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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - December 2015

Dec 2015

Jan 09, 2022

HDFC Bank Starts Online Customs Duty Payment Facility for Customers

HDFC Bank's integration with Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) ICEGATE platform has gone live, allowing customers to pay for their customs duty directly via the bank.
With this, the bank will offer customers the convenience of directly paying customs duty by selecting HDFC Bank.
This follows authorisation by the Principal Chief Controller of Accounts of CBIC to collect IGST on import and export of goods and services.
HDFC Bank facilitated both retail and wholesale payments of customs duty.

Hero MotoCorp Appoints Arun Jaura as CTO

Two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp announced the appointment of industry veteran Arun Jaura as its chief technology officer (CTO) to lead the company's research and development (R&D).
The company also announced the resignation of Neerja Sharma, company secretary and chief compliance officer.
Jaura, who was the managing director of Michelin India Technology Center before taking up the current position, reports to Hero MotoCorp Chairman and CEO Pawan Munjal.

RBI Approves Anup Bagchi's Re-appointment as ICICI Bank Executive Director

The RBI approved the re-appointment of Anup Bagchi as the Executive Director of ICICI Bank for three years, even as the bank had cleared the term for five years.
The shareholders of the bank at its Annual General Meeting in August 2021 had approved Bagchi's re-appointment for five years effective February 1, 2022.
ICICI Bank has two more executive directors -- Sandeep Batra and Vishakha Mulye.

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.

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