1. The Sensex plunged 824 points, or 1.
1 per cent, to close at 75,366, while the Nifty 50
dropped 263 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 22,829 — their lowest closing levels since June 6
last year. The Nifty 50 closed below the 23,000 mark for the first time since June 7.
2. The Union finance ministry has asked public-sector banks (PSBs) to intensify
expanding the coverage of government-backed affordable life insurance schemes under
its financial-inclusion initiative, according to a senior government official.
As of December 2024, the enrolment targets and achievements for the Pradhan Mantri
Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) across various banks, including sponsored Regional
Rural Banks (RRBs), show that only about half the annual target has been met,”
State Bank of India led with an annual-target achievement of 76 per cent, while others
like Indian Bank and Punjab & Sind Bank clocked 58 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively.
Nine PSBs have achieved less than 50 per cent of their annual targets.
However, enrolment targets and achievements for the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima
Yojana (PMSBY) across various banks, including sponsored Regional Rural Banks (RRBs),
have been better.
SBI demonstrated strong performance, achieving 92 per cent of its target, followed by
PNB (65 per cent) and Indian Bank (64 per cent).
Central Bank of India reached 59 per cent, while Canara Bank and Bank of Baroda
achieved 58 per cent and 56 per cent respectively.
3. The Ministry of Finance has invited applications for the post of Securities and Exchange
Board of India (Sebi) chief with just a month left in the tenure of the current chairperson
Madhabi Puri Buch.
4. The number of credit cards has more than doubled to around 10.80 crore in five years
through December 2019 but the number of debit cards has remained relatively stable,
says a Reserve Bank report released on Monday.
The report also said digital payments in India have grown exponentially in the last decade.
While in calendar year (CY)-2013 there were 222 crore digital transactions valued at Rs
772 lakh crore, it has increased 94 times in volume and more than 3.5 times in value to
over 20,787 crore transactions valued at Rs 2,758 lakh crore in CY-2024. It further said at
end-December 2024, the number of credit cards has more than doubled to around 10.80
crore as compared to December 2019, when there were 5.53 crore cards in circulation.
In contrast, the number of debit cards has remained relatively stable, with a marginal
increase from 80.53 crore in December 2019 to slightly more than 99.09 crore in
December 2024.
5. Sridhar Vembu steps down as Zoho CEO; Shailesh Kumar Davey to succeed
6. RBI opens liquidity floodgates; announces Rs 60k crore OMO purchase plan
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday announced a three-pronged measure to
address tight liquidity conditions in the banking system, just 10 days before the six-
member Monetary Policy Committee’s decision on the repo rate.
These steps, are expected to inject approximately Rs 1.5 trillion into the system, reducing
the likelihood of further cash reserve ratio (CRR) cuts. Following the policy review in
December, the RBI had already lowered the CRR by 50 basis points, infusing Rs 1.16
trillion. The central bank announced open market operations (OMO) to purchase
government securities worth Rs 60,000 crore in three tranches of Rs 20,000 crore each
on January 30, February 13, and February 20. This is the first OMO purchase programme
announced by RBI after almost five years, that is, since 26, March 2020.
7. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra flags rising issue of digital frauds
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra flagged the rise in digital frauds
while emphasising the need for robust and proactive systems to thwart such attempts
during his first interaction with managing directors and chief executive officers (CEOs) of
public and private sector banks after taking charge.
He also directed banks to enhance oversight over third-party service providers to mitigate
risks and strengthen customer service and grievance redress mechanisms
Public sector lender Union Bank of India’s (Union Bank) net profit rose by 28.24 per cent
year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 4,604 crore during the third quarter ended (Q3FY25), driven
by healthy growth in non-interest income.
8. The contribution of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to the cumulative digital
payments ecosystem more than doubled in five years, rising from 34 per cent in 2019 to
83 per cent in 2024, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) payment
system report. The share of other digital payment methods, such as National Electronic
Funds Transfer (NEFT), Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), Immediate Payment Service
(IMPS), and credit and debit cards, declined from 66 per cent in 2019 to 17 per cent at the
end of 2024.
In 2024 alone, India recorded 208.5 billion digital payment transactions.
The growing share of India’s real-time payments system, UPI, can be attributed to the
increasing adoption of this digital payment method.
Between 2019 and 2024, the volume of UPI P2M (person-to-merchant) payments grew
faster than UPI P2P (person-to-person) transactions
9. Union Bank of India’s (Union Bank) net profit rose by 28.24 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-
Y) to Rs 4,604 crore during the third quarter ended (Q3FY25). net profit declined by 2.46
per cent from Rs 4,720 crore in the September quarter of 2024.
10. Canara Bank on Monday reported a 12.25 percent increase in its standalone net profit
to Rs 4,104.20 crore for the third quarter ended on December 31, 2024. The bank had
earned a net profit of Rs 3,656.12 crore in the October-December quarter of the previous
year.
During the quarter, the bank’s interest income rose to Rs 30,311.61 crore from Rs
28,038.83 crore in the same period last fiscal. The bank’s Net Interest Income (NII)
declined 2.85 percent to Rs 9,148.57 crore as against Rs 9,417 crore in the same quarter
of FY24. The gross Non-Performing Asset (NPA) moderated to 3.34 percent as against
4.39 percent of the total advances at the end of December 2023. Similarly, the net NPA
declined marginally to 0.89 percent as compared to 1.32 per cent at the end of December
2023.
