General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - March 2018

Mar 2018

May 20, 2022

World Bank Sanctions USD 350 Billion to Gujarat' SRESTHA-G Project

The World Bank approved 350 million dollars aid for the Systems Reform Endeavors for Transformed Health Achievement in Gujarat -SRESTHA-G project.
The SRESTHA-G project will be a 500 million dollars project with 350 million dollars support coming from the World Bank. The project will include transforming key health delivery systems in the state.The programme will focus on four key result areas to improve quality, equity, and comprehensiveness of primary healthcare, services for adolescent girls and the capacity of disease surveillance systems.

India Overtakes Germany to Become 4th Largest Vehicle Market

According to the report released by Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA), India surpassed Germany to become 4th largest vehicle market in the world. The 1st was occupied by China, followed by the US and Japan. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, India sold 3,759,398 vehicles in 2021 as compared to 2,973,319 vehicles in Germany. This is almost 26 per cent of growth and the only country to register double-digit growth among the top 5 countries.
India is expected to become the third-largest Vehicle market by 2025, However, it requires India to surpass Japan which sold 4,448,340 units in 2021. The personal mobility space is around 33 vehicles per 1,000 which is one of the lowest compared to the developed market.

Bharti Airtel Reappoints Gopal Vittal as MD and CEO for 5 Years

Bharti Airtel board reappointed Gopal Vittal as Managing Director & CEO for a further period of five years ending on January 31, 2028. The reappointment came on a day the telco posted a consolidated net profit at Rs. 2,007.8 crore in the March quarter, up 141% sequentially and 164% on the year. Analysts had an estimated net profit of around Rs. 1,970 crore. This was Airtel's sixth successive quarter in the black after six straight losses earlier.
For the India business, its revenue growth stood at 23 per cent during the fourth quarter, while mobile revenues rose 21 per cent on the back of an increase in Average Revenue Per User ARPU led by healthy flow-through of tariff revision and strong 4G customer additions during the year.

KLM Veteran Pieter Elbers is IndiGo CEO

The country's largest domestic budget carrier IndiGo announced the appointment of Pieter Elbers as its CEO, replacing incumbent Ronojoy Dutta. The 71 year-old Dutta, who came to helm the airline in January 2019, decided to retire on September 30, 2021. Elbers' appointment, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will be effective from on or before October 1.
Since 2014, Elbers (52) served as the president and CEO of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Air France-KLM Group.

May 19, 2022

BSE Appoints Former RBI Deputy Governor S. S. Mundra as Chairman

Leading stock exchange BSE appointed S.S. Mundra, a public interest director, as its chairman. Mr. Mundra replaced Justice Vikramajit Sen. Mr. Mundra retired as Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India in July 2017 after a stint of three years. Prior to that, he was Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of Baroda from where he superannuated in July 2014.
In a banking career spanning over four decades, Mr. Mundra held several important positions, including Executive Director of Union Bank of India, Chief Executive of Bank of Baroda (European Operations), amongst others. He also served as RBI's nominee on the Financial Stability Board (G20 Forum) and its various committees. He was also the Vice-chair of OECD's International Network on Financial Education.

PNB MetLife Launches India's First Dental Health Insurance Plan

Private insurer PNB MetLife India Insurance Co launched a dental health insurance plan. This is the first insurance plan in India that covers fixed-benefit outpatient expenses and provides financial assistance with costs related to overall dental health.
PNB MetLife's new Dental Care Plan will help customers manage their dental health and ensure they do not have to dive into their savings or reduce their essential spending in order to make space for dental treatment. To provide convenience to its customers, PNB MetLife tied up with more than 340 dental clinics.

May 18, 2022

Reliance Top-ranked Indian Firm on Forbes Global 2000 List

Forbes Global 2000 ranks the largest companies in the world using four metrics: sales, profits, assets and market value. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd climbed two spots to No. 53 on Forbes' Global 2000 list of public companies worldwide 2022. Reliance is the top-ranked Indian firm on the list, followed by State Bank of India at No. 105, HDFC Bank at No. 153 and ICICI Bank at No. 204.
Globally, Berkshire Hathaway took the No. 1 spot for the first time since Forbes started publishing the Global 2000 in 2003, dethroning the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which dropped to No. 2 after nine consecutive years at the top of the list. Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) took the 3 Spot.
Other top 10 Indian firms on the list include state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at 228 ranks, Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC) at No. 268, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) at No. 357, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) at No. 384, Tata Steel at No. 407 and Axis Bank at No. 431.

Adani Become India's Second-biggest Cement Maker Company

The Adani Group officially acquired a controlling stake in Holcim AG's cement businesses in India in a deal worth $10.5 billion and became the second-biggest cement producer in the country. The richest person in Asia, Gautam Adani's conglomerate, obtained 63.19 per cent of Ambuja Cements Ltd and its subsidiary ACC in an assertive bidding war with other local companies.
Ambuja Cement has a total of 14 cement plants that employ approximately 4,700 people. Meanwhile, ACC has 17 cement plants, 78 ready mix concrete factories and nearly 6,000 employees.

B. Govindarajan Appointed as CEO of Royal Enfield

Eicher Motors Limited (EML), the parent company of Royal Enfield, announced the appointment of B. Govindarajan as the motorcycle brand's Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Previously, Govindarajan was serving as the Executive Director of Royal Enfield since August 2021, and prior to that, he was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the company since 2013.
In addition, Govindarajan will also serve as a Wholetime Director on the Board of EML. He has spent over 23 years working across Royal Enfield and Eicher Motors, and over the years, has led several key developments including the likes of Himalayan, Continental GT 650 and Interceptor INT 650 as well as the more recent J-platform based Meteor and Classic 350 models.
Eicher Motors posted a 16% increase in its consolidated net profit after tax at INR 610 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2022, on the back of steady growth across business verticals. The company had reported INR 526 crore during the January-March period of 2021-2022 fiscal.

May 17, 2022

Dineout, a Restaurant Reservation Platform, Bought by Swiggy

Food-delivery app available online Swiggy bought restaurant technology and dining out platform Dineout from Times Internet in a formal deal. Dineout will continue to operate as an independent app following the acquisition.
The acquisition would allow Swiggy to investigate synergies and create new experiences in a high-use area, according to Sriharsha Majety, Swiggy's cofounder and CEO.
Swiggy is expected to expand Dineout's products, such as table bookings and events, while Dineout's restaurant partners will have access to Swiggy's enormous consumer base, expanding their reach.

SpiceJet, Axis Bank Launch Co-branded Credit Card

SpiceJet and Axis Bank partnered to launch the most rewarding co-branded credit card, powered by Visa that will offer a host of privileges and benefits to customers. The card comes in two variants – SpiceJet Axis Bank Voyage and Voyage Black, and is aimed at facilitating a superlative travel experience for flyers through SpiceClub, the first frequent flyer program by a low cost carrier in India.
Through this collaboration, the two brands hope to capitalize on the resurgent demand for travel following two years of stagnation caused by the pandemic. Further, with the shared goal of expanding their reach to Tier 2 & 3 cities and other synergies, the brands are committed to serving a much larger populace.

May 16, 2022

UAE Telecoms Group e& Buys 9.8% Stake in Vodafone For $4.4 Billion

Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC, now known as e&, acquired a 9.8% stake in Vodafone for $4.4 billion. The move comes days after e& said it was looking to expand into new markets in Africa, Europe and Asia and in areas outside telecoms such as financial technology as its seeks to drive growth. Vodafone, like all mobile operators, was struggling in its more mature markets, where competition and regulation have pushed prices lower.
- E& said it had made the investment to gain "significant exposure to a world leader in connectivity and digital services". It added it had no intention of making an offer to buy Vodafone, saying it is fully supportive of the company's current business strategy and its board and existing management team.

RBI Appoints Sitikantha Pattanaik, Rajiv Ranjan as Executive Directors

The Reserve Bank appointed Sitikantha Pattanaik and Rajiv Ranjan as executive directors. Ranjan will also serve as an ex-officio member of the rate-setting panel Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Prior to being promoted as ED, Pattanaik was an Adviser in the Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR), while Ranjan was serving as Adviser-in-Charge of Monetary Policy Department and Secretary to the MPC.
- As Executive Director (ED), Pattanaik will look after the Department of Economic and Policy Research, while Ranjan will take care of the Monetary Policy Department.

Banks Can Continue Providing Credit To NBFCs For On-Lending To Priority Sectors: RBI

- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted banks, including small finance banks, to continue providing credit facility to NBFCs for the purpose of on-lending to certain priority sectors. The facility of lending by commercial banks to NBFCs and lending by Small Finance Banks (SFBs) to NBFC-MFIs, for the purpose of on-lending to certain priority sectors, was available till March 31, 2022.
- Bank credit to NBFCs, including HFCs, for on-lending will be allowed up to an overall limit of 5 per cent of an individual bank's total priority sector lending in the case of commercial banks.
- In the case of SFBs, credit to NBFC-MFIs (Non-Banking Financial Company - Micro Finance Institutions) and other MFIs (Societies, Trusts, etc) which are members of RBI recognised 'Self-Regulatory Organisation' of the sector, will be allowed up to an overall limit of 10 per cent of an individual bank's total priority sector lending.

Union Bank Launches Trade-Nxt Platform for Cross Border Trade Transaction

The Union Bank of India (UBI) launched an online platform, 'Trade nxt', which enables corporate, and MSMEs (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) to transact all cross-border export-import transactions from the comfort of their place, i.e. eliminates the need for companies to visit a bank branch for the same. It offers seamless entry and processing of letters of credit (LC), bank guarantees, export/import bills, disbursement of export credit, outward & inward remittances, dealer financing etc.
- 'Trade nxt' platform will also enable the regulatory online auto reporting through Import Data Processing & Monitoring System (IDPMS), Export Data processing & Monitoring System (EDPMS) and other statutory reporting to Overseas Direct Investment (ODI)/ Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)/ Liberalised Remittance Scheme LRS) which will make the process much more convenient.

RBI Restricts Withdrawals from Shankarrao Pujari Nutan Nagari Sahakari Bank

The RBI imposed several restrictions on Shankarrao Pujari Nutan Nagari Sahakari Bank Limited, Ichalkaranji, Kolhapur, including on withdrawals, in view of the lender's worsening financial position. However, 99.84 per cent of the depositors are fully covered by the DICGC insurance scheme. Under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) insurance scheme, deposits of up to Rs 5 lakh are insured.
- The restrictions will remain in force for a period of six months and are subject to review. The bank cannot, without prior approval of RBI, grant or renew any loans and advances, make any investment, incur any liability, and dispose of any of its properties or assets, among other restrictions.
- The bank will continue to undertake banking business with restrictions as stated in the Directions till its financial position improves.

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