General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - December 2015

Dec 2015

Oct 16, 2020

BPCL to Cut Dependence on Middle East LPG

An Indian buyer of liquefied petroleum gas is once again attempting to ease its dependence on Middle East shipments after some supply shocks last year stemming from drone attacks and even a trade war.
Bharat Petroleum Corp. is seeking bids from global suppliers for a fifth of its typical LPG needs in 2021. Bidding is still open to Middle East producers, which already provide BPCL with the majority of its contracted needs. India's second-biggest fuel retailer made an attempt to broaden its sources of supply earlier this year but the tender wasn't awarded due to a lack of attractive offers.
The latest tender is aimed at getting better prices for supplies compared with those from the Middle East and to diversify sources of LPG, according to the objectives listed in the document. India's fuel retailers get most of their LPG -- typically used for cooking -- from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the U.A.E. and Kuwait, leaving them exposed to price fluctuations and supply shocks.

Centre to Borrow on Behalf of States to Meet GST Shortfall

As per the Finance Ministry, the Central government will borrow up to Rs. 1.1 lakh crore on behalf of the states to bridge the shortfall in GST collections.
A slowdown in the economy since last fiscal has resulted in a drop in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, upsetting the budgets of states which had given up their right to levy local taxes such as sales tax or VAT when GST was introduced in July 2017.
To make up for the shortfall, borrowing from the market was proposed.

J&K Govt Signs MoU with Flipkart to Promote Handloom, Handicraft Products

Jammu and Kashmir government signed a MoU with Flipkart to provide an online platform for showcasing and facilitating the local artisans/craftsmen/weavers to reach customers across the globe.
This is an important step towards the promotion of rural economy and to boost the sale of genuine exotic products of Handicrafts and Handloom sector and find new destinations for niche handmade products from Jammu and Kashmir.
This meaningful initiative will eliminate the role of the middleman to a lesser extent and will benefit the artisans in a way that the proceeds of the sale of their products shall go directly into their accounts.

RIL's Retail Arm Receives Rs. 5,550 cr from KKR

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) received Rs. 5,550 crore from global investment firm KKR, which has picked up 1.28 per cent stake in its retail arm.
Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, a subsidiary of the company, received the subscription amount of Rs. 5,550 crore from Alyssum Asia Holdings II Pte. Ltd. (a unit of KKR) and allotted 81,348,479 equity shares to KKR.
The investment valued Reliance Retail, which runs grocery stores and fashion chains, at a pre-money equity value of Rs. 4.21 lakh crore.

Religare Approaches Exchanges for Declassifying Singh Brothers as Promoters

Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) approached exchanges BSE and NSE for removal of Singh brothers, who stepped down following allegations of siphoning off funds, as promoters and shift them to public shareholders category.
Following the exit of Shivinder Mohan Singh and Malvinder Mohan Singh, the new management under executive chairperson Rashmi Saluja had moved the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to remove Singh brothers and declassify them as REL promoters in 2018.
However, the decision got delayed after changes in norms by SEBI wherein stock exchanges were authorised to take a call on declassification of promoters with shareholding up to 10 per cent.

Oct 15, 2020

Wipro Approves up to Rs. 9,500-crore Buyback Plan

IT services major Wipro announced an up to Rs. 9,500-crore buyback plan at Rs. 400 per equity share.
The announcement comes a week after its rival TCS announced a mega Rs. 16,000-crore buyback plan at Rs. 3,000 per equity share.
Wipro Board approved a buyback proposal for purchase of up to 23.75 crore equity shares at Rs. 400 per share and aggregates to an amount of up to Rs. 9,500 crore.
Wipro posted a 3.4% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs. 2,465.7 crore for the quarter ended September 30.

EarlySalary Launches Salary Card Powered by RuPay

EarlySalary, India's largest consumer lending platform, launched 'Salary Card' a zero-touch digital card that provides instant access for salaried professionals, enabling them to make instant purchases across thousands of merchants across India.
Powered by RuPay, the Salary Card comes with a unique feature that allows consumers the flexibility of setting up a dynamic credit limit to suit their shopping, medical, travel, entertainment and other needs.
The on-going pandemic has created a higher preference for non-contact payments. The digital zero-touch 'Salary Card' credit solution is EarlySalary's commitment to offer a safe and secured environment to customers, enabling them to exercise tighter control over their finances by setting a credit limit for every shopping need or expense.

Fifty per cent Subsidy for Agricultural Perishable

The Ministry of Food Processing and the ministry of Railways have jointly provided subsidised rate of 50% for freight transportation of perishable agriculture produce such as vegetables and fruits.
The step is being implemented to boost Operation Green. Operation Green is implemented by Ministry of Food Processing.
The ministries will provide 50% subsidies to farmers transporting surplus agricultural produce such as vegetables and fruits by train. Also, the ministry will provide 50% subsidy to cold chain storage of Agricultural commodities. In order to receive the subsidies, the farmers have to submit self-certified documents on "Sampada" portal. The portal is maintained by the Ministry of food processing.

WeKan Looks to Incubate, Fund 20 Indian Startups

New York-based product accelerator WeKan plans to incubate and fund about 18-20 startups in the 'future of work' space in India.
In the next month alone, WeKan is looking to invest at a ticket size of up to $250,000 in B2B development tools such as Low or No-Code, DevOps/Infrastructure Tools, API Management, and Software Testing tool.
This comes at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has forced companies across the world to adopt a remote work model, or work from home (WFH).

Rajeev Gupta Panel Set Up to Streamline Sepctrum Allocation

The Government of India has constituted a panel under the cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba to streamline telecom spectrum allocation. The panel has been constituted with secretaries of railways, defence, home, telecom, department of space and Information and Broadcasting.
The spectrum auction had been held by GoI for six times. They are 2010, 2012-16. However, there was no clarity on frequency of future airwave sale.
Spectrum allocation is the regulation of electromagnetic spectrum bands. These bands are of radio frequency. The next spectrum auction is looked forward in regard to the 5G network.
The panel will resolve the tussle between Department of Space and the telecom department over the 5G spectrum in the 26 GHz band.

Oct 14, 2020

HP India Delists over 10,000 Websites

HP India said that based on details it shared with the law enforcement authorities, over 10,000 websites selling counterfeits were identified and delisted.
As a result, counterfeit goods worth Rs. 45 crore were seized in nine months up to July this year (2020). This included a single raid on a syndicate in Mumbai, where seizures in excess of Rs. 22.5 crore were made. The authorities carried out a total of 78 raids resulting in 68 arrests.
The HP Anti-Counterfeiting and Fraud programme also works closely with platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm and ShopClues to only allow authorised partners to sell genuine products. Most of the counterfeiting is of ink and toner supplies.

World Economy in Deep Recession, Growth to be -4.4%, Predicts IMF

The IMF predicted a deep global recession this year and the world growth to be -4.4%, asserting that the global economic crisis is far from over mainly due to the impact of the corona virus pandemic.
In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund also said that the swift recovery in China has surprised on the upside while the global economy's long ascent back to pre-pandemic levels of activity remains prone to setbacks.
According to the report, in 2021, growth is projected to rebound to 5.2%, -0.2 percentage points below its June projection.

Tesla Working on India Entry

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed plans for the India entry of the electric car maker, and said that the process to bring Tesla cars to India will begin in January 2021.
Earlier this month, Musk had said that the electric car maker was finally ready to enter the India market next year.
Tesla Club India that is there an India team working on the next year for sure scheduled Tesla entry, will release order configurator probably in January 2021.
It means that Tesla sales teams are working on building custom sales and production orders for the India market, ensuring orders are complete and validated once the configuration is finished.

Mastercard Partners with Signzy

Mastercard announced a partnership with Signzy, a RegTech startup, to enable the latter's video-based KYC (Know Your Customer) solutions for its banking customers. This will allow Mastercard to provide a completely paperless, remote and secure on boarding solution for end-users.
In India, this launch will further Mastercard's goal of driving inclusive growth via financial inclusion by enabling individuals and small businesses to go online.
Earlier this year, the payments technology company partnered with various players and launched low-cost innovations that allow merchants to start accepting digital payments without incurring additional or high infrastructural costs. Video KYC will further ease and speed of on boarding in minimal time.

Apple Unveils iPhone 12 with 5G

Apple Inc launched the iPhone 12 with faster 5G connectivity starting at $799, which the Cupertino, California company hopes will spur a wave of upgrades and keep its sales booming through the end of the year.
Apple also introduced a "Mini" version with a 5.4-inch screen for $699 and a "Pro" version with three cameras.
According to Apple, all iPhone 12 models in the United States will support millimetre wave 5G, the fastest variant of the technology, as well as lower-frequency bands. Some rival Android devices support only the lower-frequency versions of 5G.

Oct 13, 2020

Pact with Maldives for Mega Connectivity Project

India signed a $400 million (over Rs. 3,000 crore) loan pact with the Maldives for a mega connectivity project that will dwarf the Maldives-China Friendship Bridge. The line of credit was signed by Exim Bank's Nirmit Ved and the Maldives Finance Minister, Ibrahim Ameer.
India had completed the Supreme Court building in Mauritius, another Indian Ocean island-nation with which it has stepped up diplomatic ties.
The Maldives has received 5.5 tonnes of essential medicines from India which also helped in evacuation of Maldivians from Wuhan.
India has gone the extra mile to help the Maldives financially through a transparent mechanism. The RBI raised Treasury Bonds which were sold to the State Bank of India (SBI), Male, for handover to the Maldives Government.

Tamil Nadu Inks 14 MoUs Worth Rs. 10,055 crore

The Tamil Nadu government signed 14 Memorandum of Understanding envisaging new investments worth Rs. 10,055 crore in nine districts that would create 7,000 jobs in sectors, including renewable energy and data centre.
Among the 14 MoUs, the major investment was from JSW Renewable Energy Ltd, which is expected to invest Rs. 6,300 crore, to set up renewable energy plants in five districts — Thoothukudi, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram and Tirupur. The investment would likely bring employment to 2,420 persons in all these districts.
From April to September this year, 42 MoUs worth Rs. 31,46 crore were signed to employ more than 60,000 persons in the State. The State government had earlier appointed a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam to attract investments during COVID-19 lockdown.

Upstox India's Second Largest Stock Broker after Zerodha

Discount brokers are strengthening their hold on India's highly competitive stock broking industry, with another such firm surpassing all the traditional rivals amid the coronavirus pandemic-related restrictions.
According to data compiled by National Stock Exchange of India Ltd, Tiger Global Management-backed RKSV Securities India Pvt. became the second-biggest broker in the country after nearly doubling the number of its customers to 1.2 million in the six months through September.
Top online broker Zerodha Broking Ltd. also grew the number of clients by 75% to 2.5 million. In comparison, traditional brokers such as ICICI Securities Ltd. and HDFC Securities Ltd. saw meager additions.

Oct 12, 2020

Cello Group Re-enters Stationery Business

After selling its stationery business to France's BIC five years ago, the Cello Group is re-entering the category and plans to launch products in the domestic market.
In December 2015, stationery major BIC Group acquired Cello Pens, the largest Indian manufacturer of writing instruments, for Rs. 540 crore.
Gaurav P. Rathod, Managing Director, Cello Group said that we have just started stationery business with a different brand name (Unomax).
The company has different strategy for its new stationery business to differentiate it from Cello Pens.

RBI to Move to Next Generation Treasury Application

In a bid to improve its functioning, the Reserve Bank has decided to move to the Next Generation Treasury Application (NGTA) for managing the country's foreign exchange and gold reserves.
According to the RBI, the NGTA will be a web-based application providing scalability, manoeuvrability and flexibility to introduce new products and securities, besides supporting multi-currency transactions and settlements.
The NGTA, for which the RBI has invited bids from eligible vendors, will be supporting various transactions in asset classes like Fixed Income (FI), Forex (FX), Money Market (MM) and Gold.
As per RBI, the objectives of the proposed system included, dealing in various asset classes (like Fixed Income Securities, Forex, Money Market, Gold); portfolio management; work flow management; reserve management; integration with various third party and in-house systems; and dashboards, reports, widgets.

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