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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - May 2018

May 2018

Oct 03, 2021

Labour Minister Launches DigiSaksham to Enhance Employability of Youth

Union Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav launched DigiSaksham, a digital skills programme to enhance the employability of youth by imparting digital skills that are required in an increasingly technology driven era.
This joint initiative with Microsoft india is an extension of the government's ongoing programmes to support the youth from rural and semi-urban areas.
Through DigiSaksham initiative, free of cost training in digital skills including basic skills as well as advance computing will be provided to more than 3 lakh youths in the first year.
Under the DigiSaksham initiative, there will be basically three types of training viz, Digital Skills self paced learning, VILT mode training (virtual instructor led) and ILT mode training (instructor led).

NTPC REL Signs First Green Term Loan Pact of Rs. 500 crore with Bank of India

NTPC Renewable Energy ltd (REL) a fully-owned subsidiary of state-owned power generator NTPC, has signed its first green term loan agreement for Rs. 500 crore.
The loan agreement is at a competitive rate with a tenure of 15 years with Bank of India for its 470 Mw solar projects in Rajasthan and 200 Mw in Gujarat.
NTPC-REL currently has renewable project portfolio of 3,450 Mw, of which 820 Mw is under construction and 2,630 Mw projects have been won, for which power purchase agreements (PPAs) are yet to be executed.

Adani Seals Deal to Develop Western Container Terminal at Colombo Port

India's Adani Group sealed a deal with the state-owned Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) to develop and run the strategic Colombo Port's Western Container Terminal.
As the first-ever Indian port operator in Sri Lanka, Adani Group will have a 51 per cent stake at the port's Western Container Terminal (WCT).
Adani Group signed a build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement with its local partners John Keells Holdings and the SLPA to develop the WCT at the Colombo Port.
The two local entities would hold 34 and 15 per cent stakes of the new joint company titled the West Container International Terminal.

Tata Steel Sells Entire Stake in NatSteel Holdings

T S Global Holdings (TSGH) Singapore, a 100 per cent indirect subsidiary of Tata Steel Limited, executed definitive agreements with TopTip Holding Pte Ltd to divest its entire equity stake in NatSteel Holdings Pte Ltd for an equity value of $172 million (Rs. 1,275 crore).
TopTip Holding Pte Ltd is a Singapore-based steel and iron ore trading company.
In the current deal with TopTip Holdings, Tata Steel has exited part of Singapore business, while retaining the Thailand and wire business of Singapore.
Tata Steel, the country's oldest steel producer, had bought NatSteel Singapore in 2004 for about Rs. 1,300 crore.

At Rs. 5 trn, Adani Now Asia's 2nd Richest

India has achieved the milestone of having over 1,000 individuals with net worth of Rs. 1,000 crore.
The IIFL Wealth-Hurun India Rich List 2021 revealed that 1,007 individuals across 119 cities have a net worth of Rs. 1,000 crore.
The report cited that cumulative wealth was up 51 per cent, while average wealth increased by 25 per cent.
Besides, it showed that 894 individuals saw their wealth increase or stay the same, of which 229 are new faces, while 113 saw their wealth drop and there were 51 dropouts.
Currently, India has 237 billionaires, up 58 compared to last year.
Reliance Industries' Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani continued to be the richest man in India for the 10th consecutive year with a wealth of Rs. 7.18 trillion.
With Rs. 5.05 trillion, Gautam Adani & family moved up two places to the second spot in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2021.

Oct 02, 2021

Bajaj Auto Signs Share Swap Deal for Stake in KTM Group Company

Bajaj Auto and Pierer Industrie, its partner in KTM AG, finalised a plan to simplify shareholding in premium bike maker KTM through a share swap deal. Following this, Bajaj will become an indirect stakeholder in other brands of the Austrian partner — including Husqvarna, GasGas, and Ramon.
Earlier, Bajaj Auto and Pierer Mobility AG (PMAG) held around 48 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively, in KTM AG. Bajaj's shareholding was through its Netherlands-based subsidiary Bajaj Auto International Holdings BV (Baibhv).
As part of the two-step deal, Bajaj Auto has transferred 46.5 per cent of its total stake in KTM to PTW Holding AG, the majority shareholder in PMAG. In return, Baibhv has been granted a 49.9 per cent stake in PTW Holding AG.

AU SFB, NABARD Ink MoU for Development Initiatives in Rajasthan

AU Small Finance Bank (SFB) inked an MoU with NABARD for rural development initiatives in Rajasthan.
The MoU involves joint initiatives by AU SFB and NABARD for benefit of farmers, farmer producer organisations, self help groups (SHG), joint liability groups (JLG), rural artisans, agri-preneurs, agri start-ups among others.
The collaboration between NABARD and AU Bank would enhance rural prosperity through the convergence of institutional lending and ongoing development initiatives. It will give impetus to lending in the state especially in areas pertaining to agriculture and rural development.
Jaipur-based AU Bank began its small finance bank operations in April 2017.

India, US Extend Trade Facilities to Exporters

India's Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the US Customs and Border Protection have agreed to extend greater facilities to exporters, from each other's country, who meet certain compliance criteria.
This was agreed upon as part of a mutual recognition agreement by the two agencies of the authorised economic operator (AEO) programme, a scheme that allows certain privileges to players in international trade that are accredited by authorities based on their track record. Privileges include greater trust in declarations, besides faster tax refunds and expedited adjudication of disputes.

SBI Signs Pact with 3 NBFC-MFIs for Co-lending to Joint Liability Groups

India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has signed a Master Agreement with Vedika Credit Capital Ltd (VCCL), Save Microfinance Pvt Ltd (SMPL) and Paisalo Digital Ltd (PDL), for co-lending to individual members of Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) to undertake agriculture and allied activities including other income generation activities.
With these partnerships, SBI would be able to further increase its reach in the rural and semi-urban areas of the country offering small ticket loans. SBI is actively looking at co-lending opportunities with multiple NBFCs / NBFC-MFIs for financing Farm Mechanisation, Warehouse Receipt Finance, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), etc., for enhancing credit flow to double the farmers'/individuals' income.
RBI had issued guidelines on co-lending schemes for banks and NBFCs / NBFC-MFIs for Priority Sector Lending to improve the flow of credit to unserved and underserved sectors of the economy and to make funds available to borrowers at an affordable cost. The co-lending model aims to give the borrower the best interest rate and better reach.

Oct 01, 2021

World's Highest EV Charging Station at Himachal's Spiti Valley

Pune-based EV charging infra start-up goEgoNetwork installed its electric vehicle charging facility at Kaza in the Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, making it the world's highest EV charging station.
Bharat AC and Dual Socket Type 2 chargers, which have been installed by the company in the Western Himalayas, have Make-in-India certification and compliance with ARAI and OCA certification, and would cater to all the EV scooters and cars.
goEgo has collaborated with TVS Motor Company to promote EV infrastructure in Himachal Pradesh.

PayU Finance Names Piyush Gupta as Chief Data Scientist

PayU Finance, one of the leading digital lenders and the NBFC unit of PayU, has elevated Piyush Gupta as the company's new chief data scientist, strengthening its leadership team.
Gupta's extensive knowledge and expertise will drive PayU Finance closer to its ambition of becoming a full-stack digital financial services platform to serve diverse financial needs of customers with data science and technology innovations at the forefront.
In his new role as chief data scientist, Gupta will lead the data science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) teams for PayU Finance to drive financial inclusion for the under-served and under-banked customers.

CK Ranganathan is New AIMA President

Chairman & managing director CavinKare Pvt Ltd, CK Ranganathan was appointed president of All India Management Association (AIMA) for a period of one year till the National Management Convention is held in September 2022. He takes over from Harsh Pati Singhania, vice chairman & managing director, JK Paper Ltd. Under his leadership, technology will drive AIMA"s services and the new initiatives would include face recognition tools for admission and recruitment testing services and remotely proctored semester examination for education institutes.
AIMA is the national apex body of the management profession in India. It works closely with industry, government, academia and students to further the cause of the management profession in India.

RBI Removes IOB from Prompt Corrective Action Framework

Reserve Bank of India announced removal of Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) restrictions on Indian Overseas Bank (IOB). This decision gives the bank more freedom for lending, especially to corporations and grow the network, subject to prescribed norms.
The bank has provided a written commitment that it would comply with the norms of Minimum Regulatory Capital, Net NPA and Leverage ratio on an ongoing basis and has apprised the RBI of the structural and systemic improvements that it has put in place which would help the bank in continuing to meet these commitments.
IOB is being tipped as a privatisation candidate. In 2021, RBI has also removed PCA restrictions on IDBI Bank and UCO Bank.

Piramal Group Acquires DHFL

Piramal Enterprises completed the acquisition of Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) by paying the consideration amount of Rs. 34,250 crore. This marks the first successful resolution of a financial services company under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
According to the resolution plan, Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Ltd. (PCHFL) will merge with DHFL and the merged entity will be 100 per cent owned by Piramal Enterprises Limited. The merged entity will have 301 branches and 2,338 employees catering to approximately a million lifetime customers across 24 states, making it one of the leading housing finance companies in India, focusing on affordable housing segment.

NPCI Partners with YES Bank for 'On-the-Go' Payment Solution

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) partnered with private sector lender Yes Bank to launch first-of-its-kind 'RuPay On-the-Go' contactless payments solutions. The RuPay On-the-Go contactless solution is mainly a wearable payment solution, launched to enable customers to make small and large value transactions from accessories that they wear every day.
The solution would eliminate the need to carry a physical card, and customers can use the solution at RuPay contactless-enabled PoS at retail outlets and pay up to Rs 5,000 without the need for a PIN. The solution is based on a simple 'Tap, pay, go' mechanism. It has been launched in association with fintech infrastructure partner Neokred and manufacturing partner Seshaasai.

Sep 30, 2021

Govt. Extends Additional Charge of P. K. Purwar as MTNL CMD

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet extended the additional charge of P. K. Purwar as chairman and managing director of loss-making telecom firm MTNL for a period of one year.
Purwar also holds the position of chairman and managing director of debt-ridden firm BSNL.
Purwar has held the top position at MTNL for about five and half years.

Cabinet Approves ECGC IPO

The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved infusion of Rs. 4,400 crore into state-owned credit insurance provider ECGC Ltd over a period of five years, starting FY22. It also approved listing of the company on the domestic bourses, which is likely to happen in the next fiscal.
The approved infusion along with efforts made to suitably synchronize with the listing process of ECGC through the Initial Public Offering will increase the underwriting capacity of ECGC to support more exports.
ECGC was set up more than five decades ago to promote exports by providing credit insurance services to exporters against non-payment risks by the overseas buyers due to commercial and political reasons. Currently, it is the largest player in the export credit insurance market in India.

Padmaja Chunduru is MD, CEO of National Securities Depositories

Padmaja Chunduru was appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of National Securities Depositories (NSDL).
G. V. Nageswara Rao was the previous MD & CEO of NSDL. Chunduru has served as MD & CEO of Indian Bank between September 2018 and August 2021.

HDFC Bank Issues Record Credit Cards Post Embargo

Private lender HDFC Bank has issued 400,000 credit cards since the embargo imposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was lifted in mid-August, surpassing the milestone it had set to initially get back to its pre-embargo run rate of issuing 300,000 cards per month.
After RBI lifted the embargo, the lender has been focusing on four key strategies -- updating existing products, launching new products for segments where they are not present currently, strategic alliances and partnerships and consequently growing the market, and creating a very superior customer experience.

Tata AIA Life Insurance Ties up with Practo

Tata AIA Life Insurance tied up with integrated healthcare company Practo for online medical consultation for its customers.
As part of the alliance, Tata AIA consumers can avail themselves of online medical consultations from verified doctors anywhere, anytime.
The life insurer said that the tie-up goes far beyond the traditional insurance approach that is limited to efficient claim settlement.
As part of the benefits, an eligible consumer can avail of 48 teleconsultations per year for various medical conditions.

HCL Tech Signs Multi-year Contract with Proximus

HCL Technologies Ltd. signed a multi-year deal to build a digital foundation and transform the data centre business of Belgium's Proximus Group, a digital services and communications solutions provider.
The firm said that it would launch a Hybrid Next-Generation Cloud portfolio to support Proximus' large customer base and more than 11,000 employees. In addition, the Benelux region's mid-market and government businesses will gain access to joint solution offerings from HCL and Proximus.
The HCL-Proximus deal expands the Belgian firm's commitment to "act for a green and digital society", as the cloud platform will use the latest green data centre technology to minimise its carbon footprint.

Sep 29, 2021

Govt. Dissolves Ordnance Factory Board

The Defence Ministry has dissolved the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) with effect from October 1 and transferred its assets, employees and management to seven public sector units (PSUs).
The name of the seven defence PSUs (also called DPSUs) are Munition India Limited, Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited, Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited, Troop Comforts Limited, Yantra India Limited, India Optel Limited and Gliders India Limited.

ICICI Prudential MF Launches Nasdaq 100 Index Fund

Asset management company (AMC) ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund launched an open-ended fund replicating the Nasdaq 100 index. The scheme will offer exposure to 100 largest leading non-financial companies globally.
ICICI Prudential Nasdaq 100 Index Fund is the first offering in ICICI Prudential MF's passive universe.
The Nasdaq 100 Index reflects companies across major industry groups, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology.
Nasdaq 100 index mainly includes innovation led technology and communications services companies; many of which are part of our day to day lives like Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Alphabet, Facebook, Netflix, Starbucks. This offering is suitable for investors looking for geographical diversification in their equity allocation in index funds.

RBI Sets WMA Limit for Central Government for at Rs. 50,000 crore

The Reserve bank of India has set the limit for Ways and Means Advances (WMA) for the second half of the financial year 2021-22, i.e October 2021 to March 2022 at Rs. 50,000 crore. The Reserve Bank may trigger fresh floatation of market loans when the Government of India utilises 75 per cent of the WMA limit. The Reserve Bank retains the flexibility to revise the limit at any time, in consultation with the Government of India, taking into consideration the prevailing circumstances.

SEBI Board Approves Framework for Gold Exchange

SEBI's board cleared a proposal for setting up a gold exchange wherein the yellow metal will be traded in the form of electronic gold receipts and the bourse will help in having a transparent domestic spot price discovery mechanism.
The instruments representing gold will be called Electronic Gold Receipts (EGRs) and will be notified as securities.
EGRs will have the trading, clearing and settlement features akin to any other securities.
Any recognised stock exchange, existing as well as new, can launch trading in EGRs in a separate segment. The denomination for trading of EGR and conversion of EGR into gold can be decided by the stock exchanges with the approval of SEBI.

TCS Signs Five-year IT Transformation Deal with German Bank NORD/LB

IT services major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been selected by NORD/LB, a leading German commercial bank, as its strategic partner for its IT transformation. NORD/LB has embarked on a transformation journey that targets a new business model by 2024, and a leaner, more agile operating model. It has partnered with TCS in this journey.
As part of the five-year partnership, TCS will work with the bank to simplify and transform its application estate across businesses–financial markets, wholesale and retail banking, through application consolidation and automation.

American Airlines, IndiGo Sign Codeshare Agreement

American Airlines and IndiGo entered into a codeshare agreement which allows the former to sell seats on the Indian carrier's flights operating on 29 routes.
The codeshare, which will require U.S. and Indian governments' approvals, is expected to begin in October, as American launches new service between New York (JFK) and Delhi in October 2021 and between Seattle (SEA) and Bengaluru in January 2022.
The one-way codeshare agreement will place American's code on 29 of IndiGo's domestic routes, providing a convenient option for American Airlines customers to travel within India after landing in Bengaluru or Delhi.
Currently, IndiGo has a two-way codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines and a one-way codeshare partnership with Qatar Airways.

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