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Export credit boost: Banks clear Rs 3,362 crore under CGSE in first month; 774 exporters covered – The Times of India
Lenders have sanctioned Rs 3,361.83 crore to 774 applicants under the Rs 20,000-crore Credit Guarantee Scheme for Exporters (CGSE) within a month of its rollout, as the government steps up support for exporters facing headwinds from steep US tariffs, official data showed as reported PTI.The scheme, approved by the Union Cabinet on November 12 and made operational from December 1, 2025, provides 100 per cent credit guarantee cover by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC) to member lending institutions (MLIs) for extending additional credit facilities of up to Rs 20,000 crore to eligible exporters, including MSMEs.“Applications worth Rs 8,764.81 crore (1,840 applications) received, out of which Rs 3,361.83 crore (774 applications) sanctioned by the lenders” till January 2, 2026, the Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the finance ministry said in a statement.Implemented by the DFS, the CGSE aims to enable banks and financial institutions to extend additional financial assistance to Indian exporters during a period of external trade uncertainties, helping them diversify markets and enhance global competitiveness. The scheme will remain valid till March 31, 2026, or until guarantees worth Rs 20,000 crore are issued, whichever is earlier.The DFS also highlighted progress under the Mutual Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs (MCGS-MSME), which offers credit guarantees to incentivise MLIs to provide additional credit facilities of up to Rs 100 crore to MSME borrowers for the purchase of plant, machinery and equipment. As of December 2025, banks have sanctioned Rs 16,836 crore against 8.96 lakh applications under the scheme.Sharing broader banking sector performance, the DFS said scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) recorded their highest-ever aggregate net profit of Rs 4.01 lakh crore. Public sector banks (PSBs) posted a record aggregate net profit of Rs 1.78 lakh crore in 2024-25, while their net profit stood at Rs 0.94 lakh crore in the first half of 2025-26.Global deposits and advances of PSBs rose to Rs 146.27 lakh crore and Rs 114.85 lakh crore, respectively, in September 2025, compared with Rs 71.95 lakh crore and Rs 56.16 lakh crore in March 2015.The gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio of PSBs declined to 2.30 per cent (Rs 2.65 lakh crore) in September 2025, down from 4.97 per cent (Rs 2.79 lakh crore) in March 2015 and a peak of 14.58 per cent (Rs 8.96 lakh crore) in March 2018. The capital adequacy ratio of PSBs improved by 451 basis points to 15.96 per cent in September 2025 from 11.45 per cent in March 2015.
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Trump nominates Erica Schwartz as CDC director amid turmoil around leadership, vaccine policy
Rear Admiral Erica G. Schwartz.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Erica Schwartz to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concluding a monthslong effort to choose a permanent leader of the embattled health agency.
Schwartz, who will have to be confirmed by the Senate, would take over the role as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. oversees a string of controversial health policy changes at the agency, including an overhaul of childhood vaccine recommendations.
Schwartz served as deputy surgeon general during the first Trump administration, where she played a major role in the U.S. response to the Covid-19 pandemic. She spent more than 20 year in uniform, including as rear admiral and chief medical officer of the Coast Guard.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya had been acting director of the CDC — a title that expired last month under federal law. That law, called the Vacancies Act, limits the amount of time an acting officer can serve in place of a Senate-confirmed official to 210 days.
Late last month marked 210 days since the most recent CDC director, Dr. Susan Monarez, was fired.
A sign sits outside of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Roybal campus in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. March 18, 2026.
Megan Varner | Reuters
She has so far been the only person to serve as a confirmed CDC director during Trump’s second term, holding the role for under a month last summer. In congressional testimony in September, Monarez said she was fired after refusing Kennedy’s demands to approve vaccine recommendations she believed lacked scientific support.
It is unclear how Schwartz’s views on vaccines or other key public health policies compare with Kennedy’s.
Also on Thursday, Trump said he chose Sean Slovenski as deputy CDC director and chief operating officer, and Jennifer Shuford as deputy CDC director and chief medical officer. Shuford, as head of the Texas Department of State Health Services, led the state’s response to a massive measles outbreak last year, and credited vaccination and testing in declaring it over.
Schwartz’s nomination comes after a tumultuous several months for the agency, which is reeling from the leadership upheaval, plummeting morale, significant staff turnover and controversial changes to U.S. vaccine policy. Ahead of leadership departures last year, staff members were shaken by a gunman’s attack on the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters on Aug. 8.
Last month, a judge blocked a critical vaccine panel’s efforts to overhaul U.S. immunization policy. That includes an effort to reduce the number of recommended childhood shots from 17 to 11.
Trust in federal health agencies has plummeted during Kennedy’s tenure as Health and Human Services secretary, according to a February poll from health policy research group KFF, with declines across the political spectrum.
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