General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - March 2015

Mar 2015

Mar 18, 2021

USA's Carlyle Offloads Stake in SBI Cards

US-based private equity firm Carlyle Group sold a 4.3 per cent stake (40 million shares) in SBI Cards and Payment Services via block deals.
The shares sold at Rs. 986 a piece, fetching Carlyle Rs. 3,944 crore. The buyers are not known yet.
Shares of SBI Cards fell 5 per cent to finish at Rs. 971.
Following the latest share sale, Carlyle's holding in SBI Cards has dropped to 11.6 per cent.

Former Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube Plans to Launch a New Airline

Vinay Dube, former chief executive officer of Jet Airways and GoAir, is exploring opportunities to launch an airline.
Dube has teamed up with his airline colleagues Praveen Iyer and Nikhil Ved for the venture and has held talks with aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing. He plans to start operations with five aircraft by year-end.
Dube, who previously worked with Delta Airlines, was appointed as Jet CEO in 2017. He left the airline one month after its closure in May 2019. Dube served as GoAir CEO between February-August last year.

Axis Mutual Fund Launches IT-focused Exchange Traded Fund

Axis Mutual Fund launched an exchange-traded fund focused on technology stocks.
The new fund, Axis Technology ETF, is open. It will track the Nifty IT index, and offer investors an opportunity to invest in the biggest IT companies.

OYO's India Business Ebitda-positive

As per the firm's founder and Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal, hospitality firm OYO's India business is now Ebitda positive and the company is earning the same gross profits globally in dollars since January 2021 as it did in the pre-Covid period.
OYO earned the same money since January 2021 as it did in the pre-Covid period. This is a very big achievement and demonstrates demand recovery and results of a revenue-share-only-network.
India is the second market, after OYO EuropeHomes, that has achieved profitability and with these two largest markets financially sustainable, they are clear examples of the success of our business model at scale.

IOC and Israeli firm form JV

State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Israeli battery developer Phinergy formalised a joint venture to manufacture ultra-lightweight metal-air batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), a venture that got its first customers in Maruti Suzuki and Ashok Leyland.
The equal joint venture will replace lithium with aluminium to make batteries that will charge faster and give a longer run.
This will "help overcome most of the challenges facing EVs including range anxiety," IOC Chairman S M Vaidya said.
Al-Air technology will help us overcome most of the current challenges for e-Vehicles and address most of the potential customers' pain-points, including range anxiety, higher cost of purchase, and safety issues.

SBI, IOCL Ink India's First Libor Alternative Rate Deal

State Bank of India (SBI) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) will be inking the first SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) linked external commercial borrowing (ECB) deal as the world moves away from London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), the de facto international benchmark reference rate.
SBI said that it will be arranging $100 million for 5 years linked to SOFR.
The LIBOR will no longer remain the benchmark after December this year. Consequently, the Indian banks are also getting prepared to move from Libor to another benchmark. Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) and Sterling Overnight Interbank Average Rate (SONIA) are the two popular alternatives, but internationally, only a few swap deals are linked to them internationally.
Libor still continues to be used heavily, especially for loans that mature within a year.

PNB Incorporates PNB Cards & Services for Credit Card Business

Public sector lender Punjab National Bank incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, PNB Cards & Services Limited, which will deal with the banks' non-financial support services related to its credit card business.
The exchange was informed that a wholly-owned subsidiary of the bank namely PNB Cards & Services Limited has been incorporated on 16.03.2021 by the registrar of companies, Delhi to undertake the non-financial support services related to the credit card the business of the bank.

Mar 17, 2021

Reserve Bank imposes Rs 2 cr penalty on SBI

Reserve Bank of India imposed a penalty of Rs 2 crore on State Bank of India (SBI) for contravention of norms, including specific directions to the lender on remuneration to its employees in the form of commission.
The penalty has been imposed for contravention of certain sections of Banking Regulation Act and its specific directions of RBI issued to the bank on payment of remuneration to employees in the form of commission, according to a release.
- It said the action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.

Inflation-stricken Venezuela Rolls out New, Larger-denomination Banknotes

Venezuela is rolling out larger-denomination banknotes as hyperinflation batters the crisis-stricken South American country's bolivar currency.
Bills worth 2,00,000 and 5,00,000 bolivars — worth just 10 and 27 U.S. cents, respectively, at the current exchange rate — began to circulate on March 15.
Venezuela's central bank said this month it also planned to roll a bill worth 1 million bolivars, just 50 U.S. cents.
The highest-denomination bill had previously been 50,000 bolivars. Annual inflation in the once-prosperous OPEC nation was running at 2,665% in January, contributing to chronic shortages of cash.

Google Halves Play Billing Fee to 15% for Developers on First $1 mn Revenue

Google Play will from July 1 slash by half its 30 per cent billing fee for developers globally when they make the first $1 million of their annual revenue, said the company on Tuesday.
Apps that sell digital goods in the Play Store have to use the platform's billing system, which allows the tech giant to collect a percentage of in-app purchases as a fee. The developers are required to use the Play billing system – and therefore pay a service fee – if they implement in-app sales of digital goods. With this change, 99 per cent of developers globally that sell digital goods and services with Play will see a 50 per cent reduction in fees.

Mar 16, 2021

FM Introduces Bill to Raise FDI Limit in Insurance

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a Bill in Rajya Sabha that seek to amend the Insurance Act to pave the way for 74 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector.
The Union Cabinet had given its nod for amendments to the Insurance Amendment Bill 2021.
Finance Minister Sitharaman introduced the Bill for amendments to the Insurance Act, 1938.
Currently, the permissible FDI limit in the life and general insurance stands at 49 per cent with ownership and management control with Indian.

Finance Ministry Releases Entire Estimated FY'21 GST Shortfall to States

The finance ministry released the full Rs. 1.10 lakh crore estimated GST compensation shortfall to the states with the release of final weekly instalment of Rs. 4,104 crore.
With the release of the 20th instalment, 100 per cent of the total estimated GST compensation shortfall of Rs. 1.10 lakh crore for the year 2020-21 has now been released to the states and UTs with Legislative Assembly. Out of this, an amount of Rs. 1,01,329 crore has been released to the states and an amount of Rs. 8,879 crore has been released to the three UTs with Legislative Assembly.

Bitcoin Crosses $60K Mark for First Time

With a sign of acceptance among the mainstream investors, the world's largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin surpassed a record high of $60,000.
According to the website CoinMarketCap, the cryptocurrency hit $60,197 and continued to hover around $60,000.
Bitcoin has tripled in value over the last three months—it was worth $20,000 in December—bolstered by increasing backing from corporate heavyweights.
This year, Bitcoin rose around 72 per cent after tech billionaire Elon Musk's electric vehicle company Tesla invested $1.5 billion in it.

Tech Mahindra to Buy Stake in Perigord Asset Holdings

Tech Mahindra will acquire a 70 per cent stake in Ireland-based Perigord Asset Holdings Ltd for around Rs. 182 crore and plans to buy the remaining 30 per cent shareholding over a period of four years.
Tech Mahindra said that the acquisition will help in augmenting its expertise in the global pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science sectors.
For the financial year ended December 31, 2020, Perigord had reported revenues of around Rs. 170 crore.
The acquisition is a part of Tech Mahindra's long-term growth plan to build presence across key markets in Ireland, Germany, USA, and India with enhanced global delivery.

Mar 15, 2021

Govt. to Sell Stake in Tata Communication

As per reports, the government will sell its entire stake in Tata Communications through an offer for sale and the rest to Tata Son's investment arm Panatone Finvest Ltd.
Currently, the government holds 26.12 per cent stake in Tata Communications, Panatone Finvest Ltd 34.8 per cent and Tata Sons 14.07 per cent, respectively.
Tata Communications Ltd signed an amendment agreement between the President of India, Panatone Finvest Ltd, Tata Sons Private Ltd and the company for sale of the entire shareholding in the company by the Government of India.

SPIC Thoothukudi Plant Starts Receiving Natural Gas from ONGC Facility

Fertilizer-maker Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation Ltd (SPIC) started taking delivery of natural gas directly from ONGC's facility, through Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL's) recently inaugurated Ramanathapuram-Thoothukudi natural gas pipeline, at its Thoothukudi factory in Tamil Nadu.
The natural gas will be transported from the gas fields of ONGC in Ramanathapuram to the company's plant in Thoothukudi.
SPIC is one of the anchor customers to benefit from this pipeline. In the first phase, natural gas will be made available directly to SPIC's plant as feedstock and fuel, transported from ONGC's gas wells through the IOC pipeline.
In the second phase, IOC will also supplement the supply of natural gas from its LNG facility in Enmore, near Chennai.

BNP Paribas Cardif Offloads 5% in SBI Life

BNP Paribas Cardif, the French insurer, has sold a 5 per cent stake, or a little over 50 million shares, in private sector life insurer SBI Life for Rs. 4,556.7 crore at Rs. 911 a share in an open market sale.
With this, the shareholding of the French insurer has come down to 0.2 per cent in SBI Life.
Before the sale of shares, BNP Paribas Cardif held 5.2 per cent stake in SBI Life, with the country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI), the promoter of the company, holding more than 55 per cent stake. Among the buyers, the government of Singapore bought 1.68 per cent stake for Rs. 1,533.5 crore at Rs. 915 a share. And, BNP Paribas Arbitrage bought 0.9 per cent for Rs. 820 crore at Rs. 910 per share.

First Digital, Israel's First New Bank Since 1978

First Digital Bank, the first new bank in Israel since 1978, started operations on a trial basis, and planned to open to the public later in 2021.
The bank, which Israel's banking regulator approved last year, has 140 staff and has begun opening accounts and providing all banking services for a closed group of customers.
First Digital Bank was founded by Amnon Shashua, co-founder of Intel's autonomous car business Mobileye. Shashua has invested $60 million into the venture and the bank said it would raise additional funds to expand its operations.
The bank will use artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies to meet customer needs.
The bank will have no branches and will focus on retail services, including extending credit to households and accepting deposits. Opening accounts will be done online.

Finmin Asks SEBI to Make Greater Disclosure

The Finance Ministry has suggested several changes in the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI's) annual report format seeking "true and full account of its activities", policies and programmes of the whole year. The new format demands greater disclosure and in-depth analysis of each segment ranging from corporate governance to regulatory action taken by the market regulator.
Under the new format, SEBI's annual report will now include the regulator's source of funds and major area of expenditure; greater disclosure in terms of corporate governance and corporate restructuring for instance details of merger and acquisition deals, regulatory action taken by the regulator for enhancing transparency and improving governance, open offers, issuance of observations on offer documents, details of listed companies being wound up, details of defaulter companies, regulatory coordination with Ministry of Corporate Affairs and consequent steps taken by them.

Mar 14, 2021

Trader Body CAIT Launches Vendor Onboarding App ahead of E-Commerce Portal

Traders' body CAIT launched a vendor onboarding mobile app for its upcoming e-commerce portal 'Bharat e Market'. The app will enable businesses and service providers to register on the portal and create their own "e-dukaan".
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said its 'purely Indian' Bharat e Market portal will comply with all the rules and regulations of the country.
CAIT has been engaged in a tirade against foreign e-commerce companies, accusing them of violating the country's FDI policy norms -- a charge denied by the firms.
The traders' body aims to onboard 7 lakh traders on the portal by December this year and 1 crore traders by December 2023.

IndoSpace and METL in Pact for Logistics Park in Haryana

Everstone-backed IndoSpace has formed a partnership with Reliance Industries arm METL to develop a 55-acre logistics park at Farukhnagar in Haryana.
Model Economic Township Ltd (METL) is a 100% subsidiary of Reliance Industries. The land parcel has a development potential of 1.28 million sq ft.
IndoSpace has acquired 55 acres at Farukhnagar in Haryana and this acquisition is a joint venture with the METL. METL will have a minority stake in the JV.

Govt. Okays 33 API Applications under PLI Scheme

The government has approved a total of 33 applications with a committed investment of Rs. 5,082.65 crore under the production linked incentive scheme for active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Setting up of these plants will make the country self-reliant to a large extent in respect of these bulk drugs.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals has launched a PLI scheme for the promotion of domestic manufacturing by setting up greenfield plants in four different target segments with a total outlay of R. 6,940 crore for the period 2020-21 to 2029-30.

Aquaconnect Partners with Bank of Baroda for Loans to Fish Farmers

Aquaculture technology venture Aquaconnect partnered with state-owned Bank of Baroda to provide loan access to 1.6 million aquaculture farmers.
Bank of Baroda in partnership with Aquaconnect will provide credit access under the Kisan Credit Card scheme at an annualised rate of as low as 10 per cent, according to a statement.
The fish and shrimp farmers can also avail the advisory services and quality farm inputs from Aquaconnect platform.
Under this partnership, Bank of Baroda has extended loan for up to Rs. 10 lakh under KCC scheme and fisheries loan.
Higher credit limits can also be availed under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) schemes on case-to-case basis.
The company aims to target Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Odisha and later extend it to other states across the country.

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