General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2017

Feb 2017

Jun 17, 2018

PNC Infra Bid for Expressway Cancelled

As per reports, the U.P. government had decided to reinvite bids for Purvanchal Expressway and cancelled PNC Infratech's Rs. 1,738.44 crore offer.

The government of Uttar Pradesh has cancelled the ongoing bidding process of 341-km-long Purvanchal Expressway project comprising eight individual packages and decided to go for fresh bidding. The company was declared as L1 (lowest) bidder for the 4th package of the above project on EPC basis for a quoted price of Rs. 1,738.44 crore, which now stands cancelled.

India's First Carbon Fibre Manufacturing Unit

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) is investing in setting up India's first carbon fibre manufacturing unit to cater to aerospace and defence needs. The owner of world's largest oil refining complex will also make low-cost and high-volume composite products like modular toilets, homes and composites for windmill blades and rotor blades. In its latest annual report, Reliance Industries said that it has developed capabilities for 3D printing of wide-range of plastic and metals products.

Jun 16, 2018

LIC Gets Service Tax Evasion Notice

The Life Insurance Corporation of India has received a Rs. 2,050-crore service tax notice from the Directorate-General of Goods & Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI).

As per tax officials, the notice was issued by the DGGI's Kolkata zonal office for alleged suppression of facts with intent to evade payment of service tax on forfeited policies (policies discontinued because of non-payment of premium). The DGGI notice to LIC was for non-payment of service tax on forfeited policies since July 2012.

TCS announces Share Buy-back Programme

The board of directors of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS) approved a proposal to buy-back up to 7,61,90,476 equity shares of the company at Rs. 2,100 per apiece aggregating to Rs. 16,000 crore.

Teleperformance to Buy Intelenet

France-based Teleperformance has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Mumbai-based Intelenet from private equity major Blackstone for a consideration of $1 billion.

Teleperformance provides outsourced omni-channel customer experience management and Intelenet is a provider of high-end omni-channel customer experience management, back-office, human resources and financial and administration services.

Trade Deficit Widens

As per official data, India's merchandise trade deficit widened to $14.62 billion in May 2018. The shortfall was $13.72 billion in April 2018 and $13.84 billion in May 2017.

Jun 15, 2018

Merger between SRL and Fortis Malar Scrapped

Fortis Healthcare is withdrawing the scheme of amalgamation between Fortis Malar Hospitals and SRL due to delay in completion of the process and strong headwinds in the sector. "The entire process was expected to take 6-8 months, however, due to reasons beyond the company's control, the process has taken over 19 months and is still not complete.

WPI Inflation Surges

Inflation based on wholesale prices shot up to a 14-month high of 4.43% in May on increasing prices of petrol and diesel.

The wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation stood at 3.18% in April and 2.26% in May last year.

Import Duty on Non-palm Oils Hiked

The Centre raised the import duty by 5-10 per cent on non-palm edible oils, both crude and refined ones, in order to protect the interest of domestic oilseeds growers and processors.

In March, the government had raised the import duty on crude palm oils from 30 per cent to 44 per cent, while that on refined palm oils to 54 per cent from 40 per cent.

TransUnion Opens Technology Hub

TransUnion opened its first Global In-house Centre (GIC) in Chennai, which is aimed at supporting the U.S.-based credit information company's operations worldwide.

Housed at DLF Cyber City, Chennai, the GIC would build products for global consumption, observing that India had emerged as a top destination for innovative technology and R&D centres.

TPG, Carlyle in Race for Tata Cap's Sai Life Stake

As per reports, private equity investors TPG, True North and Carlyle are in the final race to acquire Tata Capital's stake in Sai Life Sciences for about $130 million, or Rs. 900 crore.

The private equity arm of the Tatas owns around 33% stake in the Hyderabad-based maker of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which also provides drug discovery and commercial manufacturing services to innovator pharma companies.

Tata Capital is looking for a profitable exit from the company, where it invested Rs. 185 crore four years ago.

Jun 14, 2018

D'Souza Appointed as Vice-chairman

Cognizant CEO Francisco D'Souza has been appointed as the Vice-chairman of the company. He would continue to perform his current role as CEO. Cognizant is one of the world's leading technology services companies based on a unique 'client-first' culture.

Amazon Unveils Loan Network

Amazon India unveiled its 'Seller Lending Network,' further scaling its 'Seller Lending program' introduced in 2016. This would offer sellers on Amazon.in loan options from multiple third-party lenders.

The network would provide wider selection, wherein sellers can choose loan offers tailored for their business needs from multiple lenders and loan types.

Truecaller Acquires Chillr

Truecaller, the company behind the phone number identification app, announced a strategic investment into the payment space in India by acquiring Chillr, a multi-bank payments app.

Munoth Industries to Set Up Lithium-ion Cell Plant

Chennai-based Munoth Industries announced the setting up of a Lithium-ion cell manufacturing plant, said to be the first in India, at an investment of Rs. 799 crore. The plant, which would target the mobile phone industry in the first phase, would come up in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.

HDFC 5th Biggest Consumer Financial Services Company

Housing finance major HDFC has been ranked as the 5th biggest public company globally in the 'consumer financial services category' on a list compiled by Forbes magazine.

American Express has topped this category, while Indiabulls Housing Finance is the only other Indian company (at 13th place) on the list.

Cut in Viability Ratings of SBI and Bank of Baroda

Ratings agency Fitch has downgraded viability ratings of State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda by a notch to 'bb+' and 'bb' respectively citing the lenders' weakened risk profile due to poor asset quality and the vulnerability of their capital buffers to moderate shocks.

Jun 13, 2018

YES Bank Reappoints Kapoor

Rana Kapoor has been reappointed as MD & CEO of YES bank for a further period of three years effective September 1, 2018. The reappointment was one of the thirteen resolutions approved by the shareholders and is subject to final approval by the RBI.

The meeting also saw the appointment of Subhash Chander Kalia as non-executive non-independent director, and Rentala Chandrashekhar and Pratima Sheory as independent directors for a period of five years.

Industrial Output Expands in April

As per official data, industrial activity expanded by 4.86% in April driven mainly by a surge in the manufacturing and mining sectors.

TCS Expands M&G Prudential Pact

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has expanded its agreement with M&G Prudential, the U.K. and European savings and investments business of Prudential Plc, a move which will add £500 million ($668 million) revenue over the term of the contract, taking the deal value to more than $1.2 billion.

Top Bid for Ruchi Soya

Adani Wilmar, a joint venture between Ahmedabad-based Adani group and Singapore-headquartered agribusiness group Wilmar, has offered over Rs. 6,000 crore for Ruchi Soya, emerging as the highest bidder for the debt-ridden edible oil and soya foods maker. Baba Ramdev's Patanjali has offered over Rs. 5,700 crore for the financially troubled company.

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