General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - December 2015

Dec 2015

Dec 16, 2020

Russia Approves Sinopec's Participation in huge Petrochemical Project

The Russian government approved participation of China's Sinopec company in a large-scale petrochemical project, in line with Moscow's plans to forge closer ties with Beijing.
Russia's privately held Sibur petrochemical company wants to build one of the world's largest polymer-producing plants in the country's far east, targeting the Chinese and broader Asian markets.
The Amur Gas Chemical Complex, with investments of up to $11 billion, is set to start producing 2.3 million tonnes of polyethylene and 400,000 tonnes of polypropylene per year beginning in 2024-2025. Sinopec is set to take a 40% stake in the complex.
Chinese companies have been actively participating in Russia's projects, including in production of oil and gas.

RBI Imposes Penalty on an Urban Co-operative Bank in Kerala

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 50.00 lakh on The Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd. No. 1758, Perinthalmanna for non-compliance with directions issued on Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms and on Management of Advances-UCBs.
The central bank said that statutory inspection of the bank with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2019, conducted by RBI, revealed that the bank had not complied with the directions.

India Post Payments Bank Launches its Digital Payments' Services 'DakPay'

Department of Posts (DoP) and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) unveiled a new digital payment app called 'DaKPay' at a virtual event. The app is part of the department's ongoing efforts to provide digital financial inclusion to all corners of the country.
DakPay is not just a digital payment app but a suite of digital financial and assisted banking services provided by India Post and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) through the postal network across the nation to cater to the financial needs of various sections of the society — be it sending money to the loved ones (Domestic Money Transfers — DMT), Scan QR code and make payment for services/merchants digitally (Virtual debit card and with UPI), enabling cashless ecosystem through biometrics, providing interoperable banking services to the customers of any bank (AePS) and Utility Bill Payment services.

Dec 15, 2020

Tata's among Multiple Bidders for Air India

Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group and US-based fund Interups Inc were among multiple entities that put in preliminary bids for buying loss-making carrier Air India.
A group of 219 Air India employees submitted an expression of interest (EoI) for the carrier in partnership with Interups at the close of the deadline.
The identity of the bidders or the number of bids received for buying the national carrier were revealed.
As per reports, Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, has put in an EoI and so did Interups, whose chairman Laxmi Prasad had in the run-up to the disinvestment made his intentions clear to bid for Air India.

MG Motor Announces Partnership with TES-AMM for Recycling of Li-ion Batteries

MG Motor India has announced its partnership with the TES-AMM for battery recycling in the country. The partnership will ensure the correct and safe recycling of lithium-ion batteries used in the brand's ZS EV electric-SUV.
According to the company, the partnership will ensure environmentally-sustainable and secure recycling of MG ZS EV batteries. It will ensure greater peace of mind to the ZS EV owners about their ecological footprint by proper recycling of batteries.
TES-AMM is Asia's only Li-ion battery recycling plant. It is one of the few companies certified in multiple management systems including battery recycling and more.
Annually TES process millions of devices across from over 35 countries. It uses a unique mechanical-hydrometallurgical process for enhanced asset recovery that is environmentally superior and safer.

Nokia Enters Laptop Market in India

Nokia entered its third consumer tech category in India by announcing its first laptop PureBook X14.
The company has already been selling smartphones and televisions in India. The smartphones come in collaboration with HMD Global but the PureBook laptops have been designed in partnership with e-commerce website Flipkart. The BIS listing that was spotted some days back suggested that these laptops are manufactured by Tongfang HongKong in Jiangsu, China.
Now, this is not a new category for Nokia. The Finnish tech manufacturer has been selling notebooks in other markets but has only decided to come to India now.
The category has seen a revival of sorts post COVID-19 pandemic and eventual Work From Home practices. The segment is fast evolving and expanding with several new and old brands looking to make most of it. To keep up, is going to be tough.

Torrent Gas to Invest Rs. 5,000 crore in Chennai City Gas Project

Torrent Gas Ltd pledged Rs. 5,000 crore investment to develop infrastructure to retail CNG to automobiles and piped gas to households and industries in Chennai, the biggest city gas license in its portfolio.
Torrent Gas, part of the pharma-to-energy Torrent Group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Tamil Nadu for development of city gas infrastructure at the Growth and Investment Conclave in Chennai.
The firm will lay pipelines and other infrastructure in Chennai and Tiruvallur districts, covering an area of 3,569 square kilometres, to provide piped natural gas (PNG) connections to homes, industries and commercial establishments. It will also set up the infrastructure to dispense compressed natural gas (CNG) to automobiles.

Oaktree, Piramal, Adani Submit Revised Bids for DHFL

Oaktree Capital, Piramal Capital and Housing and Adani Group are the three entities that have submitted revised bids for troubled Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd even as jailed promoter, Kapil Wadhawan, has sent a fresh missive promising to fully pay back all creditors.
Oaktree Capital is understood to be the highest bidder at about Rs. 36,700 crore, while Piramal has put in a bid for Rs. 35,500 crore. Adani Group has bid for DHFL at Rs. 33,100 crore.
Adani and Piramal are understood to have put in two separate offers. Piramal has bid for the entire portfolio and has also put in a separate offer for the retail book.

Dec 14, 2020

Oracle Moves Headquarters to Texas, Joining Silicon Valley Exodus

Oracle Corporation has moved its headquarters to Texas, from its home state of California to give employees more flexibility on where they do their jobs.
The move to Austin from Redwood City means that many of the employees can choose their office location as well as continue to work from home part time or all of the time. The company will continue to support its other US office locations in Santa Monica, California, Seattle, Denver, Orlando, and Burlington, Massachusetts.

IMF, World Bank Raise Pressure on Nigeria to Reform Currency

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have intensified calls on Nigeria to speed up currency reforms without which Africa's largest economy may fail to achieve the growth it needs to prevent millions more from falling into penury.
According to IMF, a unified and flexible exchange rate will ease external imbalances and bolster activity in the OPEC nation, which slid into its second recession in four years in the third quarter.
As per the World Bank President, Muhammadu Buhari's administration needed to change foreign-exchange policies if it wanted to get a $1.5 billion loan. The country is asking for financial help to overcome a crisis that could sink an extra 11 million people into poverty by 2022, bringing the total number to 100 million, or about half of the population.

Kia Motors Aims to Expand its Sales Network in Smaller Towns

South Korean automaker Kia Motors aims to expand its sales network in smaller towns and rural areas as it looks to scale up its presence across the country.
The company, which has achieved success in India with models like Seltos and Sonet, is also focusing on enhancing the profitability of its dealer partners.
According to Tae-Jin Park, executive director and chief sales officer of Kia Motors India, the company is expanding its network and aiming to reach 300 touch points by the end of this year and will now focus on expansion in tier-IV and upcountry markets which will help further penetrate deeper in the Indian market.

Dec 13, 2020

SBI General Insurance, Mahindra Partner to Enter Tier 2 and 3 Cities

SBI General Insurance has partnered with Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd (MIBL) to raise its penetration in tier-II and III cities. This association will enable the company to provide health insurance cover to a significant number of people in tier-II and III cities and generate employment.
Under this 'Sajhedaari programme', the insurer hopes to make a significant milestone in realising its vision to be the most-trusted general insurer. SBI General is also associated with MIBL for new car, commercial vehicle, tractors and used-car insurance. In the digital space also, SBI General has partnered with PAYBIMA, a digital platform by MIBL for providing affordable insurance solutions.

Blackstone to Buy Piramal Glass for $1 Billion

Blackstone Group Inc. has agreed to acquire the glass unit of Indian conglomerate Piramal Enterprises Ltd. for about $1 billion.
The transaction could be announced as soon as in the next few weeks. The U.S. private equity giant is in talks with banks for about a $400 million, five-year loan to fund the deal.
Piramal Enterprises is looking to sell some non-core businesses to boost capital. In June, the group agreed to sell a 20% stake in Piramal Pharma Ltd. to private equity firm Carlyle Group Inc. for $490 million, giving the business an enterprise value of $2.7 billion.
Piramal Glass makes glass packaging and has factories in the U.S., India and Sri Lanka with a total capacity of 1,475 tons per day, according to its website. The former Gujarat Glass was acquired by Piramal Group in 1984.

ICICI Lombard New Health Insurance Plans: Cashless OPD, sum Insured Protector

ICICI Lombard, a private sector non-life insurance company, launched its ICICI Lombard Complete Health Insurance offering with new health plans and benefits. The plans – Health Shield, Health Shield Plus, Health Elite, and Health Elite Plus, will include the latest features and comprehensive coverage to provide enhanced protection to customers.
Some of the newly introduced coverage benefits include donor expenses, domiciliary hospitalization, emergency assistance, worldwide cover, unlimited reset, air ambulance, super NCB (no claim bonus), sum insured protector and claim protector, cashless OPD services, among others. The company claims to introduce benefits that are aligned to the new normal and, hence, contextual to today's needs of customers.

India Asks EU to Remove Non-tariff Barriers

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Friday asked the European Union to remove non-tariff barriers and standards so as to increase bilateral trade. At the CEO forum and Sweden-India strategic business partnership, he said that these barriers are "very often unachievable for any country in the world almost other than Europe".
India and Sweden will in the next three months draw up a roadmap to increase bilateral partnership.

Dec 12, 2020

Banks Sanction Rs. 2.05 lakh cr to 81 lakh MSMEs under Credit Guarantee Scheme

The Finance Ministry said that banks have sanctioned loans worth Rs. 2,05,563 crore to about 81 lakh accounts under the Rs. 3-lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the MSME sector that was impacted by disruptions caused due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As per the Finance Ministry, 40 lakh MSME accounts have received Rs. 1,58,626 crore till December 4.
Announcing Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package 3.0 last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that Rs. 2.05 lakh crore sanctioned and Rs. 1.52 lakh crore disbursed under ECLGS 1.0.

Canara Bank Raises Rs. 2,000 crore via QIP; LIC Largest Investor

State-owned Canara Bank successfully raised Rs. 2,000 crore equity capital by issuing over 19 crore shares to eligible investors.
LIC emerged as the largest investor in the bank's qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue.
The subcommittee of the board at its meeting held on December 11 approved allotment of 19,32,36,714 equity shares to eligible qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) at an issue price of Rs. 103.50 per equity share, aggregating up to Rs. 2,000 crore.
The QIP had opened on December 7 and closed on December 10.

Julien Geffard to Head Ola's EV Business in Europe

Ride hailing major Ola appointed Julien Geffard as the Director of Go-To-Market Strategy for its electric business in Europe as it prepares to launch its range of electric scooters in Europe in the coming months.
In this role, Geffard will be responsible for building and growing Ola's European operations for its electric business and will be based in Amsterdam.
He brings over 15 years of deep automotive experience. Before joining Ola, he was the Global Commercial Director and a member of the board of management at Peugeot Motorcycles. He has worked with Bentley Motors Ltd, Alpine and BMW.

Hyundai Motor Group to Acquire Controlling Stake in Boston Dynamics

Hyundai Motor Group and SoftBank Group Corp. (SoftBank) agreed on main terms of the transaction pursuant to which Hyundai Motor Group will acquire a controlling interest in Boston Dynamics in a deal that values the mobile robot firm at $1.1 billion. The deal came as Hyundai Motor Group envisions the transformation of human life by combining world-leading robotics technologies with its mobility expertise.
Under the agreement, Hyundai Motor Group will hold an approximately 80% stake in Boston Dynamics and SoftBank, through one of its affiliates, will retain an approximately 20% stake in Boston Dynamics after the closing of the transaction. Hyundai Motor Group's affiliates - Hyundai Motor Co., Hyundai Mobis Co. and Hyundai Glovis Co. - and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung respectively participated in the acquisition.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

October GK, September GK, August GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services and Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26