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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - October 2018

Oct 2018

Nov 03, 2019

India's Unemployment Rate Has Hit 3-Year High, Shows CMIE Data

India's unemployment rate in October 2019 rose to 8.5%, the highest level since August 2016, according to data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
According to CMIE, the urban unemployment rate for October 2019 stood at 8.9%, slightly higher than the rural unemployment rate of 8.3%.
Among States, Tripura and Haryana saw unemployment levels of more than 20% (the highest), while the unemployment was the lowest in Tamil Nadu at 1.1%. Rajasthan saw its unemployment rate double between September and October 2019.

Indian Entity Retains Right To Use Thomas Cook Brand Name Till 2024

The sale of the Thomas Cook brand to Fosun Tourism of China excludes India, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka, which means the Indian entity retains the right to use the brand name till 2024.
The Chinese group acquired Thomas Cook and its related hotel brands for $14.25 million. This includes trademarks, domain names, software and licences of the British travel firm.
The UK tour operator shut down in September 2019 after it failed to secure emergency funds.

US Treasury Secretary holds talks with RBI Governor over Economy, Regulatory Developments

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das in the financial capital.
The two discussed global and domestic macro-economic scenario in both countries and regulatory developments.
Mnuchin, who is reportedly on a tour to build support against Iran over the country's nuclear programme, was accompanied by US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster and Consul General in Mumbai.

Nov 02, 2019

Thomas Cook Brand Sold To Club Med Owner Fosun For £11m

The Thomas Cook brand has been saved from obscurity after the Chinese owner of Club Med would buy the name for £11m.
Fosun Tourism, which was seen a potential saviour of Thomas Cook before it went bust, is also acquiring the Casa Cook and Cook's Club hotel brands.
The hotels are aimed at individual travellers and young holidaymakers.
Fosun was the largest shareholder in Thomas Cook and had pledged to inject £450m into the company as part of a £900m rescue deal with bondholders and banks.

Google To Buy Wearables Maker Fitbit For USD 2.1 billion

Google has agreed to buy Fitbit for USD 2.1 billion in a move giving the US tech giant an entry into the wearable technology space.
The move comes with Google seeking to expand beyond its core business of online search into hardware, and with Fitbit struggling against rivals including Apple.

Fiat Chrysler And Peugeot Owner Announce $48 Billion Merger

Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner PSA Group have announced the terms of a $48 billion merger that would create the world's third-largest automaker and help spread the huge cost of developing electric and autonomous vehicles.
Shareholders of each automaker would own 50% of the combined operation, the companies said in a joint statement. A binding agreement could be finalized.
Fiat Chrysler shareholders also would get a special one time dividend worth €5.5 billion ($6.1 billion) as part of the deal.

GeM Signs MoU With Indian Bank and Canara Bank For Payment Related Services

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has signed MoU with Indian Bank and Canara Bank.
The MoU will facilitate a cashless, paperless and transparent payment system on the portal and would create an efficient procurement system for government entities.
Through this partnership, both the banks will be able to offer an array of services including transfer of funds through GeM Pool Accounts (GPA), advising of Performance Bank Guarantees (e-PBG), Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) and Payment Gateway to the registered users on the portal.
GeM is also working with Banks, TReDs and SIDBI to provide bill discounting and financing of working capital where the cost of capital is linked to the performance and rating of a seller on GeM.

Coal India To Produce 750 Million Tonnes Of Coal Next Financial Year

State-owned Coal India will produce 750 million tonnes of coal in the next financial year (2020) and will offer around 10,000 new jobs to boost employment.
Coal India is directed to take necessary steps to achieve this goal in light of growing energy requirements of the nation.
The minister announced this target during his address at the 45th foundation day of Coal India Limited in Kolkata.
The PSU is currently given the target of producing 660 million tonnes of coal amounting to 82 per cent of the country's coal output.
Coal India is urged to get associated with Jal Shakti Abhiyan to conserve water and provide treated mine water to the populace living in and around coal mining areas.

Nov 01, 2019

SEBI Asks Banks To Disclose Bad Loan Divergences

India's markets regulator has asked publicly traded banks to disclose bad loan divergences with the Reserve Bank of India's assessment within a day of receiving a final report from the banking regulator, tightening norms for asset quality disclosures.
Terming the information about divergences with RBI's assessment material and price-sensitive, Sebi said it required prompt disclosures to shareholders.
The latest directive effectively ends listed banks' dilemma over how they should handle the information.

CCI Gives Nod To Hyundai, Kia's Stake Buy In ANI Tech

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) and Kia Motors Corporations (KMC) stake acquisition in ANI Technologies, which operates ride-sharing company Ola and Ola Electric, under the Competition Act, 2002.
The two companies -- HMC and KMC -- are a part of the Hyundai Motor Group (HMG), engaged in manufacturing and distribution of automobiles, automobile parts and accessories, after-sales service, research and development of automotive engineering across the world.

Yes Bank Gets $1.2 Billion Lifeline

Yes Bank Ltd said a global entity has made a binding offer to invest $1.2 billion in the cash-starved lender through an issue of new shares, boosting its stock by as much as 35%, even as concerns remain about whether the proposal will pass muster with the banking regulator.
The investment, if cleared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will diminish the shareholding of Yes Bank's original promoters Rana Kapoor and late Ashok Kapur's wife Madhu Kapur. Such a large issuance, if made to a single investor, may result in a change of the bank's promoters.
Yes Bank's shares, which soared after its exchange filing, ceded some gains later to close the day 24% higher at ₹70.45 on the BSE, on a day the benchmark Sensex rose 0.19%.

Singapore-Based e-Commerce Platform Qoo10 Acquires ShopClues In All-Stock Deal

Online marketplace ShopClues is acquired by Singapore-based e-commerce platform Qoo10 in an all-stock deal bringing to an end a prolonged hunt by the Indian e-tailer for a buyer.
The transaction is learnt to have valued ShopClues at $70-100 million, in what is possibly the largest valuation meltdown for a venture-backed Indian startup, given that ShopClues at its peak was valued at $1.1 billion in late 2015.

WTO Panel Upholds US Case, Rules India's Export Subsidies Illegal

Upholding a complaint brought by the United States, a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel ruled that India's export subsidies were illegal and should be removed.
The panel largely agreed with US claims challenging export subsidies granted in the form of exemptions from customs duties and a national tax, while rejecting some US arguments. It called on India to withdraw the export-contingent subsidies within periods varying from 90 to 180 days.
The US Trade Representative's Office, in a statement, said that the panel had agreed that India provided prohibited subsidies to Indian exporters worth more than $7 billion (5.4 billion pounds) annually, including to producers of steel products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, IT products and textiles.

Lupin Looks To Sell Japanese Arm Kyowa For $600 Million

India's Lupin Ltd is in advanced talks to sell its Japanese generics subsidiary Kyowa Pharmaceuticals for an enterprise value of $600 million to a local player as it steps up efforts to significantly cut operations in the world's third largest pharma market.
The name of the buyer could not be independently verified.
In August, 2019 Lupin sold its injectables business to neo ALA Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi based Neopharma group, for an undisclosed sum to help streamline Japanese operations and increase focus on branded generics.

Oct 31, 2019

DPIIT Kickstarts Exercise To Ease FDI Norms

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) kickstarted an exercise to relax India's foreign direct investment norms.
The department held an inter-ministerial meeting to discuss further opening up in sectors, especially where 100% FDI is not allowed on the automatic route.
The department has asked ministries and departments to submit specific proposals wherever they seek scope for relaxation.

RBI Imposes Penalty On Janata Sahakari Bank, Jalgaon Peoples Co-Operative Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on Pune-based Janata Sahakari Bank and Rs 25 lakh on Jalgaon Peoples Co-operative Bank for violating income recognition, advances management and asset classification norms.
The RBI has imposed, by order dated October 16, 2019 monetary penalty of Rs 1 crore on Janata Sahakari Bank, Pune, for non-compliance with directions issued on income recognition and asset classification (IRAC) norms, management of advances and exposure norms and statutory or other restrictions.
The apex bank has imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on the Jalgaon Peoples Co-operative Bank, Jalgaon, Maharashtra (the bank) for non-compliance of these norms.

RBI Imposes Rs 35 Lakh Penalty On TMB

The Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of Rs 35 lakh on Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank for violating norms on frauds classification and notification.
The RBI said in a release that it imposed the fine via an order dated October 24, 2019.
It stated that the bank has been penalised for non-compliance with certain provisions of directions issued by RBI on frauds classification and reporting by commercial banks and select FIs directions 2016.

Reliance Industries Surpasses Strategic Partner BP In Terms Of m-Cap

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has surpassed its strategic partner British oil major BP Plc in terms of market capitalization.
The rise in market value of the Indian company was, however, driven by its retail and telecom businesses.
RIL hit a market cap of $132.24 billion compared with BP's $130.51 billion. At closing, shares of RIL traded at ₹1,478.70 on BSE, up 0.8% from its previous close. So far in 2019, it has gained 31.9%.

Oct 30, 2019

Microsoft Set To Invest $200 Mn In Ola, Boost Connected Car Tie-Up

Ride-hailing company Ola is set to unveil a connected car project in partnership with Microsoft Corp., which will also invest around $200 million in Ola's parent, ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Microsoft will acquire around 4.5% in ANI Technologies as part of the deal.
The project, which began in 2017, aims to connect cars with Internet of Things sensors, and the transmitted data is stored in the cloud.
The car is thus tracked not only for its location through GPS, but also for the quality of its engine and for relaying information needed by vehicle insurers.

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