General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - November 2015

Nov 2015

Sep 21, 2021

Govt. to Promote Pearl Farming in Tribal Areas

The Trifed (Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India) inked an agreement with the Jharkhand-based Purty Agrotech for the promotion of pearl farming in tribal areas. The Trifed operates under the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
As part of the agreement, Purty Agrotech pearls will be sold through 141 Tribes India outlets, apart from various e-commerce platforms.
Purty Agrotech's centre will be developed into a Van Dhan Vikas Kendra Cluster (VDVKC). Besides, there is a plan to develop 25 such VDVKCs for pearl farming in Jharkhand. The breeding of oysters and development of pearls was a sustainable mode of business and can be easily practised by tribals who have access to nearby water bodies.

Rajiv Aggarwal is Director of Public Policy in India for Facebook

Facebook India appointed former IAS officer Rajiv Aggarwal as the director of public policy to define and lead policy development initiatives for Facebook in India.
His role focuses on user safety, data protection and privacy, inclusion and internet governance. Aggarwal will report to Ajit Mohan, vice president and managing director, Facebook India, and will be a part of the India leadership team.
He joins Facebook from Uber, where he was the head of public policy for India and South Asia.

Kotak Mahindra Bank to Acquire Stake in KFin Tech

Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank announced that it would acquire a 9.98 per cent stake in KFin Technologies for Rs. 310 crore.
KFin Technologies provides technology solutions across a broad spectrum of asset classes, spanning mutual funds, alternatives, and pensions. It provides registrar and transfer agency services to mutual funds, alternative investment funds, wealth managers, and corporates. KFin services 25 of 44 Indian mutual fund asset management companies.
The company also provides back-office operations and data processing services, besides being a central record-keeping agency under the National Pension System.

CCI Approves Adani Ports and SEZ's 10% Stake-buy in Gangavaram Port

Fair trade regulator CCI approved acquisition of over 10 per cent stake in Gangavaram Port Ltd by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd.
The 10.4 per cent equity shareholding would be acquired from the government of Andhra Pradesh.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone is present across 11 domestic ports in six maritime states -- Gujarat, Goa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.
Gangavaram Port is engaged to own, develop and operate the deep-water port at Gangavaram, Andhra Pradesh, pursuant to a concession agreement on build-own-operate-transfer basis with the state government.

HDFC Bank, Paytm to Launch Visa-powered Credit Cards

HDFC Bank and digital payments firm Paytm will launch a range of credit cards powered by Visa in October. The partnership aims to provide one of the widest range of offerings across customer segments, with special focus on millennials, business owners and merchants.
The offering is part of a partnership between IPO-bound Paytm and HDFC Bank, announced in August. The two will build comprehensive solutions across payments gateway, point of sale machines, and credit products.
The credit cards announced will be customised to meet distinct needs of retail customers, from new-to-credit users to affluent users and offer rewards and cashback for users. The new cards offering will also facilitate small business owners.

Carlyle to Divest 3.4% Stake in SBI Cards

Private equity firm Carlyle Group will divest 3.4 per cent stake in SBI Cards and Payment Services through a block trade.
As per reports, CA Rover Holdings, a subsidiary of Carlyle, has put on the block 32 million shares in the price band of Rs. 1,021–Rs. 1,072.3 per share.
At the lower end of the price band, Carlyle will be able to raise Rs. 3,267.2 crore ($443 million). BofA Securities and Citigroup Global Markets are handling the share sale.

India Ranks 46th in Global Innovation Index 2021

India has climbed two spots to 46 in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2021 prepared by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
The country's rank has been consistently rising in the last few years. From 81 in 2015, it has moved to 46 in 2021.

Sep 20, 2021

Alka Nangia Arora is CMD of NSIC

Alka Nangia Arora was appointed as the Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of the National Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC). She has taken the additional charge of the post. She is a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.
The National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) is a Mini Ratna company established in 1955. It falls under the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises of India and serves as a nodal agency for several schemes of the Ministry of MSME.

Flipkart, Davinta Tie up to Offer Credit Facilities to Small Businesses

Flipkart Wholesale, the digital B2B marketplace of the e-commerce firm, has formed a partnership with SME lending platform Davinta offering a 'Buy Now Pay Later' credit facility to all its retailers.
'Buy Now Pay Later' or BNPL has emerged as a credit innovation from new-age fintechs. They are offering this as an alternative to customers who struggle to be eligible for traditional credit constructs such as credit cards.

LIC Launches Mobile App 'PRAGATI' for Development Officers

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) launched a new mobile app 'PRAGATI' for the exclusive use of its Development Officers. PRAGATI stands for "Performance Review Application, Growth and Trend Indicator". LIC has been taking a lot of customer-centric and digital initiatives for ease of operations for its customers and field force.
The Pragati app will help the Development Officers to get near real-time information about the performance of their agency force in critical areas of business performance like premium collection, agency activisation, prospective outperformers, etc apart from monitoring their team on activities such as usage of agents mobile app and NACH validation. The app also provides development officers with a calculator to measure their cost ratio.

KEC International Acquires Oil Gas Firm Spur Infra

RPG group company KEC International Ltd has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 per cent equity in Spur Infrastructure for an enterprise value of Rs. 62 crore.
Spur Infra, incorporated in 2016, is an Indian EPC company engaged in setting up of cross country oil & gas pipelines and city gas distribution networks.
During the past three years, Spur Infra has achieved an annual revenue in excess of Rs. 100 crore, a profitable track record, technical expertise, and experienced manpower.

Advent International Buys Majority Stake in Eureka Forbes

Private equity major Advent International signed an agreement with Shapoorji Pallonji Group to acquire a majority stake in Eureka Forbes at an enterprise valuation of Rs. 4,400 crore.
Eureka Forbes (EFL), a 100% subsidiary of Forbes & Company, would be demerged into a standalone company, and then listed at the stock exchanges. Upon listing of EFL, Advent would purchase up to 72.56 per cent of the company's then outstanding stock on a fully diluted basis from SP Group. Advent would make an open offer, according to SEBI's takeover regulations.

Sep 19, 2021

Coal India Arm Eastern Coalfields Installs 250 kW Rooftop Solar Project

Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), the West Bengal-located coal-producing subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, commissioned a 250-kW rooftop solar power project ramping up its total installed solar roof top capacity to 692 kW.
The implemented through the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the newly installed 250 kW plant set up at ECL's headquarters in Sanctoria for captive consumption, has an average generation of 3.65 lakh units per annum.
This is sufficient to meet 12 per cent of the entire average annual power consumption of ECL's headquarters which is 30 lakh units.

Infosys Bags Five-year Deal from Texas-based Frost Bank

Infosys Ltd has bagged a five-year deal from Texas-based Frost Bank to provide strategic business consulting and digital capabilities that will enable the latter to offer mortgage loans along with its other consumer loan products.
Infosys will help design the bank's mortgage loan process landscape from origination to servicing, design the end-customer experience, and select the most effective technology platform to run and manage operations, while driving growth for its mortgage solutions over the next five years.
Infosys and Frost Bank will work together to create a human-centric, digital-first approach to customer mortgage loans that delivers superior borrower experience along with cutting-edge efficiency of operations. The implementation strategy will focus on accelerating launch of the new product, while also streamlining the mortgage value chain for Frost Bank by taking advantage of Infosys' access to global best practices and innovations.

Tata Capital Introduces Digital 'Loan Against Mutual Funds'

Tata Capital Ltd, the flagship financial services company of the Tata Group announced the launch of 'Loan Against Mutual Funds' (LAMF), an industry-first end-to-end digital offering. Customers can avail of quick and hassle-free loans ranging from Rs. 5 lakh and Rs. 2 crore.
Tata Capital's digital loan offering is provided against a wide range of equity and debt schemes across mutual funds. Customers can avail of the loan amount by marking a lien on the mutual fund units which are managed by various asset management companies. Backed by technology and analytics, LAMF is a personalized product to meet the diverse fund requirements of the customer. The loan amount is customized based on the value of the units in the mutual fund folio and tenure.

SBI's Amit Saxena Joins RBI Innovation Hub as CTO

Global Deputy CTO of State Bank of India, Amit Saxena has joined RBI Innovation Hub as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The Reserve Bank announced that it would set up Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) to promote innovation across the financial sector by leveraging on technology and creating an environment that would facilitate and foster innovation.
The RBIH shall create an ecosystem that would focus on promoting access to financial services and products. This will also promote financial inclusion.
The Hub will collaborate with financial sector institutions, the technology industry, and academic institutions and coordinate efforts for the exchange of ideas and development of prototypes related to financial innovations.
It would develop internal infrastructure to promote fintech research and facilitate engagement with innovators and start-ups.

Sep 18, 2021

RBI Nod to Special Committee to Oversee Operations at Ujjivan SFB

The Reserve Bank has given its go-ahead to Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB) to form a special committee of directors to oversee operations in the absence of an MD and CEO.
Last month, the Bengaluru-based company had appointed old hand Carol Furtado to take charge as officer on special duty (OSD) till September 30, 2021, following the resignation of Nitin Chugh as MD and CEO.
Furtado has been associated with Ujjivan SFB since inception and has spearheaded the organisation on numerous occasions, playing critical roles.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman Announces over Rs. 30,000 cr Guarantee for Bad Bank

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a formal government guarantee on the securities receipts that the planned 'bad bank' will issue to banks as it takes on non-performing assets from their books. The government guarantee will be Rs. 30,600 crore.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a proposal to provide government guarantee to security receipts issued by the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) as part of resolution of bad loans.
NARCL proposes to acquire stressed assets of about Rs 2 trillion in phases within extant regulations of RBI. NARCL will pay up to 15 per cent of the agreed value for the loans in cash and the remaining 85 per cent would be government-guaranteed security receipts.

IIFL Home Finance Signs Co-lending Pact with PNB

IIFL Home Finance Ltd. (IIFLHFL) signed an agreement with Punjab National Bank (PNB) for co-lending. It expects to grow its loan book by 25% with this association. Loan sourcing and servicing will be managed by IIFL Home Finance and 80% of the loan will be provided by PNB.
The HFC said that it will service the customers through the entire loan cycle, from sourcing, documentation, collection to loan servicing. This association will allow it to further penetrate into affordable home loan and secured MSME loan markets.

Kotak Mahindra Acquires Vehicle Financing Portfolio of Volkswagen Finance

Kotak Mahindra Bank announced the acquisition of German carmaker Volkswagen's captive vehicle finance business.
The deal involves the private sector lender's in-house NBFC Kotak Mahindra Prime acquiring the passenger car and two-wheeler portfolio, while Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) will acquire the commercial vehicles portfolio from Volkswagen Finance (VF).

Sep 17, 2021

Japan's Rakuten Forays into India's B2B tech Segment

Rakuten India, the Bengaluru-based technology hub for Japan's Rakuten Group, is foraying for the first time in India with its products in B2B technology, and has launched its new 'Code to Customer' Observability platform - Rakuten SixthSense.
Developed in India, Rakuten SixthSense, will provide businesses end-to-end visibility of the entire IT environment, from development to business operations.
Rakuten India, is the largest among Rakuten's 9 technology hubs outside Japan, has been an important tech hub for developing solutions for Rakuten's global ecosystem of more than 70 diverse businesses since 2014.
Rakuten SixthSense enables organisations to have a complete view of its data across the IT systems, applications, and business impact and allows for continual improvements based on the operational findings. As a SaaS platform, it delivers speed to customers while its pay-as-you-grow model offers customers a balance of value and investment.

TVS Motor Co enters Europe's E-bike Market

South India based TVS Motor Company entered into a fast growing $23.5 billion global e-bike business with an acquisition of Switzerland based e-bike maker EGO Movement.
TVS Motor picked up 80% stake in EGO for $17.9 million with an eye on generating over $100-150 million dollars in the next three to five years by participating in growing demand for e-bikes in the European continent.
As per Sudarshan Venu, Joint MD, TVS Motor Company, the partnership with EGO Movement reaffirms TVS Motor Company's commitment towards electrification and the broader sustainability agenda.

Escorts Signs MoU with IndusInd Bank

To make its range of tractors and farm equipment more accessible, Escorts Ltd has partnered with IndusInd Bank to provide financial solutions to farmers.
Escorts and IndusInd Bank will work together closely in understanding the financial needs of its customers and will jointly come up with various financial programs to enable customers invest in modern farm machinery to enhance their farm productivity and income.

Power Finance Corp Issues Maiden Euro Green Bond

Leading power sector lender, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) issued its maiden Euro Green Bond of £300 million. The 7-year instrument has been priced at 1.841 per cent.
According to PFC, this is the lowest yield locked in by an Indian Issuer in the Euro markets.
It is not only the first Euro bond issuance by PFC, but also the first-ever Euro denominated Green bond issuance from India. Moreover, it is the first ever Euro issuance by an Indian NBFC and the first Euro bond issuance from India since 2017.
With the issuance, PFC has also forayed in the European market for its international fund raising.
The company also said that the issuance saw participation from institutional investors across Asia and Europe from across 82 accounts and was oversubscribed 2.65 times.

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