General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2017

Feb 2017

Nov 27, 2018

Government to Infuse in PSU Banks

The government will infuse Rs. 42,000 crore in the state-owned banks by March-end and the next tranche would be released as early as next month.

The government earlier this year had pumped Rs. 11,336 crore in five PSBs, PNB, Allahabad Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank, to improve their financial health.

ECB Hedging Norms Eased

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has eased hedging norms for companies that raise funds through external commercial borrowings (ECB), a move that will lower the cost of hedging.

As per a notification, the mandatory hedge coverage has been reduced from 100% to 70% under Track I of the ECB framework.

The RBI also clarified that the ECBs raised prior to this circular would be required to mandatorily roll over their existing hedge only to the extent of 70% of outstanding ECB exposure.

According to the RBI, Track I refers to medium-term foreign currency-denominated ECBs with a minimum average maturity of 3-5 years.

India Eying Bigger Share in Global Trade

India will focus on boosting its exports to the US and other global markets as Chinese shipments become unattractive amid a trade war between the world's biggest economies.

New Delhi is focusing on a handful of items including automotive parts, chemicals, electrical equipment, among others, after the US and China slapped reciprocal duties on each other's goods. India's share in global merchandise exports is at 1.7% compared to China's 12.8%.

Insurance Claim rules Eased for Farmers

The Union government has introduced several norms tightening the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), its flagship farm insurance scheme. One of the new rules taking effect later this month is that claims of farmers not cleared by insurance firms within two months of harvest will be automatically approved.

The new rule means insurance firms will not be able to verify claims or carry out further checks to ascertain the validity of claims of farmers if they don't do it within two months.

Beyond the two-month deadline, all claims will be auto approved by the PMFBY portal (website).

Nov 26, 2018

IT Department Sells Shares of Cairn Energy

The Income Tax Department has sold almost all of Cairn Energy Plc.'s attached shares to recover a part of the Rs. 10,247 crore retrospective tax demand. Cairn Energy held 4.95% stake in Vedanta Ltd., which the department attached after issuing a Rs. 10,247 crore tax demand in 2014 on alleged capital gains the British firm made on a decade-old reorganisation of its India business.

SCB Files Plea in NCLT

Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) has approached the Ahmedabad Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), seeking to reject the resolution plan of Rs. 42,000 crore submitted by ArcelorMittal for Essar Steel.

Last month, the bank had filed a caveat in the Essar Steel insolvency case in the dedicated bankruptcy court as dissenting financial creditor, so that it could be heard before the tribunal decides on ArcelorMittal's bid.

The Indian subsidiary of British banking major Standard Chartered, which has more than 7.5% weightage in the voting process, has voted against the resolution plan of ArcelorMittal, which was approved by the CoC and sent to NCLT for approval.

Nov 24, 2018

Continental Adds 2 Lines

Technology firm Continental has added two new production lines at its Gurugram plant to assemble anti-lock braking system (ABS) and electronic stability control (ESC) components.

This rise in capacity is meant to address the market requirements stemming from government legislation for ABS for passenger cars and two-wheelers by April 2019. The company has been steadily investing in India to localise ABS and ESC. In 2016, it set up a line for ABS assembly, in addition to ESC systems, in Gurugram.

Ranjan Quits Jet Board

Ranjan Mathai has resigned as Independent Director of Jet Airways board with immediate effect.

Mr. Mathai resigned due to increasing pressure on his time from other commitments and consequent inability to devote the time required to discharge his obligations.

Highest Paying City

As per a study by Professional social network site LinkedIn, Bengaluru emerged as the highest paying region, followed by the country's commercial capital Mumbai and NCR.

LinkedIn has launched the "LinkedIn Salary" feature that provides a detailed breakdown of salaries by job title and location.

The top five highest paid regions are Bengaluru, Mumbai, National Capital Region (includes New Delhi, Gurugram, and Noida), Hyderabad and Chennai.

The study found that the highest paid industries are Hardware and Networking, Software and IT Services, Consumer Goods, Health Care, Finance, Corporate Services, Construction, Manufacturing, Real Estate and Media & Communications.

Mahindra First Choice Services to Raise Funds

Mahindra First Choice Services (MFC), part of the $20.7 billion Mahindra group, is open to talks with strategic investors to raise Rs. 125 crore.

The funds are needed to accelerate expansion programme and will be invested in technology and brand building.

The firm was not in a hurry to raise resources and that it may sew up the deal in the next 6-12 months.

UST Global Opens Global Delivery Centre

Tech major UST Global has set up a new delivery centre in Hyderabad. The key focus of the centre is to support the company's global banking, financial and insurance services, healthcare, retail, technology, media, and telecom and semiconductor clients.

As per Global CAO and country head Alexander Varghese, Hyderabad is a key market for them with existing portfolio of clients, vast business opportunities and promising talent.

Nov 23, 2018

High Spirit to Set Up Two Plants

High Spirit Commercial Ventures, the fourth largest luggage bag and backpack player in India in terms of revenue after VIP Industries, Samsonite and Safari, has announced plans to set up two bag manufacturing facilities in Bihar and Gujarat or Maharashtra with investment of Rs. 35 crore.
A big facility will be set up in Patna where 2 million backpacks we will manufactured annually. This facility will be operational by March 2019.
A manufacturing facility for hard luggage bags will either come up in Bhiwandi near Mumbai or in Gujarat.

Wipro and Adani Ports to Be Dropped from Sensex

IT major Wipro and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones Ltd. will be dropped from the Sensex, effective December 24.
In their places, HCL Technologies and Bajaj Finance will enter the index.
Besides, Power Finance Corporation will move out from the BSE 100 index, while Edelweiss Financial Services will be included in the index.
Bharti Infratel, Lupin and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation will be excluded from the Sensex 50 index and these firms will be replaced by Bajaj Finserv, Britannia Industries and JSW Steel.

Request Look-out Notices against Defaulters

To check wilful defaulters and fraudsters from fleeing the country, the government has now authorised CEOs of public sector banks (PSBs) to make request for issuance of look-out circulars (LOCs) against suspects.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently made changes in the circular by including CEOs of PSBs in the list of officials who can make request for issuance of LOCs to the ministry.

Nov 22, 2018

Binani Turns UltraTech Subsidiary

The board of UltraTech Cement approved UltraTech's proposal to convert Binani Cement Limited (BCL) into a wholly-owned subsidiary of UltraTech. This further consolidates UltraTech's position as the third-largest cement player globally (barring China), even as the company continues to be the biggest in India.

Rajesh Exports Bags UAE Order

Rajesh Exports, the world's largest gold refiner, procured an order worth Rs. 933 crore from the UAE. The order will be executed by March 2019.

The Bengaluru-based firm has its refineries located in Uttarakhand and at Balerna in Switzerland. It has a capacity to refine 2,400 tonnes of gold per annum. The company processes 35% of gold produced in world.

50% ATMs in India May Shut Down

According to Confederation of ATM Industry (CATMi), nearly 50 per cent Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) may be shut down by March 2019 due to unviability of operations.

India has approximately 2,38,000 ATMs, of which around 1,13,000 ATMs, including 1,00,000 off-site and more than 15,000 white label ATMs.

Mangal Prabhat is Richest Indian Property Tycoon

Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the founder of Lodha Group and a lawmaker representing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has become the nation's richest real estate developer after the company's sales increased 22 per cent.

Lodha's wealth is estimated at 271.5 billion rupees ($3.8 billion), according to the GROHE Hurun India Real Estate Rich List. Lodha, who started the real estate business three decades ago in Mumbai, is constructing the 75-storey Trump Tower in India's commercial capital.

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