1. SBI And NABARD Tie-Up For Credit In Telangana.

State Bank of India will organise Kisan Melas at nearly 1,550 rural and semi-urban branches across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on July 28. As part of the Kisan Melas, the bank will offer KCC farmers an enhancement of 10 per cent in their credit limit on renewing the account.

SBI plans to develop a connect with farmer-customers, resolve their grievances and educate them about their rights and the bank’s initiatives. The bank, which has close to 1.50 crore farmer-customers, hopes to connect with at least 10 lakh farmers through this mega Kisan Mela.

SBI had recently organised a Kisan Mela, which attracted over 6 lakh farmers across various locations in the country. SBI has taken the initiative to reach out to farmers to educate them about the benefits of renewing KCC accounts to get the maximum benefit of interest subvention from the Government and coverage under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.

The bank will also raise awareness among farmers about the benefits of timely renewal of KCC accounts and usage of KCC Rupay Cards for transactional convenience.

2. LIC Board Approves IDBI Bank Stake Purchase.

Life Insurance Corporation`s board board approved acquisition of up to 51 per cent stake in IDBI Bank by the insurance major, Economic Affairs Secretary SC Garg said on Monday.

Now the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will approach markets regulator Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India). Insurance regulator Irdai has already given its approval to the insurer for the stake purchase.

Mr Garg said the board, which met here, approved LIC buying up to 51 per cent stake in IDBI Bank. LIC stake buy will help the debt-ridden state-owned bank get a capital support of Rs. 10,000 crore- Rs. 13,000 crore.

LIC has been looking to enter the banking space by acquiring a majority stake in IDBI Bank as the deal is expected to provide business synergies despite the lender`s stressed balance sheet.

It will get about 2,000 branches through which it can sell its products, while the bank would get massive funds of LIC. The bank would also get accounts of about 22 crore policy holders and subsequent flow of fund.

Once the deal goes through, IDBI Bank, which is grappling with mounting toxic loans with gross non-performing assets rising to a staggering Rs. 55,600 crore at the end of the March quarter, will get much needed capital support to revive its fortune.

3. WPI Inflation At 4.5-Year High, Grows 5.77% In June.

India`s wholesale inflation grew 5.77 percent in June, a four-and-half year high, driven by some food items and fuel prices, latest price data released by the commerce and industry ministry showed.

A higher inflation in the month of June can also be attributed to an unfavourable base effect. WPI witnessed a growth of 4.43 percent in May and 0.90 percent in June 2017.

Wholesale inflation rate, measured by Wholesale Price Index (WPI), is a marker for price movements in bulk buys for traders and broadly mirrors trends in shop-end prices.

“The lagged transmission of higher crude oil prices, an uptick in cotton prices and electricity tariffs, the hardening of inflation for manufactured products as well as an unfavourable base effect, led to the sharp pickup in the WPI inflation to a 54 month high in June 2018,” Aditi Nayar, Principal Economist at ICRA said.

The data for the month of April has been revised to 3.62 percent from 3.18 percent earlier.

Primary articles, which accounts for more than a fifth of the entire wholesale price index witnessed a uptick to 5.3 percent in June from 3.16 percent in May owing to fuelled by higher prices of Cereals, wheat, vegetables, potatoes, non-food articles, fibers and minerals.

Food articles saw a slight increase, growing 1.8 percent in June from 1.6 percent a month ago. Vegetables prices saw a sharp jump, rising 8.12 percent in June as compared with a growth of 2.51 percent in May.

4. IMF Cuts India’s GDP Growth Forecast To 7.3% In 2018.

The International Monetary Fund today projected a growth rate of 7.3% in 2018 and 7.5% in 2019 for India as against 6.7% in 2017, making it the fastest growing country among major economies.

However, the latest growth rate projection for India is slightly less -- 0.1% in 2018 and 0.3% in 2019 than its April projections.

India`s growth rate is expected to rise from 6.7% in 2017 to 7.3% in 2018 and 7.5% in 2019, as drags from the currency exchange initiative and the introduction of the goods and services tax fade, said the IMF`s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) update.

The projection is 0.1 and 0.3 percentage points lower for 2018 and 2019, respectively, than in the April WEO, reflecting negative effects of higher oil prices on domestic demand and faster than-anticipated monetary policy tightening due to higher expected inflation, it said.

Despite this slight downgrade in its projections, India continues to outperform China, IMF`s WEO update figures reflect. Growth in China is projected to moderate from 6.9% in 2017 to 6.6% in 2018 and 6.4% in 2019, as regulatory tightening of the financial sector takes hold and external demand softens, the report said.

The IMF said global growth is projected to reach 3.9% in 2018 and 2019, in line with the forecast of the April 2018 WEO, but the expansion is becoming less even, and risks to the outlook are mounting.

The rate of expansion appears to have peaked in some major economies and growth has become less synchronised. In the US, near-term momentum is strengthening in line with the April WEO forecast, and the US dollar has appreciated by around five per cent in recent weeks, it said.

5. BEL Signs MoU With Saab For Surveillance Radar.

Navratna defence unit Bharat Electronics (BEL) has signed an agreement with the Swedish firm Saab for jointly marketing the L-Band 3D air surveillance radar (RAWL-03) which is co-developed by the companies.

"The Bengaluru-based BEL has joined hands with Saab, Sweden and the US, to market the long range air surveillance radar, a cost-effective L-band 3 dimensional (3D) radar, for early detection and tracking of air and surface targets," the PSU said in a statement today.

The RAWL-03 will be offered in both ship-borne and land-based configurations, the statement added.

The system is based on the state-of-the-art GaN TR module technology and incorporates the latest signal processing techniques.

Saab serves the global market with world-leading products, services and solutions in military defence and civil security and has operations and employees across the world.

BEL is the nation`s leading defence electronics company, engaged in the design, manufacture and supply of state-of-the-art radars like weapon locating radar and battle field surveillance radar, communication systems, naval systems, electronic warfare systems, missile systems, tank electronics and gun/weapon systems, coastal surveillance system etc, for the armed forces.