General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2017

Feb 2017

Jan 20, 2021

Upstox Launches Digital Gold Platform

Digital brokerage firm Upstox announced the launch of a digital platform for trading in gold, named Upstox Digital Gold.
"Apart from investing in the stock market and mutual funds, Upstox customers can now also invest online in gold," said Upstox, which is also known as RKSV Securities India.
The platform, as per the company, enables customers to buy 24-karat digital gold of 99.9 percent purity at live market rates, updated in real-time on the platform.
The purchased gold can then be converted into physical coins or bars or stored in the vault.
Upstox said that it has partnered with Augmont, an integrated precious metals management company that empowers customers to begin investing in digital gold, starting at just Rs. 1.

Adani Group Signs Concession Agreement with AAI for 3 Developing Airports

The Adani Group signed concession agreements with the Airports Authority of India for the management, operations and development of Guwahati, Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram airports.
The concessionaires are required to take up the Guwahati, Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram airports fulfilling certain conditions precedents within 180 days from 19th January, 2021.
The Centre had in February 2019 privatised six major airports of the country -- Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati.
Through a competitive bidding process, the Adani group won the rights to run all of them for 50 years.

Paytm Bank Account Holders can Now avail FD services from Suryoday Bank

Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) announced its partnership with Suryoday Small Finance Bank to facilitate the Fixed Deposit services to its customers.
The customers of Paytm payments bank are already enjoying the fixed deposits service in collaboration with the IndusInd Bank at a minimum investment of Rs. 100.
With this new partnership, PPBL has become the first payments bank in the country to launch the multi-partner FD service where an account holder can select the partnered bank as per their preference.
The customers can also compare various features such as minimum investment, interest rate, tenure, among other things before making a decision.
Paytm Payments Bank Limited also offers zero penalty charge for liquidation of the FD which are placed in either of the banks it has entered into the partnership with. It has been witnessed that there are several account holders who prefer "Auto-Create Fixed Deposit" feature wherein the user can set the FD limit on their savings account.

Jan 19, 2021

Energy Group Total Buys to Acquire Stake in Adani Green Energy

French oil and energy group Total will buy a 20% minority stake in Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) from Adani Group, as Total builds up its presence in the renewable energy sector.
Total's purchase of the stake in AGEL would give it a seat on the board of directors of AGEL. Total and Adani had earlier struck a partnership deal back in 2018 in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector.
Total is trying to reduce its dependence on oil and shift to renewable energy.
Total aims to have 35 gigawatts (GW) of gross renewable energy generation capacity by 2025 from around 9 GW now.

India and Japan Sign Agreement to Give Skilled Indian Workers Access to Japanese Job Market

India and Japan signed an agreement to boost the mobility of skilled Indian workers in 14 fields, including nursing, industrial machinery, shipbuilding, aviation, agriculture and the food services industry.
The two countries have stepped up trade and economic cooperation across areas, ranging from the steel industry and investments to creating alternative and more resilient supply chains, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla and Japan's ambassador Satoshi Suzuki signed the memorandum of cooperation (MoC) on a framework for partnership for specified skilled workers (SSWs), whereby Indian workers in 14 categories who meet skill requirements and pass Japanese language tests will be eligible for employment on a contractual basis.
The two sides will set up a joint working group of officials to work out operational details and smooth implementation of the programme.
Japan would grant these workers the status of 'specified skilled worker'. It is also expected that Indian skilled workers who go to Japan under this MoC will acquire new skills while working in Japan.

China Only Major Economy with Positive GDP Growth in 2020

China has become the only major economy in the world the end up with positive GDP growth in 2020. Data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics put GDP growth in the December quarter at 6.5%. This has catapulted the annual growth figure for 2020 to 2.3%, despite a 6.8% contraction in the quarter ending March 2020, which was when China was dealing with a spike in Covid-19 cases.
The 2.3% GDP growth in 2020 is 30 basis points — one basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point — more than the 2% projection made by the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects released earlier this month. All major economies, country groups and sub-regions (East Asia and Pacific being the only exception, thanks to China) are expected to experience a contraction in their GDP in 2020.

Jan 18, 2021

France Wants Suspension of 'Poisonous' U.S.-Europe Trade Spat

According to France's foreign minister, the European Union and the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden should suspend a trade dispute to give themselves time to find common ground.
As per Jean-Yves Le Drian, the issue that's poisoning everyone is that of the price escalation and taxes on steel, digital technology, Airbus and more particularly our wine sector.
At the end of December the United States moved to boost tariffs on French and German aircraft parts, wines and other spirits in the Boeing-Airbus subsidy dispute, but the bloc decided to hold off on retaliation for now.
The EU is planning to present a World Trade Organization reform proposal in February and is willing to consider reforms to restrain the judicial authority of the WTO's dispute-settlement body.
The United States has for years complained that the WTO Appellate Body makes unjustified new trade rules in its decisions and has blocked the appointment of new judges to stop this, rendering the body inoperable.

India Delivers 1st Batch of Heavy Cranes to Bolster Operations at Chabahar Port

India has delivered a consignment of heavy equipment, including cranes, for further development of Iran's Chabahar Port, signalling New Delhi's commitment to the strategic connectivity project that can provide access to markets in Central Asia.
The consignment included two mobile harbour cranes of 140 tonnes, which were acquired from the Italian firm Italgru S.r.l. under a deal for a total of six cranes.

ICICI Bank Ties up with Fintech Niyo to Issue Prepaid Cards to MSMEs

ICICI Bank, a leading Indian private sector bank, and Niyo, a new age fintech company announced a tie-up to issue prepaid cards to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) workers. MSMEs will now be able to get 'ICICI Bank Niyo Bharat Payroll Card' powered by Visa, for their blue-collar workers.
With this, MSMEs can upload the salaries of their workers on the card, which the workers can then utilise as per their need seamlessly.
These workers are mostly under-banked and are deprived of banking facilities.
The 'ICICI Bank Niyo Bharat Payroll Card' allows an individual to receive funds up to Rs. 1 lakh into the card account. It offers convenience and safety of digital banking to the blue-collar workforce while providing a state-of-the-art salary disbursement solution to the employers.
Any MSME can tie-up with Niyo to avail of the prepaid card. After the tie-up, cards are issued to the workers at their workplace itself while their KYC verification is done simultaneously using a biometric device.

GAIL Announces Share Buyback Programme

GAIL (India) Ltd, the nation's largest gas distribution firm, announced a Rs. 1,046.35-crore share buyback programme as it looked to return surplus cash to shareholders, the biggest being the Government of India.
The shares being bought represent 1.55% of the total number of fully paid-up equity shares. The company Board also declared an interim dividend of 25% (Rs. 2.50 per share) for financial year 2020-21. The government owns 51.76% of GAIL and is expected to participate in the share buyback.

Jan 17, 2021

PNB Names Six Branches after War Heroes

Coinciding with the 73rd Army Day, public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) dedicated six of its branches to war heroes who were conferred gallantry awards in various battles and operations.
PNB's branch at Jalandhar Cantonment has been named after Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon, the only IAF officer to have been decorated with the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) – the nation's highest gallantry award.
The branch at Jammu Cantonment has been named after Naib Subedar (Honorary Captain) Bana Singh.
Two other branches have also been renamed after PVC recipients. Capt Manoj Kumar Pandey's name has been etched at the Lucknow's Sadar Bazar branch.
Company Havildar Major Piru Singh of the Rajputana Rifles has a branch in Jaipur named after him.
Two Maha Vir Chakra recipients, Brigadier Mohammad Usman and Captain Anuj Nayyar, have a branch in Agra and New Delhi, respectively, named after them.

India and Japan Sign MoU to Enhance Cooperation in the Field of ICT

India and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), including 5G standardisation.
As per the agreement, both the countires will enhance mutual cooperation in the field of 5G technologies, telecom security, submarine optical fibre cable system to islands of India, spectrum management, smart cities, high-altitude platform for broadband in unconnected areas, disaster management and public safety.
It has been agreed that apart from Ministry-level cooperation, government of India organisations such as C-DOT and ITI Limited, along with industry partners from Japan, will also be part of this cooperation.
The MoU was signed between Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Communications, Electronics and IT and the Japanese Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Takeda Ryota, through a video conference.

Snapdeal, 4 Indian Shopping Complexes Figure in US Notorious Markets List

Snapdeal, one of India's largest e-commerce platforms, along with four Indian shopping complexes, two of them in New Delhi alone, have figured in the latest 2020 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy issued by the Office of the US Trade Representative.
The four Indian markets that have found mention in the list are Heera Panna in Mumbai, Kidderpore in Kolkata and Palika Bazaar and Tank Road in Delhi.
Aizawl's Millennium Center was mentioned in the last list of notorious markets, but now it has been replaced by Palika Bazaar.

Telecom Giant Bharti Airtel Divests Stake in Seynse Technologies

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has divested its stake in Seynse Technologies.
The stake was held through Bharti Airtel's wholly-owned subsidiary Nettle Infrastructure Investments Limited.
The divestment of 6,824 equity shares was for a cash consideration.
The company has divested its stake in Seynse Technologies Private Limited held through Nettle Infrastructure Investments, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.
It, however, did not disclose the price at which the shares were divested for the reasons of confidentiality.
Seynse is a financial technology company that has created Loan Singh platform.

Jan 16, 2021

Sri Lanka Revives Port Deal with India and Japan

Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has announced the revival of an Indian and Japanese investment project to develop a deep-sea terminal in Colombo harbour, next to a controversial $500m Chinese-run container jetty.
A tripartite deal by Sri Lanka's previous government had been on hold amid trade union resistance but Rajapaksa on Wednesday said the East Container Terminal (ECT) would proceed.
The approval came after reviewing regional geopolitical concerns, a reference to India's suspicion of China's role at the same port.
The terminal will be developed with 51 percent ownership by Sri Lanka's government and the remaining 49 per cent as an investment by India's Adani Group and other stakeholders including Japan.
The state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) entered into a memorandum of cooperation in May 2019 with Sri Lanka, India and Japan to develop the ECT before Rajapaksa came to power in November 2019.
The deep-sea jetty is located next to the Colombo International Container Terminal, which is 85 percent owned by China and was commissioned in 2013. The SLPA owns the remaining 15 per cent.

RBI Forms Group to Regulate Digital Lending Frauds

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up a working group to study digital lending activities of the regulated and unregulated players, due to the growing instances of frauds in digital lending space. The group will suggest steps to regulate digital lending including online lending platform and mobile lending. The group will evaluate digital lending activities and assess the penetration and standards of outsourced digital lending activities in RBI regulated entities.
The six-member panel comprises of following four RBI internal and two external members:
Jayant Kumar Dash, Executive Director, RBI (Chairman), Ajay Kumar Choudhary, Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Supervision (Member), P. Vasudevan, Chief General Manager, Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, RBI (Member), Manoranjan Mishra, Chief General Manager, Department of Regulation (Member Secretary), Vikram Mehta, Co-founder, Monexo Fintech (External Member) and Rahul Sasi, Cyber Security Expert & Founder of CloudSEK (External Member).

SoftBank, Hughes Network Invest in Bharti Global-owned OneWeb

OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company jointly owned by the UK government and Bharti Global, secured additional funding from SoftBank Group Corp and Hughes Network Systems LLC, bringing its total funding to $1.4 billion.
The capital raised so far positions the company to be fully funded for its first-generation satellite fleet, totaling 648 satellites, by the end of 2022.
Post the investment, SoftBank will gain a seat on OneWeb's Board of Directors. Hughes is an investor through its parent company EchoStar, and also an ecosystem partner, developing essential ground network technology for the OneWeb system.
OneWeb's mission is to deliver broadband connectivity worldwide to bridge the global Digital Divide by offering everyone, everywhere access including to the Internet of Things (IoT) future and a pathway to 5G.

RBI drains Rs. 2 Trillion in Bid to Nudge Shorter Rates Higher

India's central bank drained 2 trillion rupees ($27.4 billion) from the banking system, as it seeks to push up money-market rates that had crashed below the reverse repo rate.
The cutoff for the 14-day reverse repurchase operation was set at 3.55%, 20 basis points higher than the central bank's reverse repo rate of 3.35%. A Bloomberg poll of seven traders had estimated it at 3.50%. The central bank got bids worth 3.06 trillion rupees.
The RBI is draining excess cash after money-market rates crashed way below its 3.35%-4.00% interest-rate corridor late last year, spurring calls from investors for it to remedy a situation that could distort banks' asset pricing. Too sharp a rise could drive volatility, though, and raise concerns that the central bank is withdrawing stimulus support.

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