General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - October 2018

Oct 2018

Nov 28, 2019

Three UP Regional Rural Banks to be Amalgamated

Three regional rural public sector banks - Baroda Uttar Pradesh Grameen Bank, Kashi Gomti Samyut Gramin Bank and Purvanchal Bank will be amalgamated on April 1, 2020 into a single regional rural bank which will be called Baroda UP Bank.
The headquarters of the Baroda UP Bank will be in Gorakhpur under the sponsorship of Bank of Baroda. Bank of Baroda is the sponsor of Baroda Uttar Pradesh Grameen Bank, Union Bank of India is the sponsor of Kashi Gomti Samyut Gramin Bank while the State Bank of India is the sponsor of Purvanchal Bank.
The government had after consultations with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the sponsor banks of the concerned regional rural banks decided that it was necessary in public interest and the interest of the three regional rural banks that they be amalgamated.

ZEEL Comes Under SEBI Scanner

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) has come under the scanner of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) after it emerged that two directors — independent director Neharika Vohra and non-independent director Subodh Kumar — had raised concerns relating to corporate governance and related party transactions in their resignation letters.
The capital market regulator is believed to be looking into some of the allegations, including non-implementation of certain board decisions taken in October relating to treasury operations and issues raised regarding build up of related party balances and advances for content acquisition.

India Seeks Review of FTAs with ASEAN and Japan

India has sought review of its existing free trade agreements (FTAs) with ASEAN and Japan.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that eight rounds of negotiations have been held with South Korea for upgrading the existing comprehensive FTA.
As per Piyush Goyal, India and the European Union have held eight stock taking level meetings since the resumption of their negotiations in 2016 on a proposed Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA).

Ujjivan SFB to Reverse-merge Holding Firm

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, which is coming out with an initial public offer on December 2, 2019 will reverse-merge the listed holding company after two years.
As per MD and CEO of the bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had asked the bank to apply for the reverse merger after it completed five years of operations. The bank started operations in February 2017. The holding company, Ujjivan Financial Services, is also listed.
The small finance bank announced its initial public offering to raise Rs. 750 crore. The bank has raised Rs. 250 crore through pre-IPO placement.
Ujjivan Financial Services is the promoter of Ujjivan SFB and has 100% stake in the bank. The bank will also have to bring the promoters' holding to 40% by 2022, but may request the regulator to review the norm.

RIL Becomes First Indian Company to Hit Rs. 10 lakh crore Market Cap

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries hit Rs. 10 lakh crore mark in market capitalisation as the bulls pushed the stock to new highs. It became the first India company to reach the coveted milestone.
Tata Consultancy Services, the second most valued firm on the bourses, has a market cap of Rs 7.81 lakh crore.
RIL was also the first company to reach Rs 8 lakh crore mark in August last year. It was also the first company to hit the $100 billion mark in market-cap in 2007.

Government Extends 15th Finance Commission's Term

The Union Cabinet extended the term of 15th Finance Commission to submit its final report covering its suggestions for financial years 2021-22 to 2025-26 by Oct. 30, 2020.
The commission would submit an interim report soon covering its suggestions for 2020-21 so that these can be used for the next year's budget. Headed by NK Singh, the 15th Finance Commission had to submit its suggestions for the five-year period commencing April 2020.
But it could not complete its recommendations as Jammu & Kashmir was split into two union territories, and the J&K Reorganisation Bill stated that distribution of taxes to the state to be apportioned to union territories of J&K and Ladakh, making the panel's job complex.
As per the government, the extension of the term will enable the commission to examine various comparable estimates for financial projections in view of reforms and the new realities to finalise its recommendations for the period 2020-2026.

Saudi Will Work on Raigarh Refinery Once Land is Allocated

Saudi Arabia reiterated its willingness to begin work on a $60 billion oil refinery to be built in Maharashtra by Saudi Aramco and UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) as soon as the Indian government allocates land for the project.
The refinery, to be built with the participation of state-run Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd, figured in talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top Saudi leadership.
As per Saudi ambassador Saud bin Mohammed Al Sati, Saudi is committed and ready to start working immediately after things are finalised (for acquiring land) and is also looking to work with other states in India in the energy and petro-chemical sectors.
The refinery, originally to be located at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, was held up after the region's mango farmers refused to part with their land. Raigarh was later chosen as the new site for what will be the world's largest greenfield refinery.

Nov 27, 2019

Infra Spending by States Must Rise

According to rating agency Crisil, states need to scale up investments to Rs 110 lakh crore over the next decade to achieve India's massive infrastructure targets. While releasing its Infrastructure Yearbook 2019, the agency said that States already account for 41 per cent of the overall infrastructure spending of Rs. 77 lakh crore this decade.
As per Crisil, infrastructure investments by states need to rise to Rs. 110 lakh crore over the next decade (fiscal 2021-2030) - or 3.5 times an estimated Rs 32 lakh crore in the current decade - if India is to achieve its mammoth infrastructure buildout targets.
The agency said that for the country-wide infrastructure, required spending will be Rs. 235 lakh crore over the next decade, and called for average GDP growth of 7.5 per cent and infrastructure spending of above 6 per cent of GDP to help achieve this.
Five sectors - transport, irrigation, energy, urban & housing, and water & sanitation - accounted for two-thirds of states' spending.

Marriott International to Open 54 Hotels in India

Marriott International, one of the world's largest hotel chains that hosts over a million guests per night around the globe, is betting high on India.
The hospitality major, which currently manages 120 hotels under 17 brands across the country, will open 54 new hotels by 2025, to add 15,000 fresh rooms to its existing bunch of 24,000 keys.

CUB in Pact With Fizwizard Tech For MF Investments

City Union Bank Ltd. (CUB) tied up with Finwizard Technology Pvt. Ltd. to help its customers invest in mutual funds (MFs) through its 'all-in-one' mobile application. A senior bank official said that with the new app, the bank's customers can invest in MFs through simple, guided interaction. CUB tied up with Finwizard Technology to provide the mutual fund [investment] facility which is integrated with mobile banking.
The new app comes with multi-lingual interactive chatbot and will be available on Google Playstore.
This app has important features such as optimised user interface, e-wallet, unified payments interface, conversational bot, m-passbook, set card limit and cardless withdrawals among others.

Vistara Joins Hands with SBI Card to Launch Premium Credit Cards

Vistara Airlines tied up with SBI Card to launch two variants of cards, including Club Vistara SBI Card PRIME and Club Vistara SBI Card, to offer a rewarding travel experience to cardholders, who will avail multiple benefits and value proposition on domestic as well as international travel spends.
The card benefits include one-way Premium Economy tickets on joining and achieving spends-based milestone (s), complimentary Club Vistara Silver tier membership, up to six free cancellation of flight tickets booked on Vistara channels viz. website, app and helpline, and also complimentary lounge access- up to four international and eight domestic, among host of other facilities.

RBI Deputy Governor Red-flags Rising Stress in Mudra Loans

Reserve Bank of India deputy governor M. K. Jain raised red flags over rising non-performing assets (NPAs) in loans disbursed under the government's Mudra Loan Scheme and urged banks to monitor the repayment capacity of borrowers before disbursement.
The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana is a central government scheme under which small businesses can avail collateral-free working capital loan up to Rs. 10 lakh. The scheme was flagged off in 2015 by PM Modi to ease the credit flow to India's MSME sector.
The Mudra is a case in point while such a massive push would have lifted many beneficiaries out of poverty, there has been some concern at the growing level of non-performing assets among these borrowers. Interestingly, this is the second such warning by a senior central banker this year to banks over rising delinquencies in these loan accounts.

Nov 26, 2019

WhatsApp to Offer Start-ups in India with $250,000 Worth of Facebook ad Credits

Messaging giant WhatsApp will provide 500 DPIIT-approved start-ups with USD 500 (around Rs. 35,840) each of Facebook ad credits, a move aimed at helping Indian entrepreneurs connect with customers and grow their businesses.
With the ad credits, the start-ups can create ads that invite customers to click to open a chat on WhatsApp so they can deepen connections and increase sales.
The announcement comes after the Start-up India-WhatsApp Grand Challenge under which facebook-owned company had awarded a grant worth USD 50,000 (about Rs. 35 lakh) each to five entrepreneurs who have developed India-specific solutions with socio-economic impact.

WhatsApp to Offer Start-ups in India with $250,000 Worth of Facebook ad Credits

Messaging giant WhatsApp will provide 500 DPIIT-approved start-ups with USD 500 (around Rs. 35,840) each of Facebook ad credits, a move aimed at helping Indian entrepreneurs connect with customers and grow their businesses.
With the ad credits, the start-ups can create ads that invite customers to click to open a chat on WhatsApp so they can deepen connections and increase sales.
The announcement comes after the Start-up India-WhatsApp Grand Challenge under which facebook-owned company had awarded a grant worth USD 50,000 (about Rs. 35 lakh) each to five entrepreneurs who have developed India-specific solutions with socio-economic impact.

Jio, Airtel Submit Bids for RCom's Assets

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd and Bharti Airtel Ltd submitted bids for assets of bankrupt Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) and its two units.
Airtel and Bharti Infratel, which had earlier bid together for RCom, are likely to have bid jointly again. That bid was withdrawn in protest against the deadline extension made on the request of Reliance Jio.
China Development Bank, Life Insurance Corp. of India, State Bank of India, Exim Bank of China and Bank of Baroda are among the 41 creditors to the beleaguered Anil Ambani group company. According to information available on the company's website, it owed financial creditors Rs. 49,193.46 crore at the time of being taken to bankruptcy court in May 2018.
The company's subsidiaries are Reliance Telecom Ltd and Reliance Infratel Ltd. They owe financial creditors Rs. 24,306.27 crore and Rs. 12,687.65 crore, respectively. Reliance Communications thus owes debtors Rs. 86,187.58 crore at a consolidated level. This is besides Rs. 28,837 crore it owes to the department of telecommunications (DoT) in spectrum dues and other charges as well as the amounts it has to pay its operational creditors.

Louis Vuitton acquires US Jeweller Tiffany

Louis Vuitton SE, also known as LVMH, and US jewellers Tiffany announced a $16.2-billion tie-up that is the French luxury group's biggest-ever acquisition and will bolster its presence in the US. The deal comes after LVMH spent more than a month wooing Tiffany, the most iconic of US luxury brand known for its wedding rings and diamonds.
The companies have entered into a definitive agreement whereby LVMH will acquire Tiffany for $135 per share in cash, in a transaction with an equity value of approximately 14.7 billion euros or $16.2 billion. The deal adds Tiffany to LVMH's extensive stable of luxury brands that include Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moet & Chandon and will strengthen its position in the jewellery sector.

Nov 25, 2019

Credit Saison Launches VC Fund in India

Japanese financial services firm Credit Saison has launched its venture capital fund in India, a month after the Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed company's subsidiary received a non-banking financial services licence from the Reserve Bank of India. Saison Capital, a $55 million sector-agnostic, early-stage venture capital fund, will write cheques of $500,000 to $1 million, investing in six to eight startups.
The fund is targeting opportunities across the broader financial technology, agriculture, supply chain optimisation and human resources solutions sectors, among others. The launch of Credit Saison's VC fund is the latest by a Japanese risk capital investor in India, for whom Asia's third-largest economy has been a happy hunting ground.

Salcomp Buys Nokia's Defunct Chennai Plant

Salcomp, one of Apple's major component suppliers, has bought Nokia's defunct handset factory near Chennai for close to $30 million (₹215 crore), setting the stage for the revival of the plant that was shut down in late 2014.
Salcomp is expected to begin operations at the plant by March 2020, and ramp up exports from there to about $2 billion by investing $300 million over the next five years, said a person familiar with the matter.
Once fully functional, the new unit is expected to generate employment for close to 10,000 people, another person said. Salcomp currently operates two units in the same special economic zone in Sriperumbudur where it employs close to 7,000 people.
Salcomp's acquisition of the handset manufacturing plant — it was once the world's largest, producing 100 million handsets a year and employing some 12,000 people — coincides with iPhone maker Apple's strategy to expand production in India for the local and global markets. Apple is gradually shifting away from China amid the Sino-US trade war. The American company sources chargers from Salcomp, which is the largest player globally and which has made India a huge base over the past few years.

Govt Plans to Scrap Ecomm 'Gifts'

The government is considering amending its rules to completely remove the provision under which citizens can receive duty-free 'gifts and samples' valued at under ₹5,000 from overseas, after finding its rampant misuse by Chinese ecommerce vendors.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBITC), which formulates policy concerning levy and collection of customs, was considering a cap on the number of gifts an individual can receive, but has decided against it given the complexity in its implementation.
All the three major express cargo ports in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, which constitute 90% of such imports, had blocked clearance of gifts. Other ports were also notified to ensure Chinese ecommerce vendors did not shift their base, but no such phenomenon has been seen.
While the board's action againstimports through the gift channel has been largely tackled, another route for imports has opened up. Firms have been found to be acting as intermediaries between customers and Chinese ecommerce companies, to avoid paying higher duties that personal imports attract.

Oyo, Apax Runs for Significant Stake in CCD

SoftBank-backed hospitality chain Oyo and British private equity firm Apax Partners have joined the race to buy a significant stake in Café Coffee Day (CCD).
Both Oyo and Apax have signed nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) with Coffee Day Enterprises (CDEL) and have initiated discussions to buy the group's coffee business. KKR, TPG Capital and Bain Capital have also signed similar agreements with CDEL and are in the race to buy CCD.

Truecaller to Enter Credit Biz

Truecaller plans to use its payments platform to foray into credit business early 2020, turning it into a complete fin-tech company.
Truecaller is becoming a "superapp", providing a spectrum of services to its consumers.

Paytm Gets $1 billion Topup

Digital payments company Paytm said it has raised $1 billion in a financing round led by US asset manager T Rowe Price with existing investors Ant Financial and SoftBank Vision Fund also participating. This is the largest amount raised by an Indian startup in 2019. The company said this values it at close to $16 billion. Discovery Capital, an existing shareholder in the Noida-headquartered firm, also took part in the latest funding round.
Paytm had last raised $300 million from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in September 2018, valuing the company at $10 billion. This is the first primary investment round since then. However, over the course of this year, the company has cashed out employee stock options at a $16 billion valuation.

Zomato Frontrunner to Acquire UberEats

Uber has put its India food delivery business on the block again with an asking price of around $500 million with Zomato emerging as the frontrunner.
The final deal size for UberEats may change but the current round of negotiations involves a stock deal for the business and Uber may also invest in the Gurgaon-based online food delivery and restaurant discovery platform's ongoing $500-600 million round.
While discussions with Chinese payments major Ant Financial-backed Zomato have been going on for several weeks, Uber has also sent feelers to rival Swiggy more recently but those talks are yet to take shape.
UberEats is a distant third in the Indian food delivery market with 250,000-300,000 orders a day in the country, as compared to 2-2.5 million by Swiggy and Zomato, both of whom have claimed leadership.

L'Oréal to Acquire Beauty Brands in India

L'Oréal is actively looking at acquiring Indian beauty brands and startups in the beauty-tech space. Chairman Jean Paul Agon said that the India unit has been one of the top three fastest growing L'Oréal subsidiaries in the past two years.
In order to look at startups, L'Oreal have invested in Fireside Ventures, an early-stage investment fund focused on Indian consumer brands.

Nov 24, 2019

Amazon Sues US Over Loss Of Pentagon Cloud Deal To Microsoft

Amazon.com Inc. filed a lawsuit challenging the Defense Department's choice of rival Microsoft Corp. for a Pentagon cloud-computing contract worth as much as $10 billion.
The lawsuit, which was filed under seal in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, marks Amazon's most aggressive push to defend its competitive edge in the lucrative and cutthroat world of federal government contracts.
Amazon previously said it planned to formally protest its loss of the Pentagon's Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, cloud contract because the evaluation process was deficient.

Titan & Nestle India To Enter Sensex; YES Bank, Tata Motors Exit

YES Bank, Vedanta, Tata Motors and Tata Motors DVR will exit benchmark Sensex to make way for Titan Company, UltraTech Cements and Nestle India.
The changes will be effective December 23, 2019 Asia Index said. Asia Index is a 50-50 partnership between S&P Dow Jones Indices and the BSE.
The index provider will also exclude Glenmark Pharma, Cadila Healthcare and Edelweiss Financial Services from S&P BSE 100 index and add InterGlobe Aviation, Info Edge (India) and SBI Life Insurance.
The company has also affected nine changes to BSE 500 and three to the BSE 200. It will add Syngene International, Thermax and Gujarat Gas in the BSE 200 index and exclude Graphite India, HEG and Indiabulls Ventures from the index.

15th Finance Commission Chairman n k Singh Calls For Major Changes In GST Structure

The 15th Finance Commission Chairman N K Singh has called for major changes in the GST structure, including reducing the complicated procedures and also doing away with frequent rate changes, to improve collection. He also pitched for rationalization of Centrally- sponsored schemes.
Speaking at an event in RBI headquarters in Mumbai, Singh said the commission has visited nearly all the states in the run-up to the preparation of its report and that many of them have complained that the fiscal autonomy has been circumscribed by GST.

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General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - October 2018

Oct 2018

Nov 28, 2019

Three UP Regional Rural Banks to be Amalgamated

ZEEL Comes Under SEBI Scanner

India Seeks Review of FTAs with ASEAN and Japan

Ujjivan SFB to Reverse-merge Holding Firm

RIL Becomes First Indian Company to Hit Rs. 10 lakh crore Market Cap

Government Extends 15th Finance Commission's Term

Saudi Will Work on Raigarh Refinery Once Land is Allocated

Nov 27, 2019

Infra Spending by States Must Rise

Marriott International to Open 54 Hotels in India

CUB in Pact With Fizwizard Tech For MF Investments

Vistara Joins Hands with SBI Card to Launch Premium Credit Cards

RBI Deputy Governor Red-flags Rising Stress in Mudra Loans

Nov 26, 2019

WhatsApp to Offer Start-ups in India with $250,000 Worth of Facebook ad Credits

WhatsApp to Offer Start-ups in India with $250,000 Worth of Facebook ad Credits

Jio, Airtel Submit Bids for RCom's Assets

Louis Vuitton acquires US Jeweller Tiffany

Nov 25, 2019

Credit Saison Launches VC Fund in India

Salcomp Buys Nokia's Defunct Chennai Plant

Govt Plans to Scrap Ecomm 'Gifts'

Oyo, Apax Runs for Significant Stake in CCD

Truecaller to Enter Credit Biz

Paytm Gets $1 billion Topup

Zomato Frontrunner to Acquire UberEats

L'Oréal to Acquire Beauty Brands in India

Nov 24, 2019

Amazon Sues US Over Loss Of Pentagon Cloud Deal To Microsoft

Titan & Nestle India To Enter Sensex; YES Bank, Tata Motors Exit

15th Finance Commission Chairman n k Singh Calls For Major Changes In GST Structure

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