General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2017

Feb 2017

Oct 10, 2020

RTGS to be Available 24X7 from December 2020

In a business-friendly move, the Reserve Bank of India has said Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), used for large value transactions, will be made available round-the-clock from December 2020.
In December 2019, the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system was made available on a 24x7x365 basis.
Currently, RTGS is available for customers from 7.00 am to 6.00 pm on all working days of a week, except the second and fourth Saturdays of every month.

GST E-invoicing for all B2B Transactions

As per finance secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, the government will roll out the electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) system for all business-to-business (B2B) transactions under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime from April 1, 2021 that will replace physical invoices.
The government introduced the e-invoicing system on October 1, 2020 for businesses with an annual turnover over Rs. 500 crore.
By January 1, 2021, it will be available to taxpayers with an annual turnover over Rs. 100 crore.
It is a great step forward as e-invoicing has many advantages both for the business and the tax administration.
Buyers and sellers will be able to have realtime information of the invoices. It replaces the physical invoice and will soon replace the existing e-way bill system and taxpayers will not have to generate separate e-way bills.

RBI Monetary Policy Committee Meet

The newly formed Monetary Policy Committee held its meeting between October 7, 2020 and October 9, 2020. The Government of India recently appointed its members. They were economists Jayant R. Varma, Shashank Bhide and Ashima Goyal. Also, the Government of India appointed Rajeshwar Rao as the Deputy Governor of RBI.
Highlights
The repo was kept unchanged at 4%.
Reverse Repo Rate is to be maintained at 3.5% as before.
OMO of Rs. 20,000 crores is to be conducted.
The Ways and Means Advance Limits of the Centre is kept at Rs. 1.25 lakh crore.
The bank announced on-tap TLTRO for Rs 1 trillion at 4% till March 2021.

GSFC Launches Indigenous Varieties of Calcium Nitrate and Boronated Calcium Nitrates

Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals India Limited (GSFC) launched the indigenous variety of boronated calcium nitrate and Calcium nitrate. The Chemicals are being manufactured in the country for the first time. All these years these Chemicals were imported from other countries
The calcium nitrate is used as water soluble fertilizer. It is also used to increase the strength of cement concrete and also in wastewater treatment.
Boron has a crucial role in plant functions. It includes cell wall stability, formation and maintenance of structural and functional integrity. Boron is also essential for movement of sugar in growing parts of the plant. Also, Boron helps in seed set and pollination.

Oct 09, 2020

AMHUB: India's First Advanced Manufacturing Hub

The World Economic Forum and Guidance will jointly establish AMHUB in the state of Tamil Nadu.
AMHUB is Advanced Manufacturing hub and is first of its kind in the country.
Guidance is the nodal investment promotion agency of the state of Tamil Nadu.
AMHUB will help the state in the sectors of solar energy, electronics, electric mobility and textiles.
It will help boost production sector of Tamil Nadu by identifying regional opportunities brought by Fourth Industrial Revolution.

RBI Bans FDI Establishment from Mauritius

The Reserve Bank of India said that companies cannot set up Foreign Direct Investment from Mauritius. The apex bank has also banned FDI from jurisdictions similar to Mauritius as they do not comply with the norms set by Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Mauritius was recently listed in grey list of the FATF.
The Reserve Bank banned the FDI from Mauritius due to the following reasons:
To prevent round tripping.
To curb Chinese investments.

EasyJet to Make First Annual Loss in its History

EasyJet has warned that it faced losses of more than £800m this year and that it expects to fly at just 25% of normal capacity into next year.
The annual loss will be the first in EasyJet's 25-year history.
Although the airline had taken tough action to cut costs, the warning underlines the continuing challenges for the industry.
EasyJet has signalled to the government that it may need more financial support.
However, Chief Executive Johan Lundgren said that aviation continues to face the most severe threat in its history and the UK government urgently needs to step up with a bespoke package of measures to ensure airlines are able to support economic recovery when it comes.

NABARD Inks MoUs with SBI to Extend Credit Support for Various Projects

In Gujarat, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development -NABARD inked three Memorandum of Understanding with State Bank of India to extend credit support for various projects.
The signing of MoUs took place between D. K. Mishra, Chief General Manager of NABARD in Gujarat and Dukhbandhu Rath, Chief General Manager, SBI Ahmedabad Circle in the presence of NABARD Chairman G. R. Chintala.
The MoUs were signed for financing joint liability groups and Self-Help Groups-support credit inflows to Farmer Producers' Organizations and economic support for watershed development projects.
These will help in providing credit support to the different sections of the society including the priority sector.

Tim Hortons' UK Expansion to Create 2,000 Jobs

Canadian fast food chain Tim Hortons is planning a major expansion in the UK, hoping to capitalise on increased demand for drive-through dining.
The move comes despite the recent collapse in sales at the chain due to the coronavirus crisis.
The firm hopes to open an outlet in every major city and town over the next two years.
The growth could create around 2,000 new jobs, it said.
Tim Hortons, which is known for its coffee and donuts, opened its first UK location in 2017 and now has 23 locations.
The brand is owned by fast food giant Restaurant Brands International (RBI), which also owns Burger King and Popeye's Chicken. Together, the company has more than 27,000 restaurants globally, which it operates through a franchise model.

Oct 08, 2020

India Leads the World in Real-time Transactions a Day

According to a report, India has become the global leader in real-time financial transactions with 41 million transactions per day, which is more than double that of the last year.
According to the latest report from FIS, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen India doubling its every day real-time transactions at 41 million, which is a leading provider of technology solutions for merchants, banks and capital markets firms globally.
According to the report, six other countries also saw more than doubling of their real-time payment transactions year-over-year, while four saw at least a twofold increase in transaction value.
But in terms of the growth rate, the list is topped by Bahrain with 657 per cent growth, followed by Ghana clipping at 488 per cent, the Philippines growing at 309 per cent, Australia at 214 per cent and Poland at 208 per cent.
India's growth was 213 per cent, handling 41 million transactions a day, according to the report.

HDFC Bank Ties up with Apollo Hospitals

According to Aditya Puri CEO and Managing Director of HDFCV Bank, HDFC Bank tied-up with Apollo Hospitals through which its customers can avail unsecured loans of up to Rs. 40 lakh to pay for medical expenses incurred at the healthcare chain. The loans will be disbursed almost instantly as and when a need for money arises, and the hospital patients who are customers of HDFC Bank will also receive preferential treatment.
Apollo executive vice-chairperson Shobana Kamineni said that HDFC Bank has 65 million customers who can take advantage of this facility. She stressed that while availing health insurance is necessary, it does not cover all aspects despite providing cashless facilities and hence, such a tie-up will help.

Uber Partners Lithium Urban Tech to Onboard 1,000 EVs in India

Ride-hailing major Uber announced a partnership with electric vehicle fleet operator Lithium Urban Technologies to deploy over 1,000 EVs in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune.
Uber had already deployed more than 100 such electric vehicles (all sedan), such as Mahindra eVerito and Tata Tigor EV, on its platform.
According to Prabhjeet Singh, president, Uber India and South Asia, after our partnerships with Yulu, Mahindra and SUN Mobility, this is the fourth partnership in this space and Uber will always remain committed to providing smarter mobility, building greener cities and creating healthier lives.
Lithium's charging hubs in the selected cities have the capacity to charge multiple cars and buses simultaneously. While a fast charger can charge a sedan in 90 minutes, a slow charger can do that in 8 to 9 hours.

Union Cabinet Approves Natural Gas Marketing Reforms

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the natural gas marketing reforms. The reforms aim to fix the gas prices in the market through transparent and competitive processes.
E-Bidding Platform: The main objective of the reforms is to provide standard procedure for the sale of Natural Gas in the country. It also aims to provide a transparent and competitive method of discovering market prices through e-bidding.
The reforms permit the associated Gas companies to participate in the building. This in turn will Kindle the competition in the gas market.
Producers will have choice to select a platform
The reforms will give massive push towards gas consumption
The open acreage licensing policy has increased investor driven acreage auction process. Currently, under the reforms, acreages are being allocated only in category 2 and category 3 basins.
Complete marketing and pricing freedom have been provided to domestic gas production companies. This was provided especially to those companies that discovered and developed field plans after February 2019.
The policy will help in bringing uniformity in the bidding process.
It will contribute towards each of doing business.
The reforms will provide a huge boost to the the atma nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan as it will encourage domestic investments in the production of natural gas. On the other hand, it will reduce the gas imports.

Poland Fines Gazprom $7.6 Billion over Pipeline

Polish antitrust authorities have fined Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom USD 7.6 billion (6.5 billion euros) for its role in building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, saying the project hurts Polish consumers and increases Europe's dependence on Russian imports.
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection also fined five other international companies participating in the project a total of USD 61 million (52 million euros).
Poland is strongly opposed to the pipeline, which is in its final stages of construction and is due to transport Russian natural gas across the Baltic Sea bed to Germany and western Europe, bypassing traditional transit routes through Ukraine and Poland.
The authorities said that the pipeline could lead to higher gas prices in Poland, hurting consumers.
The other companies fined are Engie Energy, OMV, Shell, Uniper and Wintershall.
The fines amount to 10 per cent of the companies' annual revenue and can be appealed.

Oct 07, 2020

Chargebee Raises $55 million in a Sequence-F Funding

Chennai-based software program firm Chargebee raised $55 million in a Sequence-F funding spherical led by Perception Companions, a world enterprise capital and personal fairness agency investing in high-growth know-how and software program scale-up corporations.
The present spherical of funding consists of participation from present buyers (Steadview Capital and Tiger World), bringing the whole funding raised until date to $105 million.
With this funding, the primary area of investment is to expand product capabilities to serve our enterprise customers, investments in sales and marketing globally and in partnerships with our over 75 global software as a service (SaaS) partners.

KIOCL Achieves Highest Export Turnover in 2019-20

KIOCL Ltd., a public sector undertaking under the Union Ministry of Steel, exported 1.99 million tonnes of pellets worth Rs. 1,574.13 crore, highest since the closure of its Kudremukh captive mine (2005) during 2019-20.
Total exports stood at 84%, up by 31% year-on-year basis, penetrating into Brazil, Middle East, China, European markets etc, thereby improving overall performance of the company all through complete utilisation of sea route.
According to company Chairman and MD M.V. Subba Rao, during the year, the pellet production was 2.375 million tonnes, up by 6% YoY, pellet dispatch was 2.356 million tonnes, up by 7% YoY, revenue from operations was Rs. 2,056.53 crore, up by 2% YoY and profit after tax was Rs. 43.48 crore.
The company has spent Rs. 3.31 crore in 2019-20 towards various corporate social responsibility initiatives in education, sports, drinking water etc.

Services PMI Shows Slump Easing

According to a business survey, the pace of contraction in services sector activity eased considerably in September after the government lifted some COVID-19 restrictions, but demand continued to shrink, prompting firms to cut more jobs.
Signs of stabilisation in services are likely to provide more comfort to policymakers after a sister survey last week showed India's manufacturing expanded at its fastest pace in over eight years, suggesting business conditions were gradually returning to normal in Asia's third-largest economy.
The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) bounced to 49.8 in September from August's 41.8, a touch below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis.
The services sector accounts for about 55% of India's economy and almost a third of its jobs.

GoI Approves 16 PLI Projects in Electronics Manufacturing Sector

The Centre approved 16 proposals from marquee brands, including makers of Apple devices, under two new flagship schemes, in a move expected to fetch Rs. 11,000-crore additional investments in local electronics manufacturing. In turn, this would imply production worth Rs. 10.5 trillion over the next five years, giving a fillip to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India and Atma Nirbhar Bharat schemes.
As per the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, a total of Rs. 6.5 trillion worth of electronic goods will be exported by 2025 under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) plan.
As part of the newly introduced PLI scheme, five applications have been approved from international electronics manufacturing majors Foxconn, Wistron, Pegatron (all three makers of Apple products besides other brands), Samsung and Rising Star.
Five proposals from Indian manufacturers — Micromax, Lava, Padget Electronics, UTL Neolyncs and Optiemus Electronics--have also been cleared. These five are estimated to have a potential to manufacture Rs 1.25 trillion worth of handsets in the next five years.

Torrent Gas to Invest Rs. 8,000 cr. in Distribution

Torrent Gas Ltd. will invest Rs. 8,000 crore over the next five years in expanding its city gas operations with a target to set up 500 CNG dispensing pumps by March 2023.
Torrent Gas, the city gas distribution (CGD) arm of Gujarat-based $3-billion Torrent Group, holds a city gas licence for selling compressed natural gas (CNG) to vehicles and piped cooking gas (PNG) to industries and households kitchens in 32 districts across seven states.
Within 18 months of its operations, Torrent Gas has set up 100 CNG pumps.

Oct 06, 2020

Decade-long Oracle-Google Copyright Case Heads to top US Court

A decade-old legal battle between Silicon Valley giants Oracle and Google over software rights moved to the Supreme Court, in a case with enormous implications for copyright in the digital era.
The top court scheduled oral arguments in the case which dates back to a lawsuit filed in 2010 by Oracle seeking billions from Google over its use of Java programming language in its Android mobile operating system.
Two separate jury trials ended with a determination that Google's "software interface" did not unfairly use Java code, saving the internet giant from a possible multibillion-dollar verdict.
But an appeals court in 2018 disagreed, saying the software interface is entitled to copyright protection, prompting Google to take the case to the highest US court.

Nvidia Lays out Plan to Create New Kind of Data Center Chip

Nvidia Corp laid out a multi-year plan to create a new kind of chip for data centers, aimed at siphoning off more functions from its chief rival Intel Corp.
Models with limited features will debut in months, while full-fledged versions are planned within two years, Nvidia said in a press briefing. Server companies such as Dell Technologies and Lenovo Group Ltd plan to integrate them into their machines.
Nvidia chips have long been used to improve video game graphics, but in recent years they have helped to speed up artificial intelligence tasks such as image recognition. The chips typically sit alongside an Intel central processor, offloading some of the computing work.
Nvidia is now seeking to grab more tasks with its proposed series of "data processing unit" chips.

Toyota and Nissan to Seek Reimbursement from UK if Brexit Talks Fail

Japan's two biggest automakers, Toyota and Nissan, will ask Britain to reimburse them for additional custom charges incurred if the UK government fails to reach a Brexit trade deal with the European Union.
The companies - Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co Ltd - want payments to cover the additional 10% tax on automobile imports from Britain that the EU would impose should Britain crash out of the EU without an agreement.
Nissan expressed concern about the potential impact of a no-deal Brexit on its business.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

October GK, September GK, August GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services and Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26