General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2016

Feb 2016

Mar 28, 2023

IDFC First Bank Joins Hands with Crunchfish to be a Part of RBI's Pilot Project to Enable Offline...

IDFC FIRST Bank teamed with Crunchfish to participate in the RBI's pilot programme to facilitate offline payments. This initiative will provide access to digital payments even when there is no network. The Swedish company Crunchfish introduced this one-of-a-kind digital payment system for merchants and customers as part of the RBI's Regulatory Sandbox Program.
This project will allow offline retail payments in India's payment ecosystem using a Digital Cash platform. IDFC FIRST Bank will be one of the first few banks to participate in HDFC Bank's pilot initiative. The RBI authorised the proposal to demonstrate offline payments between two banks. IDFC First Bank now has access to the Digital Cash SDK thanks to the signing of the Development and Demonstration Agreement, which is a non-commercial agreement. A Software License Agreement will govern the commercial parameters of installation.

YES Bank Issues First Electronic Bank Guarantee with NeSL

Yes Bank collaborated with National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) to issue its first electronic Bank Guarantee (e-BG). The integration of their digital document execution (DDE) platform has made it possible to completely digitize the previous paper-based process of issuing and maintaining Bank Guarantees. This includes the digital stamping and signing, which has significantly reduced the time it takes to issue Bank Guarantees.
According to a statement, the NeSL platform will handle the complete lifecycle of the bank guarantee, including its issuance, amendment, invocation, and cancellation. This will allow trade finance stakeholders to securely access the documents from a single repository.

First Citizens Bank Acquires Silicon Valley Bank

First Citizens BancShares Inc. agreed to buy Silicon Valley Bank which was seized by regulators following a run on the lender.
The Raleigh, North Carolina-based bank entered into a purchase and assumption agreement for all deposits and loans of SVB. The deal includes the purchase of about $72 billion SVB assets at a discount of $16.5 billion.

NDTV Appoints Former SEBI Chairman UK Sinha and Business Leader Dipali Goenka as Independent Dire...

U.K. Sinha and Dipali Goenka were appointed Independent Directors of NDTV for a period of two years, based on the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, and subject to the approval of shareholders and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. U.K. Sinha was also designated as Non-Executive Chairperson of NDTV.
U.K. Sinha served as the Chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) between 2011 and 2017.
Dipali Goenka is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Welspun India Limited. She is an accomplished global business leader known for her dynamism, entrepreneurial spirit and passion for protecting the environment.
NDTV was founded in 1984, by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy, a husband and wife duo from the city of Kolkata.
In August 2022, Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate, acquired a 100 per cent stake in Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL), who owned convertible debentures (in the form of warrants) in Radhika Roy Prannoy Roy (RRPR) Holding Pvt Ltd, which in turn owned 29.18 per cent stake in NDTV. With the VCPL purchase, the Adani Group indirectly acquired these warrants which gave it a 29.18 per cent stake in NDTV on conversion.
In November 2022, the Adani Group launched an open offer to acquire an additional stake in NDTV, resulting in acquisition of 8% additional stake.
In December 2022, Radhika and Prannoy Roy sold 27.26 per cent out of their 32.26 per cent shareholding in the news network to Adani Group, making the conglomerate, the single largest shareholder with over 64.71 per cent stake.

Mar 27, 2023

ICICI Lombard Becomes First to Offer 'Anywhere Cashless' Feature

Private sector general insurer ICICI Lombard launched an 'anywhere cashless' feature for its health insurance policyholders, which allows customers to avail cashless facilities even at non-empanelled hospitals. Under this facility, which the company claimed is an industry-first initiative, customers will not have to bear any out-of-pocket expenses, which has been one of the major pain-points for customers.
However, the company said the 'anywhere cashless' feature is subject to each hospital offering cashless facility and that for one to use this feature the policyholder must inform the company 24 hrs before admission.

Gevra Coal Mine in Chhattisgarh's Korba District Makes History

The Gevra coal mine in Chhattisgarh's Korba district became the country's first coal mine to produce over 50 million tonnes (mt) of dry fuel in a financial year.
Ranked among one of the five largest coal mines in the world, Gevra has a significant place in the business of SECL — an entity of the state-run Coal India (CIL). Along with Dipka and Kusmunda mega projects also located in Korba, it shares two-thirds of the total output of the SECL.

RBI Imposes Rs. 30 lakh Penalty on Karur Vysya Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 30. lakh on Karur Vysya Bank for non-compliance with certain provisions of the Reserve Bank of India (Frauds- Classification and reporting by commercial banks and select FIs) directions 2016. This penalty was imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of section 47 A (1) (c) read with section 46 (4) (i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
This action was based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.

Reliance Industries Appoints Srikanth Venkatachari as CFO

Reliance Industries' board designated Srikanth Venkatachari, joint chief financial officer, as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company with effect from 1 June 2023.The current CFO, Alok Agarwal, will assume a new role as senior advisor to the chairman and managing director of the company assisting him on a wide range of strategic issues with effect from 1 June 2023, after 30 years of service.
Alok Agarwal was appointed as CFO of the company in 2005. He was an accomplished finance professional.

Rittick Roy Burman to Manage the Overall Khadim India Operations

Footwear brand Khadim India Ltd entrusted Rittick Roy Burman, whole-time director, to manage the regular affairs and overall operations. Rittick, who is a member of the promoter group and key managerial personnel of the company, will be reporting to Siddhartha Roy Burman, Chairman and Managing Director of Khadim.
The change in leadership is announced following the resignation of former CEO, Namrata Ashok Chotrani.

Mar 26, 2023

Canara Bank Sells Stake in Russian joint Venture to SBI

Canara Bank sold its stake in Russian joint venture Commercial Indo Bank LLC (CIBL) to the other venture partner State Bank of India (SBI) for about Rs. 121.29 crore.
CIBL, incorporated in 2003, is a joint venture in Russia between SBI (60 per cent) and Canara Bank (40 per cent).
The Bengaluru-based state-owned bank entered into the agreement for sale on November 11, 2022.
The bank was established in 1906 at Mangalore by Ammembal Subba Rao Pai, the bank also has offices in London, Dubai and New York.

Indian Origin Anand Selva New Chief Operating Officer of Citigroup

Indian origin Anand Selvakesari, who is the Chief Executive – personal banking and wealth management -- at Citigroup, was given the additional charge of Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the United States headquartered bank.
Anand Selva will be taking over the role from Karen Peetz, who plans to retire in May.
Selva was heading the Citi's consumer banking business in India between 2011 and 2014. Before that he was heading the same business in China.

Realme to Appoint New India Business Head from China

Global technology brand Realme is set to replace India business head Madhav Sheth with a top executive from its China-based headquarters. Sheth may quit the company once the official statement.
The move does not augur well for the company which cemented its position in a market which is highly-competitive at the mass level, with Sheth, as its India business lead, became the sole face of the company within a short span of time.
Sheth, being a veteran in the field, clearly has a command over the local market dynamics, something that the upcoming Chinese executive may not have in his kitty.

Mar 25, 2023

FSIB Recommends Siddhartha Mohanty for LIC Chairperson's Position

Headhunting agency, Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB), recommended Siddhartha Mohanty for the position of chairperson of India's largest insurer Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).
Mohanty is already serving as the interim chairperson of the insurance behemoth for a period of three months, along with discharging his responsibilities as Managing Director (MD) of the corporation.
Mohanty took over as the MD of LIC in February 2021 from T. C. Suseel Kumar. He is a veteran in the financial services industry with almost four decades of experience. He started his career as a direct recruit officer with LIC in 1985 and rose through the ranks.

Income Tax Department Launches Mobile App AIS for Taxpayers

The Income Tax Department of India launched a new mobile app called ' AIS for Taxpayers' to facilitate taxpayers to view their information as available in the Annual Information Statement (AIS) / Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS). With an aim to provide a comprehensive view of the AIS/TIS to the taxpayer, the AIS app displays information collected from various sources pertaining to the taxpayer.
As per the Income Tax Department, using the new AIS app, taxpayers can easily view information related to their TDS/TCS, interest, dividends, share transactions, tax payments, and Income Tax refunds. This is another initiative of the Income Tax Department in the area of providing enhanced taxpayer services facilitating ease of compliance.

MoU Exchanged for Setting up Nation's First PM MITRA Park in Tamil Nadu

The nation's first PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Park is set to be established in Virudhunagar District of Tamil Nadu, and employ an estimated 2 lakh people, the Memorandum of Understanding for which was signed between the Central and State governments.
Giving a big boost to the textile sector, the PM MITRA Parks, in all, would create huge employment opportunities and an estimated 20 lakh people would get 'new work' attracting about Rs. 70,000 crore investment, Union Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal.

Mar 24, 2023

Guruprasad Mudlapur Appointed as Managing Director of Bosch Group in India

Auto components major Bosch Ltd announced leadership changes with Guruprasad Mudlapur appointed as its Managing Director and President of the Bosch Group in India with effect from July 1, 2023.
He will succeed Soumitra Bhattacharya who will be retiring from Bosch India effective June 30, 2023, after 28 years of service in various capacities.
Mudlapur has more than 15 years of experience in the Bosch Group and has held various positions in engineering and business management. Most recently, he was joint managing director and chief technology officer of Bosch Ltd.

Manmeet K. Nanda Gets Additional Charge of MD & CEO of Invest India

The board of Invest India appointed Manmeet K. Nanda as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the investment promotion and facilitation body under the commerce ministry.
Nanda succeeded Deepak Bagla, who resigned from the post.
Invest India was created under the Prime Minister's vision of a New India, Invest India today is well acknowledged by stakeholders for its tangible contributions and instrumental role in executing the Government's flagship initiatives including Make in India, Start-up India, National Single Window System, Project Monitoring Group, and Prime Minister's Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council. Invest India leverages private sector expertise to execute Government's vision, embodying high levels of transparency, ethics and corporate governance.

L&T Signs Agreement with France's McPhy for Electrolyser Technology

Manufacturing major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) signed an agreement with McPhy, a France-based electrolyser technology and manufacturing company, for building a "gigawatt (Gw) scale" manufacturing facility for electrolysers and tapping into the green hydrogen ecosystem in the country.
Under this partnership, McPhy will grant an exclusive license of its pressurised alkaline electrolyser technology to L&T for the manufacturing of electrolysers, including future product upgrades.
L&T plans to set up a Gw-scale manufacturing facility for electrolysers based on McPhy technology in India to serve the domestic requirements, as well as cater to other selected geographies.
This is L&T's second such partnership with an electrolyser maker. In January 2022, it had signed a memorandum of understanding with HydrogenPro AS, a Norway-based electrolyser technology and manufacturing company.

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