General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2017

Feb 2017

Jun 25, 2021

Mastercard Brings on Board Nikhil Sahni

Mastercard has announced the appointment of Nikhil Sahni as its new division president, south Asia and country corporate officer, India.
Sahni will be taking over from Porush Singh, who is relocating to Singapore and assuming a new role within the company.
Sahni joins Mastercard with nearly 25 years of experience across strategy, investment banking, corporate, commercial, SME, retail, branch, and government banking. In his role, he will oversee the firm's operations, and position the company's extensive suite of products, solutions and services across the sub-continent, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan, in addition to India.

US Bans Imports of Solar Panel Material from Chinese Company

The Biden administration ordered a ban on U.S. imports of a key solar panel material from Chinese-based Hoshine Silicon Industry Co over forced labor allegations. The U.S. Commerce Department separately restricted exports to Hoshine, three other Chinese companies and the paramilitary Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), saying they were involved with the forced labor of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.
The three other companies added to the U.S. economic blacklist include Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co, a unit of Daqo New Energy Corp; Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metals Co, a subsidiary of Shanghai-based manufacturing giant East Hope Group; and Xinjiang GCL New Energy Material Co, part of GCL New Energy Holdings Ltd.

India-Bhutan: Tax Inspectors without Borders Initiative

India and Bhutan have jointly launched the "Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB)".
TIWB is a joint initiative of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
TIWB seeks to provide support to the developing countries to help them strengthen national tax administrations by building audit capacity.
It complements the efforts of international community to strengthen cooperation on tax matters and contribute to domestic tax mobilisation efforts.
TIWB programme aims to strengthen tax administrations among developing countries by transferring technical know-how and skills to their tax auditors and by sharing general audit practices & dissemination of knowledge products with them.
The programme focuses on the area of International Taxation and Transfer Pricing.

LIC Introduces Technology Platform 'e-PGS'

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has launched a centralised web-based workflow-based IT platform called "e-PGS".
LIC launched this platform for its group business operations.
Project e-PGS was inaugurated by M R Kumar, Chairman of LIC, at Central Office, Mumbai.
New technology platform, e-PGS, has been designed to provide a centralized collection and payment accounting with high level of bank integration.
It will provide collection through host-to-host connectivity. It has been designed to provide very innovative features of seamless and integrated banking with automatic reconciliations.
This system is capable of providing comprehensive self-servicing capabilities through customer portal. On this portal, corporate customers will be able to view their data, initiate actionable processes and lodge & track claims.

Jun 24, 2021

Ex-Infosys CEO to Head Task Force to Help Govt.

Former Infosys CEO S. D. Shibu Lal was appointed chairperson of a three-member task force formed to help the government in bringing major bureaucratic reforms through its ambitious "Mission Karmayogi".
Besides Lal who is founder of ShikshaLokam and founder and ex-CEO of Infosys Limited, Govind Iyer, Consultant at global management consulting group Egon Zehnder, and Pankaj Bansal, Co-founder and Group CEO of HR tech company PeopleStrong, will be part of the task force.
Adil Zainulbhai, chairman designate, Capacity Building Commission, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) will be a special invitee to the discussions of the task force.

Centre Liberalises Guidelines for BPO Industry

To make India a favourable destination for expansion of voice-related Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), the Centre liberalised the guidelines for Other Service Providers (OSPs), removing the distinction between domestic and international OSP.
Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the BPO centre with common telecom resource will now be able to serve customers located worldwide, including India.
The distinction between domestic and international OSP (Other Service Providers) has been removed.

Govt. Notifies Accounting Standards for SMEs under Companies Act, 2013

The government has notified the accounting standards for small and medium companies that revise the turnover and borrowing limits as well as help in making disclosure requirements less onerous.
Besides, the definition of Small and Medium Sized Companies (SMCs) under the standards has been revised.
The Companies (Accounting Standards) Rules, 2021 have been notified by the corporate affairs ministry under the Companies Act, 2013.
The latest notification mirrors the accounting standards that were in force under the Companies Act, 1956, which is no more there.
Under the revised SMC definition, the turnover limit has been increased from Rs. 50 crore to not exceeding Rs. 250 crore and with enhanced borrowing limits. This is in addition to the requirements that such entities should be unlisted companies, which are not banks, financial institutions or insurance companies.
The Companies Act 2013 is an Act of the Parliament of India on Indian company law which regulates incorporation of a company, responsibilities of a company, directors, dissolution of a company. The 2013 Act is divided into 29 chapters containing 470 sections as against 658 Sections in the Companies Act, 1956 and has 7 schedules. However, currently there are only 438 (470-39+7) sections remains in this Act. The Act has replaced The Companies Act, 1956 (in a partial manner) after receiving the assent of the President of India on 29 August 2013.The section 1 of the companies Act 2013 came into force on 30th August 2013 . 98 different sections of the companies Act came into force on 12th September 2013 with few changes like earlier private companies maximum number of members were 50 and now it will be 200.

Suraksha Group to Buy Jaypee Infratech

Mumbai-based Suraksha group received the approval of financial creditors and homebuyers to takeover debt-laden Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL).
In the 10-day-long voting process on the takeover proposals submitted by NBCC and Suraksha Group more than 98 per cent of the votes were in favour of Suraksha Group's bid.
This is the fourth round of bidding process to find a buyer for JIL, which went into Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) in August 2017.

Heineken Buys Mallya's 15% Stake to Take Control of United Breweries

Heineken, the second largest beer company in the world, increased its stake in United Breweries (UBL) to 61.5 per cent on Wednesday. The Dutch parent of UBL, which had 45 per cent stake prior this transaction, bought the 14.99 per cent stake worth about Rs. 5,825 crore held by the Debt Recovery Tribunal.
Given that Heineken received an exemption from making an open offer, it could also acquire the balance 11 per cent UB group stake pledged with banks through the same route. If this goes through, Heineken's stake in UBL, which has a 50 per cent share in India's beer market, will cross the 72 per cent mark.

Jun 23, 2021

Malaysia Becomes India's Top Palm Oil Supplier

Malaysia has surpassed Indonesia to become the biggest crude palm oil (CPO) exporter to top consumer India in 2020/21, after Indonesia imposed heavy taxes on exports of the edible oil last year.
Malaysia's palm oil exports to India surged 238% to 2.42 million tonnes in the first seven months of 2020/21 marketing year started on Nov. 1, according to data compiled by The Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA), a trade body of Indian vegetable oil refiners and traders.
During the period, Indonesia's palm oil shipments to India fell 32% to 2 million tonnes.

World's First GM Rubber Planted in Assam

Rubber Board has started field trial of world's first GM (genetically modified) rubber in the state of Assam.
GM Rubber was developed in biotechnology laboratory at Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) in Puthuppally, Kottayam.
It was planted at Rubber board's Sarutari research farm in Guwahati.
Rubber Board launched field trial of GM Rubber in Assam a decade after Kerala Government denied permission for the same because of its adverse impact on environment.
GM variant rubber has the capacity to withstand adverse climatic conditions. It will give a big boost to rubber production in India. It will greatly benefit farmers after trials are over. The crop is resistant to reduced moisture or drought, low & high temperatures as well as high light intensity. It will also cut short the maturity period of rubber. It will result into early yielding.

NCLT Clears Kalrock-Jalan Resolution Plan for Jet Airways with Riders

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has cleared the Kalrock-Jalan plan to revive Jet Airways, while rejecting the consortium's demand for historicity of airport slots. The Naresh Goyal-founded airline was shut down in April 2019 under heavy debt.
The tribunal order comes exactly two years after the start of the insolvency proceedings. Jet is the first airline to see resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Even as the order paves the way for the grounded airline's revival, the resumption of operations hinges on negotiations between the consortium and the government on the issue of airport slots.
Jet Airways collapsed under a mountain of debt in April 2019. After two unsuccessful bidding rounds, the Kalrock-Jalan consortium was selected by a committee of creditors last October with over 99 per cent vote to restart the airline. Jalan is a Dubai-based NRI businessman and Kalrock Capital is a financial advisory and asset management company.

IRDAI Allows Home Treatment as add-on Cover in Health Insurance

The Indian insurance regulator IRDAI has allowed non-life insurers to offer "homecare/domiciliary treatment" or treatment at home as an add on cover afresh or to their existing policies.
In a circular to all non-life insurers including standalone health insurers, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said that companies have to file their products with it, if home treatment is offered as an add-on cover.
IRDAI said that insurers can offer the cover to their existing policyholders by charging an additional premium for the residual period of time.

Wipro Lighting, IoT Firm Enlighted Tie Up

Smart lighting solutions provider Wipro Lighting, a part of the over $1-billion Wipro Consumer Care Ltd, has partnered with IoT solutions company Enlighted to deliver smarter workplaces. The Bengaluru-headquartered company has earlier partnered with global majors such as Schréder and Cisco in the space.
Both the parties are integrating their solutions and technologies to create smarter buildings across multiple customer segments. Enlighted IoT sensors are being integrated with Wipro's future-ready luminaires, forming the backbone for Wipro's Smart Space Solutions.
Wipro Lighting is a pioneer in offering Smart & Connected solutions on the platform of Internet of Lighting (IoL) across various customer segments in India.

Govt. Seeks to Appoint Advisors to Assist IDBI Bank Privatisation

The government has sought bids to appoint transaction advisor and legal advisor to assist it for the strategic divestment and transfer of management control in IDBI Bank. The appointment of intermediaries would help in taking the privatisation process of the lender forward as the government aims to close the transaction in this fiscal.
The government plans to sell its 45.48 per cent shareholding in the lender. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which owns 49.24 per cent, will also offload its stake to transfer management control to the new buyer.
The transaction advisor would be required to advise the government on the modalities and the timing of the strategic disinvestment of IDBI Bank, and prepare a scheme to successfully implement the sale.

Jun 22, 2021

Vijay Deshwal Joins Poonawalla Group Acquired Magma Fincorp

Vijay Deshwal has today joined Poonawalla group acquired Magma Fincorp Ltd, as its Group CEO.
In his new role, he would be responsible for the Lending and Housing Finance business along with its Insurance business. He will be based out of the Pune corporate office.
Vijay Deshwal, a post-graduate from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) is a seasoned banker with a track record of two decades. His experience spans across segments of banking, corporate finance, international business, and operations. He has an enviable track record of growing businesses with an overall approach of customer centricity and profitability.
In his last role, Vijay was associated with ICICI Bank as a Business Head responsible for the fast-growing services sector business including new age businesses focused on technology and digital intervention.

HCL Tech Appoints Leaders to Expand in Asia

HCL Technologies has made three appointments in Asia to strengthen its presence in South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam
It has named Joonho Moon in South Korea, Terry Tai in Taiwan and Nguyen Ha Tuan in Vietnam to lead and drive growth in these geographies.
Prior to joining HCL, Joonho spent more than two decades at Samsung SDS in various leadership positions.
Tai is an experienced co-founder, chief strategy officer of a start-up company and was the head of sales and business development for about two decades in Taiwan's IT services industry.
Tuan has 20 years of experience in the IT Industry.

SEBI Reconstitutes Takeover Panel

Markets regulator SEBI has reconstituted its Takeover Panel, which looks into the applications seeking exemption from the mandatory open offer that an acquirer needs to make to minority shareholders. The regulator has appointed N. Venkatram MD and CEO, Deloitte India as the new member of the Takeover Panel.
The panel, chaired by N. K. Sodhi, the former Chief Justice of the High Courts of Karnataka and Kerala, makes its recommendations to SEBI on such applications after which the regulator gives an opportunity to concerned parties before passing an order.
Sodhi was also the former presiding officer of the Securities Appellate Tribunal.
The other members of the panel are Darius Khambata (former advocate general, Maharashtra) and Thomas Mathew T (former chairman of Life Insurance Corporation of India).
SEBI had first constituted a four-member Takeover Panel in November 2007, under chairmanship of former Bank of Baroda chairman K. Kannan.

CCI Approves Heineken's Additional Stake Acquisition in United Breweries

CCI approved Heineken International B.V's proposed acquisition of an additional equity stake in United Breweries Ltd (UBL).
This, however, is subject to the outcome of certain court proceedings, a combination notice filed with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) noted.
United Breweries is engaged in the manufacture, sale and distribution of beer in India.
Heineken International B.V. (HIBV) is an investment holding company and is itself not engaged in any business activity. It is a direct and an indirect shareholder for all non-Dutch companies that form part of the Heineken Group.

India Receives $64 bn FDI in 2020

India received $64 billion in Foreign Direct Investment in 2020, the fifth largest recipient of inflows in the world.
According to the World Investment Report 2021 by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global FDI flows have been severely hit by the pandemic and they plunged by 35 per cent in 2020 to $1 trillion from $1.5 trillion the previous year.
The report said in India, FDI increased 27 per cent to $64 billion in 2020 from $51 billion in 2019.
FDI outflows from South Asia fell 12 per cent to $12 billion, driven by a drop in investment from India. India ranked 18 out of the world's top 20 economies for FDI outflows, with 12 billion dollars of outflows recorded from the country in 2020 as compared to 13 billion dollars in 2019.

Indians' Funds in Swiss Banks Rise

Funds parked by Indian individuals and firms in Swiss banks, including through India-based branches and other financial institutions, jumped to 2.55 billion Swiss francs (over Rs. 20,700 crore) in 2020 on a sharp surge in holdings via securities and similar instruments, though customer deposits fell, annual data from Switzerland's central bank showed.
While the UK topped the charts for foreign clients' money in Swiss banks at CHF 377 billion, it was followed by the US (CHF 152 billion) at the second spot -- the only two countries with 100-billion-plus client funds.
Others in the top 10 were West Indies, France, Hong Kong, Germany, Singapore, Luxembourg, Cayman Islands and Bahamas.
India was placed at 51st place, ahead of countries like New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Mauritius, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Jun 21, 2021

Vedanta Emerges as Successful Bidder for Coal Block for Mining in Odisha

Vedanta has emerged as successful bidder for a coal block in Odisha which was put for re-bid in the second attempt of auction of blocks for commercial mining.
With the successful auction of Kuraloi (A) north coal mine in Odisha, the total number of mines successfully auctioned in the first tranche of auction for commercial mining is 20 out of total 38 coal mines offered.
In the first attempt of auction under 11th tranche of auction under the CM (S) Act 2015 and under first tranche of auction under the MMDR Act 1957, out of the 38 coal mines, 19 have been successfully auctioned.

NTPC among Top 50 in 'Great Place to Work in India' List

NTPC has been recognised as a 'Great Place to Work' for the 15th year in a row by the Great Place to Work Institute.
NTPC is the only PSU to consistently feature in India's Top 50 Best Workplaces. This year NTPC ranked 38th, up from 47th position last year. It also won its first-ever recognition of India's Best Employers among Nation-Builders 2021.
The Great Place to Work (GPTW) Institute commended NTPC's employees for being the torchbearers of a high trust culture. The GPTW Institute highlighted NTPC's successful business and a great relationship with its employees and said that both consistency and compassion have led NTPC to feature in India's Top 50 Best Workplaces for the 15th year in a row.
Great Place to Work Certification is the most definitive 'Employer-of-Choice' recognition that organizations aspire to achieve. The Certification is recognized world over by employees and employers alike and is considered the 'Gold Standard' in identifying and recognizing Great Workplaces with High Trust and High Performance Cultures.

Bank of Maharashtra Tops PSU Bank Chart in MSME Loan Growth

State-owned Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) became the top performer among public sector lenders in terms of retail and MSME loan growth during 2020-21.
According to the BoM data, the Pune-based lender recorded a 35 per cent growth in MSME loans at Rs. 23,133 crore in 2020-21.
It was followed by the Chennai-based Indian Bank which posted a 15.22 per cent growth in loan disbursal to MSMEs with aggregate loans at Rs. 70,180 crore at the end of March 2021.

Max Life Ranks 18th amongst 'India's Best Companies to Work For'

Max Life Insurance Company Ltd. ("Max Life"/"Company"), has been ranked 18th amongst 'India's Best Companies to Work For' in 2021.
The Company has been bestowed upon this honour for the tenth time in the most comprehensive employee survey of workplace culture conducted by the Great Place to Work Institute.
Max Life has also been recognised amongst the top 30 'Best Workplaces in BFSI'; and retains its position amongst 'Top 50 Best Workplaces' for the fifth consecutive year of participation, as per the Great Place to Work Institute's ("GPTW") 2021 study. This year, the study covered more than 850 companies, out of which the Top 100 have been selected for the marquee recognition.

Adani Power to Acquire 1,200 MW Essar Power's Mahan Project

The country's largest power producer in the private sector, Adani Power Limited (APL), will acquire the 1,200 megawatt (MW) Essar Power's Mahan Project located at Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh. Resolution Professional of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) issued a Letter of Intent to Adani Power.
Essar Power's Mahan power plant supplies power through the Mahan-Sipat transmission line and is also connected with a railway siding 18 km away from the plant for the supply of coal and other raw materials. According to industry reports, Adani Power will shell out close to Rs. 3,000 crore for the Mahan Project.
The development comes at a time when power demand is looking up with the revival of economic activities as the COVID-19 cases have started coming down in the past few weeks.
Adani Group has been on an acquisition spree for power generation assets across the country. Last month, Adani Group's renewable energy arm Adani Green Energy acquired SB Energy's solar and wind power portfolio from Softbank and Bharti Group.

HDFC Bank to Buy Stake in HDFC ERGO

HDFC Bank's board has given its approval to buy more than 3.55 crore shares in group firm HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company for over Rs. 1,906 crore from the parent company Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC).
HDFC is the promoter and related party of the bank.
The purchase is to happen at a price determined on an independent evaluation report, subject to receipt of necessary approvals including regulatory approvals and approval from shareholders of the bank.

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