General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - December 2015

Dec 2015

Mar 20, 2020

Government Bans Exports of certain Masks, Ventilators, Raw Material for Masks

The government banned the export of certain kinds of masks, ventilators and textile raw materials for masks and coveralls amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The exports of these products were free till now. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade DGFT had in February prohibited the export of all personal protection equipment including clothing and masks used in healthcare activities where there is a risk of contamination such as N-95 masks. However, surgical/ disposable (2/3 ply) masks, surgical blades, gas masks and disposable shoe covers were freely exportable.
The tightened norms are in addition to the government restricting the exports of 26 active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and formulations on March 3 to ensure there is no shortage of drugs in India due to the lockdown in China's Hubei's province, a major source for these raw materials that has also been the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.
The export restrictions are applicable on paracetamol and vitamins B1, B6 and B12, tinidazole, metronidazole, acyclovir, progesterone, chloramphenicol, erythromycin salts, neomycin, clindamycin salts and ornidazole.

Fifteenth FC to Monitor Coronavirus Pandemic Situation Ahead of Second Report

The Fifteenth Finance Commission (15th FC) will monitor the situation in India in the wake of coronavirus pandemic and also the country's response to it, as part of its deliberations ahead of the recommendations for 2020-21 (FY21) to 2025-26 (FY26).
The Commission's Chairman N. K. Singh said that some aspects that will need to be examined include health-sector specific needs, the larger impact on the economy of the Centre and states, and disaster relief funds.
Also, the 15th FC announced it was setting up a committee to review the fiscal consolidation road map of the government. "We will need to watch and monitor the situation. The report for FY21 has been submitted. Going forward for subsequent years, some things need to be examined," said Singh, adding, "Sector-specific needs while dealing with the health sector will need to be looked at. The larger consequences of the impact on the economy and states will need separate considerations."
In its report for FY21, the 15th FC has recommended grants for the health sector and underlined the initiatives that need to be taken.

RBI Opens Credit Line for Yes Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) opened an emergency line of credit of around Rs. 60,000 crore to YES Bank to meet any liquidity crisis in paying back its depositors as the bank resumed normal operations. The additional liquidity arsenal is in line with Section 17 (4) of the RBI Act and also is a reaffirmation of the governor's statement on Monday that the central bank was ready to provide all the necessary liquidity support to YES Bank. The move came after 16 years when a similar credit line was opened for Global Trust Bank in 2004.

PM Modi Announces Covid-19 Economic Response Task Force

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the formation of a COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to deal with the situation arising out of novel coronavirus outbreak.
"Keeping in mind the economic challenges arising out of the coronavirus epidemic, the government decided to constitute COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force led by the Finance Minister. This task force will also ensure that all steps are taken to reduce the economic difficulties and execute them effectively," Modi said in his address to the nation.
The task force will remain in regular touch with all stakeholders, take their feedback and make decisions accordingly.

DBS Bank India Ties up with Bharti AXA to Roll Out Insurance Plan Covering COVID-19

DBS Bank India Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of DBS (Development Bank of Singapore) Bank Ltd, entered into the partnership with Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Ltd to launch a complimentary insurance for customers of DBS treasures.
The plan covers all medical conditions including Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), under which a cover of Rs. 5000 per day is available for a period of 30 days if DBS customers are hospitalised for 10 days.
Apart from this, the customers of the bank can also adopt health insurance products which are currently available through the General Insurance Partner on the Digibank app.
The bank has also launched a special program called 'Emergency Global Medical Assist Program' to help non-resident Indians (NRIs) to take care of their close ones in India, which provides 24 hours and 7 days of medical support.
This includes arranging emergency medical evacuation for NRIs from hospitalization.
Apart from this, focusing on the health and safety of customers, the bank is adding anti-microbial coating to all its ATMs (Automated Teller Machine) and biometric devices.

Mar 19, 2020

Bajaj Auto Board Approves Re-appointment of Rajiv Bajaj as MD, CEO

Bajaj Auto's board approved the re-appointment of Rajiv Bajaj as Managing Director and CEO of the company. The approval was given in board meeting.
Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director and CEO of the company, whose five-year term expires on March 31, 2020, has been re-appointed for a further period of five years with effect from April 1, 2020.

RBI Announces Fresh OMO Purchase of Govt. Securities

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to conduct open market operations (OMOs) on March 20 in the form of purchase of an aggregate amount of Rs. 10,000 crore of government securities through a multi-security auction using the multiple price method.
With the heightening of COVID-19 pandemic risks, certain financial market segments have been experiencing a tightening of financial conditions as reflected in the hardening of yields and widening of spreads.

Google Cloud Appoints Karan Bajwa as India MD

Google appointed former IBM executive, Karan Bajwa as Managing Director of Google Cloud in India.
He will be responsible for driving all revenue and go-to-market operations for Google Cloud's portfolio that includes Google Cloud Platform and G Suite.
Google Cloud's field sales, partner and customer engineering organisations in India will also report to him, it added.
Bajwa will also work towards Google Cloud's engagement with the local developer ecosystem and India-based Global System Integrators (GSIs).

SBI Acquires 6.825% Stake of Zero Mass Private Limited

State Bank of India entered into an agreement to acquire 6.825% (6,825 equity shares) stake of Zero Mass Private Limited (Pvt Ltd)
The deal is to be completed by March 31, 2020.
As part of the deal, the Bank sold its entire stake in A Little World Pvt Ltd to target the Zero Mass Pvt Ltd
Zero Mass Pvt Ltd was founded by Anurag Gupta on March 20, 2007, which is the 1st ever Business Correspondent in the country & is formerly known as Zero Microfinance and Savings Support.

Volkswagen Launches T-Roc SUV Starting Rs. 19.99 lakh

Volkswagen Passenger Cars India launched T-Roc -- its second sports utility vehicle (SUV) this year -- starting Rs. 19.99 lakh, ex-showroom.
Launched as a CBU or completely built unit, the VW T-Roc will compete with the popular locally manufactured SUVs on sale such as the Kia Seltos, Hyundai Creta and Tata Harrier, among others.
The T-Roc will be positioned below the recently launched seven-seater VW Tiguan Allspace, priced at Rs. 33.12 lakh in the company's SUV portfolio for the domestic market. Both the SUVs are based on the German carmaker's globally popular and highly flexible modular transverse matrix or MQB platform.

L&T Technology Services and IIT-Kanpur Sign MoU for Research in Cybersecurity Programs

L&T Technology Services (LTTS) signed a multi-year Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT) to collaborate on research industrial and infrastructure cybersecurity.
The MoU was signed between Dr. Keshab Panda, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of LTTS and Professor Manindra Agarwal, Padma Shri Awardee, Deputy Director at IIT-Kanpur.
The Centre of Excellence (CoE) will be set up by LTTS and IIT in the IIT-Kanpur campus to conduct research in Honeypot, intrusion detection systems, malware analysis, block chain, vulnerability assessment and penetration testing and provide cybersecurity awareness and training programs. The CoE will be a part of C3i research centre.

RBI Extends Authorisation Issued to Vakrangee for White Label ATMs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) provided the Renewal of Authorisation for Vakrangee. RBI extended the validity of Authorisation issued to Vakrangee to setup, own and operate the White Label ATMs (WLA) in India.
The validity was extended till 31 March 2021.
RBI assigned a target of minimum 1,000 ATMS to be deployed by Vakrangee for every calendar year starting 2020 for an initial period of three years. The ATMs deployed shall be in the ratio of 1:2:3 would be applicable for Metro & Urban, Semi-Urban and Rural regions respectively.

Mar 18, 2020

Ex-SBI Head is Salesforce India CEO

US cloud-based service provider Salesforce.com Inc hired Arundhati Bhattacharya, one of India's best-known former bankers, as its India chief executive officer. Bhattacharya declined to comment, while Salesforce did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bhattacharya previously headed the State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, and was the first woman to lead the more than 200-year-old bank. She retired from SBI in 2017 after spending four decades in various roles. "She is a hugely credible name who comes with a wealth of experience and will help Salesforce expand in India.

Hero Electronix Arm Buys Test & Verification Solutions

Hero Electronix's group company Tessolve acquired UK-based chip design services provider Test & Verification Solutions (T&VS) for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will bolster Tessolve's chip design capabilities, and take its overall employee strength to over 2,000 engineers, Hero Electronix CEO Nikhil Rajpal said. He added the transaction will firmly cement Tessolve's position as an end-to-end provider of semiconductor engineering services, and help it reach the $100 million revenue by March 2021.

Microsoft India, NASSCOM Foundation Launches Initiative to Empower People with Disabilities

Microsoft India and NASSCOM Foundation launched the Innovate for Accessible India campaign aimed at empowering people with disabilities with the technology and tools required for better integration into society and access to equal opportunities.
The campaign will be an aggregator of workable technology solutions developed using Microsoft cloud, artificial intelligence and other technologies that address gaps faced by people with disabilities, especially in acquiring services and support in education, skill building, employment, mobility, rehabilitation and other government services.
The campaign will invite applications from students, citizens and social impact organisations to build customised solutions that address challenges faced by people with disabilities across the 21 officially recognised disabilities.
The10 best solutions that address key challenges faced by people with disabilities will be provided mentoring support by Microsoft and NASSCOM Foundation, along with grants to develop and scale their solution.

Robert E. Sell Joins Brillio Board

Digital technology consulting and solutions firm Brillio appointed Robert E. Sell to the company's Board of Directors.
Sell retired in 2018 as the Group Chief Executive of Accenture's Communications, Media & Technology (CMT) operating group after spending 34 years at the firm.
During Sell's leadership tenure, CMT was the fastest growing operating group at Accenture and by the time of his retirement it had become the second largest and most profitable. He served in the Group Chief role for over six years and as a member of Accenture's Global Management Committee.

Chinese, South Korean Companies Keen to Invest in Haryana

Top companies of South Korea and China have evinced interest in making multi crore investment in Haryana in the field of electric vehicles and Information Technology.
The interest was shown by the investors during a meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Manohar Lal to discuss various investment opportunities in Haryana.
Edison Motors India, a leading South Korean Company and manufacturer of Electric Buses and Trucks offered to establish its manufacturing plant over 30 acre with an investment of over Rs 500 crore. This will also generate employment opportunities for about 500 to 800 youth. Similarly, the Chinese firm has shown keen interest in establishing the Head Quarter building in Gurugram with a potential of generating employment opportunities for 600 to 700 youth.
As a result of various facilities and clearances being provided to the entrepreneurs under one roof in a time bound manner, Haryana has become a favourable destination for the industries to set up their units in the State. In terms of Ease of Doing Business rankings, Haryana is currently at number three in the country and first in northern states.

Mar 17, 2020

Federal Reserve Cuts Rates to Zero

The Federal Reserve, saying "the coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States," cut interest rates to essentially zero and launched a massive $700 billion quantitative easing program to shelter the economy from the effects of the virus.
The new fed funds rate, used as a benchmark both for short-term lending for financial institutions and as a peg to many consumer rates, will now be targeted at 0% to 0.25% down from a previous target range of 1% to 1.25%.
Facing highly disrupted financial markets, the Fed also slashed the rate of emergency lending at the discount window for banks by 125 basis points to 0.25%, and lengthened the term of loans to 90 days.

Paytm Hires Former Coverfox CEO

Paytm hired former Coverfox CEO Premanshu Singh as senior vice president and the head of its insurance business. This development comes months after Paytm's talks to acquire the online insurance aggregator fell through.
SoftBank Vision Fund, a large investor in Paytm's parent One97 Communications, which is also a significant shareholder in the country's largest online insurance marketplace PolicyBazaar, is likely to have posed a challenge to the deal, as reported earlier.
Singh who spent three years as the CEO of Coverfox, will report to ex-Goldman executive Amit Nayyar at Paytm. Nayyar was appointed as President of Paytm's Financial Services unit in August 2019.

RBI Directs Banks/FIs to Assess Impact on Balance Sheet, Asset Quality Due to Coronavirus Outbreak

Reserve Bank of India asked all banks and financial institutions to assess the impact on their balance sheet, asset quality, liquidity, among others, in the wake of the potential threat arising out of the spread of coronavirus disease in India.
Several confirmed cases have also been detected in India, which highlight the need of a co-ordinated strategy for handling the emerging situations for protecting the resilience of the Indian financial system, RBI said in a notification addressed to banks, urban cooperative banks, NBFCs, payment and small finance banks.
RBI asked financial entities to encourage their customers to use digital banking facilities as far as possible.

OIL Signs Agreement Crude Oil with Numaligarh Refinery

The country's second-largest national oil explorer Oil India Limited (OIL) signed an agreement named as Crude Oil Sales Agreement (COSA) with Numaligarh Refinery for sale and purchase of crude oil at Narengi, Guwahati.
The agreement to have a term of 5 years (from 1 April, 2020 to 31 March 2025)
It is expected to organize the sale & purchase transactions of crude oil produced from fields in northeastern India.
It is signed by Harish Madhav- Director Finance, OIL & IndranilMittra- Director Finance, NRL.

Flipkart Teams up with Aegon Life Insurance to Sell Quick-access Life Insurance Policies

Flipkart, an E-commerce company partnered with Aegon Life Insurance to sell comprehensive insurance solutions to customers seeking instant digital policies with an assured sum up to Rs. 10 lakh.
One of the major problems faced by the insurance industry is the idea that buying is expensive and complicated which is followed by long, difficult tenures and mis-selling.
This partnership aims to overcome this issue & make life insurance more convenient & transparent for customers at the click of a button.
The life insurance policies have diverse offerings- sums assured ranging from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh, premiums starting from Rs. 129 for Rs. 1 lakh sum insured.
The policies are available to the existing customers of Flipkart between the ages of 18 and 65 years.
With instant life insurance cover through a digital policy as its core value proposition, such policies do not require medical tests or paperwork.

Mar 16, 2020

Bandhan Bank to Invest Rs. 300 cr in Yes Bank

Private sector Bandhan Bank said that it will invest Rs. 300 crore in Yes Bank as part of RBI's reconstruction plan for the crisis-hit lender.
Bandhan Bank's board granted approval for an equity investment of Rs. 300 crore for acquiring up to 30 crore equity shares of Rs. 2 each of YES Bank Limited, for cash, at a premium of Rs. 8 per equity share, under the proposed Scheme of Reconstruction of YES Bank Limited under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, subject to regulatory and government approval.
ICICI Bank, Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank too on Friday said that they will join the SBI-led consortium and invest in Yes Bank.

RBI Revises Exposure Limits for Urban Cooperative Banks to Single, Group Borrowers

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revised exposure limits for urban cooperative banks (UCBs) of tier-1 capital to a single borrower to 15% and a group of borrowers to 25%. The revised exposure limits shall be applicable to all types of fresh exposures taken by UCBs.
The RBI had earlier permitted UCBs to have exposures up to 15% and 40% of their capital funds to a single borrower and a group of borrowers, respectively.
UCBs shall have at least 50% of their aggregate loans and advances comprising loans of not more than Rs. 25 lakh or 0.2% of their tier 1 capital, whichever is higher, subject to a maximum of Rs. 1 crore, per borrower.
The RBI also increased the overall priority sector lending (PSL) target for UCBs to 75% of adjusted net bank credit (ANBC) or credit equivalent amount of off-balance sheet exposure (CEOBSE), whichever is higher from 40% earlier.

RBI Issues Guidelines for Ind AS Implementation by NBFCs, ARCs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has framed regulatory guidance on Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) to be applicable on Ind AS implementing Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) for preparation of their financial statements (FS) from financial year (FY) 2019-20 onwards. The guidance has been framed to promote a high quality, consistent implementation, and better supervision of FS.
As per the guidance, all Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) covered by Rule 4 of the Companies (Indian Accounting Standards) Rules, 2015 are required to comply with Ind AS for the preparation of their FS.
The guidelines mandate NBFCs/ARCs to follow board approved policies stating clear and effective business models and portfolios.
They are mandate to frame their policy for sales out of amortised cost business model portfolios and disclose the same in their notes to FS.
The BoDs should approve sound methodologies to be computated for expected credit losses (ECL).

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