General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - October 2018

Oct 2018

Mar 18, 2020

Ex-SBI Head is Salesforce India CEO

US cloud-based service provider Salesforce.com Inc hired Arundhati Bhattacharya, one of India's best-known former bankers, as its India chief executive officer. Bhattacharya declined to comment, while Salesforce did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bhattacharya previously headed the State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, and was the first woman to lead the more than 200-year-old bank. She retired from SBI in 2017 after spending four decades in various roles. "She is a hugely credible name who comes with a wealth of experience and will help Salesforce expand in India.

Hero Electronix Arm Buys Test & Verification Solutions

Hero Electronix's group company Tessolve acquired UK-based chip design services provider Test & Verification Solutions (T&VS) for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will bolster Tessolve's chip design capabilities, and take its overall employee strength to over 2,000 engineers, Hero Electronix CEO Nikhil Rajpal said. He added the transaction will firmly cement Tessolve's position as an end-to-end provider of semiconductor engineering services, and help it reach the $100 million revenue by March 2021.

Microsoft India, NASSCOM Foundation Launches Initiative to Empower People with Disabilities

Microsoft India and NASSCOM Foundation launched the Innovate for Accessible India campaign aimed at empowering people with disabilities with the technology and tools required for better integration into society and access to equal opportunities.
The campaign will be an aggregator of workable technology solutions developed using Microsoft cloud, artificial intelligence and other technologies that address gaps faced by people with disabilities, especially in acquiring services and support in education, skill building, employment, mobility, rehabilitation and other government services.
The campaign will invite applications from students, citizens and social impact organisations to build customised solutions that address challenges faced by people with disabilities across the 21 officially recognised disabilities.
The10 best solutions that address key challenges faced by people with disabilities will be provided mentoring support by Microsoft and NASSCOM Foundation, along with grants to develop and scale their solution.

Robert E. Sell Joins Brillio Board

Digital technology consulting and solutions firm Brillio appointed Robert E. Sell to the company's Board of Directors.
Sell retired in 2018 as the Group Chief Executive of Accenture's Communications, Media & Technology (CMT) operating group after spending 34 years at the firm.
During Sell's leadership tenure, CMT was the fastest growing operating group at Accenture and by the time of his retirement it had become the second largest and most profitable. He served in the Group Chief role for over six years and as a member of Accenture's Global Management Committee.

Chinese, South Korean Companies Keen to Invest in Haryana

Top companies of South Korea and China have evinced interest in making multi crore investment in Haryana in the field of electric vehicles and Information Technology.
The interest was shown by the investors during a meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Manohar Lal to discuss various investment opportunities in Haryana.
Edison Motors India, a leading South Korean Company and manufacturer of Electric Buses and Trucks offered to establish its manufacturing plant over 30 acre with an investment of over Rs 500 crore. This will also generate employment opportunities for about 500 to 800 youth. Similarly, the Chinese firm has shown keen interest in establishing the Head Quarter building in Gurugram with a potential of generating employment opportunities for 600 to 700 youth.
As a result of various facilities and clearances being provided to the entrepreneurs under one roof in a time bound manner, Haryana has become a favourable destination for the industries to set up their units in the State. In terms of Ease of Doing Business rankings, Haryana is currently at number three in the country and first in northern states.

Mar 17, 2020

Federal Reserve Cuts Rates to Zero

The Federal Reserve, saying "the coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States," cut interest rates to essentially zero and launched a massive $700 billion quantitative easing program to shelter the economy from the effects of the virus.
The new fed funds rate, used as a benchmark both for short-term lending for financial institutions and as a peg to many consumer rates, will now be targeted at 0% to 0.25% down from a previous target range of 1% to 1.25%.
Facing highly disrupted financial markets, the Fed also slashed the rate of emergency lending at the discount window for banks by 125 basis points to 0.25%, and lengthened the term of loans to 90 days.

Paytm Hires Former Coverfox CEO

Paytm hired former Coverfox CEO Premanshu Singh as senior vice president and the head of its insurance business. This development comes months after Paytm's talks to acquire the online insurance aggregator fell through.
SoftBank Vision Fund, a large investor in Paytm's parent One97 Communications, which is also a significant shareholder in the country's largest online insurance marketplace PolicyBazaar, is likely to have posed a challenge to the deal, as reported earlier.
Singh who spent three years as the CEO of Coverfox, will report to ex-Goldman executive Amit Nayyar at Paytm. Nayyar was appointed as President of Paytm's Financial Services unit in August 2019.

RBI Directs Banks/FIs to Assess Impact on Balance Sheet, Asset Quality Due to Coronavirus Outbreak

Reserve Bank of India asked all banks and financial institutions to assess the impact on their balance sheet, asset quality, liquidity, among others, in the wake of the potential threat arising out of the spread of coronavirus disease in India.
Several confirmed cases have also been detected in India, which highlight the need of a co-ordinated strategy for handling the emerging situations for protecting the resilience of the Indian financial system, RBI said in a notification addressed to banks, urban cooperative banks, NBFCs, payment and small finance banks.
RBI asked financial entities to encourage their customers to use digital banking facilities as far as possible.

OIL Signs Agreement Crude Oil with Numaligarh Refinery

The country's second-largest national oil explorer Oil India Limited (OIL) signed an agreement named as Crude Oil Sales Agreement (COSA) with Numaligarh Refinery for sale and purchase of crude oil at Narengi, Guwahati.
The agreement to have a term of 5 years (from 1 April, 2020 to 31 March 2025)
It is expected to organize the sale & purchase transactions of crude oil produced from fields in northeastern India.
It is signed by Harish Madhav- Director Finance, OIL & IndranilMittra- Director Finance, NRL.

Flipkart Teams up with Aegon Life Insurance to Sell Quick-access Life Insurance Policies

Flipkart, an E-commerce company partnered with Aegon Life Insurance to sell comprehensive insurance solutions to customers seeking instant digital policies with an assured sum up to Rs. 10 lakh.
One of the major problems faced by the insurance industry is the idea that buying is expensive and complicated which is followed by long, difficult tenures and mis-selling.
This partnership aims to overcome this issue & make life insurance more convenient & transparent for customers at the click of a button.
The life insurance policies have diverse offerings- sums assured ranging from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh, premiums starting from Rs. 129 for Rs. 1 lakh sum insured.
The policies are available to the existing customers of Flipkart between the ages of 18 and 65 years.
With instant life insurance cover through a digital policy as its core value proposition, such policies do not require medical tests or paperwork.

Mar 16, 2020

Bandhan Bank to Invest Rs. 300 cr in Yes Bank

Private sector Bandhan Bank said that it will invest Rs. 300 crore in Yes Bank as part of RBI's reconstruction plan for the crisis-hit lender.
Bandhan Bank's board granted approval for an equity investment of Rs. 300 crore for acquiring up to 30 crore equity shares of Rs. 2 each of YES Bank Limited, for cash, at a premium of Rs. 8 per equity share, under the proposed Scheme of Reconstruction of YES Bank Limited under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, subject to regulatory and government approval.
ICICI Bank, Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank too on Friday said that they will join the SBI-led consortium and invest in Yes Bank.

RBI Revises Exposure Limits for Urban Cooperative Banks to Single, Group Borrowers

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revised exposure limits for urban cooperative banks (UCBs) of tier-1 capital to a single borrower to 15% and a group of borrowers to 25%. The revised exposure limits shall be applicable to all types of fresh exposures taken by UCBs.
The RBI had earlier permitted UCBs to have exposures up to 15% and 40% of their capital funds to a single borrower and a group of borrowers, respectively.
UCBs shall have at least 50% of their aggregate loans and advances comprising loans of not more than Rs. 25 lakh or 0.2% of their tier 1 capital, whichever is higher, subject to a maximum of Rs. 1 crore, per borrower.
The RBI also increased the overall priority sector lending (PSL) target for UCBs to 75% of adjusted net bank credit (ANBC) or credit equivalent amount of off-balance sheet exposure (CEOBSE), whichever is higher from 40% earlier.

RBI Issues Guidelines for Ind AS Implementation by NBFCs, ARCs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has framed regulatory guidance on Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) to be applicable on Ind AS implementing Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) for preparation of their financial statements (FS) from financial year (FY) 2019-20 onwards. The guidance has been framed to promote a high quality, consistent implementation, and better supervision of FS.
As per the guidance, all Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) covered by Rule 4 of the Companies (Indian Accounting Standards) Rules, 2015 are required to comply with Ind AS for the preparation of their FS.
The guidelines mandate NBFCs/ARCs to follow board approved policies stating clear and effective business models and portfolios.
They are mandate to frame their policy for sales out of amortised cost business model portfolios and disclose the same in their notes to FS.
The BoDs should approve sound methodologies to be computated for expected credit losses (ECL).

Mar 15, 2020

Govt. Hikes Excise Duty on Fuel to Shore up Revenue

The NDA government raised excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs. 3 per litre, adding to the windfall gains it stands to reap from a slump in global crude oil prices and giving itself room to stimulate a slowing economy that's now bracing for fallout of the coronavirus. The move is expected to result in additional revenue of more than Rs. 40,000 crore to the government.

YES Bank Gets New MD and CEO

The government appointed former Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Managing Director (MD) of SBI Prashant Kumar as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the former Punjab National Bank (PNB) MD Sunil Mehta as Non-Executive Chairman, Mahesh Krishnamurthy and Atul Bheda as non-executive directors of the reconstructed board of Yes Bank.
State Bank of India (SBI), which has a 49 % stake in Yes Bank, will nominate 2 directors & Reserve Bank could appoint one or more additional directors.
Any investor other than SBI with 15% voting rights can nominate 1 director. Until an alternate board is constituted board members will have a term of 1 year.

Bharti Airtel Takes 10% Stake in Spectacom Global Ltd

Bharti Airtel Limited (also known as Airtel), an Indian global telecommunications services company, acquired a 10 % equity stake in fitness start-up Spectacom Global Pvt Ltd, under its 'Airtel Startup Accelerator Program', which focuses on supporting the growth of early-stage Indian startups. However, the company did not reveal how much the deal is worth.
With this acquisition, Spectacom becomes the 2nd firm to join the Airtel Start-up Accelerator Program after Bengaluru-based Vahan.
Under the deal, Airtel will jointly work with Spectacom to help boost awareness and doption of the latter's health and fitness platform and encourage common man to handle the mental issues.
Due to the widespread proliferation of mobile Internet in India, this partnership will help Spectacom to create training and nutrition videos as well as live sports events that Airtel will deliver through its platforms Airtel Xstream and Wynk Music.

Mar 14, 2020

Bandhan Bank Opens 3 New Branches

Bandhan Bank opened three new branches, taking the total number across India to 1,013.
The Kolkata-based lender also opened 122 banking outlets in the form of small-format units.
As per reports, the development comes days after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifted restrictions on new branch openings for the lender.

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce and Life Insurance Launches iSelect+ Term Plan

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited launched iSelect+ Term Plan to provide shield against all uncertainties of life at an affordable premium which includes Whole Life Cover, Return of Premium, Multiple Payout Options, Increase Coverage Option & Tax Benefits. It is available online.
The plan is designed to provide death benefit, terminal illness, & has additional options of accidental death benefit, accidental total, permanent disability benefit & child support benefit
It offers different options for not only coverage, but also for premium payment & benefit payouts.Customers can choose from the various options provided & customize it as per their requirement.
It also offers an option to avail return of premium benefit wherein all your premiums will be returned once you outlive the policy tenure.
The plan has 3 options namely; Option 1 "Life", Option 2 "Life with Return of Premium", Option 3 "Life Plus".

Pepsi to Buy Energy Drink Maker Rockstar

PepsiCo Inc said that it would buy Rockstar Energy Beverages for $3.85 billion, in the soda giant's biggest push into the energy drinks market, where rival Coca-Cola Co has been rapidly expanding.
Pepsi, which already distributes Rockstar drinks, has a smaller presence in the energy space with its Mountain Dew Kickstart and Mountain Dew Game Fuel brands.

SpiceJet Inks Pact with GMR Hyderabad Aviation SEZ

Budget carrier SpiceJet signed a pact with GMR Hyderabad Aviation SEZ Limited (GHASL) for setting up a warehousing, distribution and trading facility in the airport operator's aerospace and industrial park.
GAHSL is a fully-owned subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL).
The facility, to be intially spread over in 33,000 sq feet area, will come up within the Free Trade Warehousing Zone of multi-product special economic zone (SEZ), SpiceJet said in a release.
It may be further expanded to 1,00,000 sq ft based on demand, it said.
GMR Aerospace and Industrial Park is housed in Hyderabad Airport City.
The park offers 'ready-to-use' industrial infrastructure with the flexibility of choosing land within SEZ for businesses focusing on foreign markets and land in domestic tariff area for businesses catering to the Indian market.

GOKADDAL, World's First Digital Solutions Exchange Cloud in India

GOKADDAL, the World's first Digital Solutions Exchange in Cloud, was launched in India. www.gokaddal.com, a cloud based solution exchange platform mainly focuses on 4As – Automation, Artificial Intelligence, Analytics and Augmentative Technologies.
GOKADDAL – It is a Business to Business (B2B), Business to Government (B2G), Business to Consumer (B2C) solution platform which connects solution providers to solution seekers and an innovative platform for Startups and SME companies.
It is a Dubai based emerging Technology company led by Ravinder Pal Singh (Digital Disrupter, Industry Expert, Ex Cisco and Dell Executive) and it is a part of the Mekado Group at Bangalore, Karnataka.
It was created to help the solution seekers realize their digital transformation vision. The company is already working with innovative projects consists of Data Analytics as platform, like Smart Cities eGov tracking application, Digital Healthcare Diagnostic as a Service, IoT based Smart Water Management and Cyber Assessment for digital world.

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