Which bank has sanctioned a loan Rs 689 crore to over 1,600 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)?

Canara Bank and its life insurance partner Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance launched 'Webassurance' to enable its customers to purchase life insurance in a convenient and hassle-free way. Total Four life insurance products of Canara HSBC OBC Life would be made available to its customers with various facilities like key needs of child future, savings, and investments, retirement planning and protection. This Life Insurance is jointly owned by Canara Bank (51 percent) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (23 percent) and HSBC Insurance Holdings (26 percent), the Asian insurance arm of HSBC.

Two international financial institutions the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have launched a private blockchain and quasi-crypto currency called as "Learning Coin" for better understanding of blockchain technology and the function of crypto assets. The asset will only be available for use within the IMF and the World Bank. It has no monetary value, means it is not a true cryptocurrency. After the testing period, the IMF and the World Bank may use blockchain technology to create smart contracts, fight money laundering, and improve transparency.

State Bank of India (SBI) has launched doorstep banking service for senior citizens over 70 years of age and differently-abled customers. Eligible customers can avail this service at a nominal fee of 100 rupees per transaction for financial transactions and 60 rupees for non-financial transactions. Doorstep banking services are available to KYC- compliant account holders, with a valid mobile number registered with the bank and residing within 5 kilometers radius from their home branch. This service will not be available for accounts operated jointly, minor accounts, and accounts of non-personal nature.

The RBI cut its repo rate by 25 basis points to 6% in its first bi-monthly policy review of 2019-20. The decision comes a week before the election starts on April 11. The central bank had reduced the benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points in February after an 18-month gap. The reverse repo rate, too, was lowered from 6% to 5.75%. The bank rate was fixed at 6.25%. What is Repo rate? Repo rate refers to the rate at which commercial banks borrow money from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in case of shortage of funds.

State Bank of India (SBI) announced it had raised Rs.1,251.30 crore by issuing Basel III-compliant bonds. The Committee of Directors for Capital Raising, at its meeting on 22 March 2019, deliberated and accorded approval to allot 12,513 non-convertible, taxable, perpetual, subordinated, unsecured Basel III-compliant additional tier-I bonds, for inclusion in additional tier-I capital of the bank aggregating to Rs.1,251.30 crore. The bonds with a face value of Rs.10 lakh each bears a coupon rate of 9.45% per annum payable annually with a call option after 5 years or any anniversary date thereafter. The bonds were subscribed on 22nd March.

Mangaluru based Karnataka Bank Limited appointed Balachandra Y V as Chief Operation Officer (COO) and Gokuldas Pai as Chief Business Officer (CBO). Earlier, both are General Managers of Karnataka Bank who were promoted as COO and CBO of the bank. The previous COO of Karnataka Bank was Raghavendra Bhat M.

Recently, Etihad Airways, UAE based flag carrier, has become the first major airline in the gulf region to operate a flight without any single-use plastics on board. The objective is to raise awareness about pollution on Earth Day. The flight named EY484, first flight without use of plastics landed in Brisbane, Australia on April 22, Earth Day. Etihad Airways has pledged to reduce single-use plastic usage by 80 percent across the entire organization by the end of 2022 and this EY484 flight is a part of this pledge.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML), the excess reserves that RBI holds could be up to Rs.3 lakh crore ($43 billion) or 1.5% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). This also includes the excess capital in contingency reserves and revaluation reserves. The Bimal Jalan committee on the appropriate capital reserves for RBI was likely to identify this excess buffer. The committee was set up in December-end with a 6-member panel headed by former RBI governor Jalan. Indranil Sen Gupta, chief India economist at BofAML notified that RBI maintains higher contingency reserves as a percentage of its total book compared to its peers in Brazil, Russia and South Africa, thus a lower cap will bring in more funds. The BofAML report stated that capping overall reserves at 20% from 25.5% will release Rs. 1.96 lakh crore and there is no specific hindrance which would deter RBI from transferring the money to government.

Government infused a capital of Rs. 205 crore into the state owned Bank of Maharashtra in lieu of preferential allotment of shares. After the Capital infusion, the shareholding of government in Bank of Maharashtra has increased to 87.74 % from 87.01%.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued Rs. 50 denomination banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series that bore Shri Shaktikanta Das' (Governor of RBI) signature. i.The design of these notes is exactly similar to the 'Rs 50 banknotes' in Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series. ii.The RBI notified that all bank notes in the denomination of Rs. 50 issued by the Central Bank in the past will continue to be legal tender.The dimension of the Rs. 50 banknote is 66 mm x 135 mm.On the frontal side, the numeral '50' is written in the Devanagari script along with Mahatma Gandhi's portrait in the centre.A small design of the denominational numeral '50' is printed on the front and back sides of the note, in the middle of the vertical band next to the watermark. It has a correct back-to-back registration and, according to the RBI, the design appears as one when seen against the light.