General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2017

Feb 2017

Jul 12, 2018

HIL to Acquire Parador

C.K. Birla Group Company HIL Ltd. (formerly Hyderabad Industries Ltd.) is acquiring German flooring solutions firm Parador.

Founded in 1977, Parador's revenue stood at €140 million and the company employed 550 people.

India Sixth Largest Economy

According to the latest World Bank figures, Indian economy has now become world's sixth-biggest pushing France to seventh place. The US leads the table as the biggest economy followed by China, Japan, Germany and Britain. The new calculations were arrived on the basis of Indian economy's performance in 2017.

India's gross domestic product (GDP) was valued at USD 2.597 trillion at the end of 2017

Jul 11, 2018

Ease of Doing Business Ranking

Andhra Pradesh has topped the 'Ease of Doing Business' ranking among states and union territories (UTs) prepared by the World Bank and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

Telangana came second, Haryana, Jharkhand and Gujarat came third, fourth and fifth respectively. The other states in the top achievers category are Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan.

TCS Net Rises

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), posted a better-than-expected 23% jump in first-quarter net profit to Rs. 7,340 crore, buoyed by robust growth at the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) and digital verticals.

Top Bidder for City Gas Retailing Licences

Adani Group emerged as the top bidder for city gas retailing licences, eyeing as many as 52 cities, while Reliance-BP combine took a close look at bidding but dropped out at the last moment.

GAIL Gas Ltd, the city gas distribution arm of state-owned GAIL India Ltd, put in bids for close to 30 cities. Adani Gas Ltd bid for 32 cities on its own and another 20 cities in equal joint venture with state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC).

Growth in Domestic Car Sales

Domestic passenger vehicle sales registered a growth of 38% in June, the fastest pace of monthly growth in almost 10 years.

Prior to this, the fastest pace of monthly growth was 50% in December 2009 for the segment.

Abu Dhabi Co Submits Bid for Assam Co

Abu Dhabi-based BRS Ventures of Middle-East healthcare tycoon B. R. Shetty has submitted whooping Rs. 1210 crore bid for Assam Co India Ltd, the oldest tea company in India. The other bidders have not even submitted half of what the Middle East tycoon has offered in the resolution plan.

Jul 10, 2018

India and South Korea to Collaborate for AI

India and South Korea will collaborate in the growing global Artificial Intelligence (AI) market and build partnerships between Indian IT Companies, and Korean engineering and hardware companies. South Korea also approved $10 billion in soft loans for infrastructure projects in India that it first committed to, during Modi's visit to Seoul in 2015.

China Reduces Tariff on Indian Cancer Drugs

India and China have reached an agreement on reduction of tariffs on the import of Indian medicines, particularly cancer drugs, to China. However, it is not yet clear whether China has agreed to grant licenses to Indian companies to sell cancer drugs.

Indian cancer-curing medicines are in big demand in China as they are far cheaper than those from western countries.

World's Largest Mobile Factory in Noida

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in jointly inaugurated the world's largest mobile phone manufacturing facility of Samsung with a capacity to make 12 crore phones per annum. The Noida facility of Samsung, a South Korean consumer major, will see an investment of Rs. 4,915 crore and create 2000 direct jobs. Of the total production, 30 percent will be exported.

DoT Clears Vodafone-Idea Merger

The Department of Telecom (DoT) approved the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular but with the condition that the acquirer would have to pay over Rs. 13,500 crore as deferred liabilities. The order said that M/s Idea Cellular Ltd. shall replace Bank Guarantees by M/s VML and VIL towards the annual instalments in respect of the spectrum bought in auctions held in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Government Sold $216 mn of Vedanta Shares

British energy firm Cairn Energy Plc said the Indian government has sold some of the shares it owned in Vedanta Ltd, that were earlier attached in a tax dispute, for $216 million.The Edinburgh-based company had received 5% stake and preference shares in Vedanta in exchange for its residual stake in its former subsidiary Cairn India, which has been merged with Vedanta.

Cairn Energy, which sold its Indian arm to Vedanta's Ltd's parent Vedanta Resources Plc in 2011, retained roughly 10% stake in the unit, which was later attached by the tax department to recover alleged tax dues arising from a retrospective change in tax law in 2012. The tax department is seeking to recover capital gains tax on a 2006 internal reorganization of Cairn India Ltd prior to its listing in 2007 and subsequent sale to Vedanta Resources Plc.

DRDO to Engage Firms for Border Surveillance System

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is looking towards the industry for commercial production and marketing of a Border Surveillance system (BOSS) developed by it. DRDO is looking at transferring the technology to interested parties, both in private and public sector, that can manufacture the system.

BOSS can be deployed at unmanned observations posts for remote controlled all- weather day-and-night monitoring of designated areas. It consists of a battlefield surveillance radar along with electro-optical sensors.

Jul 09, 2018

Six Bids to Supply Fighters Aircrafts for IAF

Six global aircraft manufacturers have responded to a Request for Information (RFI) from the Indian Air Force to supply 110 fighter aircraft. The deadline for the RFI was July 6. All six manufacturers have earlier bid for the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), which was cancelled in 2015.

Credit Suisse to Help PNB

Punjab National Bank has hired Credit Suisse to help sell its stake in PNB Housing Finance as the state-run lender continues to sell non-core assets to strengthen its capital position after being hit by the Nirav Modi scandal.

IMPS Fund transfer Doubles

Transfer of funds through Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) crossed Rs. 3.23 lakh crore in the April-June quarter of 2018-19, which is almost double the amount recorded in the year-earlier period. Different banks have different limits for daily and monthly fund transfers through IMPS.

Jul 08, 2018

Alwar Urban Co-operative Bank Licence Cancelled

The Reserve Bank of India cancelled the licence of Alwar Urban Co-operative Bank in Alwar, Rajasthan, as it is not in a position to pay its depositors in full as and when their claims accrue, among other reasons. The present financial position of the bank leaves no scope for its revival.

Mukesh Ambani Reappointed Reliance Chairman

Shareholders of Reliance Industries have approved giving Mukesh Ambani another five years as the Chairman and Managing Director of the company. Ambani has been on the board of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) since 1977 and was elevated as Chairman of the company after the death of his father in July 2002.

UMM Digital to Foray into more Overseas Markets

UMM Digital, which provides innovative marketing services through design, branding, web and digital marketing initiatives, is planning to expand overseas.

As per Santosh Palavesh, founder-CEO, the next step is to make a foray into overseas market such as the U.K., Dubai, Kenya, Nigeria, Malaysia and Singapore.

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