Issue: 1147
Stocks sink as US-Iran
conflict fears erase three days of gains: Stock markets saw a sharp
reversal on Thursday wiping out three sessions of gains in a single day to
close at their lowest since February 3, as a flareup in tension between the US
and Iran pushed up crude prices. The Nifty 50 plunged 365 points and the BSE
Sensex shed 1,236.11 points. Reports of a potential US
military action on Iran drove Brent crude to a year-to-date high, stoking
inflationary fears around a possible bottlenecking of the Strait of Hormuz.
(Business Line)
New GDP series may
introduce more categories to track consumption basket: To track India’s household consumption
patterns at a more granular level, the National Statistics Office is likely to
introduce new categories under the upcoming gross domestic product (GDP)
series, with 2022-23 as the new base year, according to a report of the
sub-committee on methodological improvements for GDP released on Wednesday. For
instance, butter and ghee are now part of a new category titled ‘oil and fats’,
while ice cream has been placed under ‘sugar, confectionery, and desserts’.
Earlier, all these items were covered under ‘milk and milk products’. The
changes are aimed at aligning the classification with the Classification of
Individual Consumption According to Purpose 2018, in line with recommendations
of the United Nations Statistical Commission.
(Business Standard)
BNP Paribas
emerges lead suitor for Warburg Pincus stake in IndiaFirst Life Insurance: French
financial services major BNP Paribas has emerged as the front-runner in the
ongoing sale process of the 26 per cent stake held by Warburg Pincus in private
life insurer IndiaFirst Life Insurance, multiple industry sources in the know
told Moneycontrol. In India, BNP Paribas Group has a
presence in the corporate and institutional banking and investment banking
segments. The firm also has a mutual fund tie-up with Bank of Baroda and it’s
interest in IndiaFirst Life Insurance can be seen as an attempt to diversify
into new segments in the BFSI sector.
(Moneycontrol)
ICICI Prudential Life
Insurance hit with Rs 984 crore tax demand: ICICI Prudential Life
Insurance Company Limited has received an unfavourable appellate order
upholding a tax demand of Rs 984 crore, the insurer said in an exchange filing
on Thursday. According to the company’s
disclosure, the Commissioner of CGST and Central Excise (Appeals-III), Mumbai,
dismissed its appeal at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday, thereby sustaining the tax
demand originally raised under Form GST DRC-07. The demand pertains to reversal
of input tax credit under GST law for the period from July 2017 to July 2022.
(Economic Times)
Public sector banks draw
foreign funds, bucking wider pullback: India’s state-run banks are
bucking a broader foreign pullback from the country’s equities, drawing inflows
as lenders offer better valuations and stronger growth prospects. Foreign
investors increased their stake in top state-run lenders including State Bank
of India Ltd., Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank Ltd. and Punjab National Bank to the
highest in at least a year, shareholding data of as Dec. 31 show. The optimism has
extended into 2026, with a gauge tracking these companies gaining 12% from the
start of the year to emerge as the best performing sectoral index.
(Economic Times)
PhonePe rolls out biometric
UPI payments, users can now pay with fingerprint or face ID: PhonePe now allows fingerprint and facial
recognition for UPI payments. This feature is for transactions up to Rs 5,000,
offering a faster payment experience. The feature is currently available for
Android users, with an iOS rollout planned. The fintech platform on Thursday announced that it
is introducing biometric authentication for UPI payments, allowing users to
approve transactions using their smartphone’s fingerprint scanner or facial
recognition.
(Economic Times)
Seven PSBs roll out 32 generative
AI use cases under EASE 8.0 programme: Seven public
sector banks are using generative AI for 32 new applications. These initiatives
aim to boost efficiency and credit assessment. Ten banks have formal AI
policies. The EASE 8.0 reforms encourage AI for complex tasks and faster
decisions. Future reforms, EASErise, will focus on risk management and economic
shock absorption. This technology push aligns with national financial goals.
(Economic Times)
AI Summit: Jio, with
Reliance to invest ?10-lakh crore in next 7 years: At the India AI Impact Summit 2026, leading
corporations announced significant investment commitments, headlined by Jio and
Reliance’s massive ?10-lakh crore pledge to be deployed over the next seven
years. “This is not speculative investment. It is not for chasing valuation.
This is patient, disciplined, nation-building capital — designed to create
durable economic value and strategic resilience for decades to come,” Mukesh D
Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries, said at the Summit
on Thursday.
(Business Line)
TCS partners with Sam
Altman’s OpenAI, to develop AI infra with 100 MW capacity: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Sam
Altman’s OpenAI have announced a wide-ranging partnership to drive the use of artificial
intelligence in India and around the world. The two organisations plan to work
together across different sectors to speed up AI adoption and support digital
change. In the first stage of the project, TCS will build AI infrastructure
with a capacity of 100 megawatts. There is also a plan to expand this capacity
to 1 gigawatt in the future, depending on demand and progress.
(Financial Express)
India may attract $200 bn
in data centre investment by 2030: India is set to attract $200
billion investment in the creation of new data centre capacity by 2030, part of
the larger $800 billion investment line-up in the Asia Pacific region,
according to accounting and consultancy firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. “This is
a huge economic opportunity for the region and for India. We are expecting 8-10
Gw of data centre capacity to be built in India in the next four years, but for
that to happen, India will have to ensure there is sufficient power supply,”
Will Symons, Asia Pacific Climate & Sustainability Leader at Deloitte, told
Business Standard in an interaction.
(Business Standard)
Secretary, DFS, inaugurates
Facilitation Camp for ‘Salary Account Package for Central Government Employees’: As part of ‘Salary Account
Package for Central Government Employees’ initiative, a Facilitation Camp was
organised by Punjab National Bank (PNB) on 17th February 2026 at the premises
of Department of Financial Services, Jeevan Deep building, New Delhi. PNB
invited all other Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to participate in the camp in a
collaborative manner. The Department of Financial
Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, had launched the ‘Salary Account Package
for Central Government Employees’ on 14th January 2026, in association with all
12 Public Sector Banks (PSBs). The initiative aims to provide enhanced
financial security, improved service delivery and greater banking convenience
to Central Government employees.
(PiB)
RBI draft on rupee
derivatives may push more banks to expand in GIFT City: The recent draft norms of the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) allowing authorised dealers to undertake rupee non-deliverable
derivative contracts (NDDCs) having operations in IFSC Banking Unit, will
incentivise banks to deepen their presence in GIFT City in Gujarat’s
Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad Metropolitan Region, said experts. The draft proposes
that Authorised Dealer (AD) Category-I banks may undertake NDDCs with other ADs
and overseas entities, including International Financial Services Centre (IFSC)
Banking Units (IBUs) and Offshore Banking Units (OBUs), either directly or on a
back-to-back basis through their overseas branches. Such contracts may be
cash-settled in rupees or any foreign currency, subject to the condition that
the bank, or its non-resident parent, has an operating IBU.
(Business Standard)
FORCED ACTION (In marketing)
§ This
is a kind of mis-selling Forcing a user into taking an action that would
require the user to buy an additional product or subscribe or sign up for an
unrelated service or share personal information in order to buy or subscribe to
the product / service originally intended by the user.
§ For
example: Displaying pop-up advertisements for own or third-party products / services
in digital channels which cannot be closed without redirection to the concerned
products / services. For example, pop-up after logging in to mobile banking
which leads to personal loan section even if user clicks on the exit / closure
button of the pop-up.
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 : 90.6669
INR
/ 1 GBP : 122.9262
INR
/ 1 EUR : 107.3901
INR
/100 JPY: 59.0900
EQUITY INDEX
Sensex: 82498.14 (-1236.11)
NIFTY: 25454.35 (-365.00)
Bnk NIFTY: 60739.55 (-811.25)
World Day of Social Justice: February 20 is
celebrated annually as the World Day of Social Justice, as declared by the
United Nations General Assembly to promote equality, address poverty, and
encourage fair, inclusive societies. It focuses on addressing employment
barriers, promoting human rights, and reducing social inequality.
Historical events: February 20 marks
key historical milestones, notably in 1947 when British PM Clement Attlee
announced the transfer of power to India by June 1948. Other significant events
include the formation of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram in 1987, and John Glenn
becoming the first American to orbit Earth in 1962.
****Have a nice Day****
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