·       Despite a spectacular jump in digital payments, the love for cash among Indians fails to go away.

·       The value of total cash in circulation is nearing Rs 30 lakh crore as the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows that total cash in circulation was worth Rs 29.84 lakh crore at the week ending 3rd December. This is 7.6% higher than the cash in circulation a year ago.

·       In terms of Cash-to-GDP ratio, this is already more than 13% of the budgeted GDP estimate of Rs 223 lakh crore in 2021-22.

·       The Cash-to-GDP ratio in 2020-21 was 14.41%, steadily rising from 8.67% at the end of 2016-17, the year in which Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes worth Rs 15.41 lakh crore were withdrawn from circulation.

·       India’s currency in circulation to GDP has crossed 12% when the government decided to demonetize Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on Nov 8, 2016.

·       Even as experts try to figure out the reasons for steady growth of cash in use in the economy, RBI governor T Rabi Shankar in the post-monetary policy press briefing  has said that “cash continues to be a major instrument for very small transactions of below Rs 500.“There is also a store of value demand for currencies,” the deputy governor reasoned.

·       The currency in circulation at the end of 2016-17 was worth Rs 13.35 lakh crore, and over the past 5 years, it has grown at the of 17% annually while the nominal GDP during the same time has grown at 7.7%.

·       Digital payments in India have become popular with UPI-based payments registering a huge surge. According to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the value of monthly transactions through UPI has been around Rs 7.7 lakh crore. In 2016-17, a total value of retail transactions on UPI was a mere Rs 6,947 crore. Retail transactions worth Rs 49 lakh crore have taken place through UPI alone so far in 2021-22.

·       The Indian Space Research Organisation on Dec 10  signed an agreement with Chinese tech giant Oppo to strengthen the research and development (R&D) of the NavIC messaging service.

·       As per the MoU, both ISRO and Oppo India will exchange technical information of NavIC messaging services to build rapid, ready-to-use, end-to-end application-specific solutions by integrating the NavIC messaging service with the mobile handset platform keeping in mind the need of Indian users.

·       NavIC system provides detailed regional navigation services covering the Indian mainland and an area up to 1,500 km beyond it. NavIC is also capable of broadcasting short messages.

·       To reduce the digital divide that exists in India today and to ensure the 5G network reaches everywhere, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Dec 10 suggested using Fixed Wireless Access devices (FWA) connected to 5G networks.

·    While speaking at the India Mobile Congress, P D Vaghela, Chairman of TRAI has  highlighted the importance of 5G, saying the network “will provide an opportunity to create a purpose-built network tailored to the different needs and can propel the growth of the nation”.

·       UAE-based retail giant Lulu Group will invest Rs 2,000 crore in Gujarat to set up a modern shopping mall which will create employment opportunities for over 5,000 people .

·       The announcement was made after Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel met NRI businessman and Lulu Group Chairman and Managing Director Yusuffali MA in Dubai.

·       Patel led a delegation in the UAE this week to promote the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit to be held in January 2022, and make a strong pitch to global investors to capitalise on the state's ease of doing business.

·       Apart from a shopping mall, the Lulu Group will also set up food processing and logistics centres in Baroda and Surat respectively, which will facilitate exports .

·       The Lulu Group currently operates more than 220 hypermarkets and shopping malls in the Middle East, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia and India. Globally, it employs more than 57,000 people, with Lulu hypermarkets and department stores enjoying a 32 per cent share of the retail market in Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

·    The group has also invested in India's retail market with mega malls in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh. The Lulu Mall in Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow is expected to be open for shopping by March 2022.

·      The former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Jaitu Baldev Singh has  joined the Congress . He was disqualified in October from the membership of the Punjab Assembly by speaker under the anti-defection law.

·       Gujarat BJP MLA Asha Patel died while undergoing treatment for dengue in a hospital in Ahmedabad .

·       Patel, who was active in the Patidar stir for quota, was elected as MLA from Unjha for the first time in 2017 on a Congress ticket, but switched over to the ruling BJP in February, 2019 and then won a bypoll.

·       In a setback to the Congress in Bihar, Shubhanand Mukesh, whose late father Sadanand Singh was a party heavyweight, on Dec 12  crossed over to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) along with a large number of supporters.

·       Ahead of the crucial 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Samajwadi Party got a shot in the arm on Dec 12  when two sitting MLAs, one from the BJP and one from the BSP, joined the party at its headquarters in presence of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.

·       The legislators are Vinay Shankar Tiwari (BSP) from Chillupar assembly seat in Gorakhpur and Digvijay Narayan alias Jai Chaubey from Khalilabad constituency in Sant Kabir Nagar.

·       Former chairman of the UP Legislative Council Ganesh Shankar Pandey, who was fielded by the BSP in 2010 for the post of council chairman, also joined the Samajwadi Party.