General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - December 2017

Dec 2017

Oct 18, 2022

Ex-Infosys President Ravi Kumar to Join as President for Cognizant Americas

Former Infosys president Ravi Kumar is joining Cognizant as President Americas. He would take on the position from January 16, 2023. Kumar would be reporting directly to Brian Humphries, CEO Cognizant.
Infosys last week, had shared that Kumar had resigned. Kumar also has served as Chairman of the Board of Infosys Business Process Management, and brings more than 20 years of experience in consulting and industry sales, incubating new practice lines and driving large transformational programs.
Kumar takes over from Surya Gummadi, who will take over leading the $5 billion Health Sciences Business of Cognizant.
Cognizant also announced the appointment of Prasad Sankaran who will be heading the software and platform engineering (SPE) services. He joins from Bain & Company.

Committed to COP27 Success under Egyptian Presidency: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held discussions with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and highlighted India's commitment to the success of COP27 under the Egyptian presidency.
Jaishankar underscored that India values the participation of Egypt in the G20 during its chairship. He further underlined that India is fully committed to the success of COP27 under the Egyptian presidency.
The EAM deeply appreciated President Sisi's guidance in further developing various dimensions of the India-Egypt relationship. He briefed the President on his discussions with Finance Minister Sameh Shoukry.
Jaishankar said that he would talk to the Union Minister for Education, Skill and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan on collaborating with Egypt on premier higher educational institutes, like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).

JPMorgan Names Former Reliance M&A Head as India Investment Banking Chief

JPMorgan Chase & Co named former Reliance Industries executive Navin Wadhwani as the head of its Indian investment banking business, under a slew of management changes for the Asia-Pacific region.
Wadhwani has headed M&A for oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance for the past 10 years and was previously a senior managing director at Rothschild India.
JPM also appointed Kaustubh Kulkarni as senior country officer for India from Nov. 1. He would continue in his role as vice chair of Asia Pacific. Kulkarni succeeded Madhav Kalyan, who would now head the U.S. banking giant's Asia Pacific Payments.
Vineet Mishra became sole head of Investment Banking for Southeast Asia.

Oct 17, 2022

PM Modi Inaugurates 75 Digital Banking Units

To deepen financial inclusion, the Prime Minister inaugurated 75 digital banking units (DBUs) of different banks across the country of which two are of Jammu and Kashmir Bank.
As part of the Union budget 2022-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the setting up of the 75 DBUs in as many districts of the country to commemorate 75 years of India's Independence.
The DBUs are being set up to ensure that the benefits of digital banking reach every nook and corner of the country. Eleven banks in the public sector, 12 in the private sector and one Small Finance Bank are participating in the endeavour.
DBUs will provide a variety of digital banking facilities to people such as opening a savings account, account balance check, printing passbook, funds transfer, fixed deposit investments, loan applications, application for credit or debit cards, and bill and tax payments among others.

Centre Hikes Windfall Tax on Domestic Crude Oil, Jet Fuel and Diesel Export

The Centre increased the Special Additional Excise Duty, commonly known as windfall tax, on domestically produced crude oil and export of aviation turbine fuel and diesel following the recent decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies' (OPEC+) to cut their oil production. The new rates are effective October 16.
OPEC+'s move has pulled global prices, showing an average price of over $90 per barrel.
According to the government notification, it hiked tax on domestically produced crude oil to Rs. 11,000 per tonne from Rs. 8,000 per tonne.
It has also hiked the tax on the export of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to Rs. 3.50 per litre from nil.

HDFC Life Completes Merger of Exide Life a Day after IRDAI's Approval

A day after insurance regulator IRDAI's final approval, HDFC Life Insurance announced completion of Exide Life merger.
This marked the completion of the first-ever merger and acquisition (M&A) transaction in the Indian life insurance sector.
HDFC Life had completed the acquisition of Exide Life in January 2022.
The entire transaction from announcement of the deal in September 2021 followed by the acquisition in January 2022 and the eventual merger was completed in less than 14 months.
This merger will accelerate the scale-up of HDFC Life's agency channel and enhance its geographical presence in tier II and tier III markets.

Tata Power Partners with 75F Smart Innovations for Energy-efficiency Solutions

Tata Power Trading Company (TPTCL) signed an agreement with 75F Smart Innovation India to jointly promote automation and energy efficiency solutions in the commercial building space. This will include industry verticals like IT/ITeS, BFSI hospitality, healthcare, education, government, and retail.
The collaboration of TPTCL and 75F will offer solutions in the space of HVAC optimization and smart building automation powered by the finest technology like cloud, IoT, and AI.
The solutions by a collaboration of TPTCL and 75F will help commercial buildings with centrally air-conditioned spaces attain assured savings in their HVAC energy consumption.
The HVAC energy consumption constitutes 50% or more of total building energy consumption.
TPTCL holds a category-I trading license and is engaged in the business of energy sourcing, trading, and energy efficiency services.

Oct 16, 2022

Fifteen States among Achievers in Logistics Performance Index 2022

Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Gujarat are among the 15 states and UTs categorised as achievers in the logistics index chart 2022, according to a report released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry.
The index is an indicator of the efficiency of logistical services necessary for promoting exports and economic growth.
Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Puducherry, Sikkim and Tripura are the other states and UT categorised as fast movers in the ranking.
The 15 states and UTs ranked in the aspirers category include Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Mizoram.
The report ranked the states on the basis of their logistics ecosystem.
The index aims at enhancing the focus on improving logistics performance across states which is essential for improving the country's trade and reducing transaction cost.
The first logistics report was released in 2018. No ranking was released in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gujarat was at the first position in both 2018 and 2019 ranking lists.

Singapore Airlines Confirms Vistara-Air India Merger Discussions

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is engaged in confidential talks with Tata Sons for merging Vistara with Air India, the flagship carrier of the Republic of Singapore informed the stock exchange in the Southeast Asian nation in a first acknowledgement of a possible integration of the two airlines.
"In line with its multi-hub strategy, SIA is currently in confidential discussions with the Tatas to explore a potential transaction in relation to the securities of Vistara and Air India. The discussions seek to deepen the existing partnership between SIA and Tatas and may include a potential integration of Vistara and Air India.
SIA owns 49 per cent stake in Vistara and is among the four airlines run by Tata Group. Others include Air India, Air India Express, and AirAsia India.

Coal India to Set Up 1,190 MW Solar Power Plant in Rajasthan, Signs MoU

Coal India Ltd (CIL) will set up a 1,190-MW solar power plant in Bikaner district of Rajasthan.
For this, the CIL signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RUVNL).
The solar plant will be set up in a 2,000-MW solar park being developed by RVUNL in Poogal, Bikaner.
The state government has allotted 4,846 hectare land to develop the park in which the RVUNL will set up its own solar project of 810 MW, and a power project of 1,190 will be set up by the CIL.

Oct 15, 2022

Karur Vysya Bank Re-appoints K.G. Mohan as Board Member for 3 Years

Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) re-appointed non-executive independent director K.G. Mohan for three years on its board.
The first term of Mohan was completed on October 11, 2022.
He was re-appointed by the board in its meeting in September, for the second term of three years with effect from October 12, 2022, as an additional director under the independent category.
Mohan's re-appointment is subject to the bank's shareholders' approval.

NTPC, Siemens Inks MoU for Demonstrating Hydrogen Co-firing in Faridabad Gas Power Plant

NTPC and Siemens signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to demonstrate the feasibility for hydrogen co-firing blended with natural gas in Siemens V94.2 gas turbines installed at NTPC Faridabad gas power plant.
The total installed capacity of Faridabad gas power plant is 432 megawatt (MW) with two V94.2 gas turbines operating in combined cycle mode.
Under this MoU, both the companies will collaborate to study the feasibility of introducing hydrogen co-firing in Faridabad gas power plant. Based on the feasibility studies, a pilot project for 5% (by volume) hydrogen co-firing may be implemented for demonstrating the capability and the hydrogen required for the project shall be arranged by NTPC.

Oct 14, 2022

Paytm Partners with Jana Small Finance Bank for Deployment of Card Devices

One97 Communications Limited (OCL) that owns the brand Paytm, announced a partnership with Jana Small Finance Bank to deploy card machines to further drive digitisation among merchants across the country.
This partnership would enable Jana Small Finance Bank to extend Paytm's All-in-one EDC machines to its existing and potential customers, providing a one-stop solution for all their digital payment needs.
This partnership is in line with Jana Small Finance Bank's vision to become the leading digitised bank of aspirational India to further financial inclusion in the country.
With over 4.5 million devices deployed, Paytm remains the market leader in offline payments. Paytm's EDC devices and All-in-One POS devices have revolutionised digital payments in India with their flexibility of accepting multiple payment methods, integrated billing and instant settlement.

RBL Bank, BookMyShow Partner to Launch 'Play' Credit Card

RBL Bank and BookMyShow announced a partnership to launch a new credit card, 'Play' that would take the entertainment quotient for Indian audiences several notches higher. Earlier in 2016, RBL Bank had partnered with BookMyShow for the launch of Fun Plus credit card.
The 'Play' credit card would be available to select customers on BookMyShow and give them access to lucrative offers on transactions across movies, live entertainment offerings (online and offline), as also binge-watching movies and TV series on BookMyShow Stream by renting or buying a title, while enjoying benefits with every purchase made.
BookMyShow customers can purchase the 'Play' credit card for an annual fee of Rs. 500.
The launch of the 'Play' credit card in partnership with BookMyShow gives RBL Bank a fillip to its efforts to remain closely associated with a vast, young, digitally-savvy, spending consumer base across industries including Media & Entertainment, Food & Beverages and consumer facing brands in line with the demographic of the BookMyShow audience.

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