General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - December 2017

Dec 2017

Jun 13, 2022

Third Major Exit at BharatPe as Founding Member Satyam Nathani Quits

Payments and lending fintech BharatPe's founding member Satyam Nathani resigned from the company.
Satyam Nathani, an IIT Delhi graduate, was a part of founding members of the company and the backbone of the tech team ,including the company's services like pay later product PostPe and peer-to-peer lending product 12% Club.
Nathani was set to play an important role in Unity Small Finance Bank, a joint venture between BharatPe and Centrum Financial Services, in which BharatPe has a minority stake.
This is the third big exit from the company as chief revenue officer Nishit Sharma and head of institutional debt partnerships Chandrima Dhar, both resigned citing personal reason.

Abu Dhabi Fund Buys 20% in IIFL Home Finance

The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund will make the investment through a wholly-owned subsidiary, said IIFL Home Finance, which is among the largest affordable housing financiers with assets under management of Rs. 23,617 crore. On completion, the deal will be one of the largest equity investments in the affordable housing finance segment, by an external investor.
This investment aims to support the company for its next phase of growth, as it meets the significant demand in the country's large, under-served and fast-growing affordable housing finance market. Established in 2006, IIFL Home Finance has an active customer base of 1,68,000 across 16 states and two Union Territories with over 200 branches served by over 3,200 employees.

ICICI Bank Partners with ZestMoney to Expand 'Cardless EMI' Facility

ICICI Bank partnered with digital EMI/pay-later platform ZestMoney, to expand its 'Cardless EMI' facility for purchases on retail and e-commerce platforms. The partnership enhances affordability of customers of the Bank who can use pre-approved cardless credit to instantly buy products/ services using ZestMoney and take care of the cost into Equated Monthly Installments (EMIs).
The facility, in partnership with ZestMoney, is live on select e-commerce websites and will soon be available at retail stores.
With this partnership, the Bank's customers will be able to use ZestMoney's wide merchant base. They will also be able to use ZestMoney's flagship 'Pay-in-3' offering, where they can split the bill into three EMIs without extra cost.

RBI Approves Former IOB Chief Subramaniakumar as CEO of RBL Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved R Subramaniakumar's appointment as the MD & CEO of RBL Bank.
Subramaniakumar is a former managing director and chief executive director of state-run Indian Overseas Bank, retiring on June 30, 2019. He was appointed the administrator of Dewan Housing Finance Co Ltd after the mortgage financier's board was superseded.Subramaniakumar was appointed at RBL for three years from the date of taking charge.
A banker with 40 years of experience, Subramaniakumar started his career with Punjab National Bank. He headed business transformation at PNB for 3 years and transformed several businesses including digital, human resource, MSME, retail, among others.

Jun 12, 2022

RBI Raises Individual Housing Loan Limit for Co-operative Banks

RBI, in a monetary policy statement, said it is raising the existing limits on individual housing loans by cooperative banks due to an increase in housing prices since the last revision and after factoring in customer needs. These limits were last revised for UCBs in 2011 and for RCBs in 2009. The limits for tier-I/ tier-II UCBs stand revised from Rs. 0.30 crore to Rs. 0.60 crore and Rs. 0.70 crore to Rs. 1.40 crore, respectively.
As regards rural co-operative banks, the limits stand revised from Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 50 lakh for RCBs with assessed net worth less than Rs. 100 crore and for other RCBs, the limits would increase from Rs. 0.30 crore to Rs. 0.75 crore. RBI will communicate detailed norms separately.

Bharat BillPay Onboards CRED as a Key Agent Institution

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) subsidiary NPCI Bharat BillPay on-boarded digital payments platform CRED as a key agent institution for providing easy bill payment solutions to CRED members. An agent institution refers to an entity that either wishes to or currently offers the customers services like bill payment, collection and aggregation services via physical or digital channels.
With this collaboration, CRED users will be able to make recurring bill payments like electricity, telecom, DTH, gas, education fees, water and municipal taxes conveniently. They will also be able to see updated transaction history, set transaction alerts and reminders and raise/track complaints online for Bharat BillPay transactions using the CRED app. As an agent institution, CRED will create member touchpoints, provide member assistance (registration, quickpay, complaint resolution), instant confirmation, awareness (payment and charges), BBPS visibility, etc.

Nirmala Sitharaman Launches EASE 5.0 'Common Reforms Agenda' for PSBs

Enhanced Access and Service Excellence-EASE evolved over four annual editions from FY19 to FY22 and has catalyzed reforms in diverse areas in Public Sector Banks. EASE 5.0 'Common reforms agenda' of EASENext program has been developed for Public Sector Banks and was launched through video-conferencing by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi. The event was attended virtually by Managing Directors and CEOs, and other senior executives of Public Sector Banks.
Under EASE 5.0, PSBs will continue to invest in new-age capabilities and deepen the ongoing reforms to respond to evolving customer needs, changing competition and the technology environment. EASE 5.0 will focus on digital customer experience, and integrated & inclusive banking, with emphasis on supporting small businesses and agriculture.

Jun 11, 2022

OECD Cuts India Growth Forecast to 6.9% in FY23

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) pegged India's FY23 economic growth at 6.9 per cent, the lowest by a major bank or institution, saying the country had been adversely affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The institution said that headline inflation is projected to ease gradually, though remaining above the central bank's upper tolerance limit of 6 percent throughout 2022 and 2023.
As an importer of energy, fertilisers and edible oils, India is adversely affected by the war in Ukraine. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth, which reached 8.7 per cent in FY22, is projected to come down to 6.9 per cent in FY23 and 6.2 per cent in FY24, with weaker external demand growth and tighter monetary conditions being mitigated by strong government spending and an ambitious set of measures to simplify the business environment.

WhatsApp Launche SMBSaathi Utsav to Support Small Businesses

Whatsapp launched SMBSaathi Utsav initiative which aims to support small businesses by helping them to adopt digital mediums like Whatsapp Business App. Utsav has started the initiative with a pilot in Jaipur's Johri Bazaar and Bapu Bazaar where over 500 small businesses were trained. The initiative was launched in the collaboration with Josh Talks. The SMBSaathi Utsav is the second phase of the SMBSaathi campaign.
These trainings involve educating the business owners about building a digital presence on the WhatsApp Business App to help them better manage incoming leads and queries, build a product/services showcase and market to key audiences using online tools.

Cabinet Approves Increase in MSP for Kharif Crops

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved increase in Minimum Support Price for all intended Kharif crops for Marketing Season 2022-23. Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said that the approved rates are at least one and half times of the all India weighted average cost of production. He said, the highest absolute increase in MSP over the previous year has been recommended for Sesamum 523 rupees per quintal, Moong 480 rupees per quintal, Sunflower seed 385 rupees per quintal, Tur, Urad and Groundnut 300 rupees per quintal, Cotton (Medium Staple) 354 rupees and Cotton (Long Staple) 355 rupees.
It will lead to greater investment and production. It will also provide assured remunerative prices for the farmers and will help in achieving the goal of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

RBI Raises Limit for E-mandate Based Recurring Payments from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 15,000

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the cap on recurring e-mandate-based payments to Rs. 15,000 from Rs. 5,000 in order to facilitate larger-value payments. The central bank also announced its decision to increase the subsidy amount for micro entrepreneurs accepting digital payments under the Payment Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF).
The framework for the processing of e-mandate-based recurring payments was introduced by the RBI to offer greater convenience, safety and security to the users. Under the framework, over 62.5 million mandates have been registered in favour of a large number of domestic and over 3,400 international merchants.

Jun 10, 2022

India's FDI Rank Rises to 7th Position Despite Falling Inflows: UNCTAD

India jumped one position to 7th among the top recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the last calendar year (2021) despite FDI inflows into the country declining, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
In its latest World Investment Report released, FDI inflows into India declined to $45 billion in 2021 from $64 billion in the preceding year. While the United States ($367 billion) remained the top recipient of FDI, China ($181 billion) and Hong Kong ($141 billion) also retained second and third position respectively.
Among the top 10 host economies, only India saw a decline in its inflows. However, outward FDI from India rose 43 per cent to $15.5 billion in 2021.

Doordarshan's DG Mayank Agrawal Appointed Prasar Bharti CEO

Doordarshan and Doordarshan News Director-General Mayank Kumar Agrawal was given the additional charge of Prasar Bharati Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The move came after the five-year tenure of Shashi Shekhar Vempati as Prasar Bharati CEO came to an end. Mr. Vempati was appointed as CEO of the public broadcaster in June 2017, on the recommendation of a three-member committee headed by the then Vice-President.
An alumnus of IIT-Bombay, Mr. Vempati was the youngest and first non-bureaucrat to hold the public office since its creation in 1997.

RBI Proposes to Allow Linking of Credit Cards to Unified Payments Interface

The Reserve Bank of India proposed to allow linking of credit cards to the Unified Payments Interface. The facility would initially be enabled for Rupay Credit Cards, that too after the required system development is complete. It has informed that UPI is the most inclusive mode of payment in India with over 26 crore unique users and five crore merchants onboard the platform. It added that 594 crore 63 lakh transactions amounting to 10.40 lakh crore rupees were processed through UPI in the month of May 2022 alone.
The apex bank hopes that the linking of credit cards with UPI will provide more avenues and convenience to the customers in making payments. The necessary instructions in this regard will be issued by the National Payments Corporation of India. It may be recalled that NPCI had developed UPI as an instant real-time payment system, facilitating inter-bank peer-to-peer and person-to-merchant transactions.

Jun 09, 2022

RBI Hikes Repo Rate by 50 Basis Points to 4.90%

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the benchmark repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.90% to tamp down rising inflation. In a surprise off-cycle meet in May 2022, the central bank hiked the repo rate by 40 basis points to 4.49%. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
The aggressive stance of the RBI comes amid a grim prognosis of geo-political uncertainties over the grinding war in Ukraine, continuing supply-chain disruptions, and rising energy and food prices. Consumer prices accelerated to an eight-year high of nearly 7.8% in April, according to official data.
The two successive rate hikes point to a clear withdrawal of the RBI's accommodative policies to fuel growth. The central bank slashed the repo rate in March 2020 to push nascent economic recovery after the impact of the Covid pandemic.

Jio Becomes First Telecom to Provide 4G Mobile Services in Ladakh's Pangong

Reliance Jio expanded the reach of its 4G services in Ladakh region to a village close to Pangong lake, an area which has been a friction point between India and China. The telecom operator became the first network to provide 4G mobile connectivity in and around the Pangong area, a popular tourist destination.
Lok Sabha member from Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal inaugurated the Jio mobile tower at Spangmik village. Namgyal asserted that with the launch of the mobile network in the area, the long pending demand of the locals has been fulfilled.
This launch will boost the economy of the region besides providing seamless connectivity to the tourists and the troops in the area.

Maruti Suzuki Installs Asia's Largest 20 MWp Solar Plant at Manesar

Maruti Suzuki India installed a 20 MW solar carport at its Manesar, Haryana, site. The project is projected to provide the organisation with 28,000 MWh of electricity per year. According to the firm, the energy generated by this initiative will be similar to the energy required to create nearly 67,000 cars every year. This is Asia's largest solar carport, according to the business.
The commercial and industrial sectors have witnessed a significant increase in demand for solar to meet their energy needs at lower costs while also achieving their sustainability goals. Through an offshore corporate power purchase agreement, Suzuki Motor Gujarat, a Suzuki subsidiary, began purchasing power from a 17.6 MW hybrid wind and solar power project erected by ReNew Power in June 2022.
Suzuki Motor Corporation, the parent firm of Maruti Suzuki India, inked a memorandum of understanding with Gujarat in March 2022, agreeing to invest around 150 billion yen ($1.13 billion) in local manufacturing of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and BEV batteries.

Apple Launches Apple Pay Later

Apple joined the thriving "buy now, pay later" industry, with a customised service called Apple Pay Later. Pay Later will be built into the Apple Wallet and eligible for use on any purchase made through Apple Pay. Customers will be able to split the cost of a purchase into four equal payments, with zero interest and fees, spread over a period of four months.
To qualify, however, Apple will first do a soft credit check on users wanting to use the service. The technology behemoth claims it has designed the feature with "users' financial health in mind". It's likely that Apple is trying to consolidate its foothold in the world of consumer finance, and increase its profitability. And consumers should be aware of the risks of using such a service.
Apple will benefit from its huge market and brand power, with the capability to attract millions to its products and services. And with an acute focus on customer experience, Apple has managed to foster a community of evangelists. There's no doubt the company is a consumer darling.

World Bank Cuts India GDP forecast to 7.5%

The World Bank slashed its growth forecast for India for the 2022-23 financial year to 7.5 percent, a hefty 1.2 percentage points down from its previous forecast of 8.7 per cent. The World Bank said it cut India's GDP growth forecast due to headwinds from rising inflation, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical tensions.
The bank sees India's growth slowing further to 7.1 per cent in FY24. This is 30 basis points higher than the previous forecast of 6.8 per cent. For FY25, GDP growth has been pegged at 6.5 per cent. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. While the downward revision in the growth forecast for FY23 is large, it remains higher than local projections.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the standard measure of the value added created through the production of goods and services in a country during a certain period.

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