STRESSED ASSETS Topic: Economy Section: Money and banking Context: Banks’ plan to transfer 15 stressed assets aggregating about ₹50,000 crore to the National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) by March end may face delay. Concept: Background: NARCL (also known as bad bank) has been set up by banks, will aggregate and consolidate select […]

    EXCISE DUTY ON PETROL/DIESEL TOPIC: Economy Section: Fiscal Policy Context- The government has ruled out cutting central excise duty on petrol and diesel. In the mean time, it is looking to the Russian window for supply of crude, which is expected to cushion the impact of surging prices of Indian basket of crude. […]

    PAYMENT NETWORKS TOPIC: Economy Section: Monetary Policy and banking Context- The sanctions-led withdrawal of card payments networks like Visa and Mastercard from Russia throws light on the dominance of US-based companies in the global payments ecosystem. Concept- In India two UPI cost apps — Walmart-owned PhonePe and Google Pay — accounted for over […]

    EPFO TOPIC: Economy Context- The return on workers’ retirement savings parked with the Employees’ EPFO has been slashed to 8.1% for 2021-22 from the 8.5% rate credited to members’ accounts in the past two years. Concept- The cut in the EPF rate, at a time when inflation is resurging, attracted criticism from the […]

    Gold- safe haven Subject: Economy Section: External sector Context: Gold prices rising Concept : A safe haven is a type of investment that is expected to retain or increase in value during times of market turbulence. Investors seek out safe havens in order to limit their exposure to losses in the event of […]

    Current Account Deficit Subject: Economy Section: External sector Context: It is expected that the current account deficit of India will widen to a 10-year high of 3 percent of GDP in FY23 due to the Ukraine War Concept: Balance of Payments Balance of Payments (BoP) of a country can be defined as a systematic […]

    Terms of trade Subject: Economy Section: External sector Context: The surge in energy prices due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict could trigger a ‘terms-of-trade’ shock for large net energy importers like India Concept: Terms of trade are defined as the ratio between the index of export prices and the index of import prices. If […]

    Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Subject : Economy Section :Monetary Policy and Banking Context: Proposed digital currency by RBI to speed up transactions , reduce cost of cash The Reserve Bank of India is planning to come out with a central bank-backed digital currency, using blockchain technology in 2022-23. A Central Bank Digital […]

    Asset Monetisation Subject: Economy Section: Fiscal Policy Context: Cabinet nod for new firm to monetise land assets Concept: National Land Monetisation Corporation to undertake monetisation of non-core assets such as surplus land of Central Public Sector Enterprises and government agencies. The new company will have an initial authorised share capital of ₹5,000 crore […]

    Sin goods and sin tax Subject: Economy Section: Fiscal Policy Concept: Sin goods are goods which are considered harmful to society. Examples of sin goods: Alcohol and Tobacco, Candies, Drugs, Soft drinks, Fast foods, Coffee, Sugar, Gambling, etc. Taxes levied by the government on sin goods called Sin Tax. A sin tax is […]