Business, Economy & Banking Current Affairs MCQs

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The UK has requested India to provide higher protection for its agricultural Geographical Indication (GI) products under the proposed free trade agreement (FTA).
Some British GI products include: Scotch whisky, Cheese. Indian legislation treats all products equally in terms of GI protection. Thirteen rounds of negotiations have been completed between India and the UK on the FTA.

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L&T Finance, one of the leading non-banking financial companies in the country, has signed a financing pact with ADB for USD 125 million to support financing in rural and peri-urban areas of India.
The funding comprises a loan of up to USD 125 million from ADB and an agreement to syndicate an additional $125 million in co-financing from other development partners. At least 40 percent of the proceeds are allocated to women borrowers, while the rest will support farmers, MSMEs, and loans to purchase new two-wheeled vehicles.

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IndiGo has launched an AI chatbot, 6Eskai, powered by the GPT-4 technology with an aim to address travellers’ queries in 10 different languages and to offer a platform for booking tickets across the entire network.
Developed in-house by IndiGo’s digital team, in close collaboration with Microsoft, the AI chatbot is capable of booking tickets, applying discounts, booking addons, performing web check-ins, helping in seat selection, planning trips, answering FAQs, and connecting customers with an agent. Moreover, the bot is also capable of understanding verbal instructions using speech-to-text models.

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Bharat Bill Payments (BBPS), the platform built by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to digitise the country’s large utility bill payments market, is increasingly being used for loan repayments and clearing credit card dues.
The way utility bills get generated for consumers every month, EMI (equated monthly instalment) gets generated every month on a specific date for borrowers. The customer can use any mode of payment to clear the EMI due, and this is where the BBPS platform is fast emerging as a popular tool.

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Global lithium ion (Li-ion) battery cell supplier, TDK Corporation will manufacture the battery cells in India to power the iPhones assembled in the country.
The cells will be supplied to Apple’s Li-ion battery assembler, Sunwoda Electronics, which is already operating in the country and currently imports the cells from various markets around the world.  TDK, which acquired Li-ion battery and cell maker Hong Kong based Amperex Technology Ltd in 2005, recently bought 180 acres in Haryana to set up a unit to manufacture, among others, the cells for Li-ion batteries.

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India will assist Saint Lucia, an island country in the Caribbean, under the Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) initiative coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme and OECD. Indian tax experts will work with Saint Lucia tax authorities under this program expected to last 12-18 months and focus on effective utilization of automatic exchange of tax information systems. It aims to aid capability advancement for resource mobilization.

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On December 15th, 2023, the Indian conglomerate announced that its media subsidiary AMG Media Networks has purchased a 50.5 percent share in IANS India for Rs 5.1 lakh.
The acquisition provides Adani with controlling interest over the Indian newswire service. It marks another strategic investment in the media sector for a group whose portfolio includes broadcasting, print media, digital news apps, and more.
According to regulatory filings, AMG Media Networks executed the transaction to strengthen Adani’s position as an integrated media organization spanning traditional news and digital platforms. IANS India will operate under the umbrella of the Group’s burgeoning media operations.

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On December 21, 2023, Angola announced it was leaving the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after 16 years of membership. The move will reduce the number of OPEC members to 12. OPEC was established in 1960 by the five founding members Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Currently, it has 13 members, including Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates. It is headquartered in Vienna, Austria. Qatar terminated its membership in 2019.
Qatar was once a member of OPEC but decided to leave the organization. The country announced its decision to withdraw from OPEC effective January 2019. This decision was made to focus more on its natural gas production, for which Qatar is one of the world’s leading producers.

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IndusInd Bank has launched ‘eSvarna’, a RuPay credit card for corporate clients that provides the unique feature of linking with UPI apps for payments. Billed as India’s first corporate credit card allowing UPI integration, eSvarna targets executives and SMEs requiring a business plus travel rewards card.

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The NPCI has set the daily payment limit for UPI transactions to a maximum of Rs. 1 lakh starting from January 1, 2024. However, RBI raised the transaction limit for UPI payments to hospitals and educational institutions to Rs 5 lakh on December 8, 2023, to broaden the use of UPI payments.