General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - May 2018

May 2018

Oct 08, 2021

P. L. Haranadh Takes Charge as Chairman of Paradip Port Trust

P. L. Haranadh, an Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer of the 1994 batch, was appointed as the new Chairman of Paradip Port Trust (PPT). Haranadh has worked in various capacities, during his 27 years of service, which includes 22 years in the Indian Railways and 5 years in the Ministry of Shipping. Paradip Port Trust (PPT) is the lone major port in Odisha.

RBI Monetary Policy October 2021

The Reserve Bank of India kept the key policy rates unchanged in its bi-monthly Monetary Policy review.
The central bank announcing the outcome of its bi-monthly Monetary Policy rates in October said that it has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent and the reverse repo rate at 3.35 per cent. Repo is the rate at which RBI lends funds to commercial banks when needed. It is a tool that the central bank uses to control inflation. The reverse repo rate is the rate at which the RBI borrows from banks.
The MPC kept the key benchmark rate unchanged in its last seven reviews. This is the eighth time in a row that MPC has decided to keep the policy rate unchanged. RBI had last revised its policy rate on May 22, 2020, in an off-policy cycle to perk up demand by cutting interest rates to a historic low.

India Joins Seychelles' Tax Inspectors Without Borders Programme

The Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) launched its programme in Seychelles. India was chosen as the Partner Administration for this programme. The country would providing its Tax Expert in support of the initiative. The focus of the 12-month programme would be on Transfer Pricing cases of tourism and financial services sectors.
TIWB is a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), since its launch in 2015.
The aim of the initiative is to aid countries in strengthening their tax administration by transferring technical know-how and skills to the tax auditors through sharing of best audit practices.
This is the sixth TIWB programme in which India has supported by providing Tax Expert.

NTPC, Électricit de France Ink Pact for Int'l Power Project Opportunities

State-run power giant NTPC inked a pact with Électricit de France S.A. (EDF) for cooperation in international power sector.
EDF, one of the world's leading power sector companies headquartered in Paris, France, and NTPC have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore potential power project development opportunities in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa.
The two companies will also collaborate for knowledge sharing, research and development, technical services and consultancy assignments globally.
EDF and NTPC will jointly explore the possibility of power project development in the countries of mutual interest, as well as exchange knowledge and technical expertise.

Federal Bank Ties up with CredAvenue

Private sector lender Federal Bank tied up with CredAvenue for portfolio management of its securitisation book and implemented CredPool, an institutional debt platform of CredAvenue.
This arrangement, the bank said, will help digitally monitor its asset-backed securities (ABS) and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) pool assets more efficiently through the technology platform.
The partnership entails CredAvenue providing post-transaction fulfilment services and portfolio management for their direct assignment portfolio. CredAvenue's pooled transaction fulfilment platform has been supporting a host of leading banks, with Federal Bank being the latest addition. The platform helps banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFC's) meet existing and new regulatory guidelines pertaining to securitisation and direct assignment.

Piramal Group to Demerge Financial, Pharma Business into Separate Listed Entities

A decade after selling its branded formulations business to US-major Abbott Laboratories for $3.72 billion, the Ajay Piramal Group has announced it would demerge its pharmaceutical and financial services arms into separate listed entities.
With an FY21 turnover of Rs. 5,776 crore, Piramal Pharma will rank among the top 10 pharma companies in the country by revenue.
As per reports, PHL Fininvest, the non-banking financial company (NBFC), will be amalgamated with Piramal Enterprises (PEL) to create a large listed NBFC in India.

Reliance Retail Launches 7-Eleven Stores in India

Adding to its burgeoning retail empire, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail will bring 7-Eleven convenience stores to India, days after Future Retail ended its deal with the US chain.
The first 7-Eleven store opened in Mumbai and will be followed by a further "rapid rollout", Reliance Retail said in a statement, without providing financial details.
7-Eleven will add to the expansion spree of Reliance, which already has around 13,000 stores across the country.
The 7-Eleven stores aim to provide shoppers with a unique style of convenience, offering a range of beverages, snacks and delicacies specifically curated to appeal to local tastes, along with a refill of daily essentials, having affordability and hygiene at its very core.

Oct 07, 2021

Amazon Opens First General Store Outside the US

Amazon opened its first general store outside the United States in a mall in Britain, selling the online retailer's most popular products including books, toys, games and consumer electronics.
The store is called '4-star' because it sells products rated 4 stars or above by customers, reflects what customers are regularly buying and enjoying.
Amazon launched the general store model in 2018 in the US where it already has several dozen outlets.
The company said the launch at the Bluewater Shopping Center in Kent, southeast of London, had been planned for two years, prior to the pandemic.

Forbes India Rich List 2021: Mukesh Ambani Retains top Spot

Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani retained the title of richest Indian as he added $4 billion to his net worth (which has now reached $92.7 billion) in the year 2021, according to Forbes magazine's 100 richest Indians list, which was released on Thursday. It is the 14th year in a row since 2008 that Mukesh Ambani has been named the wealthiest man in the country.
On number two is Gautam Adani who is "now a close second with a $74.8 billion fortune, only $17.9 billion shy of Ambani," according to the list. Industrialist Shiv Nadar retained his third spot as the country's buoyant tech sector increased his wealth by $10.6 billion. His total net worth has now soared to $31 billion. Shiv Nadar is the founder and chairman of HCL technologies.
Meanwhile, Savitri Jindal, chairperson of OP Jindal Group, re-entered the top-10 club with $18 billion.

TCS Extends Long-standing Partnership with SBI

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) extended its long-standing partnership with State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest bank, for another five years as the bank embarks on its next leg of growth based on the three pillars of technology, resilience and people.
The extended partnership builds on a two-decades-long relationship between the two partners that began with the implementation of the TCS BaNCS core banking solution in 2001, the largest such transformational program of that era. As part of the new contract, TCS will continue to maintain and enhance SBI's application estate around core banking, trade finance, financial reporting, and financial inclusion with new features and functionality. This will support the bank's ability to launch newer offerings and respond to business and regulatory changes.

DoT Slashes Bank Guarantee Requirement for Telecom Operators

According to a licence amendment note, the Department of Telecom has slashed performance and financial bank guarantee requirement of telecom operators by 80 per cent.
Under the amended norms, telecom operators will be required to provide a performance bank guarantee of up to Rs. 44 crore for each service for the telecom licence compared to Rs. 220 crore mandated under the old rule.
Similarly, telecom operators will need to provide a financial bank guarantee of maximum Rs. 8.8 crore per circle now, against the previous requirement of Rs. 44 crore.
The rule will not be applicable in cases where bank guarantees (BG) have been furnished due to any court order or are subject to any litigation.
The rules will not apply to telecom operators, who are currently going through the liquidation process.

Eric Braganza is President of CEAMA

The Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA) appointed Eric Braganza as its president for a two-year term. He succeeded Godrej Appliances Business Head and Executive Vice-President Kamal Nandi for the CEAMA chair. Braganza, an alumnus of Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi, has over 35 years of experience and has held senior management positions in the consumer electronics and appliances industry in various companies.

Visa Launches India's 1st Card 'Token' Service for Online Platforms

Digital payments firm Visa launched Card-on-File (CoF) tokenization services in India in line with the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to secure customers' financial data.
Visa's card tokenisation service is currently available with ecommerce platforms such as Grofers, Bigbasket and MakeMyTrip.
Tokenisation is the process of replacing credit or debit card details with a unique set of characters or a 'token' that enables payments to be processed without exposing any sensitive account details that could potentially breach security and privacy of the consumers.
The tokenisation system generates 16 random characters, called as 'token', to replace the original credit card number while online shopping.

CoinSwitch Kuber India's Second Crypto Unicorn

Coinswitch Kuber raised USD 260 million (around Rs. 1,943 crore) in a fundraising round that values it at USD 1.9 billion. The company becomes the second crypto exchange to achieve the unicorn status after rival CoinDCX, even as deep concerns on the crypto currencies among the regulators continue.
In business parlance, a unicorn is a privately held start-up company valued at over USD 1 billion.
Coinswitch Kuber was founded only 16-months ago by Ashish Singhal, Govind Soni and Vimal Sagar. It is the 30th company to enter the unicorn club this year and the youngest company ever. Other young start-ups to enter the unicorn club include two-year-old Apna and three-year-old BharatPe that were valued over $1 billion this year. Ecommerce platform for business Udaan and Ola's electric vehicles (EV) arm Ola Electric turned unicorns when they were three year old.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Gets Approval from the Government to Collect Direct, Indirect Taxes

Kotak Mahindra Bank(KMB) received approval from the government for collection of direct and indirect taxes, such as income tax, Goods and Services Tax (GST) etc, through its banking network.
With this, the bank becomes the first scheduled private sector bank to receive approval after the announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allowing all banks to participate in government-related business.
After technical integration, KMB customers will be able to pay their direct and indirect taxes straight from KMB's mobile banking or net banking platforms as well as through KMB's branch banking network, resulting in immense ease and convenience for customers.

BharatPe Forays into Buy Now Pay Later Segment

BharatPe, one of India's fastest growing fintech companies, announced its foray into the 'Buy Now Pay Later' (BNPL) segment, with the launch of 'postpe'.
postpe provides credit to customers. Customers can download the app from Play Store and avail interest-free credit limit of up to Rs.10 lakh. BharatPe aims to facilitate a loan book of $300 million on postpe in the first 12 months, for its lending partners.
Customers can open the app, scan QR code and pay using postpe credit at merchant outlets. They will also have the option to pay via a postpe card that will be accepted across millions of offline merchants as well as on e-commerce platforms.

Oct 06, 2021

TVS Motor Signs Agreement with Tata Power to Develop EV Ecosystem

TVS Motor Company, the flagship firm of the $8.5-billion TVS Group and India's third-largest two-wheeler maker, has entered into a strategic partnership with Tata Power for the implementation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure (EVCI) across the country.
As part of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the two companies, apart from the implementation of EVCI, solar power technology will be deployed at TVS Motor's select locations. The partnership aims at creating a large dedicated electric two-wheeler charging infrastructure to accelerate electric mobility in India.
This will give customers of TVS iQube Electric access to a widespread charging network by Tata Power through the TVS Motor customer connect application (app) and Tata Power EZ Charge app across India.

US-based Dairy.com Buys 100% Stake in Mr. Milkman

US-based dairy technology, services, and intelligence provider, Dairy.com, made its first investment in India with the acquisition of Mr. Milkman, a last-mile dairy supply chain SaaS platform. The company has acquired a 100% stake in Mr. Milkman to strengthen its integrated supply chain solution offerings for dairies worldwide.
The two companies will use their combined agribusiness technologies, development resources, and industry expertise to enable and innovate last-mile dairy supply chain solutions for markets in India and abroad.
Mr Milkman works with Akshayakalpa, Gyan Dairy, Whyte Farms, Abis Dairy, Carnival Group, Fortune Dairy, Binsar Farms, Nutrimoo, Healthways, and many others in India.

Sloggi Forays into Indian Market

International bodywear brand Sloggi has forayed into the Indian market and plans to expand its retail presence through franchise partner Solar Group.
Sloggi, a brand from the house of Swiss undergarment maker Triumph International, eyes to achieve 10 per cent market share in the next two years.
It has plans to open 10 stores pan India by 2022. As per its strategy, it will focus on tier-2 cities along with key metros.

B. C. Patnaik Takes Charge as MD of LIC

B. C. Patnaik took charge as Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation of India. He was appointed as Managing Director by the Government of India. Prior to taking charge as Managing Director of LIC, Patnaik was Secretary-General, Council for Insurance Ombudsmen, (CIO) Mumbai. He joined LIC of India in March 1986 as a Direct Recruit Officer.

Govt. Amends Rules to Allow 50% Sale of Coal from Captive Mines

The Ministry of Coal has amended Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 with a view to allowing sale of coal or lignite, on payment of additional amount, by the lessee of a captive mine up to 50 per cent of the total coal or lignite produced in a financial year, after meeting the requirement of the end use plant linked with the mine.
The move is likely to benefit over 100 captive coal and lignite blocks with over 500 million tonnes per annum peak rated capacity as well as all coal and lignite bearing states.
Earlier this year, the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Act had been amended to this effect.
This is applicable for both the private and public sector captive mines.
With this amendment, the government has paved the way for releasing of additional coal in the market by greater utilisation of mining capacities of captive coal and lignite blocks, which were being only partly utilised owing to limited production of coal for meeting their captive needs.

HDFC Bank Launches Festive Treats 3.0

HDFC Bank announced its Festive Treats 3.0 campaign which will provide over 10,000 offers on cards, loans and easy EMIs.
The private sector lender has partnered with over 10,000 merchants across more than 100 locations to offer its customers an opportunity to avail deals specifically created for their personal and business needs.
Benefits offered to the customers include cashbacks and no-cost EMIs on premium mobile phones, up to 22.5 per cent cashback and no-cost EMI on electronics and consumer goods like washing machines and refrigerators, and personal loans starting at 10.25 per cent with instant disbursal in account.
There is zero processing fee and funding of up to 90 per cent on tractor loans and 50 per cent discount on processing fee on commercial vehicle loans.
The lender is offering collateral-free business loans up to Rs 75 lakh and 50 per cent off on processing fee.

ICICI Bank Launches Contactless Payment Solution through iMobile Pay

ICICI Bank launched a contactless payment service through its banking app 'iMobile Pay', that enables customers to tap their smartphones to pay at POS (Point of Sale) machines of merchant outlets. The service offers improved convenience to over 1.5 crore debit and credit card customers of the bank as they no longer need to carry their cards for payments at retail stores. Based on the Near Field Communications (NFC) technology, the innovative payment service empowers customers to create digital versions of their physical ICICI Bank debit and credit cards on the iMobile Pay app. Using the digital cards, customers can initiate electronic payments at merchant outlets from NFC enabled Android smartphones by just waving their phone near a contactless POS device.
Mr Sudipta Roy, Head- Unsecured Assets, ICICI Bank said, ".This contactless mobile payment solution offers cashless payments to the Bank's customers using just their smartphones, thereby eliminating the need to carry cash or debit and credit cards. We believe, with 'Tap to Pay' payment solution, customers will experience enhanced convenience as it provides instant, safe and secure payments.
The facility of 'Tap to Pay' through iMobile Pay is now available on Visa cards and it will soon be activated on Mastercard cards too.

Future Retail, 7-Eleven Terminate Franchise Agreement

Financially troubled, Future Retail and Texas-based convenience store chain, 7-Eleven have decided to mutually terminate their franchise agreement after the Kishore Biyani company failed to meet the target of opening stores and payment of franchise fees.
In February, 2019, both companies had signed the franchise agreements for developing and operating 7-Eleven branded stores within India. Future group was planning to set up 7-Eleven convenience stores all over India to sell soft drinks to grocery items.

Oct 05, 2021

Adani Green Acquires SB Energy

Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) has completed the acquisition of SB Energy Holdings Ltd (SB Energy India) in an all-cash deal for which definitive agreements were signed in May 2021.
With this deal, SB Energy India is now a 100 per cent subsidiary of AGEL. Earlier, it was a 80:20 joint venture between Japan-based SoftBank Group Corp and Bharti Group.
The transaction pegs SB Energy India at an enterprise valuation of USD 3.5 Billion (Rs. 26,000 crore) and marks the largest acquisition in the renewable energy sector in India.
SB Energy India has 5 GW renewable assets across four states in India through its SPVs. The portfolio holds 1,700 MW of operational renewable assets, 2,554 MW of assets under construction and 700 MW of assets near construction. Solar capacity accounts for 84 per cent of the portfolio (4,180 MW), wind-solar hybrid capacity accounts for 9 per cent (450 MW) and wind capacity accounts for 7 per cet (324 MW).

Metlife to Hike its Stake in PNB Metlife

Metlife International Holdings is looking to acquire the combined 15.27 per cent shareholding of IGE (India) Private Limited and Elpro International Limited in PNB Metlife India Insurance Company for a cash consideration of Rs. 1,906 crore, subject to regulatory approvals.
After the completion of this transaction, Metlife's shareholding in PNM Metlife life insurance will increase to 47.325 per cent, making it the largest shareholder in the private life insurer.
Other shareholders of PNB Metlife include Punjab National Bank Limited (PNB), M. Pallonji and Company Private Limited, Jammu & Kashmir Bank Limited (JKB), and other private investors.

Paytm Acquires 100% Ownership of Lending Start-up CreditMate

Online payment services provider, Paytm has acquired a 100% stake in Mumbai-based digital lending start-up CreditMate. However, the transaction details of the deal have not been disclosed. The Paytm Group will now be the 100% beneficial owners of the business, while the co-founders of CreditMate will exit the business.
CreditMate was founded in 2019 by Jonathan Bill, Ashish Doshi, Swati Lad and Aditya Singh as a collection platform that helps lenders collect overdue payments from borrowers.

SBI and Indian Navy Launch SBI's NAV-eCash Card

The Indian Navy and State Bank of India (SBI) launched SBI's NAV-eCash Card onboard India's largest Naval Aircraft Carrier INS Vikramaditya. The launch of this card was done in presence of C. S. Setty, Managing Director (Retail & Digital Banking), SBI and Vice Admiral R. Harikumar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command.
The infrastructure at naval ships inhibits traditional payment solutions particularly when the ship is in high seas where there is no connectivity.
NAV-eCash card, with its dual-chip technology, will facilitate both online as well as offline transactions.
C. S. Setty said that the concept will be replicated at other naval ships and various defence establishments for creating a secured, convenient and sustainable payment ecosystem.

RBI Names Advisory Committee to Assist Administrator of 2 Srei Group Firms

After superseding the boards of Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance Limited (SEFL), the RBI has appointed a three-member Advisory Committee to assist the administrator of the two crisis-ridden firms.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed Rajneesh Sharma, ex-chief general manager, Bank of Baroda, as the administrator of the Advisory Committee.
The members of the Advisory Committee are R. Subramaniakumar (former MD and CEO, Indian Overseas Bank), T. T. Srinivasaraghavan (former managing director, Sundaram Finance Limited), and Farokh N Subedar (former chief operating officer and company secretary, Tata Sons Limited).

Oct 04, 2021

Reliance Floats Subsidiary in United Arab Emirates

Reliance Industries has incorporated a new subsidiary in the UAE for trading in crude oil, petroleum products and agricultural commodities.
Reliance International Ltd has been incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary in Abu Dhabi Global Market, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The plans follow an announcement in June that the Indian conglomerate will invest in projects of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. to produce chemicals that can be used for infrastructure and consumer goods.
RINL is incorporated to undertake activities relating to, amongst others, trading of crude oil, petroleum products, petrochemicals and agricultural commodities. RINL is yet to commence its business operations.

Tech Mahindra to Acquire Beris Consulting

IT company Tech Mahindra will acquire IT consultancy service provider Beris Consulting Gmbh for 7 million euros or about Rs. 60 crore through its German subsidiary.
Beris has over 125 employees and the company had revenues of 10.1 million euros for the financial year ended December 31, 2020.
The acquisition will help Tech Mahindra unlock the transformational growth in the IT and application space for the automotive industry as a result of EV, sharing and mobility.

Amish Mehta Appointed as New MD & CEO of CRISIL

Amish Mehta was appointed as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of rating agency CRISIL. He has replaced Ashu Suyash. CRISIL is owned by S&P.
Mehta has more than two decades of leadership experience across industries and joined CRISIL in October 2014 as President and Chief Financial Officer. In July 2017, he was elevated as the President and Chief Operating Officer, responsible for the global analytical centre, India research and SME, the global innovation and excellence hub and corporate strategy.

Tata Asset and Max Life Insurance Get Approval to Set up Pension Funds

Tata Asset Management and Max Life Insurance Co have recently received a nod from the pension sector regulator for setting up pension fund managers.
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in July had opened 'on tap' registration of pension fund managers.

Indian Bank Picks up Stake in NARCL

Indian Bank picked up 13.27 per cent stake in the proposed bad bank National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL).
The lender has subscribed to 1,98,00,000 equity shares of NARCL for cash consideration of Rs. 19.80 crore.
The investment of equity stake of 13.27 per cent would be reduced to 9.90 per cent by December 31, 2021.
Three state-owned lenders -- SBI, Union Bank of India and PNB -- had picked up over 12 per cent stake each in NARCL earlier.

IFSCA Constitutes an Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) set up an expert panel headed by former Enviornment and Forest Secretary C. K. Mishra to suggest a framework to develop a world-class sustainable finance hub at IFSC.
India aspires to be a frontrunner in climate action, which is evident in its commitment towards its intended Nationally Determined Contributions under Paris Agreement.
As per the terms of reference, the panel would identify existing and emerging opportunities in Sustainable Finance for GIFT-IFSC to act as a gateway to meet India's requirements and recommend a short, medium, and long-term vision/road map on sustainable finance.
IFSCA was established in April last year under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019. It is headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar.
IFSCA is a unified authority for the development and regulation of financial products, financial services and financial institutions in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India. At present, GIFT IFSC is the maiden international financial services centre in India.

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