General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - May 2018

May 2018

Apr 30, 2021

Rahul Bajaj Steps Down as Bajaj Auto Chairman

Bajaj Auto announced that Rahul Bajaj stepped down from his role as the company's Non-Executive Director and Chairman with effect from the close of business hours on April 30, 2021.
Bajaj announced that Rahul will become the Chairman Emeritus of the company for five years after he resignation as its Non-Executive Chairman. Meanwhile, Niraj Bajaj will sit at the helm of the company with effect from May 1, as the non-executive Director of the company.

ICICI Bank Launches Digital Banking Service 'Merchant Stack'

ICICI Bank launched digital banking services 'Merchant Stack' for more than 20 million retail merchants in the country.
"Merchant Stack" will provide grocers, supermarkets, large retail store chains, online businesses, and large e-commerce firms with an array of banking services in 'one single place'.
The private lender research showed the retail merchant segment needs services such as digital and instant account opening, multiple digital collection options, as well as instant working capital availability in one place quick working capital availability, among other things.
The services include "Super Merchant Account", which is a zero balance account linked to the usage of the bank's POS (Point-of-Sale) facilities, two instant credit facilities called 'merchant overdraft' and 'express credit', 'digital store management' facility to help merchants take their business online.

Cabinet Approves Signing Pact with UK for Info Sharing, Prevent Customs Offences

The Cabinet approved the signing of an agreement between India and the UK for sharing information and prevent Customs offences.
The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the signing and ratification of an Agreement between the Government of Republic of India and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Customs Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters,' an official statement said.
The agreement will help in the availability of relevant information for the prevention and investigation of Customs offences.
It is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries, the statement said.
The agreement will provide a legal framework for sharing of information and intelligence between the Customs authorities of the two countries and help in the proper application of Customs laws, prevention and investigation of Customs offences and the facilitation of legitimate trade.

Axis Mutual Fund Launches New Fund- 'Axis Healthcare ETF'

Axis Mutual Fund has announced the launch of their new fund– 'Axis Healthcare ETF'. The new fund offers (NFO), which allows access to investors in the Healthcare sector in a neatly packed bite-sized exchange-traded fund and is managed by Jinesh Gopani, Head – Equity, Axis AMC. One sector that has emerged during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic is the pharmaceuticals including the healthcare services that it brings along. For investors, looking to take exposure in this segment, the ETF route may come in handy.
The new fund offer is suitable for investors who are seeking, long-term wealth creation solution through targeted sectoral exposure to the healthcare sector and seeks to track returns by investing in a basket of NIFTY Healthcare Index stocks with an aim to achieve returns of the stated index.

Airtel Africa Names Olusegun Ogunsanya as MD, CEO of Africa Unit

Airtel Africa announced that Olusegun Ogunsanya, will take over as the new MD and CEO of the company in October, following Raghunath Mandava's decision to retire.
Mandava would be retiring as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, as a Director of Airtel Africa plc and as a member of the Market Disclosure Committee on September 30, 2021.
Ogunsanya, Managing Director and CEO Nigeria, will join the Board of Airtel Africa plc with effect from October 1, 2021.
Ogunsanya joined Airtel Africa in 2012, as Managing Director and CEO Nigeria and has been responsible for the overall management of the company''s operations in Nigeria, its largest market in Africa.
Airtel Africa is a provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across the continent.

CCI Clears Tata's Acquisition of BigBasket

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has cleared the acquisition of online grocery firm BigBasket by Tata Digital, a subsidiary of the Tata Group.
With this approval, the deal, which has been in the works for over the last six months, is nearing its close.
In the deal, Tata Digital Ltd will acquire up to 64.3% of Supermarket Grocery Supplies Pvt Ltd — the B2B unit of BigBasket and get sole control over the B2C unit Innovative Retail Concepts Pvt Ltd. Reportedly, the deal values BigBasket at over $1 billion. BigBasket's CEO Hari Menon is expected to continue in his role after the acquisition.
For the Tata Group, the deal marks its first major step towards its plan of setting up a "super-app".
For BigBasket, it will provide the necessary firepower to the brand to compete against the latest entrants in the e-grocery segment such as Reliance, Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart.

Apr 29, 2021

SEBI Imposes Fine on Aptech Ltd

SEBI slapped a fine of Rs. 1 crore on Aptech Ltd for violating insider trading norms back in 2016.
An investigation was conducted by the regulator to ascertain whether there was any disclosure lapses and violation of PIT (Prohibition of Insider Trading) norms by Aptech during the period from August to September 2016.
Aptech had made an announcement in September 2016 saying that it has forayed into the pre-school segment.
Considering the nature of the corporate announcement along with the impact of the same on the scrip price, the announcement was considered as Unpublished Price Sensitive Information (UPSI), which inter alia includes information relating to expansion of business, as per a SEBI order.

Shivalik Small Finance Bank Limited Begins Operations

The Reserve Bank of India said that Shivalik Small Finance Bank has commenced operations as a small finance bank. The Reserve Bank has issued a licence to the bank under Section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to carry on the business of small finance bank in India.
Shivalik Mercantile Co-operative Bank Limited was granted in-principle approval for transition into a small finance bank on January 6, 2020, under the "Scheme on voluntary transition of Urban Co-operative Bank into a Small Finance Bank" issued on September 27, 2018.
Thus, it has become India's first urban co-operative bank (UCB) to transition to a Small Finance Bank (SFB). The in-principal approval gave SMCB 18 months' time to commence the business.
As per the scheme, the minimum net worth of the proposed SFB was set at Rs. 100 crore and the minimum capital adequacy ratio of 15 percent from the date of commencement of business.

Saudi Arabia in Talks to Sell 1% of Aramco

Saudi Arabia's crown prince said that the kingdom was in discussions to sell 1% of state oil firm Saudi Aramco to a leading global energy company.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that Aramco, the world's biggest oil company which was listed on the Saudi bourse in late 2019, could sell further shares including to international investors within the next year or two.
The Aramco initial public offering in 2019 was seen as a pillar of the economic diversification programme aimed at attracting foreign investment.

Morepen Board Clears Investment from Switzerland-based Corinth Group

Morepen Laboratories said that its board of directors approved an investment of $32.50 million from Switzerland-based Corinth Group as part of the private investment firm's proposed $100 million investment in the Morepen Group.
The investment is subject to the approval of shareholders and other regulatory bodies.
Corinth would be allotted 58.50 million new equity shares on a preferential basis. This shareholding would amount to a 9.41 percent equity stake in the company on a fully expanded capital base. The remaining $67.50 million would be in the promoter group companies.

SBI Board Approves to Raise $2 Billion through Bonds in FY22

Shares of State Bank of India jumped 3 per cent to Rs. 364 apiece on the BSE after the bank's board approved to raise $2 billion through a public offer or private placement.
The Executive Committee of the Central Board in its meeting approved to examine the status and decide on long term fund raising in single/multiple tranches up to $ 2 billion through a public offer and/or private placement of senior unsecured notes in US Dollar or any other convertible currency during FY22.
The bank in January concluded the issuance of $600 million (about Rs. 4,500 crore) from bonds to fund the expansion of the overseas business. Funds were raised through senior unsecured fixed rate notes with maturity of five and a half years years and coupon of 1.80 percent payable semi-annually under Regulation-S, SBI said.

Dentsu India Announces Leadership Changes

As part of its global organisational redesign, global media and marketing communications conglomerate Dentsu International, has announced key leadership changes in India. Kartik Iyer, erstwhile president – Media Brands and Amplifi, will now join the network's market leadership team as its chief operating officer (COO). He will continue to report into Anand Bhadkamkar, CEO India, dentsu, and will be instrumental in driving the implementation of dentsu's new business model within the country. The network has also appointed Divya Karani, CEO at dentsu X India, as the chief executive officer (CEO) for Media, South Asia. Here, Media includes the agencies dentsu X, Carat, iProspect and Posterscope.

Jio Platforms, Byju's in Time's First List of 100 most Influential Firms

Two Indian firms, Reliance Industries' technology arm Jio Platforms and e-learning startup Byju's have figured in the Time Magazine's first-ever list of 100 most influential companies.
Time said that companies shaping the future are at the heart of the first ever TIME100 Most Influential Companies.
To assemble it, TIME solicited nominations across sectors including healthcare, entertainment, transportation, technology and evaluated each one on key factors, including relevance, impact, innovation, leadership, ambition and success.

Apr 28, 2021

SC Allows Vedanta's Oxygen Plant at Thoothukudi to Operate

The Supreme Court allowed Vedanta to operate its closed oxygen plant at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, saying the order has been passed in view of "national need" for oxygen and there should be no political bickering over the generation of the gas by the company as the country is facing a "national crisis".
The apex court made it clear that Vedanta shall not be allowed to enter and operate its copper smelting plant under the garb of this order and that permission to operate oxygen plant would not create any equity in the company's favour.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat directed the Tamil Nadu government to form an oversight committee to oversee the functioning of the plant which would include District Collector and Superintendent of Police (SP) of Thoothukudi, District Environmental Engineer, Sub-Collector Thoothukudi and two government officials.

Promoter Company Worldone Acquires JSPL's Thermal Power Business

Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) has sold off its thermal power business to Worldone, a company owned by the promoter group of JSPL.
JSPL has divested 96.42 per cent stake in Jindal Power (JPL) to Worldone.
As per reports, the estimated deal size is close to Rs. 12,000 crore, which includes Rs. 6,500 crore debt, Rs. 7,000 crore redeemable preference shares and Rs. 3,015 crore equity infusion. It also includes Rs 4,400 crore of an old loan, which JPL had taken from JSPL.
JSPL has two coal-fired power plants in Raigarh and Tamnar totaling 3400 Mw. JPL had earlier tried to sell the units to JSW Energy but the deal did not close.
V R Sharma, managing director, JSPL said that the company will now focus on steel production and double the output of its Angul steel plant to 12 million tonne per annum (MTPA).

India, Japan and Australia Unveil Supply Chain Initiative

In a move to counter China's dominance of supply chain in the Indo-Pacific region, Trade Ministers of India, Japan and Australia formally launched the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) in a virtual trilateral ministerial meeting.
The SCRI aims to create a virtuous cycle of enhancing supply chain resilience with a view to eventually attaining strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth in the region. The ministers consented that expansion of the SCRI may be considered based on consensus, if needed, in due course.
The meeting held by videoconference was attended by India's Trade Minister Piyush Goyal, Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan and Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Kajiyama Hiroshi.
Initially, SCRI will focus on sharing best practices on supply chain resilience and holding investment promotion events and buyer-seller matching events to provide opportunities for stakeholders to explore the possibility of diversification of their supply chains. The ministers instructed officials to implement the initial projects and further develop the initiative.

Korean Auto firm Kia Unveils a New Brand Identity in India

In line with its global strategy, the India arm of South Korean major Kia has dropped 'Motors' from its name. This is to reflect the transition from an automaker to a provider of advanced and eco-friendly mobility solutions.
With a new brand identity and slogan, the fourth-largest car maker in India by sales aims to accelerate growth and strengthen its premium positioning. Close to 60 per cent models that Kia sells in India are top trims of the models, the company claims.
Kia has updated its compact SUV Seltos and the subcompact crossover SUV Sonet with the newly stylized logo. The models, with the refashioned logo, will go on sale in the first week of May.
It also unveiled a new slogan — Movement that inspires'. Tae-Jin Park, executive director and chief sales and business strategy officer, said the new identity goes beyond just the logo change and will manifest in various ways, from the kind of product it brings in the future to the way it goes about the business.

RBI Issues Guidelines for Appointment of Statutory Auditors of Banks, NBFCs

The Reserve Bank of India issued guidelines for appointment of statutory auditors of banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), including housing finance companies.
Guidelines for Appointment of Statutory Central Auditors (SCAs)/ Statutory Auditors (SAs) of Commercial Banks (excluding RRBs), UCBs and NBFCs (including HFCs)' will be applicable for financial year 2021-22 and onwards.
However, non-deposit taking NBFCs with asset size below Rs. 1,000 crore have the option to continue with their extant procedure.
The guidelines provide necessary instructions for appointment of SCAs/SAs, the number of auditors, their eligibility criteria, tenure and rotation, etc. while ensuring the independence of auditors.
As the guidelines are being implemented for the first time for Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) and NBFCs from 2021-22, "they shall have the flexibility to adopt these guidelines from the second half of FY 2021-22, in order to ensure that there is no disruption".
Banks and UCBs will be required to take prior approval of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for appointment/reappointment of SCAs/SAs.

Stellantis Makes Top-level Appointments for Indian Region

Stellantis India & Asia Pacific announced key leadership appointments for its operations both within India and the region. The Amsterdam-based Stellantis is a multinational automotive manufacturer, formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50:50 cross-border merger between the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group.
The company has appointed Roland Bouchara as CEO & Managing Director for Stellantis in India. Bouchara will be responsible for the Jeep and Citroën national sales companies (NSCs), coupled with the group's manufacturing operations.
Since 2017, Bouchara has led the Citroën India operations in his capacity as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the brand. This included end-to-end execution of the recent launch of the Citroën brand and its first product in India – the new Citroën C5 Aircross.
The company also announced the appointment of Partha Datta as head of Engineering, Design, Research & Development (R&D) operations across the India & Asia Pacific Region.

ADV Partners, Premji Invest to Acquire Stake in Micro Plastics

Asian private equity firm ADV Partners and Premji Invest, the investment arm of Wipro billionaire Azim Premji, said they have acquired a significant majority stake in leading plastic molding company Micro Plastics Private Limited (MPPL).
This investment will catalyse the next stage of MPPL's growth plans by supporting significant expansion and development of new manufacturing facilities to cater to increasing demand from customers. The investment also builds on MPPL's success and robust revenue growth of over 20 per cent over the past five years in CAGR terms.
MPPL is headquartered in Bengaluru and operates five manufacturing facilities in and around the city. MPPL founder and managing director, Vijendra Babu, a 25-year industry veteran, will continue to retain a stake in the business and drive the company along with a very experienced senior leadership team.

Apr 27, 2021

Abrdn: Standard Life Aberdeen Vowel-less Rebrand Mocked

Investment house Standard Life Aberdeen has announced a new name - with most of its vowels removed.
The firm said that its new name "Abrdn" would still be pronounced "Aberdeen", but that the rebrand would make it "modern" and "dynamic".
In a video posted on Twitter, it said the "A" would be taken from "Standard Life", rather than Aberdeen.
The decision drew some jokes online from those who were not impressed by the name change.
"Our new brand Abrdn builds on our heritage and is modern, dynamic and, most importantly, engaging for all of our client and customer channels," said chief executive Stephen Bird.

Reliance, BP Start Production at Satellite Cluster

Reliance Industries (RIL) and BP announced the start of production from the Satellite Cluster gas field, in block KG-D6, ahead of schedule. The second of the three deep-water gas developments, planned jointly, was expected to start production in mid-2021.
RIL and BP have been developing R Cluster, Satellite Cluster and MJ in the KG-D6 block — which together is expected to produce around 30 mmscmd (1 billion cubic feet a day) of natural gas by 2023. It will meet up to 15 per cent of the country's gas de¬mand.
Despite Covid-19 challe¬nges, the Satellite Cluster field has come onstream two months ahead of schedule, it said. The field is located about 60 km from the existing on¬shore terminal at Kakinada on the East Coast in water depths of up to 1,850 metres.
The fields will each utilise the existing hub infrastructure in the KG-D6 block. RIL is the operator of the block with a 66.67 per cent participating interest, while BP holds 33.33 per cent.

RBI Caps Bank CEO Tenure at 15 Years

Reserve Bank of India has capped the tenure of managing director and chief executive (MD&CEO) of commercial banks for the same incumbent to 15 years. The same limit is applicable to whole time directors (WTD).
The MD&CEO or WTD, who is also a promoter/ major shareholder, cannot hold these posts for more than 12 years, according to the latest RBI notification.
In extraordinary circumstances, RBI, at its discretion, may allow MD&CEO or WTDs, who are also promoter/major shareholder, to continue up to 15 years. While considering such cases, RBI will factor in level of progress and adherence to the milestones for dilution of promoters' shareholding in the bank.

RBI Cancels Licence of Bhagyodaya Friends Urban Co-Operative Bank

The RBI cancelled the licence of Bhagyodaya Friends Urban Co-operative Bank Limited (Amravati), as the lender does not have adequate capital and will be unable to pay its present depositors in full.
However, as per the data submitted by the bank, more than 98 per cent of the depositors will receive the full amounts of their deposits from Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).
On liquidation, every depositor would be entitled to receive a deposit insurance claim amount of his/her deposits up to a monetary ceiling of Rs. 5 lakh from DICGC, subject to the provisions of the DICGC Act, 1961.

SA and Kenya Telecom Firms Bid for Ethiopian Market

Giant telecom operators from the UK, South Africa, Kenya and Japan are bidding to enter Ethiopia's untapped telecom market.
The country's finance ministry announced that it received two bids - from South Africa's MTN Group and a consortium that includes Kenya's Safaricom - as it works to open the telecom market to international operators.
The consortium also includes Vodafone and CDC companies from the UK, South Africa's Vodacom and Japanese firm Sumitomo.
Financial and technical assessments of the bids will be done by a national evaluation committee.
Opening up the telecom market was one of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's pledges of economic reform when he came to power three years ago.

RBI Turns Net Seller of US Dollars in February

According to RBI data, the Reserve Bank turned net seller of the US dollar in February 2021, offloading USD 1.219 billion in the spot market.
This is for the second time in the financial year 2020-21 when the central bank sold the US currency in the spot market on a net basis. In April 2020, RBI had net sold USD 1.142 billion. Since then, it remained a net purchaser for straight nine months till January 2021.
During February 2021, RBI bought USD 23.352 billion and sold USD 24.571 billion in the spot market, the central bank said in its monthly bulletin for April 2021.
In the same month of 2020, RBI had net purchased USD 9.144 billion.

Apr 26, 2021

Seven-point Action Plan 'ONGC Way Forward'

The petroleum ministry has told India's largest oil and gas producer ONGC to sell stake in producing oil fields such as to Ratna R-Series to private firms, get foreign partners in KG basin gas fields, monetise existing infrastructure, and hive off drilling and other services into a separate firm to raise production.
Amar Nath, additional secretary (exploration) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, on April 1 wrote to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Chairman and Managing Director Subhash Kumar giving a seven-point action plan, 'ONGC Way Forward' that would help the firm raise oil and gas production by one-third by 2023-24.

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