11 JULY 2016

Ø  As early as Monday, the Centre is likely to announce the first tranche of the Rs. 25,000 crore capital infusion for public sector banks (PSBs), planned for this financial year (2016-17). The first tranches could add up to about Rs. 10,000 crore, said a source at the Finance Ministry. The recapitalisation is aimed at shoring up the PSBs lending capacities that are restricted by poor asset quality and weak capitalisation. Gross bad loans, as a proportion of the total advances by these banks, rose to 7.6 per cent, a 12-year high in March 2016, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s latest financial stability report released on June 28. On the rise since 2012, impaired assets in the banking system are negatively affecting credit supply and are a factor dampening India’s growth outlook, global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service recently said. The banks requisitioned infusions after the finalisation of their fourth quarter results, in which, cumulatively, they had reported losses of Rs. 18,000 crore in 2015-16.

Ø  The second reactor of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) attained criticality at 8.56 p.m. on Sunday. The event was greeted with thunderous applause from the employees, technocrats and members of the Russian specialist group.