General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2017

Feb 2017

May 27, 2018

Valagro Plans India Expansion

Italian biostimulants and speciality nutrients firm Valagro is in talks with Indian companies to build partnerships or acquire them as it looks to expand footprint in the country.

Valagro has manufacturing facilities at six locations globally.

The firm has been selling products in India for more than a decade and the country figured among Valagro's six priority markets.

Netherlands Eyes India

Dutch Minister for foreign trade and development cooperation Sigrid Kaag is wooing large Indian companies and start-ups to form partnerships with Dutch firms and explore markets in both countries.

According to Sigrid Kaag, in an 'era of post Brexit', Netherlands wants to further consolidate its presence in emerging markets for trade. India is the third-largest economy [in Asia] at present.

May 26, 2018

IDBI Bank Reports for Sixth Straight Quarter

State-run lender IDBI Bank reported loss for the sixth straight quarter even as the bank's management assured that most of the bad loans have been recognised and could turn to black after the second quarter of the current financial year.

The lender reported a net loss at Rs. 5,662.76 crore in the quarter ending March 2018 due to higher provisioning for non-performing assets (NPAs).

India's Foreign Exchange Reserves

According to date released by the Reserve Bank of India, the country's foreign exchange reserves fell $2.6 billion for the week ended May 18 to $415 billion.

Foreign exchange reserves touched a record high of $426 billion for the week ended April 13, 2018.

TCS Creates History

Software services major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) became the first Indian company to achieve a market valuation of Rs. 7 lakh crore in intra-day trades. But it closed the session a tad off that mark at Rs. 6.9 lakh crore.

May 25, 2018

Idea-ATC Tower Deal

The Department of Telecom (DoT) cleared the sale of standalone mobile towers of Idea Cellular for Rs. 4,000 crore to the Indian arm of American Tower Corporation (ATC).

ATC Telecom Infrastructure had signed pact with Vodafone India and Idea in November 2017 to buy their standalone towers for Rs. 7,850 crore.

Airtel Payments Bank appoints New MD & CEO

Airtel Payments Bank has appointed Anubrata Biswas as its managing director and CEO. Mr. Biswas has experience of more than 17 years in the banking sector.

Prior to joining Airtel Payments Bank, he was the joint general manager and retail business head �" South India for ICICI Bank and was responsible for managing the retail banking business across over 550 branches of the bank.

Appointment of Non-executive Chairpersons at 3 PSBs

The finance ministry appointed non-executive chairpersons at Punjab and Sindh Bank, Dena Bank and Central Bank of India, as part of its agenda to reform public sector banks.

As part of banking reforms and on recommendation of Banks Board Bureau (BBB), the government appointed Charan Singh, Anjali Bansal, and Tapan Ray as non-executive chairpersons of Punjab & Sind Bank, Dena Bank and Central Bank of India, respectively.

India Ranked 44th in IMD's Competitiveness Rankings

India has moved one notch higher, to the 44th place in terms of competitiveness, in the annual rankings compiled by International Institute for Management Development (IMD) which placed the US in the top slot.

The US became the most competitive economy globally driven by its strength in economic performance and infrastructure, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore in the second and third place, respectively.

May 24, 2018

NITI Aayog and ABB India Partner

The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) and ABB India have signed a Statement of Intent to support the government's vision of "Make in India" through advanced manufacturing technologies that incorporate the latest developments in robotics and artificial intelligence.

Paytm Buys TicketNew

Paytm has acquired TicketNew, a Chennai-based online ticketing startup, in an all-stock deal to strengthen its entertainment ticketing business. Paytm Entertainment, run by the online payments major, has bought out the majority stake held by Alibaba Pictures �" an arm of China's internet behemoth Alibaba �" valuing the company at around $30 million.

Indica Compact Car Phased Out

Tata Motors announced that it would phase out the Indica compact car and its platform mate Indigo eCS.

Tata Indica was launched in 1998. It was the first passenger car from Tata Motors and it is also considered to have been India's first indigenously developed passenger car.

India Behind in Healthcare

According to a Lancet study, India ranks 145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare. It is behind its neighbours like China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

The Global Burden of Disease study, however, mentioned that India has seen improvements in healthcare access and quality since 1990.

Amendments to Bankruptcy Code

The Cabinet cleared amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), incorporating changes suggested by a government appointed panel.

A 14-member Insolvency Law Committee had made suggestions to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, including addressing woes of home buyers and making recoveries easier for lenders.

May 23, 2018

SBI's Biggest Ever Quarterly Loss

State Bank of India reported its biggest ever quarterly loss of Rs. 7,718 crore in the three months ended March 31 due to provisions made for losses in its bond portfolio and for bad loans.

This is the second consecutive quarter that the country's largest lender has posted a loss.

Ola Expands Services in Australia

Indian cab-hailing firm Ola has expanded its services in Australia to three more cities �" Brisbane, Gold Coast and Canberra.

The SoftBank-backed company also plans to roll out services to Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart in the coming months. Ola had in January announced its plans to foray into the Australian market.

Cure.fit Acquires Fitness First Chain

The Mukesh Bansal-founded wellness startup Cure.fit has snagged premium fitness chain Fitness First �" its fourth acquisition in this space after it bought 1000yoga, Cult and Tribe �" motivating its customers to kick off a healthy routine with some help from its technology platform.

Bharti Group Exits Biyani's Future Enterprises

Bharti Group has exited from Kishore Biyani-led Future Enterprises by selling its 13.64% stake for an estimated sum of more than Rs. 240 crore. Cedar Support Services, a Bharti Group entity, sold its entire 61,919,069 shares.

First Crude Oil Cargo from UAE

India received the first consignment of 2 million barrels of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for its strategic petroleum reserves at Mangaluru, Karnataka.

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