Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank to be merged; Union Bank, Andhra Bank and Corporate Bank to be merged
Punjab National Bank (PNB), Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India to be merged; Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank to be merged
Relevance IN - Prelims (factual information about the merger) + Mains (GS III economic developments)
What's the NEWS

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a big consolidation of public sector banks: 10 public sector banks to be merged into four.

• Under the scheme of amalgamation, Indian Bank will be merged with Allahabad Bank (anchor bank - Indian Bank); PNB, OBC and United Bank to be merged (PNB will be the anchor bank); Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank to be merged (anchor bank - Union Bank of India); and Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank to be merged (anchor bank - Canara Bank).
• In place of 27 public sector banks in 2017, now there will be 12 public sector banks after the latest round of consolidation of PSU banks. The consolidation of public sector banks will give them scale to grow

• The government also announced capital infusion totalling over Rs.55,000 crore into public sector banks: PNB ( Rs.16,000 crore), Union Bank of India ( Rs.11,700 crore), Bank of Baroda ( Rs.7000 crore), Indian Bank ( Rs.2500 crore), Indian Overseas Bank ( Rs.3800 crore), Central Bank ( Rs.3300 crore), UCO Bank ( Rs.2100 crore), United Bank ( Rs.1,600 crore) and Punjab and Sind Bank ( Rs.750 crore).

Earlier mergers

• Lat year the government had approved the merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda (BoB) that become effective from April 1, 2019. In 2017, the State Bank of India absorbed five of its associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

• Indian Bank to be merged with Allahabad Bank (anchor bank - Indian Bank)
• Consolidated Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank to be 7^th largest public sector bank with Rs 8.08 lakh crore business (anchor bank - Indian Bank)
• PNB, OBC and United Bank to be merged (PNB will be the anchor bank)
• Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank to be merged (anchor bank - Union Bank of India)
• Consolidated Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank to be 5th largest public sector banks with Rs.14.6 lakh crore business
• Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank to be merged
• Consolidated Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank to be 4^th largest public sector bank with Rs.15.2 lakh crore business
• No retrenchment has taken place post merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank; staff has been redeployed and best practices in each bank have been replicated in others

• The consolidation in the banking sector will create higher efficiencies through better utilization of capital, greater credit disbursal, focused customer service and global expansion opportunities. Fundamentally, we will have a cleaner, structurally robust and profitable banking system.
• Larger banks stand to benefit more from merger as capital adequacy improves
• The larger banks stand to benefit more in terms of capital adequacy than the smaller lenders, a sharp departure from past practice in which government infused capital in their balance sheets year after year.
• Enhanced capacity to increase credit
• Banks with a strong national presence and international reach
• Reduction in lending cost
• Next Generation technology for the banking sector
• Improved ability to raise market resources

• In FY19, the government infused over Rs.1 trillion in public sector banks with the last round of Rs.48,239 crore in February allowing six banks to exit Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) prompt corrective action (PCA) exercise.
• The central bank uses the PCA framework to rein in banks that have breached certain regulatory thresholds in bad loans and capital adequacy.
• Out that of the five banks under PCA framework, capital has been announced for only three banks-Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India and UCO Bank.
• The announced capital infusion is unlikely to be sufficient for taking these banks out of PCA in immediate future. United Bank will cease to exist upon merger and outcome for IDBI Bank will depend on its capital raising

• The NRC or National Register of Citizen for Assam will be published be published August 31, 2019. The Union Home Ministry has appealed to the people of Assam to ignore the rumours.
• Ministry of Home Affairs said that if one's name doesn't appear in National Citizenship Register (NRC), the person will not be directly declared as a 'foreigner' and can appeal to the 'Foreign Tribunal'.

• The government has increased the timeline of filing an appeal to the tribunal from 60 to 120 days.
• A sufficient number of tribunals have been set up at major places of the state for this purpose.
• The government will also provide free legal aid to the needy from the District Legal Services Authority so that they can file an appeal.

• Those people who submitted a claim after not being included in the complete draft published on July 30, 2018, or excluded via the additional draft exclusions list published on June 26 this year, or had any objection filed against their inclusion
• Only those people will appear on the list whose names or family members of the applicant were appeared on the first NRC in 1951 or in the electoral rolls up to March 24, 1971.
• Apart from this, other required documents are - permanent residential certificate, passport, government-issued licence or certificate, LIC policy, land and tenancy records, government employment certificate, bank/post office accounts, educational certificate and court records.

• Non-inclusion of a person's name in the NRC does not by itself amount to him/her being declared a foreigner" as the person will be allowed to present his/her case before designated foreigners' tribunals.
• Those people left out of the NRC will not be detained "under any circumstances" until the foreigners' tribunals declare them foreigners.
• Section 8 of Schedule to the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003 provides an opportunity to appeal.
• The time limit to file an appeal has been increased from 60 days to 120 days - till December 31, 2019.
• A total of 1,000 tribunals have been sanctioned by the home ministry. If one loses the case in the tribunal, the person can move the high court and, then, the Supreme Court.

• The first NRC list was created in 1951; it was a list of Indian citizens in Assam. Two other states in the north-east region Manipur and Tripura also declared their NRC. They were also given grants by the Centre to create their own NRCs.
• At present, Assam is the only state to have an NRC in India. About a year ago, the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 was passed by the Centre and the first NRC was released.

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the 26^th Mela of Ladakhi-Kisan-Jawan-Vigyan Mela

• The mela was organised by the Leh based Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) of DRDO, which was established in 1960 to meet the fresh food requirement of the soldiers deployed in the harsh terrain of Ladakh
• Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), and Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal amongst others were also present there.
• Through the technologies developed by the institute, the Army is getting locally grown fresh organic farm produce.
• As a spin-off of the technologies developed, farmers in Ladakh are able to produce a variety of fruits and vegetables resulting in improving their socio-economic condition
• The interdependence created between the locals and the Army through the scientific endeavours of DIHAR has contributed to socio-economic upliftment of local farmers.
• The institute is known for many success stories in translating science to alleviate real-life problems being faced in the remote Ladakh region.
• DIHAR is now working to develop newer technologies to make fresh food available even in the remotest locations in the Himalayas.
• The Defence Minister visited the experimental farm of DIHAR where technologies for the production of quality organic fruits and vegetables were being demonstrated.

What's the NEWS

• The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Shri Ram Vilas Paswan launched the National Lab Directory which is a one-stop-shop for all testing needs of the industries, academia, researchers and other stakeholders who need to get their Testing Facilities accredited / certified / recognised.
• BIS has been setting good standards which match the global benchmark. 4500 labs have now been linked through this directory, which will provide one stop shop for testing where products can also be seen.

Know! all about the directory

• The National Lab Directory presently encompasses NABL accredited, BIS Recognised/Empanelled Labs, Hallmarking Labs.
• The labs which are recognised/notified by FASAI, APEDA, EIC, can also be indicated accordingly.
• All testing facilities for various labs can be searched by Products, IS standards, etc. Besides intelligent search cutting across various databases interlinked through APIs, there is an interactive Geographical Information System and Drill Down Dashboard.
• This Directory will benefit all stakeholders such as manufacturers, consumers, regulatory agencies, government and research institutions in identifying the test facilities that are required for assessing conformity of relevant products or in testing for the purpose of research and development.
  
  

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