General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - September 2015

Sep 2015

Jan 15, 2021

Google Closes Deal to Buy Fitbit

Search and advertising giant Google has closed its deal to buy Fitbit, even as the Justice Department said that it was continuing its probe of the $2.1 billion transaction.
The Justice Department, which sued Alphabet Inc's Google in October for allegedly violating antitrust law in its search and search advertising businesses, said it "has not reached a final decision about whether to pursue an enforcement action" regarding the Fitbit deal.
Google had said it was buying Fitbit, which makes a watch-like device to measure physical activity, as a way to enter the devices market and was hoping to address privacy concerns.

Eleven Indian Companies in Top-500 Globally by Value

As per a report, eleven private Indian firms have made it to the list of 500 most valuable companies across the world, and the country is ranked 10th on the chart.
The total value of these 11 companies grew 14 per cent and has been pegged at USD 805 billion or nearly a third of the Indian GDP.
All these companies in the list of non-state enterprises have gained in value during 2020, which was hit by the pandemic, barring tobacco major ITC and second largest private sector lender ICICI Bank, as per the 'Hurun Global 500' report.
The US accounted for nearly half of the enterprises with 242 of the 500 entries, followed by China at 51 and Japan at 30 companies.

RBI Releases Financial Stability Report

The Reserve Bank of India released to the financial stability report for December 2020. This is the 22nd issue of financial stability report of the apex bank. It is released twice a year.
The financial stability report says that the long-standing trend of private and public sector banks have been reversed. According to the report, the private bank credit has grown rapidly and the public sector bank credit has declined.
The RBI Financial Stability Report is released by the Financial Stability and Development Council. The idea of the council was mooted by Raghuram Rajan Committee in 2008. The Union Finance Minister is the chairperson of the Financial Stability and Development Council. The other members include RBI Governor and other senior officials of RBI.

Taiwan's Foxconn Joins Hands with China's Geely

Taiwan's Foxconn and Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group said that they will join hands to provide contract manufacturing for automakers.
They will each hold 50 per cent of a venture that will also provide consulting services on electric vehicle (EV) technologies to automakers.
It marks the latest move by Foxconn, a major Apple Inc supplier, into autos after a tie-up with Chinese electric car startup Byton and comes amid reports that Apple is likely to launch a self-driving electric car by 2024. For Geely, the partnership will allow it to share its first EV-focused platform with other automakers.

Jan 14, 2021

Intel Replaces its Chief Executive after 2 Years

Intel is replacing its CEO after only two years in what had been a rough stretch for the chipmaker.
Bob Swan, who became the company's chief executive in early 2019, will be replaced in mid-February by tech industry veteran Pat Gelsinger.
The choice of Gelsinger, who started his career as an Intel engineer decades ago, puts the semiconductor pioneer back in the hands of a tech expert at a time when it is struggling to keep up with market changes and growing competition.

Paytm Money to offer F&O Trading

Paytm Money, a wholly-owned subsidiary of fintech major Paytm, will provide Futures & Options trading (F&O) on its platform as it eyes facilitating daily turnover of Rs. 1.5 lakh crore in next 18-24 months.
The platform, which also offers services around stocks, direct mutual funds, ETF, IPO, NPS, and digital gold, is focussed on bringing "wealth services to 100 million Indians.
According to Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, This product has been made keeping in mind the mobile-first experience and we believe that presenting simple, low price products can help make deep inroads into smaller towns and cities.
Given the limited penetration of stock investments in the country, Paytm sees a high growth trajectory for its stocks broking offering, similar to its mutual fund offerings.
Paytm Money will charge brokerage at Rs. 10 for all F&O trades, which is in line with its intraday charges of Rs. 10 and free for delivery.

Two crore Fine on Deutsche Bank for Non-compliance

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs. 2 crore on Deutsche Bank AG for non-compliance with certain provisions of directions concerning interest rate on deposits. The central bank said the statutory inspection of Deutsche Bank's financial position as on March 31, 2019, and the Risk Assessment Report revealed non-compliance with the 'Reserve Bank of India (Interest Rate on Deposits) Directions, 2016'.
The action was based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and was not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.

Yes Bank Launches Wellness Themed Credit Cards

Yes Bank has announced its partnership with Aditya Birla Wellness Private Limited to launch the 'YES BANK Wellness' and 'YES BANK Wellness Plus' Credit Cards – aimed at the holistic health, self-care and wellness of consumers.
As consumers face new realities of home-schooling of children, working from home, and lack of physical contact with loved ones and colleagues, this is an innovative step to encourage and promote self-care, mental and physical well-being. Consumers can now enjoy the bouquet of complimentary health benefits by simply registering on the Aditya Birla Multiply App. The mobile app allows consumers to avail complementary benefits such as annual health check-up, round the clock doctor or counsellor helpline, in-studio or home based workout sessions, personalized diet plans, among others, right at their fingertips.

RBI Cancels the Licence of Vasantdada Nagari Sahakari Bank

RBI has requested the Commissioner for Cooperation and Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS), Maharashtra to issue an order for winding up the bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the licence of Maharashtra-based Vasantdada Nagari Sahakari Bank, with immediate effect. Vasantdada Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd will now not be allowed to conduct the business of 'banking', including acceptance of deposits and repayment of deposits, with effect from the close of business on January 11, 2021.
The Bank has failed to comply with the requirements of Section 11(1) read with Section 56 of BR Act and thus would be unable to pay its present depositors in full in its current financial position.

Jan 13, 2021

L&T Infotech, IBM Expand Alliance; to Build an Innovation Center in Bengaluru

Digital solutions major Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI) is expanding its multi-year global alliance with IBM to help businesses transform their operations through hybrid cloud adoption.
LTI will help clients migrate and modernise core business applications leveraging IBM cloud offerings.
As part of this relationship, LTI and IBM plan to establish an innovation centre in Bengaluru this year. The centre will offer a comprehensive suite of IBM's cloud, automation, integration, data and artificial intelligence solutions to foster innovation.
IBM will provide training to LTI employees to facilitate co-creation workshops and solution development for their clients.

Morgan Stanley Announces New India Investment Banking Co-heads

Morgan Stanley has appointed new heads for its Indian investment banking unit, promoting its senior bankers Kamal Yadav and Sachin Wagle to the role of co-heads of India Investment Banking.
Yadav and Wagle will be responsible for client coverage and management of the investment banking business in India.
Yadav joined the firm in 1999 and has been instrumental in building Morgan Stanley's India banking franchise over the past 21 years, while Wagle joined Morgan Stanley in 2000. He had been heading the firm's global capital markets practice since 2014.
The firm has also announced that Sanjay Shah will be the country head in India. He was the India co-head along with Aisha de Sequeira since 2013. Shah had joined Morgan Stanley as an associate in 1996 in the institutional equities division. He was promoted to managing director in 2005.

TCS to Acquire GE's Stake in TCS Saudi Arabia

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country's largest software exporter, will acquire General Electric's (GE) stake in Tata Consultancy Services Saudi Arabia for $12,471 (about Rs. 9.13 lakh).
In September 2013, TCS had announced creation of a first of its kind All-Women Business Process Services Center in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), in partnership with GE. Over the past seven years, the center has expanded from 20 to almost 1,000 women employees and won several awards including the King Khalid Award 2019 for 'Responsible Competitiveness' and the 2018 Future of Workplace Award for 'Best women development and leadership programme'.
Saudi Desert Rose Holding BV (wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric International (Benelux) BV) holds 24 per cent share in TCS Saudi Arabia, while the remaining 76 per cent is held by Tata Consultancy Services Netherlands BV (a wholly-owned subsidiary of TCS). Following the completion of the deal, which is expected to close in 3-6 months, TCS's shareholding in the company will increase to 100 per cent.

Jan 12, 2021

India's 7th Trade Policy Review (TPR) at WTO

The second session of the 7th Trade Policy Review (TPR) of India concluded at the World Trade Organization (WTO). This was the final session of the 7th trade policy review. Trade Policy Review is a key mechanism under the monitoring function of WTO. During this trade policy review, WTO examines the trade and related policies of the member countries with an aim to improve their adherence to WTO rules and to provide constructive feedback.
The official delegation of India for the 7th TPR was headed by Anup Wadhawan, the Commerce Secretary.
The Commerce Secretary responded to all the issues rose by the Members during the 1st TPR session of India.
The Commerce Secretary also urged the members to provide a permanent solution to Public Stock Holding (PSH) for food security.

Banks' Bad Loans to Double by September, Warns RBI

According to RBI report, bad loans of Indian banks may double by September this year despite a slight improvement in the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) during the Covid era.
Four banks may fail to meet the minimum capital level by September 2021 if there is no resuscitation by the stakeholders.
The warning came on a day the RBI cancelled the licence of Vasantdada Nagari Sahakari Bank. The Maharashtra-headquartered bank will be unable to pay its present depositors.
Stress tests by the RBI's Financial Stability and Development Council showed that the GNPA ratio of all banks may nearly double from the current 7.5% to a minimum of 13.5% and a maximum of 14.8%.

Adani Green Commissions 25 MW Solar Power Plant in Uttar Pradesh's Chitrakoot

Adani Solar Energy Chitrakoot One Limited, a step down subsidiary of Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) has commissioned a 25 MW solar power plant in Uttar Pradesh's Chitrakoot.
This plant has a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Noida Power Company Limited (NPCL) at Rs. 3.08/KWh. With this commissioning, AGEL's total operational renewable capacity grows to 2,975 MW.
According to Vneet S Jaain, MD and CEO Adani Green Energy Ltd, the plant will be connected to the state-of-the-art Energy Network Operation Centre (ENOC) that continuously monitors and analyses performance of 80+ solar and wind plants across diverse locations in India.

IREDA-NHPC Partnership in Green Energy Projects

NHPC Limited has signed an MOU with the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) for providing assistance in setting up renewable energy (RE) projects for the next 5 years. The agreement was signed in the presence of Abhay Kumar Singh, NHPC CMD, and IREDA, CMD, Pradip Kumar Das.
Under the agreement NHPC will help in the knowledge and technology transfer and provide consultancy and research services.
NHPC has undertaken an ambitious plan to make a significant impact on the renewable energy landscape of the country.

Jan 11, 2021

Bandhan Bank Unveils Account for Army Personnel

Private lender Bandhan Bank has signed an agreement with the Indian Army to provide banking services to the personnel of the force.
The bank got the mandate to maintain and a Bank Shaurya Salary Account of the Army personnel. Bandhan Bank Shaurya Salary Account will have a zero balance facility. The Shaurya Salary Account also offers protection for self and assets.
Services under the account will be offered to serving personnel of the Army through the bank's network of banking outlets. The account will offer a host of features including zero-balance facility with 6 per cent interest on balance above Rs. one lakh, unlimited free ATM transactions, waiver of issuance and annual charge on Shaurya Visa Platinum debit card.

Axis Bank Announces no Penalty on Premature Closure of Fixed Deposits

In a first-of-its-kind move, private lender Axis Bank announced the removal of penalty on premature closure of all new retail term deposits booked on or after December 15, 2020 for a tenure of 2 years or more. The new feature will be applicable on all new fixed deposits and recurring deposits.
The objective of this customer-friendly feature is to inculcate and encourage retail customers to go for long-term savings without worrying about the sudden need for liquidity.
The new feature will be applicable on all new fixed deposits and recurring deposits. For new deposits booked for a tenure above 2 years, there will be nil premature penalty if the entire deposit is prematurely withdrawn post 15 months of booking. The new feature also offers no penalty on first withdrawal of up to 25 percent of term deposit principal value.

BHEL Secures Order for Steam and Power Plant from NALCO

State-run engineering firm BHEL bagged an order worth Rs. 450 crore for a steam and power plant from National Aluminium Corporation Limited (NALCO).
The Rs. 450 crore order has been placed on BHEL by NALCO for its 5th Stream Alumina Refinery Expansion Project at Damanjodi, Odisha.
BHELs scope in the contract includes design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of 1×300 TPH Coal Fired Boiler, 18.5 MW Steam Turbine Generator and associated auxiliaries, including Flue-gas desulfurisation (FGD) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR).

Baidu and Geely Partner up for Smart Cars

China's search engine Baidu has announced it will partner with carmaker Geely to make smart electric vehicles (EVs).
Baidu will provide "intelligent driving capabilities", while Geely will offer design and manufacturing expertise.
Geely is one of China's largest carmakers, and also owns Volvo and a stake in Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler.
The two companies will be competing not just with Elon Musk's Tesla, but also with several Chinese competitors.
Baidu established its autonomous driving unit Apollo in 2017, which mainly supplies technology powered by artificial intelligence and works with a number of international and Chinese carmakers.

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