• Reserve Bank of India Governor, Shaktikanta Das revealed that RBI will soon make cardless cash withdrawal facility available at all banks ATMs using UPI facility.
• It is proposed to enable customer authorisation through the use of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) while settlement of such transactions would happen through the ATM networks

• The Finance Ministry on April 8  said it has released the first instalment of revenue deficit grant of Rs 7,183 crore to 14 states.
• The grant has been released as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission to Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
• The commission had recommended a total Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant of Rs 86,201 crore to 14 states for the financial year 2022-23, which will be released in 12 monthly instalments.
• The grants are released to the states as per the recommendations of the successive Finance Commissions to meet the gap in Revenue Accounts of the states post-devolution.

Seeking to facilitate a higher credit flow of individual housing loans, the RBI on April 8  extended the rationalised home loan norms by another year till March 31, 2023.

In October 2020, the Reserve Bank as a countercyclical measure to deal with the COVID situation had rationalised the risk weights by linking them only with Loan to Value (LTV) ratios for all new housing loans sanctioned up to March 31, 2022.

Unveiling the first bi-monthly monetary policy of the current fiscal, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the risk weights for individual housing loans were rationalised by linking them only with LTV ratios for all new housing loans sanctioned up to March 31, 2022.

Recognising the importance of the housing sector and its multiplier effects, it has been decided to extend the applicability of these guidelines till March 31, 2023, he said.

Such loans will continue to attract a risk weight of 35 per cent where LTV is less than or equal to 80 per cent, and a risk weight of 50 per cent where LTV is more than 80 per cent but less than or equal to 90 per cent.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on April 8 y decided to keep the interest rates unchanged for the eleventh time in a row, the Reserve Bank of India’s Governor Shaktikanta Das said.

The repo rate and reverse repo rate remain the same at 4 per cent and 3.35 per cent respectively.

The MPC had met on April 6-April 8 and they voted unanimously to remain accommodative while focusing on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that the inflation remains within the target going forward while supporting growth.

“The marginal standing facility (MSF) and bank rate remain unchanged at 4.25 per cent. Further, it has been decided by the RBI to restore the width of the liquidity adjustment facility(LAF) to 50 basis points,” Das said.

• A digital banking unit (DBU) should have interactive teller machines, video KYC, video conferencing and call facilities. Banking regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on April 7  released the DBU guidelines, according to which only scheduled commercial banks with past digital banking experience are permitted to open DBUs in Tier 1 to Tier 6 centres.
• Each DBU must offer certain minimum digital banking products and services - both on the asset (loan) liabilities (deposits) side. The new guidelines say that the DBUs are expected to migrate to more structured and custom-made products, from standard offerings by use of their hybrid and high-quality interactive capabilities.
• Each digital banking unit should be housed distinctly with separate entry and exit provisions. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the launch of 75 digital banking units in 75 districts in her budget speech in February this year.

• Governor Shaktikanta Das in the post-monetary policy press briefing said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put inflation ahead of growth, changing its long-held monetary policy priority of growth over inflation.
• The governor said that the government is gradually moving away from an ultra-accommodative stance to an accommodative stance. To buttress his point, the governor cited the normalisation of the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) with the introduction of the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF).
• The SDF rate will be 25 bps below the policy rate (repo rate of 4%), and it will be applicable to overnight deposits at this stage. The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate will continue to be 25 bps above the policy repo rate.
• The RBI has raised the inflation estimate for the current financial year from 4.5% (announced in the February monetary policy) to 5.7% with first quarter inflation likely at 6.3%.
• On whether the central bank is behind the curve as far as the rate hike is concerned, the RBI governor said this depends on who is drawing the curve.
• On policy rates, the governor said that the RBI is very watchful, and that it would carry out whatever action needs to be taken depending on the evolving situation.
• Meanwhile, the RBI has reiterated that it is not developing any alternate rupee-rouble payment platform and that it will not do anything that goes against sanctions (on Russia).

Q1. To operate the MH-60 'Romeo' multi-role helicopters , the first batch of the aircrew of the Indian Navy has completed its training in 

            1. US

            2. UK

            3. Israel

            4. France

            5. None of These

Q2. Which of the following has successfully flight-tested a propulsion system that enables a missile to intercept aerial threats at very long range at supersonic speeds ?

            1. ISRO

            2. HAL

            3. DRDO

            4. BEL

            5. None of These

Q3. Name the district of Chhattisgarh  in the Bastar division  which had been removed from the list of districts affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) ?

            1. Bijapur

            2.  Narayanpur

            3.  Sukma

            4.  Kondagaon

            5. None of These

Q4. Name the country which is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from the UK in 1948?

            1. Myanmar

            2. Zimbabwe

            3. Sri Lanka

            4.  Yemen 

            5. None of These

Q5. Name the country  whose  senate  has confirmed  Ketanji Brown Jackson as first Black female justice to  the supreme court ?

            1. UK

            2. US

            3. France

            4. Germany

            5. None of These

Answers

1-------1   US

2----------3   DRDO

3-----------4   Kondagaon

4------------3   Sri Lanka

5------------2   US

Q1. The central government plans to provide 30 crore Ayushman cards under the ambitious Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) to poor and vulnerable families by

1. March 31 2023
2. Aug 15 2022
3. Dec 31 202Q2.
4. Jan 26 2023
5. None  of  These

Q2. Name the Amnesty International India chief  who has been  stopped from leaving  the country at the Bengaluru international airport in the wake of a CBI look out circular (LOC) issued on December 31 last year in an FCRA case, after which he moved a special court in Delhi challenging it?

1. Lilian Patel
2. Kash Patel
3. Eboo Patel
4. Aakar Patel
5. None of These

Q3. Name the country which plans to build eight new nuclear reactors and expand production of wind energy as it seeks to reduce dependence on oil and natural gas from Russia and other foreign suppliers following the invasion of Ukraine?

1. France
2. Canada
3. Britain
4. Germany
5. None of These

Q4. The  Houthis, a religious movement turned rebel militia is associated with

1. Saudi Arab
2. UAE
3. Iran
4. Yemen
5. None  of  These

Q5.  Name the  Spanish Prime Minister who is set to meet with Moroccan King Mohammed VI on April 7 during a two-day visit to Rabat that seeks to mark an easing of diplomatic tensions centered on Morocco's disputed region of Western Sahara ?

1. Nadia María Calviño Santamaría
2. Pedro Sánchez
3. Yolanda Díaz Pérez
4. Teresa Ribera Rodríguez
5. None  of  These

Answers

1------------1     March 31 2023

2------------4    Aakar Patel     

3------------3   Britain                                              

4------------4    Yemen

5------------2    Pedro Sánchez