National & International Appointments
1. Ram Chandra Paudel elected as the third President of Nepal
- Senior Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Paudel (78) has been elected the third President of Nepal.
- He defeated CPN-UML Vice-chair Subash Chandra Nembang.
- He won the presidential elections with 33,802 votes, while his opponent received 15,518 votes.
- The President is elected by an Electoral College consisting of the members of the Federal Parliament and the Provincial Assembly.
- The tenure of Bidya Devi Bhandari as Nepal's President will be ended on March 12.
Banking & Finance
2. Axis Bank, ITC partner to offer rural lending products to farmers
- Axis Bank and ITC (FMCG) joined hands to offer lending products and services to farmers who are a part of ITC's agriculture ecosystem.
- Aim: To enable the bank to reach out to the unserved and under-served farmers across rural regions.
- The bank will offer credit facilities for rural lending products like Farmer Funding loans & Gold Loans.
- The bank will also leverage ITC-MAARS (Meta Market for Advanced Agricultural Rural Services) to address farmers' financial needs.
Banking & Finance
3. Bank of Baroda board approves 49% stake divestment in BFSL
- In an exchange filing, the Bank of Baroda has informed that the bank's board has approved divesting up to 49% stake in subsidiary BoB Financial Solutions Ltd.
- Currently, BOB holds 100% of the total equity share capital of BFSL.
- BFSL, a registered non-banking financial institution, is primarily involved in credit cards and merchant-acquiring businesses.
- Bank of Baroda MD & CEO: Sanjiv Chadha; Chairman: Hasmukh Adhia
- BoB HQ: Vadodara
Honours & Awards
4. India Bags Golden & Silver Star at ITB, Berlin 2023
- The Ministry of Tourism of India has bagged a Golden & Silver Star at The International ‘Golden City Gate Tourism Awards 2023’ at ITB, Berlin 2023.
- Category: TV/Cinema Commercials International and Country International
- Arvind Singh, Secretary (Tourism) received awards on 8th March 2023 at ITB, Berlin.
- The Golden City Gate Tourism Multi-media Awards are given annually in various categories related to the Tourism and Hospitality sectors.
National & International Appointments
5. Citi appoints Bhanu Vohra as head for commercial banking in India
- Citi group has named Bhanu Vohra as the head of Citi Commercial Bank (CCB) business in India.
- He has replaced Tushar Vikram, who is now the global head of healthcare for CCB.
- He will report to Ashu Khullar (Citi India CEO) and Rajat Madhok (head of Citi Commercial Bank Asia Pacific).
- The Citi Commercial Bank business addresses the banking and financial services requirements of emerging large corporates and mid-market enterprises.
Banking & Finance
6. FinMin tightens definition of beneficial owners under PMLA
- The FinMin has tightened the definition of beneficial owners under the anti-money laundering law, mandating reporting entities to collect information from their clients.
- Beneficial Owners: Any individual or group holding 10% ownership (earlier 25%) in the client of a reporting entity
- The reporting entities are banks and financial institutions engaged in real estate and jewellery sectors.
- They also include intermediaries in casinos and crypto or virtual digital assets.
Important Dates
7. International Day of Women Judges 2023: March 10
- The International Day of Women Judges is observed every year on March 10 to honour all-female judges who have taken the lead in the fight against social injustice.
- This day is being observed with the campaign “Women in Justice, Women for Justice”.
- It is a symbolic day for the fight for gender equality and the fight against gender-based discrimination.
- In April 2021, UNGA enacted resolution 75/274 designating March 10 as the International Day of Women Judges
Honours & Awards
8. WINS Awards 2023 launched by MoHUA
- The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri has launched the ‘Women Icons Leading Swachhata’ (WINS) Awards 2023.
- Aim: To recognize celebrate and disseminate inspiring and exemplary initiatives in urban sanitation and waste management by women-led organizations and individual women.
- The applications are open from 8th March to 5th April 2023.
- Applications for the Awards are open to SHG, Micro-enterprises, NGOs, Startups, and Individuals.
Science & Technology
9. NASA, Italian Space Agency join hands to monitor air pollution
- NASA has partnered with the Italian Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) to build and launch MAIA (Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols) missions.
- Aim: To investigate the health impacts of air pollution in the world’s most populated cities.
- It is the first mission of the agency whose primary goal is to benefit societal health and will launch before the end of 2024.
- It will consist of the PLATiNO-2 satellite (provided by ASI), and a science instrument (NASA).
Banking & Finance
10. BSE, NSE shortlists 5paisa, HDFC Sec, others as qualified stock brokers
- Stock exchanges BSE and NSE have designated 15 trading platforms as Qualified Stock Brokers (QSBs) with effect from July 1, 2023.
- These shortlisted stock brokers are required to meet enhanced obligations and discharge additional responsibilities.
- Some of the notable stock brokers in the QSB list are Zerodha Broking, 5Paisa Capital, HDFC Securities, IIFL Securities, ICICI Securities, Motilal Financial Services, Kotak Securities, and Sharekhan among others.
National & International Appointments
11. Axis MF appointed B Gopkumar as CEO of Axis Securities
- B Gopkumar (MD & CEO of Axis Securities) has been appointed as the new CEO of Axis Mutual Fund.
- He would replace Chandresh Nigam who has stepped down as the CEO.
- Nigam's tenure will be ended April 30, 2023, and Gopkumar will take over on May 1, 2023, for a 3-year term.
- Gopkumar has been in charge of Axis Securities since October 2019.
- In addition, the fund house also appointed Ashish Gupta to be its new chief investment officer.
Banking & Finance
12. Yes Bank and Aadhar Housing Finance ink co-lending partnership
- Yes Bank has partnered with Aadhar Housing Finance Ltd to offer home loans at competitive interest rates to customers from lower and middle-income groups.
- This partnership is in accordance with the co-lending framework of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
- Under this framework, the RBI enables banks and non-banking companies to jointly bring forth financial solutions that cater to the requirements of unserved and underserved sections of society.
Banking & Finance
13. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank launches “Unpause Initiative”
- Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has launched the ‘Unpause Initiative’ to assist women who have taken a career break and are now ready to return to the workforce.
- The initiative is part of the bank's commitment to promoting workplace diversity and inclusion.
- The bank’s employees participated in a 3 km walk from its registered headquarters in Koramangala to support an initiative.
- Ujjivan SFB has also announced a special Hiring Drive and Employee referral program for women.
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