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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - May 2018

May 2018

Feb 23, 2021

Airtel Partners with Qualcomm for Virtualised, Open RAN-based 5G Networks

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel announced that it had collaborated with Qualcomm for accelerating 5G in India. Through Airtel's network vendors and device partners, the company would utilise the Qualcomm 5G RAN Platforms to roll out virtualised and Open RAN-based 5G networks.
"Airtel has been a pioneer of new technologies and our networks are fully ready for 5G. We are delighted to have Qualcomm Technologies as a key technology provider in our journey to roll out world-class 5G in India. With Airtel's integrated service portfolio and Qualcomm Technologies' 5G leadership, we will be well-placed to usher India into the next era of hyper-fast and ultra-low latency digital connectivity," said Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel.
Airtel is also looking to collaborate with Qualcomm for 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) to deliver broadband connectivity at Gigabit speeds to homes and businesses.

Bharat Forge Joins Hands with Paramount to Manufacture Armoured Vehicles

Bharat Forge inked a pact with global aerospace and technology firm Paramount Group to manufacture armoured vehicles in the country.
An agreement to this effect was signed by both companies during the International Defence Expo (IDEX 2021) in Abu Dhabi.
This collaboration brings together the manufacturing and technology excellence of two leading companies, which have matching synergies and complementary capabilities.

State-owned Life Insurance Corporation Launches New plan Bima Jyoti

Life Insurance Corporation has introduced a new plan which is a non-linked, non-participating, individual, savings plan offering a combination of protection and savings.
Bima Jyoti provides a guaranteed lump sum payment on maturity and financial support to the family in case of untimely death of the policyholder during the policy-term.
Guaranteed additions at the rate of Rs. 50 per thousand basic sum assured will be added to the policy at the end of each policy year.
The minimum basic sum assured is Rs. 1 lakh with no upper limit and the policy can be taken for 15 to 20 years by a 90-day-old child to those under 60.

Amazon Partners with Mahindra Electric

E-commerce giant Amazon India has partnered with Mahindra Electric to add more electric vehicles (EVs) to its delivery fleet in the country. In 2020, Amazon India had announced that its fleet of delivery vehicles would include 10,000 EVs by 2025 – these would be over and above the global commitment of 100,000 EVs by 2030 under the company's Climate Pledge. The partnership with Mahindra Electric is an important step towards India's progress in the e-mobility industry to achieve its environmental sustainability goals.
Jeff Bezos-led Amazon would continue to work with several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to build a fleet of 'Made in India' EVs that ensure sustainable and safe delivery of customers' orders.

Indian Oil Signs Pact with Greenstat Norway

Days after India unveiled a national hydrogen mission to accelerate plans to generate the carbon-free fuel from renewables, state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) signed a pact with Greenstat Norway for setting up a Centre of Excellence on Hydrogen.
In the Union Budget for 2021-22, the government pledged to focus on generating hydrogen from green power sources as well as build more diverse and efficient energy infrastructure.
The partnership between IOC and Greenstat will actively assist partners/stakeholders to develop business models based upon feasibility studies besides facilitating consultancies to industry, utilities and regulators on hydrogen storage, hydrogen production, refuelling stations, fuel cells and CCUS technologies.

PM Modi Launches Petro and Gas Projects in Assam

Opening the coffers of his government for poll-bound Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the successive Congress dispensations that ruled the country since Independence for neglecting the state and the northeast for decades.
On his third visit to Assam in a month, Modi, who dedicated to the nation three major projects in the petroleum sector worth over Rs. 3,222 crore, enumerated steps taken by the state government led by Sarbananda Sonowal and the centre over the past few years for its balanced growth.

Feb 22, 2021

India Signs $50 mn Agreement to Boost Maldives' Maritime Capability

India has signed a USD 50 million line of credit (LoC) agreement with the Maldives to facilitate maritime capability building of the island nations.
According to a joint India-Maldives joint statement, the agreement was signed between the Government of the Maldives and EXIM Bank India.
The agreement was signed during the visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the Maldives.
Jaishankar, accompanied by a delegation of senior officials from India, paid an official visit to the Maldives on 20-21 February 2021 at the invitation of Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.

Mahindra Lifespace to Invest in New Housing Project in Pune

Realty firm Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd will invest around Rs. 500 crore to build a new housing project in Pune as it seeks to expand business amid strong recovery in residential real estate market.
The company will develop more than 1,000 units in the project 'Happinest Tathawade', which is spread over nearly 7 acres of land. The project will be developed in two phases, with the first one comprising over 600 apartments.
As per Mahindra Lifespace Developers Chief Marketing Officer Viral Oza, the company has launched a new housing project in Pune, which has been an important market for it.

Dell Opens Global Innovation Facility in Singapore, First Outside US

Dell Technologies has opened a $50 million innovation facility in Singapore focusing on research and development (R&D) in key digital transformation technologies.
It is the company's first such facility to be built outside the US to research in areas including edge computing, data analytics, and augmented reality.
Dell this month launched a skill's accelerator programme in Singapore, offering to equip 3,000 students, fresh graduates, and mid-career professionals over the next two years with skills in cloud computing, data protection, data science, and big data analytics.

Sudan Floats Currency to Overhaul Economy

Sudan took the unprecedented but expected step of floating its currency, meeting a major demand by international financial institutions to help transitional authorities overhaul the battered economy.
The flotation is the boldest economic measure taken by the transitional government that has ruled the African country after a popular uprising led to the military's overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
The US dollar had been trading at over 350 pounds to the dollar on the black market, while its official rate was at 55 pounds to the dollar.

Feb 21, 2021

Pakistan to register Himalayan pink salt as Geographical Indications

Pakistan has decided to register Himalayan pink salt as Geographical Indications (GI) to prevent its unauthorized use by other countries.
A GI tag is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess origin-based qualities and reputation in the region.
The precious salt is extracted from the Salt Range in Punjab which extends along the south of the Potohar Plateau and the north of the Jhelum River.

Feb 20, 2021

ICICI Bank to Buy Stake in Fintech Startup Thillais Analytical Solutions

ICICI Bank Ltd. has entered into an agreement with fintech startup Thillais Analytical Solutions Pvt. Ltd. to buy 9.65% stake in the company.
Thillais Analytical Solutions operates a neo-banking platform Vanghee, which facilitates connected banking solutions for corporates and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and helps banks deepen their customer relationships.
The deal agreed for a cash consideration of Rs. 1.1 crore is expected to be closed by the end of March 2021.
Post the investment, ICICI Bank will hold 9.65% shareholding, on a fully diluted basis, in Thillais Analytical Solutions through an acquisition of 10 equity shares and 100 compulsory convertible preference shares.

RBI Forms Expert Panel to Explore Consolidation of Urban Co-op Banks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted an eight-member expert panel to draw up a regulatory road map for urban co-operative banks (UCBs) and study the sector's consolidation prospects.
Among the terms of reference of this committee will be to suggest effective measures for faster rehabilitation and resolution of UCBs.
It has been tasked to look into regulatory measures that the central bank has taken with respect to UCBs and evaluate the impact it has had over a period of five years. It has also been asked to suggest measures to strengthen the sector after amendments to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, which gives the central bank more teeth to supervise them. The expert committee has been asked to submit its report within three months.
The expert committee will also evaluate the need for differential regulations and look at the prospect of allowing greater flexibility in permissible activities for UCBs with a view to enhance their resilience.

ISRO on a Mission to Give Leg-up to Space Start-ups

ISRO has embarked on a mission to take startups in the space sector to a higher orbit with a string of initiatives to help them realize their business potential. It is keen on formulating an exclusive space startup programme -- "Space Entrepreneurship & Enterprise Development (SEED)".
SEED is conceived as a competitive early stage encouragement programme to startups and MSMEs (Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises) keen on developing products/services in focus areas of interest to ISRO with the space agency helping them to use its facilities.

Maharashtra Govt. Signs MoU with Flipkart to Promote Wooden Toys

In order to promote wooden toys, local artefacts, handicrafts Maharashtra Small Industries Development Corporation and Maharashtra State Khadi & Village Industries Board have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Flipkart.
State Minister for industries Subhash Desai said that this MoU will enable artisans, weavers, craftsmen & MSMEs from Maharashtra to showcase their products to millions of customers in India. Flipkart will provide free training for packaging and branding to all these manufacturers. Also, product photography will also be done by the company.

Cairn Oil & Gas Seeks Bids for Sale of Natural Gas from Rajasthan Block

Mining magnate Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Ltd invited bids for the sale of natural gas from its prolific Rajasthan block at rates equivalent to the price of imported LNG from the spot market or Brent oil price.
Cairn Oil & Gas, Vedanta's oil and gas arm, produces about 3.5 million standard cubic meters per day of gas from its largely oil-bearing block in Rajasthan.
The output is being ramped-up to more than 5 mmscmd.
The company invites Expression of Interest (EoI) from interested parties with proven capabilities and demonstrated presence in the natural gas business to participate in the national competitive e-auction process for the purchase of natural gas produced from our flagship block in Barmer, Rajasthan

Feb 19, 2021

Production Starts in Two New Iron Ore Blocks

Both the mines — Jiling-Langlota iron ore block and Guali iron ore block — have a production capacity of 15 lakh tonnes per month. They possess about 275 million tonnes of consolidated iron ore reserves.
These blocks have been just lately reserved for state-owned Odisha Mining Company (OMC) inside a short while of 25 days, after a request was made by the state authorities to the Centre, to ease the scarcity of iron ore in Odisha.

Piramal Group gets RBI Approval for DHFL's Acquisition

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cleared the Rs 34,250-crore acquisition of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) by the Piramal group.
The Ajay Piramal-led group had outbid US-based asset management firm Oaktree. Piramal plans to merge DHFL with its financial services business as soon as the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approves the transaction.
The acquisition is in line with the Piramal group's strategy to diversify its loan book, and a step towards the demerger of the group's financial services and pharma businesses in the future. A Piramal group official said the company planned to merge its financial services business with DHFL and retain all employees; it could even hire additional staff to grow the business.

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