum Balance – There is no requirement for a minimum balance on the account.

Secure and efficient Payment digitization: Through IMPS, UPI, NEFT, and IFT, business owners can receive and send online payments to any bank in India.

The account also includes a QR code that may be used to accept payments from any UPI app.

Day-end balances over INR 200,000 will automatically be swept out to a current account with the partner bank under the auto sweep-out feature.

The user can return the sweep sum to the business account with a single click.

Transaction history may be downloaded with only one click, allowing business owners to easily reconcile transactions.

Both current and future merchants, as well as business partners of Airtel Payments Bank, would have access to the current account solution.

This account can be readily opened by a business owner in under five minutes with biometric authentication and little paper effort.

RBI Monetary Policy: Repo rate raised by 25 basis points; FY23 GDP growth estimate raised

Why In News

RBI Monetary Policy: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das released the Monetary Policy statement, which saw increase in the repo rate by 25 basis points.

Key Points

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das released the Monetary Policy statement, which included the highly anticipated increase in the repo rate of 25 basis points. The central bank had increased the important benchmark interest rate by 35 basis points in its December monetary policy review (bps). In order to keep inflation under control, the Reserve Bank has raised the short-term lending rate by 250 basis points, including the rate in effect today.

RBI Monetary Policy Q1 FY23: New Rates

Following are the revised rates in the RBI Monetary Policy 2023:

Repo Rate: 6.50%

Standing Deposit Facility (SDF): 6.25%

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF): 6.75%

Important Takeaways from RBI Monetary Policy Q1 FY23:

Governor Shaktikanta Das Core inflation has not changed. As of January 27, 2023, non-food credit growth was up 16.7% from the prior corresponding period. In order to reduce the CPI, we must never waver.

As the policy likely defied expectations of a dovish turn, bonds declined, with the yield on benchmark 10-year notes jumping by as far as four basis points to 7.36%, while the currency was trading higher.

In 12 cities, RBI will roll out a prototype programme for coin-operated machines that use QR codes.

After the RBI policy announcement, the Sensex was trading almost 300 points higher and the Nifty was up 0.6%.

Current account deficit will remain eminently controllable and moderate in the second half of 2022–2023: RBI Governor

In 2022 and thus far this year, the Indian Rupee has remained the least volatile of its Asian counterparts: RBI Governor

According to the RBI Governor, a rate increase of 25 bps is acceptable at this time, and monetary policy should remain flexible and responsive to inflation.

According to the RBI, retail inflation will be 6.5% instead of 6.7% in FY23 and 5.3% in FY24.

Estimated growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) for FY23 was raised to 7% from 6.8%.

The RBI anticipates 6.4% GDP growth for 2023–2024.

Rate adjustment for the SDF (Standing Deposit Facility) to 6.25% from 6%.

Early trading sees the Indian rupee gain 4 paise to 82.66 against the US dollar as traders assess Jerome Powell’s remarks and wait for the Reserve Bank of India to announce its policy.

K Satyanarayana Raju named as new MD and CEO of Canara Bank

Why In News

The Union Government has appointed K Satyanarayana Raju as its Managing Director and CEO of Canara Bank, with immediate effect.

Key Points

The Union Government has appointed K Satyanarayana Raju as its Managing Director and CEO of Canara Bank, with immediate effect. He will be replacing L V Prabhakar who demitted office on December 31, 2022. He joined the erstwhile Vijaya Bank in 1988, and rose to the level of chief general manager in Bank of Baroda. His experience has led to digital transformation of banking products and services.

Career and Experience of Raju

Raju, who is a Physics Graduate, Post Graduate in Business Administration (Banking and Finance) and CAIIB (Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers), had earlier served Canara Bank as Executive Director since March 10, 2021. He has a very rich and vast experience in all segments of banking including Branch Banking, Corporate Credit, Retail Credit, Agri Financing, Credit Monitoring, Credit Recovery, Compliance etc. Also his rich experience and exposure led to digital transformation of banking products and services.

Canara Bank

Canara Bank is an Indian public sector bank under the control and ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Established in 1906 at Mangalore by Ammembal Subba Rao Pai, the bank also has offices in London, Dubai and New York.