General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - October 2018

Oct 2018

Nov 23, 2019

RBI Fast-tracks DHFL Resolution, Appoints Advisory Panel

After superseding the board of the crippled mortgage lender DHFL, the Reserve Bank constituted a three-member panel to advise its administrator to help recover nearly Rs 84,000 crore that the troubled company owes to the system.
The panel constitutes a veteran banker, the head of a leading insurer and also representation from a lobby grouping of asset managers.
The panel will be assisting the administrator in "discharge of his duties", it added.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Insolvency and Liquidation Proceedings of Financial Service Providers and Application to Adjudicating Authority) Rules, 2019 provide for appointing such a panel to advise the administrator "in the operations of the financial service provider during the corporate insolvency resolution process", it said.

Tax Department Launches Web Portal for Exchange of Information

The tax department has launched a portal that will provide information, including about procedures, related to automatic exchange of information under common reporting standard. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman P C Mody inaugurated the web portal on Income Tax website.
India is committed to exchange financial account information automatically from 2017 under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) on AEOI, the CBDT said in a release.
Information is reported annually by financial institutions which are then exchanged by India under the standard.
The web portal will be a repository of policy and technical circulars, guidance and notifications issued by the CBDT, and provide links to relevant circulars and guidance issued by the regulatory authorities and other international bodies.

Muthoot Finance to Buy IDBI AMC, Foray into Mutual Fund Space

Muthoot Finance said it will acquire IDBI Asset Management for ₹215 crore to enter mutual fund space.
The deal, which is subject to necessary regulatory approvals including markets regulator Sebi, is expected to be completed by February-end 2020.
Promoted by IDBI Bank in 2010, IDBI Mutual Fund is one of the profit making AMCs in the space with an asset base of over ₹5,300 crore.
The fund house runs 22 schemes with robust asset base across products, geography and investors.

RBI Enhances Scope of Non-resident Rupee Accounts

To popularise cross-border transactions in Indian rupee, the Reserve Bank has enhanced the scope of 'Special Non-resident Rupee' (SNRR) by allowing persons residing outside India to open such accounts for purposes like external commercial borrowing and trade credit in INR.
Other purposes for allowing such a move are for export or import invoicing and business related transactions outside International Financial Service Centre, all in INR.

Nov 22, 2019

Reliance Industries Overtakes BP Plc To Become World's 6th Largest Oil Company

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has overtaken BP Plc to become the sixth-largest energy company in the world.
The conglomerate is now valued at $138 billion. It overtook the British energy giant's $132 billion at the close of trading.
Reliance Industries' shares have increased at thrice the pace of India's benchmark index following an announcement by Ambani to cut the company's net debt to zero in 18 months.
He said stake sale in the oil-to-chemicals business to Saudi Aramco would be one of the measures to this end.
The sixth largest oil company in the world is ranked behind Exxon Mobil that's on top of the list with a market value of $290 billion.
However, Saudi Aramco's plans of initial public offering with a valuation target of between $1.6 trillion and $1.7 trillion, could topple Exxon as the largest oil company.

RBI Puts DHFL Board Under Administrator

The Reserve Bank superseded the board of the troubled Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) due to governance concerns and defaults on various debt instruments.
The central bank has also appointed R Subramaniakumar, the ex-managing director of Indian Overseas Bank as the administrator of the third largest pureplay mortgage lender.

Nov 21, 2019

Chairman Anil Ambani, Four Directors Resign from Reliance Communications

Reliance Communications Chairman Anil Ambani along with four directors have resigned from the company, which is going through the insolvency process.
According to a regulatory filing, Manikantan V, the chief financial officer of the debt-ridden company has also resigned.
The development comes a day after RCom posted a consolidated loss of Rs 30,142 crore for July-September 2019 due to provisioning for liabilities after the Supreme Court ruling on statutory dues.
This was the second-highest loss posted by any Indian corporate till date.

Reliance Industries Becomes 1st Indian Company To Cross Rs 9.5 Lakh Crore Market Cap

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) became the first Indian firm to cross the Rs 9.5 lakh crore market capitalisation mark after the stock hit its fresh 52-week high on bourses.
The rise in RIL share price comes after Vodafone India and Bharti Airtel announced a tariff hike from December, 2019. The tariff hike is likely to attract more subscribers for Reliance Jio.
Reliance Industries share price rose up to 3.66% to Rs 1,511.9 compared to the previous close of Rs 1,458.50 on BSE.
TCS, its closest rival in terms of market capitalisation, recorded a m-cap of Rs 7.91 lakh crore on BSE. The IT firm's share price was trading 2% lower at Rs 2110 on BSE.

Six more States Selected for Pulses and Oilseeds Promotion

The centre has extended a government supported scheme to increase production and cultivation of oilseeds and pulses to six more states, taking the number of states under the scheme to 12.
Part of the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), the central government has been implementing the National Oilseeds and Oil palm (OS&OP) scheme to promote production of oilseeds, including oil palm, to increase production and domestic availability of edible oils.
The scheme was originally implemented in rice fallow areas of six eastern states, including Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal since 2016-17 and from 2019-20, six more states - Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh - have been included to bring additional area under production of pulses and oilseeds.

Cabinet Approves Sale Of Govt Stake In Five CPSEs Including BPCL

The central government took a major step towards privatization on November 20, 2019.
The government has also approved to bring down the stake of government in selected public sector companies to below than 51 per cent.
The Numaligarh refinery will be separated from BPCL, the country's second-largest refinery company.
The decision was taken after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting.
These companies are - Tehri Hydro Development Corporation India Limited (THDC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and Container Corporation of India (CONCOR).

GSTN Dismisses Complaints Regarding Its System's Non-Functioning

The Goods and Services Tax Network, GSTN has dismissed certain complaints made on the social media regarding its system's non-functioning.
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs said, more than 11 lakh 52 thousand GSTR3B returns were filed. It saidthat the GST Return filing system was working within expected limits.
CBIC said, GSTN return filing system has been working as expected and coherently and a total of more than 55 lakh 79 thousand returns were filed.

Nov 20, 2019

Infosys Tops Rs 10,000-Crore Exports, Becomes IT Ratna of Karnataka

Software giant Infosys has been recognised as the IT Ratna of Karnataka at the Benglauru Tech Summit 2019 for IT exports by the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI).
Featuring in the category of IT exports greater than or equal to Rs 10,000 crore, Infosys was awarded for fiscal 2018-19 in STPI's Karnataka chapter.
As many as 15 global companies were recognised as IT Prides of Karnataka, for exports greater than or equal to Rs 2,000 crore and less than Rs 10,000 crore.
IT Pride awardees included Oracle, Goldman Sachs, SAP Labs, and Intel, among others.

Haryana Govt Decides to Create New Foreign Cooperation Department

Haryana Government has decided to create a dedicated new department namely Department of 'Foreign Cooperation' in order to streamline and provide focus to various initiatives taken by the state government for the promotion of investment, employment for youth and welfare of Non-Resident Indians.
A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of State Cabinet which met under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal at Chandigarh.
The new department will deal in formulation of country-wise strategies for promotion of investment, employment in the state, education and skill development and promotion of Haryanavi culture and welfare of Haryanavi diaspora.
Cabinet has also decided to convene one-day special session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha on November 26, 2019 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of adoption of Constitution of India.

Depositors can Approach RBI Admin for Emergency Withdrawals

Depositors of the crisis-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank can approach the Reserve Bank-appointed administrator for withdrawal up to Rs 1 lakh in case of medical emergencies, the RBI told the Bombay High Court.
In an affidavit filed in the HC in response to petitions challenging the fund withdrawal restrictions, the RBI has mentioned the withdrawal ceiling at Rs 50,000 for scenarios like marriage, education, livelihood and "other hardships".

New IBC Rules to Cover Financial Service Providers

The government has put out detailed rules for the resolution of systemically important financial service providers under the bankruptcy law, opening the doors for resolution of stressed non-banking finance companies under this framework.
Financial service providers are ordinarily not covered under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Under the rules notified, the code can be invoked to find a resolution for stressed finance companies such as Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. (DHFL). These rules will not apply to banks.
Separately, the government will notify specific categories of financial service providers that do not fall under the systemically important category to be resolved as ordinarily applicable to corporate debtors.

Nov 19, 2019

ADB, India Sign $91 Million Loan for Comprehensive Water Management in Karnataka

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $91 million loan to modernize the Vijayanagara Channel irrigation systems and prepare river basin management plans in the Krishna river basin that will help improve irrigation water use efficiency and contribute to improving sustainable water security in Karnataka.
The signatories to the second project loan for the Karnataka Integrated and Sustainable Water Resources Management Investment Program (IWRM) were Mr. Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance who signed for the Government of India and Mr. Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director of ADB's India Resident Mission, who signed for ADB.

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