General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - October 2018

Oct 2018

Feb 06, 2020

Instamojo Buys Digital Commerce Platform GetMeAShop

Bengaluru-based digital payment platform Instamojo acquired Times Internet-owned GetMeAShop, a digital commerce platform for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), for $5 million in cash. This is Instamojo's first acquisition since its inception in 2012, and will allow the startup to branch into software offerings.
Instamojo launched as a payment gateway for MSMEs, and later branched into an e-commerce platform for merchants to list and sell their products and services online. It had launched a lending product--MojoCapital--and a last-mile logistics service, branded MojoXPress, focused on its merchants in 2018.

Pakistan Steps in to Compensate Malaysia after India Restricts Palm Oil Import

Pakistan will do its best to buy more palm oil from Malaysia after top buyer India put curbs on such imports in January 2020 amid a diplomatic row with the Southeast Asian nation.
India has put general restrictions on refined palm oil imports and informally asked traders specifically to stop buying from Malaysia, the world's second-biggest producer and exporter of the edible oil, in retaliation for Malaysia's accusation that recent Indian policies discriminate against Muslims.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad discussed palm oil with Khan – in Malaysia on a state visit – and that Pakistan had indicated it would import more from Malaysia.
According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Pakistan bought 1.1 million tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia in 2019, while India bought 4.4 million tonnes.

Great Wall Commits $1 bn Investment in India

China's largest SUV manufacturer Great Wall Motors (GWM) will invest $1 billion in India, which is set to be among the top three auto markets globally.
The $1 billion (about Rs. 7,100 crore) investment will be made in a phased manner in areas including research and development, manufacturing, and sales and marketing.
It also plans to provide about 3,000 direct employment in a phased manner.
GWM also plans to invest in battery research and development and manufacturing in India to reinforce and accelerate India's Electrification Strategy'.

Rosneft Keen to Bid for BPCL

Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft is keen to bid for acquisition of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), after the Russian firm's CEO Igor Sechin met Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Rosneft, which is the majority owner of India's second-biggest private oil refinery, is keen to expand in the world's third-largest and the fastest-growing energy market.
Sechin held delegation-level talks with Pradhan and expressed interest in bidding for the acquisition of government stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL).
The government is selling all of its 53 per cent stake in BPCL in the country's biggest privatisation plan.
As per reports, national oil companies from the Middle East, such as Aramco of Saudi Arabia and ADNOC of UAE, have also been primed for bidding for BPCL.

Kalyani Group Plans to Set up Production Facility in Uttar Pradesh

Defence hardware manufacturer Kalyani Group is looking to invest in a greenfield production facility in the proposed Uttar Pradesh Defence Corridor.
Group CMD Baba N. Kalyani said that the firm had held a series of discussions with the Uttar Pradesh government and signed a memorandum of understanding in this regard. The state government has offered to allot the required land at two to three places. It's also planning to set up a small arms unit in the country in association with DRDO.

Feb 05, 2020

Adani Arm Raises Debt via Private Placement

Gautam Adani-led Adani Transmission Ltd, the largest private sector power transmission company in India, raised $310 million in dollar-denominated debt through a private placement to US-based investors.

BlackBerry Breaks up with TCL

Chinese electronics giant TCL will not release any more BlackBerry-branded phones.
In 2016, it signed a deal to produce BlackBerry-branded Android phones, after BlackBerry decided to stop making its own devices.
It released several contemporary Android phones featuring the classic BlackBerry keyboard.
However, in a statement it confirmed that the arrangement would come to an end in August 2020.
Announcing the end of the agreement, TCL said that it had been blessed to work with BlackBerry on the smart phones.

BPCL Enters Swappable Lithium-ion Battery Supply

Eyeing opportunities in the wake of disruption expected from electric vehicles, oil major Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited launched 'e-drive initiative' — an electric three-wheeler mobility model. Partnering with electric vehicle-maker Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions and IIT Madras for technology support, the public sector oil marketing giant brought on stream a supply of swappable lithium-ion batteries at its retail outlets in Kochi and Lucknow in the first phase for electric three-wheelers.

YouTube's $15 bn Sales Fail to Impress

Alphabet Inc.'s new chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai unveiled sales figures that investors have long demanded, but shares fell 5% as Google's advertising business and the new data about YouTube and Google Cloud broadly disappointed.
Pichai had sought to counter slowing revenue growth in the company's main advertising business by pointing to the Silicon Valley firm's younger units.
But Pichai's reveal that Google's YouTube video streaming unit is generating ad revenue at a pace of $15 billion annually put it below rough estimates as high as $25 billion.

Feb 04, 2020

With Few Takers for SSRC, RBI Pushes Deadline

Lacklustre response by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) staff to opt for specialised supervisory and regulatory cadre (SSRC) has forced the central bank to the extend the deadline by six months.
The SSRC came into effect on November 1, 2019.
The RBI had invited applications from its staff, from grade B to grade F, to apply for the specialised cadre in January.
They were given the option to either opt in or opt out. The deadline to exercise the option ended on January 31, 2020.

RIL Shuts Down D1/D3 Gas Field

More than a decade after being put to production, Reliance Industries shuttered its D1/D3 gas field in the KG D6 block as it ceased to produce. Touted as India's first deep-water gas field located in the Bay of Bengal, D1/D3 was put to production in April 2009.
Production started declining from April 2010 after hitting a peak of 61.43 million metric standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) in March 2010. RIL had an estimated 10 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, but due to the reservoir's complexity and sand and water ingress, production declined.

SEBI Suspends Trading in Coffee Day

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) suspended trading in shares of Coffee Day Enterprises (CDEL).
As per reports, breach of listing obligations by not submitting audited financial statements in time could be the reason behind suspension of trading. The shares of the firm were last traded on February 1, 2020 when the market was open for the Budget announcements.
Earlier, the market regulator had informed CDEL that delay in declaration of earnings beyond January 29, 2020 could lead to halting of trade in the company's shares due to breach of listing regulations. However, the Bengaluru-headquartered firm had sought more time for submission of audited results citing to non-completion of internal investigations.

Nirma in Talks with Apollo, Bain for Emami Cement Bid

Nirma Ltd. is considering partnering with either Apollo Global Management Inc. or Bain Capital to bid for the cement unit of Indian conglomerate Emami Group.
Nuvoco Vistas Corp. a cement unit of detergent maker of Nirma, has held separate discussions with the private equity firms for a potential offer for Emami Cement.
Nuvoco is among the bidders for Emami Cement, which has picked Arpwood Capital Ltd. and Credit Suisse Group AG to manage the sale of the unit. The company is seeking a valuation of about $1 billion.

ALL is World's Third-largest Bus Maker

Ashok Leyland Ltd, the flagship of the Hinduja Group, has been ranked as the number three globally in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) bus maker segment for the calendar year 2019.
During the period, ALL sold 23,100 buses.
The ranking is based on reports released by SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers), OICA (Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles) and IHS Markit (a London-based global information provider).

Chabahar Port Plan Gets Big Boost

India's decision to more than double the outlay for developing the strategic Chabahar port in Iran in fiscal 2020-21 signals the government's determination to push ahead with the project after a clear signal from the US that it won't be affected by sanctions.
The budget for the external affairs ministry shows the allocation for the port on the Gulf of Oman in southeastern Iran has gone up from Rs. 45 crore in fiscal 2019-20 to Rs. 100 crore in fiscal 2020-21. However, the official figures showed even the allocation of Rs. 45 crore was not expended.

TCS Bags $1.5 bn Deal from U.S. Firm

IT major Tata Consultancy Services bagged a $1.5 billion (about Rs. 10,650 crore) contract from pharma company Walgreens Boots Alliance, spread over a period of 10 years.
Under the contract, TCS would provide managed services including application maintenance and support, required infrastructure and security operations.
Tata Consultancy Services has expanded its long-standing partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance, a global leader in retail and wholesale pharmacy, to transform the latter's IT operating model.
The expansion of WBA and TCS strategic partnership is based on WBA's review of its IT operating model and vendor landscape.

Feb 03, 2020

Oil Firms Prepare for Potential Investments

Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) are preparing to receive investments from Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) even as the state-run oil marketing companies await the Maharashtra government's decision on providing a fresh patch of land for the $70 billion Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd project.
IOCL, BPCL and HPCL will invest a total of Rs. 100 crore to complete preliminary work on the project, following which they intend of make a presentation to Aramco and Adnoc. IOCL will put in Rs. 50 crore and BPCL and HPCL will contribute Rs. 25 crore each.
With a 60 million tonnes per annum capacity, the Ratnagiri project is a joint venture of Aramco, Adnoc, IOCL, BPCL and HPCL. Aramco and Adnoc are expected to jointly own 50% of the refinery, with the remainder split between the three Indian oil companies.

Centrum Raises Rs. 190 crore from MS-run Fund

Centrum Housing Finance Ltd. said that a fund managed by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia agreed to invest Rs. 190 crore to acquire a significant minority stake in the affordable housing finance company. The investment is the first such external institutional funding in the Mumbai-based lender promoted by Centrum Capital Ltd. The proceeds will be used to expand its operations and enter new geographies.

Won't Tax Global Income of NRIs

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government has no intention of taxing the global income of non-resident Indians (NRIs), with a proposal announced in the Union budget only covering their earnings generated in India.
While presenting the Union budget in Parliament, the Finance Minister proposed to tax those NRIs who neither pay tax in India nor in any other country. It is also proposed to provide that an Indian citizen who is not liable to tax anywhere would be deemed to be resident in India.
The Union budget for 2020-21 offered an estimated ₹40,000 crore of tax concessions to individual taxpayers resorting to a budgetary stimulus to revive the economy. It also increased government spending, the second way to deliver a budgetary stimulus, albeit by a modest amount, but with a focus on capital expenditure. The 2020-21 budget comes against the backdrop of the slowest rate of growth in 10 years.

Feb 02, 2020

SBI Posts Highest ever Net on Essar Steel Recovery

State Bank of India reported its highest-ever quarterly profit of Rs. 5,583 crore in the October-December period, up 41% year-on-year, mainly due to a lower provision for bad loans and higher interest income.
A Rs. 11,000-crore recovery from Essar Steel, which was resolved though the bankruptcy courts during the quarter, helped the lender to write back provisions as well as boost its net interest income. Provisions for bad loans dropped 41% to Rs. 8,193 crore.

Maharashtra Metro Signs Loan Agreement with EIB

The Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro) and European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed a 'project loan agreement' for disbursement of the first instalment of Rs. 1,600 crore.
The agreement was signed by Brijesh Dixit, managing director, Maha-Metro and Andrew McDowell, vice-president, European Investment Bank, in the presence of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde, Minister Urban Development.
The tenure of the loan is 20 years with four-year moratorium and 16 year repayment period. The interest rate is floating and linked to Euribor.
This is the first instalment worth 200 million euros (Rs. 1,600 crore) out of the total loan amount of 600 million euros which EIB had agreed upon.

Indiabulls Real Estate to Merge Certain Projects of Embassy Property

Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd (IBREL) approved proposal of merger of certain ongoing, residential & commercial projects of Embassy Property Developments with itself.
The merged entity will be IBREL's development arm for both commercial and residential assets.
Embassy Property Developments is in discussions with financial investors like Blackstone to raise up to $200 million before merger. Equity investment of $200 million will bring significant cash in merged IBREL for expanding its business operations.
IBREL board has constituted a reorganisation committee to examine and evaluate options to implement merger proposal.

Enfield to Stop 500cc Single-cylinder Bikes

Bullet motorcycle maker Royal Enfield announced the end of production of 500cc motorcycles for the domestic market. Royal Enfield Classic, Bullet and Thunderbird 500cc motorcycles will be available for retail in India only till March 31, 2020 while continuing to be sold in global markets.
Royal Enfield 'Bullet Classic 500' was launched in 2008. Since then, the company's hallmark UCE 500cc single-cylinder motorcycle has echoed Royal Enfield's tradition of the long-stroke cylinder.
Announcing the end of production of the 500cc single-cylinder, long-stroke, unit construction engine motorcycles in India, Royal Enfield today announced an end to the production of special series motorcycles, the Classic 500 Tribute Black Limited Edition.
These motorcycles will be the last in India to carry the long-stroke single cylinder UCE 500cc engine and will be exclusively made to order under a limited production run. Service and spares, however, will remain available for current owners across all dealerships in India.

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