General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2017

Feb 2017

Jul 26, 2018

Fugitive Offenders Bill

Parliament passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill 2018, which seeks to deter big ticket economic offenders from evading the process of law by fleeing the country.

The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote. The Lok Sabha had cleared the measure earlier.

The Bill sought to confiscate properties of the absconding economic offender and the threshold for this law to kick in had been fixed at Rs. 100 crore .

The objective of the Bill is to re-establish the rule of law with respect to the fugitive economic offenders as they would be forced to return to India to face trial for scheduled offences.

Punjab to Merge Rural Banks

The state government is all set to amalgamate its regional rural banks (RRBs) as well as its district central cooperative banks. A formal decision to merge Punjab Gramin Bank, Malwa Gramin Bank and Sutlej Gramin Bank has been taken.

As per reports, the three banks would be merged into one entity as part of the Centre's roll out of the third phase of amalgamation of RRBs, which has laid a roadmap to bring down their number across the country from 56 to 38. "The move will enable RRBs cut overheads, improve their capital and use technology, besides helping them draw better scale-efficiency, higher productivity, improved financial inclusion and greater credit flow to rural areas.

Mahindra Credit Risk Yojana

Mahindra Mutual Fund, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services Ltd, launched an open-ended debt scheme to attract long-term investors. The scheme 'Mahindra Credit Risk Yojana' will be predominantly investing in corporate bonds. The new fund offer will open on July 27 and close on August 10.

'Mahindra Credit Risk Yojana' provides investors an opportunity to participate in India's growth story by investing in well diversified debt portfolio of fundamentally strong, high liquid and well-known companies.

Jul 25, 2018

Vikram Pawah to Lead Australia Business

German luxury automaker BMW appointed its India head Vikram Pawah as CEO of BMW Group Australia and New Zealand with effect from August 1.

Pawah has additionally been promoted as the Chairman of BMW Group India and will remain committed to the Indian market in his expanded role.

Flipkart to Shut eBay in India

E-commerce major Flipkart will shut down eBay.in next month and launch a new platform for refurbished goods as it attempts to tap into a large market segment that is predominantly unorganised.

As part of this launch, Flipkart will stop all customer transactions on eBay.in on 14th August, 2018 and transitioning to the new platform.

Sanjeev Chhabra Appointed as Director

Brightstar Corp, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp. and the world's leading mobile services company for managing devices and accessories across the wireless ecosystem has appointed Sanjeev Chhabra as the new Director for India business.

Sanjeev who was responsible for B2B Enterprise Business at Brightstar, has taken over the role of Director from Deval Parikh.

Tatas to Set Up Aerospace Centre

Tata Technologies Ltd. has signed an MoU with the Vidarbha Defence Industries Association to set up a state-of-the-art aerospace and defence centre in Nagpur. The MoU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the 'Made in Vidarbha - Aerospace and Defence Summit' held last week.

According to the company, this centre will help establish Maharashtra as the preferred investment destination for aerospace and defence manufacturing.

Indian Money in Swiss Banks

As per Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, the amount of Indian money deposited in Swiss National Bank has reduced by 80 per cent between 2014 and 2017 after the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.

Jul 24, 2018

Slip in FDI Confidence Index

According to an AT Kearney report, India in 2018 has fallen out of the top 10 destinations for FDI in terms of its attractiveness.

India ranks 11 in the 2018 AT Kearney FDI Confidence Index, down from 8 in 2017 and 9 in 2016.

Industrial Clusters Jubilant over GST Rate Cut

North India's ailing small and medium industry clusters, carpet weavers, fabric makers, footwear manufacturers and juicer mixer and grinder (JMG) industry have heaved a sigh of relief after the GST Council's recent decision to slash taxes on several items.

This will definitely boost the domestic sales. The manufacturer will be forced to pass on the benefits to consumers if they want to sustain in the market.

FRDI Bill Not Officially Dropped

While the government has decided to withdraw the controversial Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, no official action has been taken so far on this, with the Cabinet yet to approve the move.

The FRDI Bill includes a provision of a 'bail in' for banks, which would allow the use of depositors' money to refinance ailing lenders.

Snapchat to shut down Snapcash

Photo-messaging app Snapchat is reportedly terminating its digital peer-to-peer payment service "Snapcash" on August 30, ending its four-year long partnership with US-based mobile payment company "Square".

Sharma is CCO in Bajaj Auto

Bajaj Auto Ltd. has appointed Rakesh Sharma as its first chief commercial officer (CCO) to complement the offices of the ED and the CTO.

Karnataka Registers Biggest Increase in FDI

According to date from the Reserve Bank of India, Karnataka registered the biggest increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) last year, as inflows from overseas jumped 300% in the 12 months ended March 2018. Tamil Nadu too saw a rebound reversing a slowdown in the preceding period, while Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh all saw a drop in FDI inflows.

Pact for Faster Bad Loan Resolution

More than 20 Indian lenders signed a pact aimed at faster resolution of bad loans, while more could join by the end of the week in what is the latest bid to cut record levels of soured assets in Asia's third-biggest economy.

Jul 23, 2018

Thermal Coal Imports Surge

According to reports from the Indian Ports Association (IPA), India's top 12 major ports reported a 19.32% surge in imports of thermal coal during April-June this year. The Centre-owned ports had handled 23.70 million tonnes (MT) of the thermal coal in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

Federal Bank to Expand Operations

South-based private sector lender Federal Bank has received the regulatory nod to open offices in Bahrain, Kuwait and Singapore, but is awaiting local clearances before it starts operations.
The bank already has representative offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Jul 22, 2018

GST Slashed on More Items

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council cut tax rates on more than 50 items ranging from air conditioners and refrigerators to batteries used in mobile phones, delivering a big boost to the consumer economy.
The federal indirect tax body also gave relief to small businesses and merchants by simplifying procedures and by allowing them to file quarterly rather than monthly returns, which is expected to benefit about 93% of the over 10 million registered GST payers.

Ebix Buys Indus Software

Ebix, an international supplier of on-demand software and e-commerce services, announced that it had acquired Pune-based Indus Software Technologies for about $29 million, including $5 million of contingent earn-out.
Indus will be integrated into Ebix's financial exchange EbixCash offering in India and abroad.

GKN Fokker Elmo Signs Pact with Maharashtra

GKN Fokker Elmo has signed an MoU with Maharashtra government to set up its second manufacturing facility for wiring interconnection systems in India with an investment of $10 million.
The new site, a fully owned GKN Aerospace business, is located in Pune.

BPCL Transfers Gas Business

The board of directors has approved the proposal to transfer BPCL's Gas Division on a going concern basis to Bharat Gas Resources Limited being a wholly owned subsidiary of BPCL by way of slump sale.

Allahabad Bank to Close Branch in Hong Kong

State-owned Allahabad Bank proposes to close its only foreign branch in Hong Kong. In compliance with the government's directives under the PSBs' reform agenda.

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