General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - March 2018

Mar 2018

Nov 03, 2022

HDFC ERGO Launches First-of-its-kind Satellite Index-based Farm Yield Insurance Policy

HDFC ERGO announced the launch of a technology backed farm yield insurance policy for farmers.
This is a first-of-its-kind insurance solution, where a satellite-based index will be used to provide localised farm level coverage. It will provide comprehensive cover across the crop life cycle from sowing to harvesting, basis satellite-based data.
The product is targeted at farmers under corporate/farm input company (FIC) contracts and is valid for food, oilseed, commercial or horticulture crops.
A threshold Index value is calculated for every yield by using the historical satellite imaging data of the specific crop and a remote sensing mechanism available in the public domain. The threshold/benchmark index will be then compared with the actual index value arrived at by the reference satellite for the insured crop, to determine if the yield is at loss.
Since the policy is entirely based on technology, no manual survey is required during the claim assessment of the crop.

Bandhan Bank Opens Currency Chest in Guwahati

Bandhan Bank opened its currency chest in Guwahati which will cater to the northeastern region including Assam, an important market for the private lender.
This is the second currency chest of the bank after Patna.
As per the bank, the currency chest will help cash management for MSME and traders in the North East.
A Currency Chest is a depository that belongs to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The central bank stores excess money for banks and ATMs in such a Currency Chest. Such chests are held at the premises of select bank branches across India.

Bank of Baroda Launches BoB World Opulence, BoB World Sapphire Premium Debit Cards

Bank of Baroda and Visa launched two new premium debit cards for Bank of Baroda customers – bob World Opulence - a super-premium Visa Infinite Debit Card (Metal Edition) and bob World Sapphire - a Visa Signature Debit Card.
The two debit card variants come with a best-in-class and powerful rewards proposition exclusively designed for the Bank's High Networth Individual (HNI) customer segment.
The BoB World Sapphire card will come in two sub-variants – BoB World Sapphire (Male) and BoB World Sapphire (Female), offering customised privileges to customers.

Nov 02, 2022

After ONGC, BPCL Gets Interim Head in Absence of Regular Appointment

Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta assumed additional charge as Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) -- the second 'Maharatna' oil PSU to get an interim head in the absence of a regular appointment.
Gupta, Director (Finance) at BPCL, succeeded Arun Kumar Singh, who superannuated on October 31.
Government head-hunter Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) had in March this year advertised for the post of chairman and managing director of BPCL to look for a successor for Singh.
Gupta is the senior most director on the company board and was thus given the additional charge.

PM Modi Inaugurates Global Investors Meet 'Invest Karnataka 2022'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the inaugural function of Invest Karnataka, the Global Investors Meet via video conferencing.
According to the Prime Ministers's office, the meet is aimed at attracting prospective investors and setting up development agenda for the next decade.
The three-day programme, being held from 2 to 4 November in Bengaluru, would witness more than 80 speaker sessions.
The speakers include some of the top industry leaders including Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sajjan Jindal, Vikram Kirloskar among others. Along with this, a number of business exhibitions with more than three hundred exhibitors, and country sessions would run parallelly.

Bank of India Launches Special Deposit Scheme

With the demand for deposits among banks intensifying, Bank of India announced a special fixed deposit scheme -- Star Super Triple Seven Fixed Deposit – wherein it is offering 7.25 per cent rate of interest (7.75 per cent for senior citizens) on a deposit for 777 days.
Bank of India's 777-day FD scheme is the most lucrative and a smart investment option.
Apart from the special deposit scheme, Bank of India has raised interest rate on its existing 555-days fixed deposit scheme to 6.30 per cent. And, on other maturities from 180 days to less than 5 years, it has raised interest rates by 25 basis points.

Changed and New Rules for National Pension Scheme

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) made several changes and enforced new rules of the National Pension System (NPS). The changed and new rules are:
e-nomination process:
The nodal officer will now have the authority to accept or reject your application once he/she receives it. Also, if the officer does not take action on your application within 30 days, it will be automatically submitted to the Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA).
No proposal form required for annuity on maturity:
IRDAI has said that it no longer requires a separate proposal form to buy annuity.
Digital life certificate:
Digital life certificates can be submitted online through Jeevan Praman. It is necessary to submit life certificates to the pension authority every year as long as the pensioner receives pension.
Contribution via credit card:
The PFRDA ruling says that NPS account holders in tier-2 cities can't contribute to NPS using credit cards as of August 3, 2022.

Nov 01, 2022

RBI Digital Rupee Pilot for Wholesale Segment

The first pilot in the Digital Rupee, Wholesale segment (eRs-W) commenced on November 1, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a circular.
The use case for this pilot is settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities. Use of eRs-W is expected to make the inter-bank market more efficient. Settlement in central bank money would reduce transaction costs by pre-empting the need for settlement guarantee infrastructure or for collateral to mitigate settlement risk.
Nine banks namely State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank and HSBC have been identified for participation in the pilot.
The first pilot in Digital Rupee — Retail segment (eRs-R) is planned for roll out within a month in select locations in closed user groups comprising customers and merchants. The details regarding operationalisation of eRs-R pilot will be communicated in due course.

BPCL Recognised as Country's most Sustainable Oil & Gas Company

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), 'Maharatna' and a Fortune Global 500 Company once again achieved the No.1 rank in the Indian oil and gas sector for its sustainability performance in the 2022 edition of the S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) rankings. This is the 3rd consecutive year that BPCL is at the top of the DJSI Indices in India having achieved a score of 65 percentage points, against an industry average score of 31 which is far better than last year's score of 59 against an industry average score of 39 on DJSI platform.
This benchmarking is a complete assessment of economic, environmental and social criteria with a strong focus on long-term shareholder value.

Maharashtra Bags around Rs. 500-crore Electronics Cluster Project

The central government has approved a Rs. 500 crore project to make Ranjangaon in Pune, an electronics manufacturing cluster, in a move that is being seen as an apparent bid to make up for Maharashtra losing back-to-back big-ticket projects to Gujarat.
As per Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the cluster will attract major investments from manufacturers, generate thousands of jobs and put the state in the league of locations that have emerged as vibrant electronics production hubs in the country.
The announcement came amid a political slugfest over mining giant Vedanta switching to Gujarat for its Rs. 1.53 lakh crore chip factory and Maharashtra also losing out on the Rs. 22,000-crore Tata-Airbus transport aircraft project.

SAIL signs MoU with AAI under RCS UDAN Scheme

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) signed MoU with Airport Authority of India (AAI), to facilitate commercial operations at Rourkela Airport under the RCS UDAN scheme. UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is a regional airport development and "Regional Connectivity Scheme" (RCS) of the Union Government. It is a key component of National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP), which was released by Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2016.

Nokia, Samsung, Tejas Networks among 42 Firms Approved for PLI Scheme

The department of telecom (DoT) approved 42 companies, including Nokia, Samsung and Tejas Networks, for receiving benefits under the design-led production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing telecom and networking products.
The latest list also included Flextronics, VVDN, Jabil and HFCL, apart from 28 micro, small and medium enterprises.
The scheme is crucial to strengthen the value chain of multiple verticals of 5G equipment. For these, India mainly depends on imports.
The companies have committed a cumulative investment of Rs. 4,115 crore, the DoT said.
The scheme provides additional incentive of 1 per cent over and above the existing incentives for products that are designed and manufactured in India.

Oct 31, 2022

RBI Revokes Authorisation Certificate of Chennai-Based GI Technology

The Reserve Bank on Thursday said it has revoked Certificate of Authorisation of Chennai-based GI Technology Private Limited over governance concerns in the company.
The company is in business of issuance and operation of prepaid payment instruments.
"Governance concerns and non-compliance with regulatory requirements" are the reasons for revocation of Certificate of Authorisation (CoA), the central bank said in a statement.
Following the revocation of the CoA, GI Technology cannot transact the business of issuance and operation of prepaid payment instruments, it said.

Dabur Acquires 51% Stake in Badshah Masala for Rs. 587.52 Crore

Dabur India to acquire 51 percent stake in Badshah Masala in a Rs. 587.52 crore deal. Dabur India marks its entry into the fast-growing spices and seasoning category.
The company signed definitive transaction agreements to acquire 51 percent shareholding of Badshah Masala Pvt. Ltd.
Badshah Masala Pvt. Ltd. is a firm engaged in manufacturing, marketing, and export of ground spices, blended spices, and seasoning.
The acquisition is in line with the company's strategic intent of entering into new adjacent categories in the food space.

Oct 30, 2022

Vedanta Arm Wins 10-year Production Sharing Contract for Rajasthan Block

Cairn Oil & Gas, a Vedanta Ltd unit, secured approval from the government to extend the production sharing contract (PSC) for its Rajasthan block for ten years until May 2030. The firm said that this contract extension will spur capex investment and encourage private players entering the sector.
The Rajasthan block is of crucial national significance and is home to a number of technology firsts. The field has been the first in the country to apply micro seismic hydrofrac monitoring technology and has also executed the world's largest jet-pump operation. It is also home to the world's largest enhanced oil recovery (EOR) polymer flood project and the world's largest Alkaline Surfactant Polymer (ASP) project.
The field also marks the starting point of the Mangala pipeline – the world's longest continuously heated and insulated pipeline-that carries crude from the fields of Rajasthan to refineries in Gujarat.

Elon Musk Closes USD 44 Billion Deal to Acquire Twitter

Billionaire Elon Musk completed his USD 44 billion takeover of Twitter and fired the social media company's four top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal and legal executive Vijaya Gadde.
The Twitter executives who were fired are Agrawal, Gadde, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and General Counsel Sean Edgett.
The deal's closing removed a cloud of uncertainty that hung over Twitter's business, employees and shareholders for much of the year.
Agrawal was appointed Twitter CEO in November 2021 after the social media site's co-founder Jack Dorsey had stepped down.

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