General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - September 2015

Sep 2015

Jan 08, 2022

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank's Company Secretary & Compliance Officer Resigns

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank's Chanchal Kumar resigned from the position of Company Secretary and Compliance Officer of the bank.
His resignation would be effective from April 04, 2022 (close of business hours) after serving the applicable notice period. Consequently, he shall also cease to be a Key Managerial Personnel of the Bank in terms of Section 203 of the Companies Act, 2013 and other Applicable Laws.

RBI Hikes Threshold for Deposits of Non-financial Small Business Customers

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the threshold limit for deposits and other extensions of funds made by non-financial small business customers from Rs. 5 crore to Rs. 7.5 crore for the maintenance of Liquidity Coverage Ratio of banks.
This has been done to better align guidelines with the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision standard and enabling banks to manage liquidity risk more effectively.

Cabinet Approves Rs. 12,000 crore Green Corridors-II for RE Uptake in States

In order to accelerate the penetration of renewable energy in the states, the Union Cabinet approved the second phase of the Green Energy Corridor (GEC). The projects in this phase would be set up in seven states to expedite the transmission of renewable energy.
GEC is an alternative transmission system for renewable energy (RE) power projects. During the first phase of GEC, inter-state transmission projects were constructed by state-owned Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) and some projects were awarded to private players through competitive bidding.
The second phase will aim to add approximately 10,750 circuit kilometres (ckm) of transmission lines and approx. 27,500 Mega Volt-Amperes (MVA) transformation capacity of substations.

Jet Airways VP-operations Sudhir Gaur Quits

Jet Airways said that its VP-operations, Sudhir Gaur, who was designated as the airline's 'accountable manager', quit the company.
The grounded airline, which is expected to resume operations this year under its new promoters Murari Lal Jalan-Kalrock consortium, in a regulatory filing clarified that Gaur was not the interim CEO of the company.
It also said that the Monitoring Committee at its meeting on January 5 has provided its "in-principle approval" to the nomination of Priyapal Singh as the new 'accountable manager' of the company.

Jan 07, 2022

Reliance Jio Introduces UPI Autopay in Collaboration with NPCI

Reliance Jio, in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), launched autopay facilities for millions of UPI and Jio users, making the telecom giant the first player in its industry to integrate with this unique e-mandate feature.
This feature, namely the UPI autopay, would allow Jio customers to set standing instructions on the MyJio app for a hassle-free recharging experience and allow them to seamlessly enjoy their favourite tariff plans.
Jio's integration with UPI autopay has made it the first player in the telecom industry to go live with the unique e-mandate feature that was launched by NPCI.

Bharti Airtel's African Arm Completes $176 mn Tower Sale Deal in Tanzania

Bharti Airtel's African arm completed the first part of its $176 million telecom tower sale deal in Tanzania. The sale is part of its overall deleveraging strategy, which netted over $800 million through fund raise and asset sales in 2021.
Airtel Africa's tower assets in Tanzania were acquired by a joint venture company owned by SBA Communications Corporation and Paradigm Infrastructure Ltd.
Under the terms of the transaction, Airtel's business unit in Tanzania would continue to develop, maintain and operate its equipment on the towers under separate lease agreements.
Airtel operates in 14 African countries and provides mobile service and mobile money services in the continent.

Jan 06, 2022

Toyota Dethrones General Motors as Top-selling Automaker in US

For the first time since 1931, Detroit-based General Motors lost the crown of top-selling automaker in the US, handing over the baton to Japanese giant Toyota Motor, as automakers stare at acute chip shortage and supply chain constraints.
General Motors and its dealers delivered 2.2 million vehicles in 2021, with Chevrolet and GMC cementing the company's eighth consecutive year of combined full-size and midsize pickup sales leadership.
Toyota sold 2.3 million vehicles in the US last year, up by 10.4 per cent compared to 2020.
It also marks the first time a non-domestic automaker has taken the top spot in the US.

Jindal Aluminium Acquires Indo Alusys' Extrusion Plant

Jindal Aluminium Limited concluded a Rs. 100-crore acquisition of the assets of Indo Alusys Industries Limited (IAIL) and commencement production at the revived Bhiwadi plant.
The acquisition of IAIL's assets covers its manufacturing unit located in the industrial area of Bhiwadi, Rajasthan. About 70 km from the national capital, the location offers strategic access of the northern market to Jindal Aluminium and brings a potential capacity of 14,000 metric tonnes per annum extrusions.
Once fully operational, Jindal Aluminium's extrusion capacity is expected to rise from 125,000 tonnes to 139,000 tonnes.

RBI Window for Primary Dealers

The Reserve Bank of India provided a new special window for bond houses called "Primary Dealers". The window allows to exchange illiquid securities. Illiquid securities are those securities that cannot be sold easily or directly. That is, the investors buying the securities can sell them only in limited instances.
The primary dealers are those dealers who buy securities directly from the government. They then resell the security to the others. Thus, their main role is to assist the government in selling bonds or securities. They earn some fees for selling these securities. The Bond house is the security firm that creates and distributes bonds. Now, these primary dealers have a separate section or window to buy securities from the government. The government securities are debt issuances.

IIFL Finance Appoints Richa Sachdeva as President

IIFL Finance Ltd has appointed Richa Sachdeva Chatterjee as the company's president and chief human sources officer (CHRO).
IIFL Finance is a major employer in the financial services space in India, and has nearly 24,000 employees across its 2,914 branches.
She is a seasoned HR leader and has 16 years of experience.
She was previously the head of HR at Network18's Digital, Print and Publishing verticals, and has also had senior roles at Viacom 18, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Tata Motors.
Richa is a certified coach and has received the prestigious 'India HR 40 under 40 Award'.

Jan 05, 2022

SBI, ICICI, HDFC Bank Continue to Remain Systemically Important Banks

As per RBI, state-owned SBI, along with private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank continue to be Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) or institutions which are 'too big to fail'.
SIBs are perceived as banks that are 'too big to fail (TBTF)'. This perception of TBTF creates an expectation of government support for these banks in times of distress. Due to this perception, these lenders enjoy certain advantages in the funding markets.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had announced SBI and ICICI Bank as D-SIBs in 2015 and 2016.
Based on data collected from banks as on March 31, 2017, HDFC Bank was also classified as a D-SIB.

GAIL Completes Acquisition of Bankrupt IL&FS' 26% Stake in OTPC

State-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd completed the acquisition of bankrupt Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services' (IL&FS) 26 per cent stake in ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC).
OTPC is a special purpose vehicle set up by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to build a 726.6 megawatt combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) thermal power plant at Palatana, Tripura. The IL&FS group and the Government of Tripura (GoT) were partners in the special purpose vehicle (SPV).
GAIL had in November 2021 got the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approval for the acquisition.

Ajay Kumar Choudhary, Deepak Kumar New Executive Directors of RBI

Deepak Kumar and Ajay Kumar Choudhary were promoted as executive directors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Prior to being promoted as ED, Kumar was heading the Department of Information Technology of the RBI, while Choudhary was Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Supervision.
As executive director, Kumar will look after the Foreign Exchange Department, Department of Communication and Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI.
Choudhary will look after the Fintech Department, Risk Monitoring Department and Inspection Department.

RBI Designates Airtel Payments Bank as Scheduled Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that Airtel Payments Bank Ltd. was included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 which means it has been categorised as a Scheduled Bank.
With this, the bank can now pitch for government-issued Requests for Proposals (RFP) and primary auctions and undertake both Central and State Government business participating in government-operated welfare schemes.

15-year Cap on Tenure of MD, CEOs of Insurance Companies on Cards

The insurance regulator has proposed to cap the tenure of managing directors (MDs) and chief executive officers (CEOs) of insurance firms at 15 years, aligning it with what the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated for the top honchos of banks. It has also proposed changes to the compensation structure of the top management at insurance companies, so as to ensure sound compensation practices and avoid situations resulting from excessive risk-taking behaviour due to inappropriate compensation structures or incentive plans.
After 15 years, the incumbent will only be eligible to be appointed CEO of the company after a gap of three years, but in those three years, the individual cannot be associated with the company or its group entities, either directly or indirectly.

Jan 04, 2022

RBI Gives Nod to Fino Payments Bank's International Money Transfer Service

Customers of Fino Payments Bank will be able to receive remittance money sent from overseas as it was granted approval by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to offer the international money transfer service.
Fino Bank received the RBI approval to commence the international remittance business under the Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS).
The lender will undertake inward cross-border money transfer activities in association with an overseas principal, the details of which are being worked out.

Reliance Becomes Promoter in SWREL

Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Ltd (SWREL) said that Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd (RNESL) has become its promoter post payment of balance Rs. 1,583 crore for acquisition of 25.90 per cent equity in it.
With this transaction, RNESL and other group firms together hold over 40 per cent stake in SWREL.

RBI Framework on Offline Digital Payments

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a framework for small-value offline transactions in digital mode.
As per framework, offline payments can be made using any channel or instrument such as wallets, mobile devices or cards. However, they shall be made in proximity, or in face-to-face mode only.
Authorised payment system operators (PSOs) and payment system participants (PSPs) including banks and non-banks, which wants to offer payments in offline mode will require to comply with the requirements under the prescribed framework.
Total limit for offline transactions on a payment instrument should be Rs 2,000 at any point in time.
Replenishment of the used limit should be allowed only in online mode with AFA.
Bank or non-bank issuer have been mandated to send transaction alerts to users as soon as transaction details are received. However, there is no compulsion to send alert for each transaction.

ONGC Appoints Alka Mittal as Company's First ever Female Chairman & MD

Alka Mittal, the Director for Human Resources (HR) at Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was given the additional charge as the public sector undertaking's Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), making her the first woman to head the energy major.
This development comes two days after Subhash Kumar, the Director (Finance) who was holding additional charge of CMD, superannuated on December 31, 2021.
She was the senior-most ONGC Board Member after Kumar's retirement. She joined the ONGC Board in November 2018 and was the first woman to hold the charge of a full-time Director in ONGC's history.

Apple Becomes First Firm to Hit $3tn Market Value

US technology giant Apple became the first company to hit a stock market valuation of $3tn (£2.2tn).
The firm's share price has risen by around 5,800% since co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007.
Apple has been one of the big winners of the pandemic, as coronavirus lockdowns saw spending on gadgets jump.
It took just over 16 months for Apple's stock market valuation to rise from $2tn to $3tn, as the world's biggest technology companies saw demand soar as people became more reliant on smartphones, tablets and laptops during lockdowns.
The company became the first company to hit a stock market valuation of $1tn in August 2018.

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