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Indian fintech firm, NPST partners with Hyperface to enable instant credit access via UPI for banks

Bank of Baroda Leads the Way with Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)-Powered Merchant Cashback Initiative

About Bank of Baroda (BoB):

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Launches Centralized Database for Corporate Bonds

Recent News:

About SEBI :

Reserve Bank of India’s ‘Regulations at a Glance’ Handbook: Key Takeaways for Cooperative Banks

Key Highlights:

Recent News:

About RBI :

India and Japan renew $75 billion bilateral currency swap agreement

What Is a Currency Swap?

Reserve Bank of India penalises HSBC, IIFL Samasta Finance over compliance lapses

UPI Lite Integration: WhatsApp Set to Simplify Digital Transactions

About UPI Lite:

Fintech startup,Rupee112 Launches India’s First Fully Automated WhatsApp Loan Disbursal

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Records Highest-Ever Monthly Transactions in January 2025

As of January 2025, the UPI ecosystem includes:

RECENT NEWS:

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced a $10 billion dollar-rupee buy-sell swap

Key highlights

How the Swap Works

Additional Liquidity Measures by RBI

10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations Achieved under Government’s Flagship Scheme

Key Highlights of the Scheme

About the Scheme

Financial Assistance Provided

Financial Support for FPOs

Role of FPOs in Agriculture

What are FPOs?

Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) are registered groups of farmers who collaborate for better market access, reduced costs, and resource sharing.

Objectives of FPOs

Government Support & Ministry Convergence

Ministry/Department	Support Provided
Agriculture & Farmers Welfare	Licenses, dealership support, e-NAM linkages
Food Processing	35% capital subsidy, 50% grant for branding and marketing
MSME	Funds for management, equity grants, and credit facility
Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying	Dairy FPO support with ₹500 crore allocation
APEDA	Export assistance for registered FPOs
Spices Board	Support for value-added spice production and export

Key Initiatives Under the Scheme

Centre Plans to Reduce States’ Tax Share to 40%:

Key Highlights of the Proposal

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Hosts Literary Discussion on Kailash Satyarthi’s Autobiography Diyaslai

About the Book – Diyaslai

India Extends $1 Mn Grant To Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) For Rice Fortification Project

Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation Retains 8.25% Interest Rate on Provident Fund Deposits for FY 2024-25

Key Decisions from the CBT Meeting

Additional Discussions & Decisions

The CBT also discussed two major demands raised by trade unions:

The board has asked EPFO to prepare a detailed report on these issues for discussion in a future meeting.

To enhance insurance benefits for EPF members and their families, the CBT approved several key changes to the EDLI scheme:

(a) Minimum Life Insurance Benefit

(b) EDLI Benefit for Employees Who Die Within Six Months of Last Contribution

(c) Relaxation in Employment Continuity Norms

RECENT NEWS

Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) – January 2025 Report

Understanding the Eight Core Industries

The ICI covers eight key industries, which together hold a 40.27% weightage in the overall Index of Industrial Production (IIP):

Performance Overview – January 2025

Sector-Wise Growth Analysis

Key Takeaways from ICI January 2025 Report

India-European Union Meeting on Science & Technology Cooperation Held in New Delhi

High-Level Participation from India and EU

On the Indian side, the meeting was attended by key officials, including:

From the European Commission, the delegation included:

Strengthening Research & Innovation in Key Areas

Discussions focused on deepening India-EU research partnerships in critical sectors such as:

India’s Growing Innovation Ecosystem Recognized

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

Oldest Test Cricketer Ron Draper Passed Away at 98

Oldest Living Test Cricketer Now

Previous Oldest Test Cricketers

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

World Seagrass Day – March 1

What is Seagrass?

Key Characteristics of Seagrass:

History of World Seagrass Day

• It developed unique adaptations like underwater pollination and saline resistance.
• Recognizing its ecological importance, the UN declared March 1 as World Seagrass Day to raise awareness and encourage global conservation.
• The initiative was driven by Sri Lanka’s resolution at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

World Hearing Day: 3rd March

• World Hearing Day is announced to be celebrated on March 3rd, 2025.
• This year 2025, World Hearing Day theme is “Changing mindsets: Empower yourself to make ear and hearing care a reality for all!”
• In late 1816, Laurent Clerc helped to establish the earliest recorded permanent institution for deaf students in the U. S.
• In 1870, Hearing educators eliminated sign language and agreed to embrace oral teaching at the Second International Congress on Deaf Education in Milan, Italy.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) created a holiday to raise awareness to avoid deafness in 2007 and the holiday was renamed from International Ear Care Day to World Hearing Day in 2016.

World Wildlife Day: 3rd March

• World Wildlife Day 2025 is celebrated on March 3rd, 2025.
• World Wildlife Day 2025 theme is “Wildlife Conservation Finance: Investing in People and Planet”.
• Thailand proposed World Wildlife Day in the General Assembly of the UN on December 20, 2013, to create awareness among people about the world’s wild animals and plants.
• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared March 3, at its 68th session, the day of the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Daily CA One- Liner: March 2 & 3

• The Central Sector Scheme for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 29, 2020, with a budget of ₹6,865 crore till 2027-28
• The Union government is considering a reduction in the share of central tax revenues allocated to states, lowering it from the current 41% to at least 40%.
• The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), under the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the Satyarthi Movement for Global Compassion, organized a literary discussion on Diyaslai, the autobiography of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi
• The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), in its meeting held, recommended that the current annual interest rate of 8.25% on provident fund deposits be retained for the financial year 2024-25
• The Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) is a key economic indicator that tracks the performance of eight fundamental sectors of the Indian economy. These industries significantly influence the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), making their growth an important marker of economic health
• An India-European Union (EU) —An India-European Union (EU) Meeting on Science and technology of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Vigyan Bhawan Annexe
• NPST, an Indian fintech firm, has partnered with Hyperface to offer embedded credit lines through UPI for banks and credit issuers.
• The Indian government has granted approximately USD 1 million to Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) under the India-UN Development Partnership Fund.
• Bank of Baroda (BoB) has launched a pilot Loyalty/Cashback Programme for merchants, leveraging the programmability of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has launched a centralised database portal for corporate bonds called Bond Central to provide a single, authentic source of information on corporate securities.
• The Reserve Bank of India has released the“Regulations at a Glance” handbook, compiled by the Department of Regulation (DoR), to provide a broad overview of the regulatory landscape across various activities and entities.
• The Bank of Japan, acting as agent for the Minister of Finance of Japan, and the Reserve Bank of India signed the second Amendment and Restatement Agreement of the Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA).
• Reserve Bank of India imposed a penalty of ₹66.60 lakh on HSBC and ₹33.10 lakh on IIFL Samasta Finance.
• WhatsApp is working on integrating UPI Lite to enhance its payment system.
• Rupee112, a Gurgaon-based fintech startup, has launched India’s first fully automated loan disbursal service via WhatsApp.
• UPI transactions in January 2025 surpassed 16.99 billion, with a total transaction value exceeding Rs 23.48 lakh crore, marking the highest number recorded in any month, according to the Finance Ministry
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced a $10 billion dollar-rupee buy-sell swap on February 21, 2025, to inject rupee liquidity for a longer duration.
• Ron Draper, a top-order batsman and occasional wicketkeeper, played two Test matches for South Africa against Australia in 1950.
• World Seagrass Day is observed annually on March 1 to highlight the ecological importance of seagrass and promote conservation efforts.
• World Hearing Day is announced to be celebrated on March 3rd, 2025.
• World Wildlife Day 2025 is celebrated on March 3rd, 2025.