RBI cuts repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.5%

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan cut the policy rate to 6.5% taking note of falling retail inflation and the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline.

  • The first monetary policy of the new fiscal announced a cut of 25 basis point in repo rate, no change in the cash reserve ratio.
  • But in a surprise move, RBI also raised the reverse repo – or the rates lenders charge to the central bank – by 25 basis points to 6.0 percent, while taking measures to ensure more availability of cash in the banking system.

The RBI forecasts the economy to grow at 7.6 per cent in Financial Year 2017. The central bank has maintained its FY17 CPI inflation target at 5 per cent.

First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2016-17

  • Repo Rate : 6.50%
  • Reverse Repo Rate : 6.00%
  • Marginal Standing Facility Rate : 7.00%
  • Bank Rate : 7.00%
  • CRR : 4%
  • SLR : 21.25%

India’s first semi-high speed train Gatiman flagged off

India’s First Semi-High Speed Train (SHST) Gatimaan Express was flagged off between New Delhi and Agra. It was flagged off by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu from Nizamuddin Railway station in New Delhi and reached Agra on time in 100 minutes. It is faster than Shatabdi Express which takes 117 minutes between two destinations.

PM Narendra Modi launches Stand up India scheme for SC/ST, women

In order to promote entrepreneurship, Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated the “Stand up India scheme” and a Web portal for the scheme in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

  • The initiative is taken to elevate entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste/Schedule Tribe and Women by providing loans between Rs. 10 Lakhs to Rs. 100 Lakhs.
  • PM Modi also flagged off 5100 e-rickshaws under MUDRA Yojana and interacted with beneficiaries, besides inaugurating a Kaushal Vikas Kendra in Noida.

DCB Bank launches Aadhaar-based ATM

Maharashtra based Small-sized lender DCB Bank has started an Aadhaar-based ATM usage facility in which a customer can transact using his biometric details instead of the PIN. This is the first of its kind.

  • The ATM will dispense cash from the bank account by accepting Aadhaar number and Aadhaar fingerprint (biometric) of the customer instead of ATM/Debit Card and PIN.
  • The customer can swipe the card at an ATM or key-in the 12-digit Aadhaar number to start a transaction.
  • But at the stage of confirming the identity, it requires biometric details rather than the PIN.

Current Affair One Liner:

  • PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti sworn in as the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • Tran Dai Quang has sworn in as the ninth President of Vietnam after he was elected by country’s National Assembly.
  • The world’s first public dengue vaccination programme was launched in the Philippines as nurses began injecting the first batch of a million children with a French drug to combat the sometimes deadly disease.
  • Chief Minister Nitish Kumar declares Bihar as dry state from today with banned on the sale of any type of liquor in the state. Bihar has become the fourth state after Gujarat, Mizoram and Nagaland to completely ban the sale of alcohol.
  • The 53rd National Maritime Day is observed on 5th April with the theme of “Ease of doing business in the maritime sector”.
  • Five-time world chess champion Vishwanathan Anand will be honoured with the Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award. Maharashtra State Governor C Vidyasagar Rao will bestow award upon him at an event to be held in Mumbai on April 12, 2016.