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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - September 2015

Sep 2015

Mar 06, 2020

SBI and LIC to pick up stake in Yes Bank in Govt. Approved Bailout

  • Banking major SBI and LIC are likely to acquire a 49 per cent stake in Yes Bank via preferential shares at Rs. 2 per share for a total amount of Rs. 490 crore.
  • SEBI may also give SBI an exemption from making an open offer.
  • The government approved the SBI and other government-backed financial institutions to take over cash-starved Yes Bank. The private lender, which is grappling with bad loans, is looking to raise fresh capital but the plans are facing uncertainties.

RBI Imposes Moratorium on Yes Bank; Caps Withdrawals

  • The Reserve Bank imposed a moratorium on the capital-starved Yes Bank and capped withdrawals at Rs. 50,000 per account till further orders.
  • The RBI also assured the depositors of the bank that their interest will be fully protected and there is no need to panic.
  • Former SBI CFO Prashant Kumar has been appointed as administrator for Yes Bank.
  • The latest development comes six months after the regulator did the same with the city-based cooperative lender PMC Bank after a large scam was unearthed.

ICICI Prudential AMC Inks Pact with Saraswat Co-op Bank to Tap Rural Market

  • ICICI Prudential AMC (Asset Management Company), one of the leading mutual fund investment companies in India, has entered into the partnership with Saraswat Co-operative Bank, an urban co-operative banking institution, to distribute its products with the latter's customers base spread across its 280 branches in 6 states.
  • This partnership will help ICICI Prudential to increase its outreach, especially in smaller villages and cities and also boost the bank's over 100-year presence in the country.
  • It will also help bank's customers to get the latest products and services like investment options in mutual fund schemes of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund.

SEBI Launches Mobile App for Investors to Lodge Grievances

  • Markets regulator SEBI launched a mobile application for convenience of investors to lodge grievances in SEBI Complaints Redress System (SCORES).
  • The app, 'Sebi SCORES', is available on both iOS and Android platforms.
  • "SCORES' mobile app will make it easier for investors to lodge their grievances with SEBI, as they can now access SCORES at their convenience of a smartphone. The mobile app will encourage investors to lodge their complaints on SCORES rather than sending letters to SEBI in physical mode.
  • The app has all the features of SCORES, which is currently available electronically.
  • SCORES is a platform for investors to lodge online complaints with SEBI against listed companies, registered intermediaries and market infrastructure institutions.

P&W Ties up with AI Unit to Repair A320neos

  • Aircraft engine maker Pratt and Whitney (P&W) roped in Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services to domestic carriers such as IndiGo and GoAir. AIESL will service PW1100G-JM engines at its facility in Mumbai. The PW1100G-JM geared turbofan (GTF) engine powers five aircraft platforms, which include the Airbus A220, the Airbus A320neo family and the Embraer E190-E2 that are already in commercial service and the Mitsubishi Regional Jet and Irkut MC-21 aircraft undergoing flight testing. AIESL's introduction to GTF maintenance will be a phased approach, starting with engine upgrade and module exchange capabilities.

RBI Deputy Governor Vishwanathan to Quit

  • RBI Deputy Governor N. S. Vishwanathan has decided to step down by March 31 due to ill health, three months before the end of his extended one-year tenure.
  • While the Reserve Bank has accepted his request to be relieved by March 31, the same has to be accepted by the Cabinet as well, which is likely to happen any day given his health condition.
  • His one-year extension was to end on July 3.
  • Vishwanathan has been in-charge of the key supervisory and regulatory functions at the Mint Road and it was this powerful position that led the government to offer him an extension given the mess in the banking system.

Mar 05, 2020

Lego Billionaire Takes over as Chairman

  • Lego A/S said that Thomas Kirk Kristiansen -- the fourth generation of the billionaire family that owns Europe's largest toymaker took over as its chairman. Kristiansen replaced Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, a former CEO at the company who will continue as a member of the board and develop the brand.

India Ranks 3rd in Trade-related Illicit Financial Flow Globally, China Tops: GFI Report

  • In accordance with the report titled "Trade-Related Illicit Financial Flows in 135 Developing Countries: 2008-2017" by US-based think tank Global Financial Integrity (GFI), India has the third-highest trade-related illicit financial flow among over 135 countries in 2017 while China has topped the report with USD 457.7 billion. As an average of 2008-2017, India ranked fourth among 135 countries and China stood at first.
  • Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs): It includes many types of activities, such as trade misinvoicing, smuggling, tax evasion, illegal earning etc. across an international border. But this report only focuses on trade misinvoicing, and the trade-related aspects of IFFs.
  • Trade misinvoicing: It is a method of hiding illicit financial flows within the international commercial trade system.
  • Value Gap: The amount of trade that was not properly taxed.

Merger of 10 PSBs Gets Cabinet Nod

  • The Union cabinet approved the consolidation of 10 public sector banks (PSBs) into four entities, a move aimed at having fewer but stronger lenders in India.
  • The amalgamation is being done so that customers are able to reap the benefit of larger banks being scaled up and more fund being available for credit.
  • At present, India has 18 state-owned banks compared with 27 in 2017. After the merger, the number will further come down to 12.

NMDC & i-TIC Foundation of IIT Hyderabad Sign Pact to Support Deep-Tech Start-Ups

  • National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) Limited & i-TIC foundation the Technology Business Incubator (TBI) of IIT Hyderabad signed an agreement to support start-ups through a joint incubation program through NMDC Innovation & Incubation Centre (NICE) to promote the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
  • A start-up ecosystem to be established on the premise of IIT Hyderabad to foster, nurture & incubate Deep-tech start-ups with new & innovative ideas.
  • NMDC Limited to contribute Rs. 10 crore for 5 year joint incubation programme & to support at least 15 start-ups.
  • The proposal is to support 5 start-ups a year with the incubation period for each of them being 2 years which is extendable by 6 months.
  • NICE is in line with the Centre's 'Startup India' initiative which will offer working space, facilitate networking with mentors, experts, apart from offering financial support to start-ups.
  • The agreement was signed by P. K. Satpathy, Director (Production), NMDC & B. S. Murty, Director, IIT Hyderabad and President of i-TIC Foundation.

NRIs Can Obtain 100% Air India Stake

  • The Union Cabinet allowed non-resident Indians (NRIs) to acquire up to 100% equity stake in Air India in order to make the sale offer of the state-run airline more attractive.
  • The proposed changes in the FDI policy will enable foreign investments by NRIs into Air India up to 100% under the automatic route.
  • NRIs will get permission to participate in Air India's strategic sale. Earlier, they were allowed to own up to 49% stake. It wasn't immediately clear whether any NRIs have expressed interest.

SC Lifts RBI Crypto Ban

  • The Supreme Court struck down a ban imposed by the RBI on banks from allowing their systems to be used for cryptocurrency related payments in April 2018. The RBI ban applied only to the use of banking channels for crypto transactions and thus, individuals continued to trade in cryptocurrencies using peer-to-peer networks, even after the ban. Trading between cryptocurrencies (without use of rupee payments for settlement), also continued. However the Supreme Court judgment may pave the way for revival of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as an asset class by reopening up the formal financial system to it.
  • A cryptocurrency can be defined broadly by two distinctive features. First, it is based on a distributed ledger meaning that records of its ownership are held across thousands of computers simultaneously, rather than any centralised system.

Zomato Acquires UberEats India for $206 million

  • According to the Uber's regulatory filings, Zomato, an Indian restaurant aggregator and food delivery startup has acquired Uber's food delivery business in India, Uber Eats for $206 million, where the investment was priced at $171 million, the balance $35 million was received as a reimbursement of goods and services tax (GST) receivable from Zomato.
  • Following this acquisition, all of Uber Eats' customers will be directed to Zomato platform and it will boost Zomato's position in the food delivery market.

SC Lifts RBI Crypto Ban

 

Mar 04, 2020

OPEC Pushes Russia to Support Big Oil Output Cut

  • Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members were seeking to win support from Russia to join them in new additional oil output cuts to prop up prices which have tumbled by a fifth this year because of the coronavirus outbreak.
  • A technical panel of several representatives from OPEC states, Russia and other producers recommended on Tuesday cutting output by between 0.6-1.0 million barrels per day (bpd) during the second quarter only.
  • It also recommended that existing cuts of 2.1 million bpd by the group known as OPEC , which meets in Vienna this week, be extended until the end of 2020.
  • Russia has so far signalled it might be willing to agree to extending existing cuts, which expire in March, but might find it difficult to sign up to deeper cuts.

RBL Bank Ties-up with Zomato to Launch Co-branded Credit Card Powered by Mastercard

  • RBL Bank (formerly known as Ratnakar Bank), an Indian private sector bank, entered into a partnership with Online food ordering and delivery app Zomato to launch co-branded credit cards, powered by Mastercard, for Zomato users.
  • It will be the first of its kind co-branded credit card, available in two variants – Edition Classic and Edition Card. It will offer benefits such as Zomato Gold membership, cash back as well as airport lounge access.
  • In the Edition card variant, customers get 10% cash back to their Zomato wallet for payments made via Zomato. In addition, they will also get 2% Edition Cash for all online transactions, 1% on offline purchases and 2000 bonus Edition cash (1 Edition cash is equivalent to Rs. 1) for spending more than Rs 5 Lakh.
  • While the other variant Edition Classic Card 5% cash bank in Zomato wallet,1.5% Edition Classic Cash cashback for online transactions, 1% on offline transactions & 2000 bonus Edition Classic Cash for spending over Rs. 2 Lakh.

FM Introduces Bill that Aims to Prevent a PMC-like Crisis

  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a Bill in the Parliament to amend the banking regulation law to give the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) more power to regulate cooperative lenders and prevent frauds such as the one seen at Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank Ltd.
  • Introducing the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2020, the Finance Minister said that it is the need of the hour to avoid a PMC Bank-like crisis in the future. Sitharaman said that PMC Bank fraud had put a lot of small depositors in difficulty and there were demands that the government should do something about it.
  • Cooperative banks are currently under the dual control of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies and RBI. While the role of registrar of cooperative societies includes incorporation, registration, management, audit, supersession of board and liquidation, RBI is responsible for regulatory functions such maintaining cash reserve and capital adequacy, among others.
  • The administrative role will continue to be done by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies. The amendments will apply to all urban co-operative banks and multi-state cooperative banks.

US Central Bank Makes Emergency Rate Cut

  • The US central bank slashed interest rates in response to mounting concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus.
  • The Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark rate by 50 basis points to a range of 1% to 1.25%.
  • The emergency move comes after the G7 Group of Finance Ministers pledged action.
  • It follows warnings that slowdown from the outbreak could tip countries into recession.
  • Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the US economy remains strong but it is difficult to predict the magnitude and persistence of the effects of the spreading virus.
  • The last time the bank made an interest rate cut at an emergency meeting was during the global financial crisis of 2008.

SBI Switches to Cash Budget Based Assessment Method of Assessment for Corporates

  • State Bank of India (SBI) switched to Cash Budget Based Assessment (CBBA) from "Projected Balance Sheet (PBS)" method of Fund Based Working Capital (FBWC) limits for assessment of the working capital requirement for corporates or large advances. CBBA of limits has been initiated for assessment of the FBWC limits for units with total FBWC exposure of more than Rs. 50 crore from the banking system.
  • SBI bids to achieve minimum 11.50% year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth in whole bank advances in FY2021, so it intends to focus on refinancing better rated corporates.

NBCC Gets Nod to Acquire Jaypee Infratech

  • The state-owned NBCC got approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to acquire debt-laden Jaypee Infratech through an insolvency process and complete around 20,000 pending flats over the next three-and-a-half years.
  • The Principal bench of NCLT, headed by acting president B. S. V. Prakash Kumar, gave a go-ahead to the resolution plan of NBCC.
  • Jaypee Infratech went into an insolvency process in August 2017. In December 2019, a committee of creditors (CoC) comprising 13 banks and around 21,000 homebuyers approved the resolution plan of NBCC with 97.36% vote in favour.

Government Appoints Ajay Bhushan Pandey as New Finance Secretary

  • Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey was appointed the finance secretary. He will replace Rajiv Kumar.
  • An IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre with over 35 years of experience in state and Central governments, Pandey is taking over as the finance secretary at a time when the economic growth has been on a downward trajectory, hitting nearly seven-year low of 4.7 per cent in the quarter ended December 31.
  • He assumed the charge as revenue secretary in the finance ministry on December 1, 2018. Since then he has been at the helm of significant taxation reforms, using technology to avoid any aggressiveness by taxmen.

L&T Bags Orders from Oman

  • Larsen & Toubro (L&T) said that the water and effluent treatment business of L&T Construction has bagged a significant order in Sultanate of Oman.
  • The order is for the design and execution of a water infrastructure project to enhance the Al Dhakhlia water transmission system phase II.
  • The scope of work includes 173 km of pipelines for water transmission with associated civil works, 18 RCC water storage reservoirs, 5 pumping stations with associated mechanical, electrical, control and instrumentation works.

Paytm Insurance Broking Secures Brokerage Licence from IRDAI

  • Indian digital payments platform Paytm's subsidiary, Paytm Insurance Broking, received the brokerage licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Authority of India (IRDAI).
  • Paytm will now offer insurance in various categories namely automotive, health and life. In addition to this, Paytm customers can also get policy management and claim settlement at select merchant points.
  • Paytm Insurance Broking aims to support its 16 Million merchant partners to sell its innovative insurance products all over India. Also it aims to expand the outreach of its products in a hassle-free manner and empower the merchant by providing an alternate income source.
  • Paytm has already partnered with 20 insurance companies and is now planning to get an additional 30 companies in future.

FM Introduces Bill that Aims to Prevent a PMC-like Crisis

  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a Bill in the Parliament to amend the banking regulation law to give the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) more power to regulate cooperative lenders and prevent frauds such as the one seen at Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank Ltd.
  • Introducing the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2020, the Finance Minister said that it is the need of the hour to avoid a PMC Bank-like crisis in the future. Sitharaman said that PMC Bank fraud had put a lot of small depositors in difficulty and there were demands that the government should do something about it.
  • Cooperative banks are currently under the dual control of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies and RBI. While the role of registrar of cooperative societies includes incorporation, registration, management, audit, supersession of board and liquidation, RBI is responsible for regulatory functions such maintaining cash reserve and capital adequacy, among others.
  • The administrative role will continue to be done by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies. The amendments will apply to all urban co-operative banks and multi-state cooperative banks.

Mar 03, 2020

Vistara Evaluates Bid for Air India

  • Tata SIA Airlines Ltd, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, is evaluating the prospects of bidding for national carrier Air India Ltd.
  • Gurugram-based Tata SIA has not decided whether it will actually bid for state-run Air India.
  • Whoever acquires Air India, whether it's us or anyone else, will have to follow the government timeline.
  • The government hopes to sell its entire stake in Air India. Last month, it invited offers from investors for the stake sale, after the failure of an expensive turnaround plan and an effort to sell a controlling stake in the national carrier.

Government Launches 'Humsafar' Mobile App for Doorstep Diesel Delivery

  • Housing societies, hotels, and hospitals in the national capital region will soon be able to get diesel delivered at their doorsteps, with the launch of mobile application 'Humsafar' by Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar.
  • The app will be used for the fuel delivery services to housing societies, hotels, hospitals, malls, construction sites, industries, banquets and other bulk buyers of diesel in various national capital region cities, including Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad, Hapur, Kundli, Manesar, and Bahadurgarh.
  • Sanya Goel, director and founder of Humsafar, said that the main idea of introducing this service is to help entities such as housing societies, industries and malls avoid the hassle of transporting large amounts of fuel from the fuel station to the desired destination. "This would also cut down the unsafe practices of transporting the fuel and ensure a highly secured mode of transport by Humsafar delivery dispensers.

Power Ministry Flags Concerns over Divesting Govt. Stake Below 51% in NTPC, PowerGrid

  • The Power Ministry raised concerns over the proposed strategic divestment of government equity in NTPC, PFC and PowerGrid, which may bring down its stake to below 51 per cent.
  • However, a final call on the proposed government stake sale is yet to be taken as the ministry conveyed its reservations to the Finance Ministry.
  • As per Power Secretary S. N. Sahai, there are issues. There will be some advantages and there will be some disadvantages.
  • Sahsi said that there is nothing like rejection. Each proposal has two sides, the advantages and disadvantages, we have conveyed both of them to the Finance Ministry. We have told them about the disadvantages, and we are cognizant of the advantages.
  • He further said that the ministry has highlighted both aspects of the issue and no stand has been taken yet, and these are part of deliberations on the proposal.
  • Earlier, under disinvestment plan, it was proposed to divest government equity below 51 per cent of its stake in certain public sector undertakings, including NTPC, PowerGrid and Power Finance Corporation (PFC).
  • Thereafter certain foreign bond holder in these PSU had raised concerns about that. The power entities are supposed to compensate bondholders after reduction of the government stake to below 51 per cent.

Shree Cement Overtakes ACC to Commission World's Largest Kiln in UAE

  • Shree Cement surpassed ACC to come up with the world's largest cement kiln at Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE. "We have operationalised the plant and now it is the world's largest cement kiln with a capacity to produce 14,500 tonne per day (tpd)," H M Bangur, managing director, Shree Cement told Business Standard.
  • It is 2,000 tpd higher than ACC's Wadi II Plant in Karnataka. ACC said one of its lines in its Wadi II plant has the company's largest kiln with a capacity of 12,500 tpd. Industry officials noted that ACC's Wadi II plant had held the distinction of being the largest cement kiln in the world, which now has been overtaken by Shree Cement.
  • Against ACC's total installed capacity of 33.41 mtpa, Shree Cement's current installed capacity stands at 41.90 mtpa.

BEE Launches Star Rating Programme for Deep Freezer and Light Commercial Air Conditioners (LCAC)

  • To commemorate its 19th foundation day, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, Government of India organized a Stakeholder Consultation to develop a vision towards building an energy efficient India. Launching the programme, Shri Sanjeev Nandan Sahai, Secretary (Power) appreciated the hard work of BEE for contributing towards an energy efficient economy. Such interaction would pave a way forward for initiatives to be taken by BEE in the sphere of energy efficiency. Deep freezer and LCAC are major energy guzzlers in commercial space, therefore, it is imperative that these two appliances shall be included in the program to save energy and reduce CO2 emission. With these two products only, a total savings of around 9 Billion units of electricity is expected to be saved for the country by FY 2030.
  • The Star Labeling Programme has been formulated by Bureau of Energy Efficiency, as part of its mandate, under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. Under this Programme, BEE has covered 24 appliances till date wherein 10 appliances are under mandatory regime. On the occasion of 19th foundation day, BEE has expanded the coverage by including Energy Efficient "Deep Freezers" and "Light Commercial Air Conditioners (LCAC)". Through launch of these two new appliances under voluntary regime, 26 appliances would now be covered under this programme. During the event, Urja Dakshata Information Tool (UDIT) (www.udit.beeindia.gov.in), a first ever initiative taken by BEE with World Resources Institute (WRI), to facilitate a database on energy e-fficiency was launched. UDIT is a user-friendly platform that explains the energy efficiency landscape of India across industry, appliances, building, transport, municipal and agriculture sectors. UDIT will also showcase the capacity building and new initiatives taken up by the Government across the sectors in the increase energy efficiency domain.

Mar 02, 2020

ICAR Signs Pact with Patanjali

  • The country's premier agri-research body ICAR signed an agreement with Hardiwar-based Patanjali Bio Research Institute (PBRI) to undertake research work as well as training and education.
  • The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Director General Trilochan Mohapatra and PBRI CEO Acharya Balkrishna in the presence of Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
  • As per the MoU, the specific plans will be developed to work on collaborative research programmes in areas of national interest related to sustainable agriculture development suitable to different agro-ecologies of the country.
  • ICAR and PBRI will collaborate in mutually identified areas of training and education where the post graduate students of deemed universities and research institutes of ICAR may undertake internships in various areas of specialisation with PBRI.

J&K and Ladakh Sign Pact with Bajaj Allianz

  • State Health Agency, Jammu and Kashmir signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company for implementation of Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh for a contract period of one year.
  • For the selection of an insurance company, an e-tendering process was conducted by the State Health Agency, he said, adding that Bajaj Allianz was selected as the lowest bidder on the premium of Rs. 720 per family per year.

Axis Bank Looks to Raise its Stake in Max Life Insurance

  • Axis Bank Ltd is looking to raise its stake in Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd by buying an additional 17.9% stake.
  • The potential deal will be made in two parts with the private lender taking a 7.9% stake while the rest would be held through its non-banking unit Axis Finance Ltd.
  • Axis Bank will value Max Life at par with its current embedded value (EV). Embedded value or the sum of net asset value and present value of future profits is a commonly used valuation metric for life insurers.
  • The development comes amid lack of regulatory clarity on how much banks can hold in domestic insurers.

Reliance Industries Buys Stake in Alok Industries

  • Alok Industries Ltd allotted 83.33 crore equity shares of Rs. 1 each at a premium of Rs. 2 per equity share for cash at a total consideration of Rs. 250 crore to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). Pursuant to this acquisition, RIL will hold 37.7 per cent equity share capital of the Mumbai-headquartered integrated textile manufacturer.
  • RIL said that the acquisition is in accordance with the approved Resolution Plan.
  • In March 2019, RIL had intimated the exchanges regarding approval by the National Company Law Tribunal, Ahmedabad Bench (NCLT) of the Resolution Plan, jointly submitted by RIL and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (JMFARC) for acquisition of Alok Industries under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, vide its order dated March 8, 2019.
  • Alok Industries, incorporated in India on March 12, 1986, has interests in polyester and cotton segments. It has a product suite comprising cotton yarn, apparel fabrics, bed linen, terry towels, embroidery, garments and polyester yarn. It has representative offices for sales promotion in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
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