PIB Summary- 18th October, 2022 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Digital Banking Units

Why in News?
Recently, the Prime Minister of India has dedicated 75 Digital Banking Units (DBU) across 75 districts to the nation.

About Digital Banking Units

• A digital banking unit is a specialized fixed point business unit or hub, housing a certain minimum digital infrastructure for delivering digital banking products and services.
• It aims at servicing existing financial products and services digitally in self-service mode at any time.
• The RBI has announced the guidelines for DBUs, following the report of a working group of the Indian Banks Association (IBA).
• Services: Opening of savings account, balance-check, print passbook, transfer of funds, investment in fixed deposits, loan applications, stop-payment instructions for cheques issued, application for credit / debit cards, view statement of account, pay taxes, pay bills, make nominations, etc.
• The DBUs will also facilitate onboarding to Government credit link schemes through the Jan Samarth portal and end-to-end digital processing of small ticket MSME/retail loans.

Benefits

• The DBUs will enable those who do not have Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure to access banking services digitally.
• They will also assist those who are not tech savvy to adopt digital banking.

East Asia Summit

Why in News?
Recently, India participated in the 6th East Asia Summit Education Minister’s Meeting held in Hanoi, Vietnam.

About: East Asia Summit

• It was established in 2005.
• It is a forum of 18 regional leaders for strategic dialogue and cooperation on the key political, security, and economic challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region.
• The concept of an East Asia Grouping was first promoted in 1991 by the then Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad.
• There are six priority areas of regional cooperation within the framework of the EAS.
  • Environment and Energy,
  • Education,
  • Education,
  • Global Health Issues, Pandemic Diseases,
  • Natural Disaster Management,
  • ASEAN Connectivity.
• The EAS calendar culminates in the annual Leaders’ Summit, which is usually held alongside ASEAN Leaders’ meetings in the fourth quarter of every year.
• Meetings of EAS Foreign Ministers and Economic Ministers are also held annually.

Membership

• It comprises the ten member states of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) which are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, along with 8 other countries namely Australia, China, Japan, India, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the USA.
• It is an ASEAN-centred forum so it can only be chaired by an ASEAN member.
• Brunei Darussalam is the chair for 2021.