General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2017

Feb 2017

Feb 09, 2021

HDFC Life's New Term Plan

HDFC Life has launched its latest flagship term product 'Click 2 Protect Life'. The non-linked, non-participating, individual term plan has been designed to cater to the changing needs in the different life stages of an individual.
The 3D's in the plan stand offers protection against - Death, Disability and Disease.

Tesla Buys $1.5 Billion in Bitcoin, will accept crypto as payment soon

Holders of Bitcoin may be able to cash in some of their investment in the digital currency for a brand new electric car.
Electric automaker Tesla invested around USD 1.5 billion in Bitcoin, and it plans to begin accepting the digital currency as payment for its high-end vehicles soon.
The price of Bitcoin soared 15.4 per cent to around USD 44,500 in reaction to Tesla's announcement.
The California-based electric carmaker headed by Elon Musk revealed the new strategy in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and said that its investment in digital currency and other alternative reserve assets may grow.
Bitcoin has drawn enthusiasts for its scarcity and security, but the volatile digital currency still is not widely used to pay for goods and services.

RBI to Conduct OMO of Rs. 20,000 Crore

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it will purchase four government securities (G-Secs) that amount to Rs. 20,000 crore. The central bank will purchase it on February 10, 2021 under the open market operations (OMOs).
This move was announced in the aftermath of the yields that was moving up to touch the intra-day high of 6.1634 per cent recently. The RBI was concerned about the higher government borrowing.
After the announcement of the OMO purchase was made, yield on the benchmark 10-year G-Sec slowed down by 3-4 basis points. It now carries a coupon rate of 5.77 per cent as opposed to its previous closing yield of 6.1283 per cent.
Open Market Operations are the purchase and sale of the Government securities (G-Secs) by RBI from and to the market. The Open Market Operations are conducted with the objective of adjusting the rupee liquidity conditions in the economy.

Paytm's Vijay Shekhar, Innov8 CEO Invest in Startup Supersourcing

IT outsourcing platform Supersourcing has raised Rs. 1.5 crore from investors including Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and co-working space provider Innov8 CEO Ritesh Malik.
Nikhil Sharma was also part of the seed-funding round.
The eight-month-old Indore-based company provides a platform to help companies find IT agencies to work with.

Siemens Ties up with IISc, CMTI to Set up Digital Transformation Labs

Siemens signed pacts with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) to set up digital transformation labs.
Siemens signed two separate memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with IISc and CMTI, respectively, to establish first-of-its-kind digital transformation labs.
The labs are aimed at enhancing the expertise of researchers at IISc as well as technical skills of professionals in the machine tool industry, it said, adding that the MoUs will focus on development of industrial Internet of Things and Industry 4.0-enabled products and technologies.
This initiative will benefit many research scholars, students and industry professionals across the machine tool industry in Bengaluru for a period of three years.

PE Firm Advent International Acquires Stake in ZCL Chemicals

Private equity firm Advent International has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in ZCL Chemicals (ZCL), one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical firms in India. The business was formerly known as Zandu Chemicals.
Advent picked up a 51 per cent stake in the entity, which has an enterprise value of Rs. 1,700 crore. With this, Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA), a private equity platform that previously managed a minority investment in ZCL, will exit the company.
ZCL was advised by Jefferies (Sole Financial Advisor), Bombay Law Chambers (Legal Counsel), and Deloitte (Finance and Tax).
ZCL is one of the fastest-growing manufacturers of speciality active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and advanced intermediates.

Feb 08, 2021

India and Bahrain Join Hands for Renewable Energy

India and Bahrain have agreed to forge deeper engagement in the field of renewable energy. The Joint Working Group in the field of Renewable Energy which held its first meeting in virtual format underscored the importance of renewable energy to meet climate change goals.
The two sides presented the initiatives taken, progress made and future targets set by their governments. They also discussed opportunities available in the sector. They agreed to share experiences, expertise and best practices in the field of renewable energy. Furthermore, they decided to have greater engagement in capacity building and focused cooperation.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in July 2018 between India and Bahrain for promoting bilateral cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy.

Federal Bank Launches 'FedFirst' Savings Account Scheme for Children

Federal Bank has announced the launch of FedFirst, a special savings account scheme for children below 18 years of age. The account helps children develop healthy saving and spending habits, thereby giving them the freedom to save, spend and earn.
The account is designed to enable children to learn the importance of money management. The account comes with unique features and offers.
The account holder is provided with a FedFirst contactless Debit Card with a daily cash withdrawal limit of Rs. 2,500 and POS/e-com limit of Rs. 10,000, in addition to free online facilities including access to internet banking, mobile alerts and e-mail alerts.

Major Port Trusts, AAI Out of the Scope of PSE Strategic Divestment Policy

Certain classes of public sector entities, such as major port trusts, the Airport Authority of India, those undertaking security printing and minting, will not fall within the purview of the new PSE policy for strategic disinvestment.
The new Public Sector Enterprise (PSE) policy for Aatmanirbhar Bharat, which classifies public sector commercial enterprises as strategic and non-strategic sector, would be limited to central public sector enterprises, public sector banks and public sector insurance companies.
"The policy, however, does not apply to certain classes of public sector entities such as not-for-profit companies or CPSEs providing support to vulnerable groups or having developmental/promotional roles," said the scope of the PSE policy announced in the Budget.

Feb 07, 2021

Sri Lanka Settles $400 Million Currency Swap Facility with India

Sri Lanka has settled a USD 400 million currency swap facility with India.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) had concluded the USD 400 million currency swap agreement in July last year under the SAARC currency swap framework.
This swap facility was drawn by CBSL on July 31, 2020 for an initial period of three months. A three-month rollover was provided at CBSL's request till February 1, 2021.
Further extension would require Sri Lanka having a successfully negotiated staff level agreement for an IMF (International Monetary Fund) programme, which Sri Lanka does not have at present. The CBSL settled the swap facility with the RBI as scheduled.

RBI Eases Rules for FPI Investments in Defaulted Bonds

In order to further boost foreign portfolio investments in the corporate bond segment, the RBI has proposed to exempt FPI investment in defaulted corporate bonds from the short-term limit and the minimum residual maturity requirement under the Medium Term Framework.
Detailed guidelines are being issued separately. At present, foreign portfolio investors can invest in security receipts and debt instruments issued by Asset Reconstruction Companies and debt instruments issued by an entity under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, as per the resolution plan approved by the National Company Law Tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, and these investments are exempted from the short-term limit and minimum residual maturity requirement under the Medium Term Framework for investment by FPIs in corporate bonds.

RBI to Set Up a 24x7 Helpline for Digital Payment Services

The Governor of Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikanta Das, announced that the central bank will set up a 24*7 helpline platform in order to strengthen the digital payment services in India. This announcement was made through the Statement on Development and Regulatory policy.
RBI has come up with many safety and security features apart from the measures to redress the grievances of the users in the past as well.
This announcement will further enhance the digital payments experience of users in India.
The RBI released the Payment Systems Vision document.
The document highlights the need of setting up a 24×7 helpline in order to address the customer queries with respect to the digital payment products.
The helpline will help in building the trust and confidence among the users. It will also help in reducing the expenditure on both financial and human resources that are incurred while addressing the queries and grievances.

ICICI Lombard First Private Insurance Company to set up IFSC Insurance Office in GIFT City

ICICI Lombard General Insurance, private sector non-life insurance company has received approval from 'International Financial Services Centre' (IFSC) Authority to set up an IFSC Insurance Office (IIO) in GIFT City at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
IIO will enable ICICI Lombard to harness new opportunities in direct insurance and reinsurance areas. It will allow the company to offer offshore direct insurance solutions especially to Indian corporates and individuals present in overseas locations.
One of the key advantages of setting up an IIO in GIFT City for ICICI Lombard is the opportunity to expand its international business to service our clients located in foreign locations.

Aditya Birla Capital Posts Highest ever Consolidated Net at Rs. 289 crore

Aditya Birla Capital Ltd (ABCL) posted a 15 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs. 289 crore for the quarter ended December 2020, the highest ever consolidated quarterly profit.
Company's net profit was at Rs. 250 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.
Consolidated revenue for Q3FY21 grew 16 per cent to Rs. 5,346 crore as against Rs. 4,612 crore in the December quarter of FY20.
The robust quarterly performance was driven by strong growth across businesses.
ABCL, which is the holding company of the financial services of Aditya Birla Group, has subsidiaries across insurance, investment and non-banking financing activities among others.

Feb 06, 2021

India to Emerge as Second most Resilient Economy in 2021

India will emerge as the second most resilient economy in 2021, as per the International Economic Resilience (IER) Rank, released by industry body, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI). The ranking has been topped by Germany, among the top-10 leading economies. South Korea is at the third position in the list.
Apart from this, India's real GDP growth rate is projected to be the highest in the year 2021 among the top-10 leading economies in the world, at 11.5%. It reflects India's strong "economic resurgence" to the global economic turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Milind Kulkarni CFO of Tech Mahindra

Tech Mahindra named Milind Kulkarni as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) effective 2nd April 2021.
This will be Kulkarni's second stint as CFO, a position he held for five years from 2013-2018. He succeeds Manoj Bhat, who will be taking over as Group Chief Financial Officer, Mahindra & Mahindra Group as part of a leadership rotation strategy.

Plan to Split GAIL Deferred

The Oil Ministry has put on hold a plan to bifurcate state-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd so as not to dilute the firm's ability to finance the massive infrastructure building plan.
It was proposed that GAIL's pipeline business should be hived off into a separate entity.

RBI Leaves Rates Unchanged

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), with three new external members, decided to maintain status quo on the policy repo rate as the August 2020 retail inflation print of 6.70 per cent was above its upper tolerance level of 6 per cent.
The MPC voted unanimously to leave the policy rate unchanged...and to keep the monetary policy stance accommodative at least through this fiscal and the next financial year.
So, the policy repo rate (the interest rate at which the Reserve Bank of India provides liquidity to banks to overcome short-term mismatches) continues at 4 per cent.

HSBC Opts Out of Britain's Pandemic Loan Collection Plan

HSBC has opted out of an industry-wide plan for collecting unpaid emergency COVID-19 business loans, in a blow to efforts by other banks to team up to limit any reputational damage if firms struggling to repay are treated unfairly.
As per reports, only 10 of 23 lenders that have granted 'bounce back' loans (BBLs) had at the time joined the body, with most smaller ones opting out believing it did not offer value for money.
HSBC told industry body UK Finance, which is setting up the central body, that it would not be joining, after a decision by senior HSBC managers in recent weeks.

Feb 05, 2021

Suzuki, Toshiba to Make Gujarat Li-ion Unit an Export Hub

Suzuki Motor Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Denso Corp. plan to turn their joint manufacturing facility for lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells in Gujarat into a global export hub.
The factory, the first such in India for manufacturing Li-ion cells, is set to open around April with assembling of battery packs, before graduating to producing Li-ion cells around 2024-25.
The plans of the three Japanese manufacturers underscore the Indian government's Atmanirbhar Bharat push to woo global manufacturers that are exploring a China-plus-one strategy for production.
The joint venture, TDS Lithium-ion Battery Pvt. Ltd, is also expected to receive sops under the government's production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for advanced chemistry cell (ACC) manufacturing in India.

BHEL Commissions 800 MW Unit at Gadarwara Project in Madhya Pradesh

State-owned BHEL has commissioned the second unit of 1600 MW Gadarwara thermal power project in Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
The project is being developed by NTPC Ltd.
The first unit of 800 MW of this project was commissioned by BHEL in 2019 and is presently under commercial operation.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has successfully commissioned the second unit (800 MW) of the 2x800 MW Gadarwara Super Thermal Power Project Stage-I.
BHEL's scope of work in the project envisages design, engineering, manufacture, supply and erection & commissioning of steam turbines, generators, boilers and associated auxiliaries, besides state-of-the-art controls & instrumentation (C&I) and electrostatic precipitators (ESPs).

Andhra Govt. to Buy 14,000 Million Units of Power from 10 Solar Power Producers

The Andhra Pradesh government finalised the power purchase agreements with 10 solar power producers with a total installed capacity of 6,400 megawatts of power that would supply 14,000 million units of power to the state at the lowest-ever tariff of Rs. 2.48 per unit.
Out of these 10 solar power projects, four would be set up in Kadapa, three in Anantapur, two in Prakasam and one in Kurnool districts. The bidders who won the projects include big players like National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Adani Group.
The average tariff at which these power plants would supply to the state is Rs. 2.48 per unit, which is significantly lower than the tariff at which power distribution companies in the state are procuring power from other power generators.

HAL and GE Aviation Sign Contract for Supply of Forgings

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd signed a contract valued over Rs. 100 crore with GE Aviation for development and supply of ring forgings for its Aviation military and commercial engine programs.
The five-year contract involves supplying both steel and nickel alloy forgings for shrouds, cases, rings and seals.
With this contract award, GE Aviation has initiated the development of a raw material supply chain in India as part of its 'Make in India' and 'AatmaNirbhar Bharat' strategy, it said, adding that the award of the contract followed HALs successful bidding in GEs Global request for quotes (RFQ).
The ring forgings will be manufactured at HALs newly established state-of-the-art ring rolling facility at the Company's Foundry and Forge Division in Bengaluru.

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