General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - June 2015

Jun 2015

Mar 22, 2023

NTPC Arm Signs Pact with Indian Army for Setting up Green Hydrogen Plants

NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd (NTPC REL), an arm of NTPC Ltd, signed an agreement with the Indian Army for the implementation of green hydrogen projects in armed forces establishments.
Under the MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Army, a joint identification of potential sites would be undertaken for setting up of green hydrogen projects for supplying electricity, in a phased manner.
The intent is to reduce complex logistics, dependence on fossil fuels and to accelerate decarbonisation.
NTPC REL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC Limited and currently it has a portfolio of 3.6 GW RE capacity under construction.

Over 1,000 ODOP Products Identified as across all Districts

As many as 1,068 products were identified across all 761 districts of the country in line with the government's focus on the 'One District One Product' (ODOP) initiative.
The 'One District One Product' (ODOP) initiative was launched to promote local artisans and give international visibility to their indigenous products. Through this program,
These products are varied, including agricultural products, handicrafts, handloom engineering products, among others, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) joint secretary Manmeet Nanda said. For instance, Darjeeling tea from Darjeeling, West Bengal, blue pottery from Jaipur, Rajasthan, Coffee from Chikamglur, Karnataka, among others are some of the products tagged under ODOP. 100 products are being sold on the GeM bazaar platform pertaining to ODOP.

RBI Fines RBL Bank for Non-compliance with Rules on Loan Recovery Agents

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) fined private lender RBL Bank Ltd 22.7 million rupees ($274,915) for not complying with certain directives on loan recovery agents.
As per RBI, RBL failed to ensure that the loan recovery agents it engaged during those periods did not resort to intimidation or harassment and that it did not ensure police verification of the agents before employing them.
In 2022, the RBI issued a circular advising the financial institutions it regulated to "strictly ensure that they or their agents did not resort to intimidation or harassment of any kind", and that any violation would be "viewed seriously".

Mar 21, 2023

Lalit Kumar Gupta New CMD of Cotton Corporation of India (CCI)

Lalit Kumar Gupta was approved as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). Gupta assumed the role of CMD of CCI with immediate effect, for a period of five years or until his superannuation, or until further orders, whichever comes first.
The Cotton Corporation of India Limited or CCI is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, engaged in diverse activities related to trade, procurement, and export of cotton. CCI is a public sector agency responsible for equitable distribution of cotton among the different constituents of the industry and aid imports of cotton. It was incorporated on 31 July 1970 under the Companies Act 1956.
CCI is governed by Textile Policy 1985 issued by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.

Jayanti Chauhan to Head Bisleri International after Tatas Walk Out

Jayanti Chauhan, daughter of Bisleri International Chairman Ramesh Chauhan, will now be at the helm of the bottled water company. Jayanti is currently the vice chairperson of the company.
She will work with a team headed by chief executive Angelo George.
In November 2022, Bisleri International had entered into talks with Tata Consumer Products (TCPL) to sell a majority stake in the company for Rs. 6,000-7,000 crore.
However, now, TCPL said that it had ceased the talks and that it has not entered into any definitive agreement or binding commitment on this matter.
Bisleri was originally an Italian company set up by Felice Bisleri. It entered Mumbai in 1965 with its packaged drinking water brand. Four years later, Ramesh Chauhan and his brothers acquired the firm for Rs. 4 lakh.

CEAT's Anant Goenka Resigns, Arnab Banerjee to Take Over

Tyre maker CEAT's Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer CEO Anant Goenka resigned to focus on group activities and was named as its Vice Chairman.
The company's board approved the appointment of Arnab Banerjee as its new MD and CEO.
Anant has been MD and CEO of the company since April 1, 2012.
Banerjee has executive experience of over 30 years during which he has worked in CEAT, Marico and Berger Paints.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Launches 'ICICI Pru Gold'

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance launched the ICICI Pru Gold, a long-term savings product that enables customers to create an additional income stream.
Besides guaranteed lifelong income, it provides life cover for the family's financial security.
The product is available in three variants: Immediate Income, Immediate Income with Booster, and Deferred Income.
The fund house said that besides these benefits, ICICI Pru Gold offers customers the option to accumulate their income in a "Savings Wallet" instead of receiving it as regular payments.
All three variants of this product provide a combination of guaranteed and bonus-oriented regular income, besides life cover.

Mar 20, 2023

GAIL Signs MoU with Shell Energy India on Ethane Sourcing

GAIL (India) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Shell Energy India to explore opportunities in different facets of energy-value chain. For GAIL, this is a step towards achieving improved sustenance in business operations.
In a bid towards diversification of the feedstock for its petrochemical plant, GAIL is looking to import ethane from ethane-surplus countries with matured export terminal infrastructure through water-borne transportation to India and transport it further through GAIL's pipeline systems to demand centres.
The MoU envisages exploring prospects in the import and handling of different hydrocarbons which are important chemical and petrochemical precursors, LNG for road transport, regasification of imported LNG, renewables, etc.
GAIL (India) is India's leading natural gas company with diversified interests across the natural gas value chain of trading, transmission, LPG production and transmission, gasification, petrochemicals, city gas, etc.

RBI Imposes Fine on HDFC over Transfer of Deposits

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 5 lakh on mortgage financier HDFC Ltd for failing to transfer matured deposits of certain depositors to designated bank accounts of such depositors during the period 2019-20.
The central bank said that the housing finance company was penalised because it was found to be non-compliant with certain provisions of the Housing Finance Companies (NHB) Directions, 2010 issued by the National Housing Bank (NHB).

G. Krishnakumar Takes over as the Chairman of Bharat Petroleum Corporation

G. Krishnakumar took over as the new Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL).
Krishnakumar, an electrical and electronics engineer from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli and a postgraduate in finance management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, was executive director in the company before his elevation.
Krishnakumar will hold the position of Chairman and Managing Director till April 2025 or until any further notice, whichever is earlier, according to an official order.

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Approves HDFC and HDFC Bank Merger

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the merger of HDFC Ltd and HDFC Bank, which is considered to be the largest merger in the history of corporate India. The merger will create a massive banking entity by combining India's largest housing finance company with the country's largest private lender. Prior to this, HDFC Ltd had already received approval from various regulatory bodies and stock exchanges for the merger.
HDFC Ltd, or Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited, is one of the leading financial institutions in India. The company was established in 1977 with the objective of providing finance for the purchase or construction of homes.

Mar 19, 2023

Rajesh Gopinathan Quits as TCS CEO; K. Krithivasan Appointed CEO-Designate

In an unexpected move, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rajesh Gopinathan stepped down to pursue other interests.
He has been with the company for over 22 years. The board of directors considered his request to be relieved of his positions, and accepted it. It nominated K. Krithivasan CEO-designate with immediate effect.
Gopinathan will continue with the company till September 15, 2023, to provide transition and support to his successor.
Founded 1968, TCS has had only four CEOs and Krithivasan will be the fifth. The company has had one of the most stable management teams in the industry. It has its headquarters in Mumbai.
TCS is the second largest Indian company by market capitalization and is among the most valuable IT service brands worldwide.

Anup Bagchi to Take over as MD & CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance

Private sector life insurer ICICI Prudential Life Insurance will see a change of guard as N. S. Kannan, the current Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO), will superannuate from his services after the completion of his term in June 2023. Anup Bagchi, presently serving as Executive Director of ICICI Bank, will succeed him after that as the MD & CEO of the company for five years, with effect from June 19, 2023, subject to the approval of the insurance regulator.
Bagchi has been serving as the ED of ICICI Bank, the parent organisation of ICICI Bank, since 2017.

Salil Nath is Etihad Airways' General Manager for Indian Subcontinent

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, appointed Salil Nath as General Manager of the Indian subcontinent.
Based in New Delhi, Salil will be responsible for all commercial activities across a key cluster for the Etihad network within the central region - India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives & Seychelles.
Since joining Etihad in 2012, Nath has served as the Regional Sales Manager of key sectors starting with Bangalore-Hyderabad, followed by the North and East India. During the COVID-19 restructuring, he took on the additional responsibility of managing Central India as well as Bangladesh & Seychelles.
Prior to joining Etihad, Nath worked with Kingfisher Airlines, part of the United Breweries Group, and a brief stint at renowned multinational travel management company Amex GBT, overlooking corporate sales and client servicing respectively.

FSIB Recommends Ashwani Kumar for the Post of Managing Director of UCO Bank

The Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB), the head-hunter for directors of state-owned banks and financial institutions, recommended the name of Indian Bank Executive Director Ashwani Kumar for the post of Managing Director of UCO Bank.
Prior to joining Indian Bank, Kumar was serving as Chief General Manager of Mumbai Zone of Punjab National Bank (PNB).
The Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) interviewed 11 candidates from various public sector banks (PSBs) for the forthcoming positions of MD & CEO in PSBs.
It's a government body set up under the department of financial service by central government in 2022.
The government was forced to replace the Banks Board Bureau (BBB) with a new entity after the Delhi High Court in 2022 had ruled that the BBB couldn't select the general managers and directors of state-run general insurers, as it was not a competent body.

Mar 18, 2023

Amitava Mukherjee Assumes Additional Charge as NMDC CMD

NMDC announced that Amitava Mukherjee, director (finance) was assigned the additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) for a period of 3 months up to 31 May 2023.
Mukherjee belongs to the 1995 Batch of Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS). He is also cost accountant and holds Master's Degree in Commerce. Prior to joining NMDC, he was general manager (finance) in Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL). During his service in IRAS from 19967 -2016, he held key position in the Eastern Railways.
NMDC is India's single largest iron ore producer, presently producing about 35 million tonnes of iron ore from 3 fully mechanized mines, two located in Chhattisgarh and one in Karnataka. As of December 31, 2022, the Government of India held 60.79% stake in the firm.
It was founded in 1958.

Biyani Withdraws Resignation from post of Executive Chairman, Director of FRL

Kishore Biyani withdrew his resignation from the position of Executive Chairman and Director of Future Retail (FRL).
Biyani had resigned from his position of Executive Chairman and Director of Future Retail on January 23 and his resignation letter was placed before the Committee of Creditors, as per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Commercial Bank 'First in Qatar' to Launch UPI Remittance Service to India

Commercial Bank, a digital bank in Qatar, launched thef UPI remittance service to India, becoming the first bank in Qatar to offer this service. Customers can use Commercial Banking digital platforms to initiate UPI payments using UPI-ID. The transactions can be completed within 60 seconds and are available 24/7.
UPI (Unified Payment Interface) is a fast and convenient payment system that allows customers to transfer money between bank accounts in real-time using UPI-ID. UPI-ID is a unique identifier that does not require bank account details or IFSC codes to create a beneficiary. Customers can use Commercial Banking digital platforms to make UPI payments using UPI-ID.

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