General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2017

Feb 2017

Jan 31, 2021

Economic Survey 2020-21

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2020-21 in the Lok Sabha.
The Economic Survey 2021 presented an estimation of the progress that the Indian economy has made in the last 12 months.
The survey highlights that the real growth rate for Financial Year 2021 was taken as -7.7% as per MoSPI while the real growth rate for Financial Year 2022 is assumed was taken as 11.5 % on the basis of estimates provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
As per the survey, there was de-growth for the first time.
It highlights that the Indian economy is technically in a recession as it has witnessed a contraction in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the last two consecutive quarters.
The Survey also provided a detailed analysis of India's V-shaped economic recovery after it was affected due to corona pandemic. It highlights that mega vaccination drive supports the V-shaped recovery.

Tata Steel to Continue Separation of European Activities

Tata Steel's European works council said that it expected the separation of Tata Steel's Dutch and British operations to continue, despite Swedish steel maker, SSAB's decision to halt talks over the potential acquisition of Tata's Dutch steel mill.
As per works council chair Cinta Groo, it is unclear how we will proceed, but we expect the separation to continue.
Groos said that she did not expect takeover talks with ThyssenKrupp to be revived, after the European Commission blocked a merger between Tata's European activities and the German company in 2019.

LG Electronics Announces Record Operating Profit in 2020

LG Electronics Jan. 29 announced record 2020 revenue of KRW 63.26 trillion ($56.45 billion) and record operating profit of KRW 3.20 trillion ($2.85 billion), an increase of 31.1% over 2019, and driven primarily by higher sales of OLED TVs and home appliances, among other products.
Sales in the fourth quarter, ended Dec. 31, of KRW 18.78 trillion ($16.76 billion) grew 16.9% from the same period of 2019 and were 11% higher than the previous quarter. Despite the impact of COVID-19, the quarter's operating profit of KRW 650.20 billion ($580.19 million) increased significantly by 539% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.

Jan 30, 2021

Royal Enfield Enters Japanese Market with Flagship Store in Tokyo

Niche bike maker Royal Enfield made a foray into the Japanese market with the launch of a store in Tokyo.
The newly inaugurated store will offer a complete range of motorcycles, apparel and accessories, in addition to spares and service.
This is a fresh start for the company in what is perhaps the most iconic automobile market in Asia-Pacific region.
Royal Enfield will sell five of its widely popular models, featuring single-cylinder and twin cylinder engines, in Japan.
The company has roped in PCI Co Ltd in Japan as its distributor.

Bharti AXA General Insurance Launches 'Krishi Sakha' App

Bharti AXA General Insurance has launched Krishi Sakha App, a one-stop-shop for Indian farmers that offers them relevant information to cater to their daily farming needs.
It also provides guidance to farmers to adopt best farming practices and enhance their productivity. The farmers through this app will also have access to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) portal for crop insurance-related information.
Bharti AXA 'Krishi Sakha' aims at helping Indian farmers make informed decisions through customized information related to their farming requirements.
It shares relevant information about the scientific way of farming, crop cultivation, sowing, or harvesting of major crops. It guides the farmers about weather forecasting, market and crop prices and government schemes related to insurance and agriculture.

British Energy Firm Threatens to Seize India Government Assets

Cairn Energy has threatened to seize Indian government assets following a $1.2bn (£880m) award from a long-running corporate tax case.
The UK-based energy firm was awarded damages by an international tribunal in the high-profile dispute with the Indian government last month.
Cairn has started identifying assets it could seize if the Indian government does not comply with the order.
The case was filed after income tax officials seized Cairn's 10% stake in its Indian subsidiary.
In December the tribunal ruled unanimously that Delhi had violated the 2014 UK-India bilateral investment treaty.
It ordered Delhi to pay $1.2bn in damages, plus interest and costs, to compensate Cairn for the shares as well as confiscated dividends.

Airtel Says Network 5G Ready

Bharti Airtel said that its network is 5G ready now as the telco successfully demonstrated live fifth generation service—with ultra-high speeds—over a commercial network in Hyderabad city.
The move assumes significance as telcos are gearing up to leverage 5G as the next frontier for future growth to bolster revenues and provide stronger customer experience.
While the latest demonstration underscores the company's technology capabilities for rolling out of fifth generation services in future, Airtel said the actual impact of 5G experience will be available to customers, "when adequate spectrum is available and government approvals are received".

Bank of Baroda First Public Sector Bank to Look at Permanent Work-from-home Option

Bank of Baroda is the first public sector bank to consider work-from-home (WFH) as a permanent policy for a section of its employees.
BoB, which recently concluded the integration of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with itself, has appointed management consultancy firm McKinsey & Co to help implement a strategy for a post-Covid world.

L&T flags Off Heavy Reactors for HPCL

Larsen & Toubro Heavy Engineering flagged off two LC-Max Reactors, pitched to be the world's heaviest, ahead of schedule in the presence of MK Surana, Chairman & Managing Director, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL).
The reactors, weighing 2,313 Metric Tons (MT) each, will enable India's first Residue Upgradation Facility (RUF) by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation's Visakh Refinery to convert the heaviest oils to high-quality BS-VI diesel, as well as increase feedstock and improve product flexibility, according to a press release from L&T.
The reactors will sail in "single piece" directly to Visakhapatnam from Larsen & Toubro's coastal manufacturing facility at Hazira in Gujarat.

Reliance Home Finance Gets Five Bids

As per reports, Kotak Special Situations Fund (KSS), Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd (Arcil), Acre ARC in association with their foreign partners, non banking finance company Authum Investment and Infrastructure and Capri Global are five bidders that have submitted final binding bids to buy the debt-laden Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL).
Only two of the bidders, Acre ARC and Authum have bid for the whole company. Acre has bid in association with its largest shareholder Aries-SSG Capital. The other three bidders have bid only to buy out the retail loan portfolio of the company.

Jan 29, 2021

Toyota Overtakes Volkswagen as Top-selling Global Auto Maker

According to data released by the firm, Japan's Toyota reclaimed the title of world's top-selling automaker in 2020, pushing Volkswagen into second place for the first time in five years.
Toyota sold 9.53 million vehicles around the world last year, overtaking the 9.3 million sales made by its German rival.
The Japanese giant took the lead despite a decline in global sales of more than 10 per cent as the auto industry suffered the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Jio 5th Strongest Brand Globally

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's four-year-old telecom venture Reliance Jio has been ranked the fifth strongest brand globally behind the likes of Ferrari and Coca-Cola.
The Brand Finance's Global 500 ranking of the strongest brands globally, which determined the relative strength of brands, is topped by WeChat, according to its annual report on most valuable and strongest global brands.
Despite only being founded in 2016, Jio has quickly become the largest mobile network operator in India and the third-largest mobile network operator in the world, with almost 400 million subscribers.
According to these criteria, Chinese mobile app WeChat usurped Ferrari to become the world's strongest band. Russian bank Sber is placed third and Coca-Cola fourth.

HSBC Inaugurates International Banking Unit at GIFT City in Gujarat

Global financial services major HSBC inaugurated its International Banking Unit (IBU) branch at GIFT City near Gandhinagar city in Gujarat.
HSBC is one of the earliest global financial institutions setting up a branch at India's GIFT City and was the first bank to get a licence from the newly set up International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), said a release by the company.
Welcoming HSBC at GIFT IFSC, Srinivas Injeti, Chairman IFSCA, said that the Government of India has envisaged the IFSC as a hub to bring offshore financial transactions onshore and the presence of HSBC has further strengthened the IFSC ecosystem of India.

Jan 28, 2021

Intel Invests Additional $475 Million in Vietnam Plant

Intel Corp has invested an additional $475 million in its plant in Vietnam to improve technologies and boost production of its 5G products and core processors, the U.S. chipmaker's local unit.
The move takes Intel's total investments in Vietnam to around $1.5 billion.
"Intel Products Vietnam is an important part in Intel's supply chain," general manager Kim Huat Ooi said, explaining the decision to invest more in facilities and human resources in Vietnam.

Aditya Birla Fashion Buys Stake in Sabyasachi

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) has signed a definitive agreement to buy 51 per cent stake in designer brand Sabyasachi for Rs. 398 crore. The deal is expected to be closed in late-February or mid-March.
Through this investment, ABFRL will strengthen its position in the largest and amongst the fastest growing apparel segments, in line with its stated long-term strategy of building a formidable play in the ethnic wear segment.
Through Sabyasachi brand, ABFRL will be able to tap luxury and bridge to luxury segments across all categories such as apparel, jewellery and accessories.

India's New Central Bank Digital Currency

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in the process of examining if India needs a new central bank digital currency (CBDC) and is exploring ways to operationalise the digital currency.
The statement from the RBI has come in the light of gaining popularity of the private digital currencies, virtual currencies and cryptocurrencies.
These currencies are not operational in India because regulators and governments have always been sceptical about the risks associated with these currencies.
Thus, RBI is exploring the possibility if there is a need for a digital version of fiat currency.
Central bank digital currency is a legal tender and a central bank liability in digital form. The digital currency is denominated in a sovereign currency. It also appears on the balance sheet of the central bank. This is an electronic version of currency which can be converted or exchanged with the similar denominated cash and the traditional central bank deposits.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd Appoints Ritesh Tiwari as Chief Financial Officer and ED

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) appointed of Ritesh Tiwari as Executive Director, Finance & Chief Financial Officer, and a member of the Board, HUL, with effect from May 1, 2021, subject to necessary government approvals.
He will also take over as the Vice President, Finance, South Asia, Unilever.
Tiwari will succeed Srinivas Phatak, the current CFO, who will be taking over the role of EVP, Financial Control and Risk Management, based out of Unilever's headquarters in London and be part of the Finance Leadership Executive Team.
Tiwari is currently the VP of Finance – Global Performance management and is based out of the United Kingdom. He joined HUL as a management trainee in 1999 after completing his Chartered Accountancy from ICAI.

India Inks MoU with IEA for Global Energy Security, Sustainability

India inked a strategic partnership agreement with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to strengthen cooperation in global energy security, stability and sustainability.
This partnership will lead to an extensive exchange of knowledge and would be a stepping stone towards India becoming a full member of IEA.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Power Secretary Sanjiv Nandan Sahai and IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
The IEA Secretariat will be responsible for implementation of the cooperative activities in India and for facilitating discussion between the IEA members and India to further develop the strategic partnership.

Jan 27, 2021

China Overtakes Germany to Run World's Largest Current Account Surplus

China overtook Germany to become the country with the world's largest current account surplus in the year 2020, as per a survey by the Munich-based Ifo institute.
The current account surplus of China more than doubled to $310 billion in 2020, while the current account surplus of Germany shrank for the fifth year in a row in 2020 to $261 billion.
The data underlines a tectonic shift in world trade triggered by the coronavirus crisis as higher demand across the globe for medical protection gear and electronic devices boosted Chinese exports.
The United States remained the country with the world's largest current account deficit which rose roughly by a third to $635 billion in 2020 or 3.1% of economic output.
Japan ranked third with a current account surplus of $158 billion. Ifo (Information and Forschung) Institute for Economic Research is a research institution based in Munich, Germany, which analyses economic policy.

Ministry of Road Transport to Impose "Green Tax"

The Ministry of road transport has decided to impose the additional taxes on old vehicles that are no more fit on the road. This additional tax is being called as the "Green Tax". The decision was taken to curb pollution. It will also motivate people to switch to environment-friendly alternatives to the vehicles.
The Green tax will reduce the pollution level. It will also make the polluter to pay for creating pollution.
Revenue collected from the green tax will be kept in a separate account. The amount will be used for tackling the problem of pollution.
The states have been asked to set up state-of-art facilities to monitor the emission.
Green tax is also called as the pollution tax or environmental tax. The tax is an excise duty on goods that results into the environmental pollutants. An economic theory says, that if taxes will be charged on emissions causing pollution will lower the environmental impairment in a cost-effective manner. The tax will encourage the behavioural changes in households and firms that are required to reduce the pollution. The tax mainly aims to ensure that polluters are duly punished for their pollution creating activities.

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