General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - March 2018

Mar 2018

Feb 23, 2022

Takuya Tsumura is New President & CEO of Honda Cars India

Japanese auto major Honda Motor Co. Ltd. appointed Takuya Tsumura as the new President & CEO of Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) with effect from 1 April 2022. The appointment comes as part of the management changes announced annually by the company.
Tsumura will take over from Gaku Nakanishi, who moves from India to regional headquarters in Asia and Oceania region – Asian Honda as General Manager, Automobile Business for the region. Tsumura has been associated with Honda Motor for more than 30 years. He has worked in several international markets including Thailand, Australia, China, Japan, Turkey, Europe and Asia & Oceania regions. Tsumura was in-charge of South Asian countries, including India from 1997 to 2000.

Jet Airways Appoints Vipula Gunatilleka as CFO

Jet Airways appointed former SriLankan Airlines' CEO, Vipula Gunatilleka as the Chief Financial Officer.
Prior to joining SriLankan Airlines, he was the CFO & Board Member of TAAG Angola Airlines from November 2015 to July 2018 under Emirates Management.
A qualified chartered accountant, Mr. Gunatelleka, played a pivotal role to turnaround the loss-making national carrier of Angola.
He is known for his astute knowledge in aircraft financing, strategic planning, cost-efficient business modelling and openness to adopt hybrid models to keep business costs low and efficiency high.

Adani, Ballard Power to Explore Investment in Hydrogen Fuel Cell

Adani Group and Ballard Power Systems joined hands to evaluate a joint investment in hydrogen fuel cells manufacturing in India.
Under the MoU, both parties will examine various options to cooperate, including potential collaboration for fuel cell manufacturing in India.
Efforts under the MoU will be anchored by Adani New Industries Limited (ANIL), the newly formed subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, focused on generation of green hydrogen, including downstream products, green electricity generation, manufacture of electrolyzers and wind turbines, among others.

SBI Life Insurance to Reclassify BNP Paribas Cardif as Non-promoter

SBI Life Insurance Company (SBI Life) said that its promoter BNP Paribas Cardif, holding 0.2 per cent share capital, has requested to be reclassified as a public shareholder.
SBI Life will place the request for re-classification before its board of directors at the ensuing board meeting of the company.
As per SEBI guidelines, a promoter or promoter group seeking reclassification should not hold more than 10 per cent of the voting rights in the company.

Cosmea Financial Launches Torus Private Wealth

Sam Ghosh promoted Cosmea Financial Holdings (CFH) announced the launch of its wealth management business -- Torus Private Wealth -- with a target of achieving an asset base of USD 1 billion in the next three years.
In the first two months since it began its initial operations, Torus Private Wealth has clocked assets under management (AUM) of USD 20 million and has a presence in Delhi and Mumbai.
The company targets an AUM of USD 1 billion in the next 3 years, with a focus on providing end-to-end financial solutions and strategic advisory services to High Net worth Individuals (HNI), ultra HNIs, emerging businesses, and start-ups.

Feb 22, 2022

Airtel Joins SEA-ME-WE-6 Cable Consortium; Anchoring 20% Investment

Bharti Airtel joined the 'SEA-ME-WE-6' undersea cable consortium in a bid to scale up its high-speed global network capacity to serve India's fast-growing digital economy.
Airtel participated as a "major investor" in the SEA-ME-WE-6 and is anchoring 20 per cent of the overall investment in the cable system, which will go live in 2025.
The 12 other consortium members of SEA-ME-WE-6 include Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, Dhiraagu (Maldives), Djibouti Telecom, Mobily (Saudi Arabia), Orange (France), Singtel (Singapore), Sri Lanka Telecom, Telecom Egypt, Telekom Malaysia, and Telin (Indonesia).
The 19,200 Rkm (route kilometres) SEA-ME-WE-6 will connect Singapore and France, and will be among the largest undersea cable system globally.
Through SEA-ME-WE-6, Airtel will add a significant amount of 100 TBps capacity to its global network.
Airtel has acquired one Fiber Pair on the main SEA-ME-WE-6 system and will co-build four Fiber Pairs between Singapore Chennai Mumbai as part of the cable system. Airtel will land the SEA-ME-WE-6 cable system in India at new landing stations in Mumbai and Chennai.

Ujjivan SFB Ties-up with Hero MotoCorp for Two-wheeler Financing

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has partnered with one of the largest scooter and motorcycle producers of the world – Hero MotoCorp. The strategic alliance would finance two-wheeler purchases for Hero MotoCorp consumers. The tie-up would further assist in ensuring a deeper penetration in the Indian two-wheeler market.
The Ujjivan Small Finance Bank would provide funding up to 100 per cent of the on-road price of the two-wheeler, depending upon a few key factors – LTV and a consumer's credit score. The bank claims that consumers would be able to drive home their favourite Hero two-wheeler by opting from a multitude of attractive EMI options. Furthermore, the strong presence of 6,000 Hero touchpoints will work as an added advantage to the buyers.

LIC Wants to Remain IDBI Bank Shareholder for Bancassurance Gain

IPO-bound Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) said that it would like to retain some stake in IDBI Bank so that the insurer continues to reap the benefits of the bancassurance channel.
IDBI Bank became a subsidiary of LIC with effect from January 21, 2019, following the acquisition of an additional 8,27,590,885 equity shares.
On December 19, 2020, IDBI Bank was reclassified as an associate company due to the reduction of LIC shareholding to 49.24 per cent following the issuance of additional equity shares by the bank under a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP).
The government, which is the minority shareholder in IDBI Bank with a 45.48 per cent stake, has already expressed its intent to exit by selling the stake.

RBI Imposes Penalty on 3 Co-operative Banks for Deficiencies in Compliance

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed penalties on three co-operative banks totalling Rs. 5 lakh for deficiencies in regulatory compliance.
A penalty of Rs. 2 lakh was imposed on Baramulla Central Co-operative Bank Limited, Jammu and Kashmir, a penalty of Rs. 2 lakh on The Big Kancheepuram Co-operative Town Bank Limited (No.3) and a monetary penalty of Rs. 1 lakh was imposed on Chennai Central Co-operative Bank, Chennai.
As per the Reserve Bank, in all the cases the penalties were based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and are not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the banks with their respective customers.

Tata Power Collaborates with RWE to Develop Offshore Wind Projects

Tata Power collaborated with Germany-based RWE Renewable GmbH to explore the potential for joint development of offshore wind projects in India. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed between Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power, and RWE, one of the world's leaders in offshore wind. This is in line with Government of India's announcement of achieving 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind installations by 2030.
India is an unexplored and highly attractive market to develop opportunities for offshore wind as it has a large coastline of about 7,600 kilometres. RWE and Tata Power Renewable Energy possess complementary strengths and will enable the establishment of a competitive offshore wind market in India.

IRCTC, NPCI, BoB Arm Launch Co-branded Credit Card for Railway Customers

With over six crore users booking railway tickets on the IRCTC website on a daily basis, the Indian Railways' catering and ticketing arm along with NPCI and BOB Financial Solutions launched a co-branded credit card to tap the huge potential the market offers.
The 'IRCTC BoB RuPay Contactless Credit Card' is specially curated to offer the maximum savings to the frequent travellers on the Indian Railways.
BOB Financial Solutions Ltd (BFSL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of Baroda (BoB).
Customers can also use the credit card for other shopping purposes like groceries as well as fuel buy. Cardholders can also use this card to transact at international merchants and ATMs through the JCB network.

Hero MotoCorp Elevates Ranjivjit Singh to New Role

Hero MotoCorp created a new position, titled Chief Growth Officer, integrating the marketing, sales and after-sales functions and appointed Ranjivjit Singh, who was heading the marketing function at the two- wheeler major to the post with immediate effect.

Feb 21, 2022

Luxury Cars up in Smoke after Ship Catches Fire

Thousands of Porsche and Volkswagen cars have been abandoned on a cargo ship after it caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean en route to the US.
The ship, named Felicity Ace, was travelling from Emden in Germany before it caught ablaze off the coast of Portugal's Azores islands.
German newspaper Handelsblatt reported the vessel was carrying 3,965 vehicles, which also included Audis, Lamborghinis and a small number of Bentleys.
The ship's crew have been rescued.

Feb 20, 2022

HCL Tech Extends Relationship with RACV Through Multi-year Contract

IT company HCL Technologies extended its relationship with The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) with a multi-year agreement to provide Integration-as-a-Service offering.
As a motoring club, RACV is a member-driven organisation that provides a range of products and services in motoring and mobility, home, leisure, financial services and general insurance.
HCL has helped ramp RACV's digital platform by enabling a backbone that promotes self-service, an increased digital footprint and a seamless experience for 2.1 million RACV members across Victoria.
The 'Integration-as-a-Service' platform bundles various accelerators around code automation and monitoring, which contributes toward a more stable IT environment and notably improves the performance and resilience of RACV's member-facing services.

HDFC Bank Non-executive Director Srikanth Nadhamuni Resigns from Board

Srikanth Nadhamuni resigned as a director from the board of HDFC Bank.
Nadhamuni cited potential future transactions/arrangements which may materialise between the bank and a company in which he may be interested.

IDFC FIRST Bank Appoints Jaimini Bhagwati on Board as Additional Director

IDFC FIRST Bank's board approved the appointment of former economist and IFS officer Jaimini Bhagwati as an additional director on its board for three years.
Based on the recommendation of the nomination and remuneration committee, the board of directors of the bank has approved the appointment of Jaimini Bhagwati, as an additional director, in the category of non-executive non-independent director of the bank.
An expert in foreign policy, Bhagwati served as the High Commissioner to the UK and Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.

JPMorgan Becomes First Bank to Enter the Metaverse

JPMorgan became the world's first bank to set up shop in the metaverse. The largest bank in the US opened a lounge in the blockchain-based world Decentraland. Users can create their virtual avatars, build virtual spaces and roam in the lounge christened 'Onyx Lounge' after its suit of Ethereum-based services. The lounge also features a digital image of the bank's CEO Jamie Dimon.
Metaverse is a virtual universe where users can do multiple activities like socialising, shopping or even attending events through their avatar. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) headsets are becoming more pocket-friendly, and both technologies have together contributed to a significantly enhanced user experience.

Feb 19, 2022

IndiGo Co-founder Rakesh Gangwal Resigns from Board

IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal resigned from the company's board and plans to pare his stake over five years.
Earlier this month, Rahul Bhatia, the billionaire co-founder of IndiGo, took on a newly-created executive position of managing director at the company.
Gangwal had accused Bhatia of corporate governance lapses. The founders were embroiled in a bitter public dispute over a 2015 shareholder agreement that Gangwal said gave Bhatia control over IndiGo despite the similar size of their stakes.

IndiaMart.com, 4 other Indian Markets Figure in US Notorious Markets List for Counterfeiting and ...

India's popular e-commerce website IndiaMart.com and four other markets, including New Delhi's famous Palika Bazaar, have figured in the latest annual list of the world's notorious markets released by the US Trade Representative.
The 2021 Notorious Markets List released identified 42 online and 35 physical markets around the world that are reported to engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy.
The three other Indian markets in the list are Heera Panna in Mumbai, Kidderpore in Kolkata and Tank Road in Delhi.

CSB Bank Gets RBI Nod to Appoint Pralay Mondal as Deputy Managing Director

The Reserve Bank approved appointment of Pralay Mondal as the deputy managing director of the private sector lender CSB Bank for three years.
Pralay Mondal was appointed as Deputy Managing Director of CSB Bank post RBI's approval in terms of Section 35B of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
His prior appointment in the bank since September 23, 2020 was President (Retail, SME, Operations and IT).
With over 30 years of banking experience across multiple business and functions including retail assets, retail liabilities, business banking, products and technology, Mondal has been instrumental in building up various facets in leading banks and reputable organisations such as Axis Bank, Yes Bank, HDFC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Wipro InfoTech and Colgate Palmolive.

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