Issue: 1165
India extends LPG booking
cycle for rural households to 45-days amid supply concerns after Hormuz
disruption: As
the shortage of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) continues to stress Indian
markets, the oil ministry has increased the lock-in period or the booking cycle
to 45 days for rural consumers as against 25 days earlier, officials from oil
ministry said. “The country has never seen
such situation in past. Domestic supplies (of gas) have been affected after the
closure of strait of Hormuz,” said Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, ministry of
petroleum and natural gas, adding that booking of cylinder will now be possible
after 45 days for rural consumers. She also said that the country is importing
LPG from multiple sources.
(Moneycontrol)
Retail inflation rose to
3.21% in February, war impact likely from next month: Food and precious metals
pushed up retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which rose
by 47 basis points to an 11-month high of 3.21 per cent in February, the
government reported on Thursday. Experts expect inflation to rise further in
the coming months on account of war and the resultant fuel crisis. The
uptick in retail inflation was largely driven by higher food inflation, with
major contributions from coconut, tomato and cauliflower. At the same time,
prices of silver, gold/platinum jewellery rose sharply by over 160 per cent and
48 per cent respectively in February 2026.
(Business Line)
Remittances from West Asia
see 20-30% jump in March due to conflict: Remittances from West Asia in
March rose sharply amid the conflict in the region, with industry insiders
estimating inflows to be 20-30 per cent higher than what is usual in a month. With
anxieties setting in, members of the Indian diaspora are remitting more, they
said, adding that the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar has also
contributed to the rise. The rupee has depreciated 1.32 per cent since the
conflict began, breaching 92 a dollar. Before this, it was trading near 91.
(Business Standard)
Digital Payments
Awareness Week 2026 - Launch of ‘Awareness Program on Digital Payments’ and
Interaction with Payment Systems Operators (PSOs): The sixth edition of Digital Payments
Awareness Week (DPAW) is being observed during March 9-13, 2026. As part of
this initiative, Governor Shri Sanjay Malhotra launched the pilot program
titled 'Awareness Program on Digital Payments'. The pilot will be conducted in
Maharashtra in partnership with CSC e-Governance Services India Limited. The
pilot will include conduct of in-person awareness programs for 10 lakh
participants in rural and semi urban areas through Village Level Entrepreneurs
(VLEs). On this occasion, the Reserve Bank also
launched a multi-media awareness campaign "Thoda Dhyan Se" (be alert/
be careful), which encourages users to be careful while making payments and
transacting online.
(RBI Press Release)
Central Bank of India
partners with IIFL Finance for co-lending loans: Central Bank of India has
entered into Co-Lending Partnership with IIFL Finance to offer Loans at
competitive rates, subject to compliance with the applicable law(s) including
the revised Co-Lending Arrangements (CLA) guidelines issued by BI). Under
the arrangement, IIFL Finance will originate loan proposals, which will then be
processed by both lenders based on jointly defined credit parameters
(Financial Express)
South Indian Bank
collaborates with EPFO to launch EPF payment services: South Indian Bank has
introduced Employees' Provident Fund payment services through its SIBerNet
internet banking platform. This collaboration with EPFO allows employers to
easily remit EPF contributions. The integration simplifies statutory payments
for businesses. Employers can now use South Indian Bank's net banking facility
for direct remittances via the EPFO portal. This move enhances the bank's
digital offerings.
(Economic Times)
Public sector banks still
ahead of private peers in credit growth:
Public sector banks (PSBs) outpaced private lenders
in credit growth during the December quarter of FY26, with loan growth ranging
from 17-28% year-on-year. This surge boosted PSBs' market share in loans to
54.4%, while private banks saw a slight decline. Improved asset quality and
corporate lending revival fueled PSB momentum.
(Economic Times)
Nabard, REC pull ?11,000
crore bond issues after weak investor demand:
NABARD and REC, both state-owned, on Thursday pulled
out their planned bond issues worth a combined ?11,000 crore after receiving a
limited number of bids and that too at yields higher than what they were
willing to accept, according to sources. While REC’s cancelled bond issue (for
?3,000 crore) was for two years, it raised another ?3,000 crore through
five-year bonds at a coupon rate of 7.19 per cent. Nabard was looking to raise
?8,000 crore through bonds maturing in seven years and three months.
(Economic Times)
Razorpay launches world’s
first AI Agent Studio for payments:
Razorpay, India’s omnichannel payments and banking
platform for businesses, on Thursday announced the launch of the world’s first
Agent Studio built using the Claude Agent SDK from Anthropic at the FTX 2026
event. The company also introduced its Agentic Experience Platform, a new
AI-native layer aimed at simplifying how online businesses onboard to Razorpay,
integrate payments into their products and manage payment operations.
(Economic Times)
India in talks with Iran for safe passage of ships through Strait of Hormuz: Amid concerns over India’s energy security, especially the looming shortage of cooking gas and fertilisers due to the conflict in West Asia, Indian government sources said on Thursday that New Delhi is in talks with Tehran to provide safe passage to Indian-flagged merchant vessels — especially the 28 currently stranded in the region — to transit the key shipping route of the Strait of Hormuz. When asked if such an effort was in the works, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at the ministry’s weekly media briefing on Thursday evening that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghcchi have had three conversations in recent days.
(Business Standard)
Indian equities fall as
Iran attacks raise fears of oil supply disruption: Indian equities declined for the second
consecutive session on Thursday, with the Nifty slipping into correction
territory, as Iran’s continued attacks on ships across West Asia dampened hopes
of an early end to the conflict. The escalation also raised concerns about a
prolonged disruption to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. The Sensex
ended the session at 76,034, down 829 points, or 1.08 per cent. The Nifty
closed at 23,639, declining 228 points, or 1 per cent. Since the beginning of
the conflict, the Sensex has fallen 6.5 per cent and the Nifty 6.1 per cent.
From their all-time highs, the Sensex is down 11.4 per cent and the Nifty 10.2
per cent.
(Business Standard)
India asks china for urea
as war-induced gas crunch hits plants: India has asked China to allow the sale of
some urea cargoes as the war in the Middle East curtails the nation’s gas
supplies, threatening fertilizer production in the agricultural powerhouse. Indian
officials have asked their Chinese counterparts to consider easing export
restrictions as an expanding conflict in the Persian Gulf upends supplies of
liquefied natural gas — a crucial feedstock — and forces some fertilizer makers
in the South Asian nation to shut plants, according to people familiar with the
matter.
(Business Standard)
SEBI proposes simplified
claim process, higher limits to ease transmission of securities: Capital market regulator, SEBI, has proposed a
comprehensive overhaul of the framework governing the transmission of
securities after the death of an investor, aiming to simplify documentation
requirements, raise thresholds for simplified procedures and introduce
straight-through processing for low-value claims. In a consultation paper issued
on Thursday, the regulator said the proposed changes are intended to enhance
‘ease of investing’ by reducing procedural hurdles faced by legal heirs while
claiming securities. SEBI noted that bereaved families often encounter complex
documentation requirements and inconsistent practices across intermediaries,
which can delay the transfer of assets. Currently, simplified
documentation is allowed for transmission of securities up to Rs 5 lakh per
listed entity for physical holdings and Rs 15 lakh per beneficial owner for
dematerialised holdings. SEBI has proposed increasing these limits to Rs 10
lakh for physical securities and Rs 30 lakh for dematerialised securities.
(Moneycontrol)
IBA Hosts RRB Conclave 2026
on “Next-Gen Reforms for RRBs – Challenges & Opportunities”: IBA hosted a one day “RRB
Conclave 2026: “Next-Gen Reforms for RRBs - Challenges & Opportunities” on
11th March 2026 in New Delhi. Organised under the guidance of the Department of
Financial Services, the conclave was convened to deliberate on opportunities,
challenges, and the roadmap for next-generation reforms for RRBs. Deliberations
on the conclave focused on key theme areas viz: (i) Banking for Emerging India,
(ii) Innovation in Agri-Financing, (iii) Digital & Technology
Transformation, (iv) Financial Inclusion & Customer EASE, (v) Human
Resource Development & Capacity Building for RRBs, and (vi) Collaborative
Approach.
(PiB)
RBI-Esma pact likely to
need reboot if India's concerns not resolved: The recently signed agreement
between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the European Securities and Markets
Authority (Esma) may have to be renegotiated if India’s concerns are not
addressed adequately, sources told Business Standard. The Indian central bank
and the Esma, the European Union’s financial markets regulator and supervisor,
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) this January, which was a part of
the larger India-European Union (EU) trade pact, to facilitate cooperation and
exchange of information for the recognition of central counterparties (CCPs)
established in India and supervised by the Indian regulator. While the MoU is
aimed at resolving a prolonged impasse between the RBI and the Esma, after the
latter had demanded to audit books of Indian central counterparties like the
Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL), it was contingent on the Indian regulator’s
concerns being addressed in the next iteration of the European Market
Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), according to sources.
(Business Standard)
ANNUAL REVENUE RUN RATE (ARR)
§ Annual revenue run rate is a financial metric that
estimates a company's future revenue by projecting current revenue over a year.
It's also known as sales run rate or data annualization.
§ To calculate the ARR; Divide the total revenue for a
given period by the number of days in that period and then multiply the result
by 365.
§ It helps companies forecast future revenue and plan
budgets.
§ It helps companies compare their performance to
others in their industry.
§ It's useful for companies that are growing rapidly,
young, or trying to raise funds.
§ However, some factors that can affect annual revenue
run rate, such as; Month-to-month sales can be volatile, which can affect the
annual revenue run rate.
RBI KEY RATES
Repo
Rate: 5.25%
SDF:
5.00%
MSF
/Bank Rate: 5.50%
CRR:
3.00%
SLR:
18.00%
FOREX RATES (RBI
REF. RATE)
INR
/ 1 USD : 92.3530
INR
/ 1 GBP : 123.4655
INR
/ 1 EUR : 106.6197
INR
/100 JPY: 58.0700
EQUITY INDEX
Sensex:
76034.42 (-829.29)
NIFTY:
23639.15 (-227.70)
Bnk NIFTY: 55100.95 (-634.80)
Historical
events: March 13 holds
significant historical events, notably in 1940 when Udham Singh shot Michael
O'Dwyer in London to avenge the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Other key events
include the 1781 discovery of Uranus by William Herschel, the 1997 selection of
Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa, and the 2004 passing of sitar maestro
Ustad Vilayat Khan.
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