General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - May 2018

May 2018

Apr 01, 2021

Govt. Extends Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme

The government has extended the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) by another three months, and widened its scope to issue additional funding up to 40 per cent of outstanding loans as on February 29, 2020 as against 20 per cent earlier.
According to Ministry of Finance, the scheme, dubbed as ECLGS 3.0, has been extended until June 30, or until Rs. 3 trillion is disbursed, due to continuing adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic on certain services sector. The collateral free loan guarantee scheme, announced as a part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package, would now also cover borrowers with total credit outstanding up to Rs. 500 crore, with overdues for 60 days or less on February 29 as compared to 30 days overdue earlier.
The tenor of loans granted under ECLGS 3.0 will be 6 years including moratorium period of 2 years. The tenor of loans under the previous version, ECLGS 2.0, was five years with a 12-month moratorium on repayment of principal.

ECB May Get a Digital Currency in 4 Years

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said that her institution could launch a digital currency around the middle of this decade if her fellow policy makers give the project the green light this summer.
The ECB is about to release an analysis of the 8,000 responses it received as part of a public consultation process on the potential launch of a central bank digital currency. That will be sent to the European Parliament and then the ECB's decision-making Governing Council will decide in the middle of this year whether to move forward with its practical experimentation.
The second decision — whether to roll out a digital currency — will be made six months to a year after that, she said.

Hitachi to Buy US Software Developer GlobalLogic

Hitachi is set to acquire U.S. software developer GlobalLogic for $9.6 billion in what is expected to be the largest acquisition by a Japanese electrical equipment company.
According to Hitachi President and CEO Toshiaki Higashihara, the objective of this acquisition is to advance our (Internet of Things platform) Lumada and accelerate global businesses.
The planned acquisition comes as Hitachi is rapidly overhauling its group businesses to concentrate on the IT sector while shedding non-core operations.

BPCL Acquires OQ's Stake in Bina Refinery

Privatisation-bound Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) acquired partner OQ's entire stake in the Bina Refinery project in Madhya Pradesh for Rs. 2,400 crore.
BPCL signed a sales purchase agreement with OQ, formerly known as Oman Oil Company Ltd, to acquire its 36.6 per cent stake in Bharat Oman Refineries Limited.
With this, BPCL now has full control over BORL, which runs a 7.8 million tonnes per annum capacity oil refinery at Bina in Madhya Pradesh.
Bharat Oman Refineries Limited was incorporated in 1994 as a public limited company with equal equity participation of BPCL and OQ. Since March 2020, BPCL has been holding 63.4 per cent and OQ 36.6 per cent equity in the company. The Government of Madhya Pradesh has a minor stake in the company through compulsorily convertible warrants.

Union Bank of India Launches UNI - CARBON CARD

Union Bank of India launched "UNI – CARBON CARD", an HPCL co-branded credit card on the Rupay platform of NPCI. It is a unique card designed with association with one of the largest Public Sector Bank, Union Bank of India and HPCL, a leader in the fuel retail and Rupay – India's largest card payment network. It will create an opportunity to create value for the customers.
The Bank is having a total network of 9590+ branches and 13280+ ATMs across India, this co-branded credit card is a Bank's maiden joint venture.
While using this card at HPCL retail outlets, the cardholder gets Cashback/Rewards in addition to the waiver of fuel surcharge provided by the Bank.

SBI Inks Loan Agreement with Japan Bank for International Cooperation

State Bank of India has raised $1 billion from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to extend loans to supply chain of Japanese automobile industry in India.
SBI signed a loan agreement with JBIC, taking the total facility to $2 billion. It has inked similar agreement for $1 billion in October 2020. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed including tenure and interest charged for loan facility.
The virtual signing ceremony event was held in the presence of Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI along with senior executives of SBI, Hayashi Nobumitsu, Deputy Governor (JBIC) and Ayukawa Kenichi, CEO & MD of Maruti Suzuki.

Mar 31, 2021

BHEL Receives Order from IOC

State-run engineering firm BHEL has bagged an order worth Rs. 400 crore for setting up a sulphur recovery unit at Indian Oil's Paradip Refinery in Odisha.
With this order, BHEL has made an entry into the downstream oil & gas process package business.
The company's diversification strategy into non-coal based business areas has begun paying dividends and this is a milestone order for BHEL as part of its new growth areas initiative.

Wipro Names Former Walmart Executive Subha Tatavarti as CTO

IT major Wipro has appointed former PayPal executive Subha Tatavarti as its Chief Technology Officer.
US-based Tatavarti worked in PayPal for 10 years between 2010 and 2020 in various technology roles including heading product, cloud and platforms, and data and analytics. She was the senior director of technology commercialisation at the retail major Walmart.
Tatavarti's appointment is part of a long line of appointments that Wipro has made after the structural overhaul announced in November 2020 as part of Delaporte's vision to accelerate growth for the company.
Apart from PayPal and Walmart, she has also worked at CliMetrics, Inc. (as Co-founder and Director), Abbott Laboratories, Fannie Mae, and BearingPoint.

Indiagold Launches EMI-based Gold Purchase Product 'EasyGold'

Fintech platform for digital gold services, Indiagold, announced the full-scale launch of its third product, EasyGold, which allows users to buy the precious metal digitally, across equated monthly installments (EMIs) of three to nine months.
Indiagold, which has been piloting the product for the last 3-4 months, has partnered with precious metals management company, Augmont Gold for the service and has already received close to 1,500 orders during its pilots.
Users can then pay the remaining amount across monthly installments spread equally over three, six or nine months. In addition to this, EasyGold allows users to purchase gold for ticket sizes as low as Rs. 5,000, with the final product shipped to the consumer's doorstep.

Tata Power Bags Orders to Develop 60 MW Solar Project in Gujarat

Tata Power bagged an order to develop 60 MW (mega watt) solar project for Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam.
The energy will be supplied to GUVNL under a power purchase agreement (PPA), valid for a period of 25 years from scheduled commercial operation date, the company said.
As per the company, the project has to be commissioned within 18 months from the date of execution of the PPA.
Tata Power's renewable capacity will increase to 4,007 MW, out of which 2,687 MW is operational and 1,320 MW is under implementation including 60 MW won under this PPA.

FTSE Puts India and Saudi on Watchlist for Inclusion in its Bond Index

India's efforts to include its bonds in global bond indices could fructify soon with FTSE Russell placing Indian and Saudi Arabian government bond markets on the watchlist for possible inclusion in its FTSE Emerging Government Bond Index.
FTSE Russell's semi-annual country classification review released said that the market accessibility level of Indian and Saudi Arabian bonds will be considered for reclassification to 1 from 0.
Global index users have shown interest in Indian government securities issued through the Fully Accessibility Route (FAR), FTSE said, adding that it will start a version of its FTSE Indian Government Bond Index that tracks these securities in coming weeks.

TCS Rebrands as 'Building on Belief'

India's largest IT services firm, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), unveiled a new brand statement, 'Building on Belief', to articulate its mission and relationship with customers as it embarks on its next decade of transformation-led growth. For over a decade the company's brand statement was 'Experience Certainty'.
The brand statement has been created after an extensive research of over one year. It also undertook extensive survey on brand outlook across customers and associates. Over 100 customers and 200 employees including millennials were part of the study.
This rebranding is happening after 15 years and is the reflection on where the company wants to be in future and what it is today.

Alstom Bags Contract for Mumbai Metro

French mobility firm Alstom has been awarded a 220-million euro (Rs. 1,854 crore) contract by the Mumbai Me¬t¬ro¬politan Region Deve¬lop¬ment Autho¬rity (MMR¬DA) to design, manufacture, sup¬ply, test, and commission 234 metro cars, including training of per¬sonnel for Mum¬bai Metro Line 4 and the extension corridor (Wad¬ala-Kasar¬vadavali-Gai¬mukh).
These new products have been added to Alstom's portfolio as part of the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation on January 29. The combined portfolio of products — signalling, engineer¬ing, and services —all¬ows a significantly incre¬ased offering for customers across India and the Asia-Pacific Region.

Sapan Gupta Elevated as Global Legal Head of ArcelorMittal

As per reports, Sapan Gupta, the general counsel of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India and vice-president, ArcelorMittal has been elevated as the global legal head of ArcelorMittal.
The appointment is effective from June 1, 2021.
Gupta joined ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) on April 1, 2020, as general counsel with responsibility for legal affairs, compliance and company secretarial affairs.

Mar 30, 2021

Adani Green Energy Acquires Stake in Spinel Energy and Infrastructure

Adani Green Energy acquired 100 per cent equity stake in Spinel Energy and Infrastructure from Hindustan Cleanenergy and Peridot Power Ventures.
This acquisition is part of AGEL's overall growth strategy where the company is planning to build a capacity of 25 GW by 2025.
AGEL's present capacity includes power plants worth 15,240 MW in 86 locations, spread over 11 states in the country.

HDFC Bank India's Best SME Bank

HDFC Bank was adjudged the 'India's Best Bank for SMEs' at the Asiamoney Best Bank Awards 2021. In its evaluation, the magazine said that "HDFC Bank's transformation of its micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) business over the past few years makes it a worthy winner of this award." The Annual Best Banks survey of the financial magazine based in Hong Kong aims to identify which banks in each market have excelled across a range of core banking activities over the past 12 months.
Asiamoney's award decisions were made by a team of senior journalists after receiving detailed submissions from market participants and in conjunction with research into the banking and capital markets by our editorial committee. Senior editors also visited each country or territory to meet leading bankers and gather client and competitor feedback.

USTR Proposes Retaliatory Trade Actions against India, 5 other Countries

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has proposed retaliatory trade actions against India and certain other countries that have imposed or are considering equalisation levy/digital services tax on e-commerce companies.
It has issued notices seeking public comments on proposed trade actions against six countries, including India.
The USTR, in a statement, said that it is proceeding with the public notice and comment process on possible trade actions to preserve procedural options before the conclusion of the statutory one-year time period for completing the investigations.
According to a USTR document pertaining to India, it has requested written comments regarding a potential trade action in connection with the Section 301 investigation of India's Digital Services Tax.

Mar 29, 2021

SEBI to Set up Fund to Buy Stressed Corporate Bonds

According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Securities and Exchange Board of India will set up Corporate Debt Market Development Fund (CDMDF) to provide liquidity to mutual funds and other participating institutional investors in the corporate bond market.
As the financial sector evolves from a bank-dominated system to a market-oriented system, supporting financial markets has become an important aspect, Sitharaman said. "Hence a permanent arrangement of an SPV facility is considered for providing liquidity, so that they can act as the buyer of the last resort, during stress times, and to some extent even acting as a market maker during times of peace.
The new fund will be set up as an alternative investment fund, and SEBI is working on the operational details of this facility in consultation with the Department of Economic Affairs. The special SPV is proposed to be jointly set up with the contribution of mutual funds, and also other institutional investors. The majority ownership shall be with a subsidiary of a public sector mutual fund.

Soma Mondal New Chairperson of SCOPE

Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE), the organisation representing the Central Government Public Enterprises, announced members of its new executive board.
Soma Mondal, Chairman, SAIL, was elected as the new Chairperson of SCOPE, while Pradip Kumar Das, CMD, IREDA has been entrusted Vice Chairman's role after the biennial elections.
The newly elected members would take charge on April 1 and would continue in the office for the 2021-23 term.
Other members elected to the executive board include R.K. Sinha, Director, Personnel, CWC, Ranjan Kumar Mohapatra, Director, HR, IOCL, Amitabh Banerjee, CMD, IRFC and Alok Verma, Director HR, HAL among others.

BPCL Sells Stake in Numaligarh Refinery to Oil India

Privatisation-bound Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) sold its entire 61.5 per cent stake in Numaligarh Refinery in Assam to a consortium of Oil India Ltd and Engineers India and Government of Assam for Rs. 9,876 crore.
OIL bought a 54.16 per cent stake to raise its shareholding in the refinery to 80.16 per cent, the company said in stock exchange filings.
Its partner, Engineers India Ltd (EIL) bought a 4.4 per cent stake and the balance 3.2 per cent was acquired by Government of Assam.
The sale of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) clears the way for privatisation of India's second-largest fuel retailer.

HCL Technologies Launches Digital Acceleration Center in Canada

HCL Technologies, announced the opening of its innovation center focused on digital acceleration in Mississauga, Ontario. From this Global Delivery center (GDC), HCL will deliver advanced technology solutions to its global client base to help accelerate their digital transformation journey.
HCL will provide next-gen services including digital and analytics solutions, cloud consulting and migration, cybersecurity, IT infrastructure and application services. HCL continues to significantly invest in Canada to build innovation and delivery capabilities and strengthen its workforce.
The Mississauga center, which has a seating capacity of 350, will be one of the largest for HCL in Canada, housing co-innovation labs for customers to ideate, collaborate, develop and deliver futuristic solutions through next generation technologies in their business transformation journeys. HCL plans to create 2,000 new employment opportunities in Canada in the next three years, engaging Canada's diverse and highly skilled local talent to serve its global clients.

Mar 28, 2021

BSNL and MTNL to Get Spectrum for 5G Services without Participating in Auction

The government will administratively allocate spectrum to telecom public sector units BSNL and MTNL for 5G and future services, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed Parliament.
He said that allocation of spectrum to BSNL and MTNL will be done on the same principle as proposed for allotment of spectrum for 4G services.
Government also approved to administratively allot spectrum for providing 5G services to BSNL/MTNL, spectrum for maintaining current operations and future services on the same principle as proposed for allotment of spectrum for 4G services.
5G services are yet to start in India.

Mahindra Electric Mobility to Consolidate with Parent M&M

The board of directors at Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd has given in-principle approval for consolidation of Mahindra Electric Mobility in the company.
Mahindra Electricity Mobility is a step-down subsidiary of M&M. The consolidation will categorise EV operations in two focused verticals -- last mile mobility (LMM) and electric vehicle tech centre.
The initiative will provide LMM vertical with complete ownership of the value chain for last-mile mobility solutions to drive growth and execution.
It will also provide EV tech centre with the depth of resources and energy with M & M's larger ecosystem of product development capability in Mahindra Research Valley (MRV) at Chennai, North America and Europe while exploring partnership and alliances.

Air India May Get a New Owner by June

The central government is close to inviting financial bids for flag carrier Air India, moving toward the sale of an airline that's surviving on taxpayer money, Civil Avia¬tion Minister Hardeep Puri has said.
The financial offers are expected to come in within 64 days from the date of request, he said, addressing the Times Network India Economic Conclave.
The process is likely to be completed by May or June, he said. Bloomberg reported on the plan earlier Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. "It's a question of taking the decision and handing over the airline," Puri said, without giving details of the bidders who made the initial shortlist.
Tata Group and SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh have been shortlisted to bid for the carrier, media reported this week. An invitation for financial bids will be a progress for Modi, who has failed previously to sell the enterprise that has been rescued by the government multiple times in the past decade.

Government Offers 67 blocks in Second Tranche of Commercial Coal Mine Auction

The government offered 67 coal mines for sale, launching the second tranche of commercial coal mining auction and termed it a step towards 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'. This is the highest number of mines on offer in a particular tranche after commencement of the auction regime in 2014. "India launched its 2nd tranche of auction for commercial coal mining, offering 67 mines for sale of coal, today. Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi launched the auction process in a programme held in New Delhi," Ministry of Coal said in a statement. NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Coal Secretary Anil Kumar Jain were also present in the function.
Out of the total 67 mines offered by the ministry, 23 are under Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act and 44 under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act. The blocks on offer are a mix of mines with small and large reserves, coking and non-coking mines and fully and partially explored blocks spread across 6 states – Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

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