General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - October 2018

Oct 2018

Mar 26, 2019

L&T Bags Smart City Orders

Closing in on its target of achieving its order forecast of Rs. 1.7 lakh crore, engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has won large orders from clients across India.
As per the company's project classification, the value of contracts were in the large category viz. in the range of Rs. 2,500 crore to Rs. 5,000 crore.
The orders include those for construction of hospitals, commercial complex and smart city projects.

Kalpataru to Buy Stake in Swedish Firm

Kalpataru Power Transmission Limited (KPTL), an EPC player in the power and infrastructure contracting sector, through its wholly owned subsidiary in Sweden viz. Kalpataru Power Transmission Sweden AB has signed definitive agreement to acquire 85% equity stake in Linjemontage i Grastorp AB for an enterprise value of $24 million.
Linjemontage i Grastorp AB specialises in power supply solutions and services for electricity networks up to voltage range of 400 kv.

Hyundai Signs Wage Pact

Hyundai Motor India has concluded a wage settlement pact with the United Union of Hyundai Employees.
The three-year pact would be implemented with effect from April 2018 and remain effective till March 2021.
As per the agreement, technicians would receive an average salary raise of Rs. 25, 200 per month spread over three years.

Pentagon Authorises $1 Billion for Border Wall

Acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan authorised $1 billion to build part of the wall sought by President Donald Trump along the US-Mexico border.
The Department of Homeland Security asked the Pentagon to build 57 miles (92 kilometers) of 18-foot (5.5-meter) fencing, build and improve roads, and install lighting to support Trump's emergency declaration as concerns the border.
Shanahan authorised the commander of the US Army Corps of Engineers to begin planning and executing up to $1 billion in support to the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Patrol.

Airtel Slashes Call Rates

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel slashed ISD call rates to Bangladesh and Nepal by up to 75 per cent for pre-paid customers without any need for a special recharge to cut the tariff.
The company claimed that the new ISD call charges, which are currently available to Airtel prepaid mobile users, are the most affordable in the industry and eliminate the need for buying additional ISD packs to make calls to Bangladesh and Nepal.
Airtel has over 280 million mobile customers in India.

IOC-BPRL Combine Wins Oil Block in Abu Dhabi

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) along with its partner Bharat Petro Resources Ltd. (BPRL) has won an oil block in Abu Dhabi, where the two will invest $170 million.
IOC-BPRL won the block in Abu Dhabi's first-ever competitive bid round.
IOC and BPRL, a subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), acting jointly as a consortium through Urja Bharat Pte Ltd. have been awarded 100% stake in the Abu Dhabi Onshore Block 1 Concession.
Onshore Block 1 covers an area of 6,162 square kilometre around Ruwais field and includes already discovered but undeveloped fields.

Mar 24, 2019

GVK Hikes MIAL Stake

The GVK group has acquired the entire 10% stake of Airports Co. South Africa (ACSA) Global Ltd in Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) for Rs.924 crore, increasing its total holding in the airport to 74%.
MIAL runs the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, one of the busiest in India, as a special purpose joint venture company in which GVK initially owned a 50.5% stake, while two South African companies, Bidvest Group and ACSA Gobal Ltd, held 13.5% and 10%, respectively.
The remaining 26% is held by state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI).
In February GVK Airport Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd, signed a definitive agreement with Bidvest Group, exercising its right of first refusal to acquire its 13.5%.

IT Department Exempts Startups from Angel Tax Net

The intimation, sent to startups in the last few days under a new scheme announced in February, brings to an end a major tax problem faced by new-age companies that have been wrongly caught in an anti-evasion provision in the Income Tax Act.
The communication from the tax department acknowledging the tax relief is especially helpful to startups that have already got tax notices for share premium that is higher than their fair value.
They can now produce the intimation from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) before the tax officers who issued the notices.
Wherever assessments have been completed and final tax demands are issued, the startups can produce the exemption certificates at the stage of appeals to a higher authority within the tax department.
About 150 firms have applied for tax relief to startups announced in March, of whom 120 have so far received the tag of 'startup' eligible for tax relief, a person familiar with the development said on condition of anonymity.

Asian Rich List 2019

Leading London-based NRI industrial tycoons, the Hinduja family topped the Asian Rich List 2019 for the sixth successive year with an estimated net worth of 25.2 billion pounds, an increase of over 3 billion pounds over the previous year.
Steel magnates Lakshmi Mittal and his son Aditya Mittal remained in second place, with 11.2 billion pounds- down 2.8 billion pounds.
S. P. Lohia (Petrochemicals) took the third place with 5.8 billion pounds.
The entries of the Asian Rich List 2019 have a combined wealth of more than 85.2 billion pounds.

Mar 23, 2019

Ola Cabs Banned in Bengaluru

The Karnataka Transport Department suspended the licence of online cab aggregator Ola for six months in Bengaluru for running its bike taxis while possessing a licence for only four-wheelers.
The ban order was issued for violating the Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016.

Government Earns from Disinvestment

According to the Ministry of Finance, the government has overshot its disinvestment target for the second consecutive year.
As against a target of Rs. 80,000 crore for disinvestment for the current year, the divestment receipts have touched Rs. 85,000 crore.
During the current FY, DIPAM has realised the proceeds through 28 transactions. In 2017-18, the government had earned a little more than Rs. 1 lakh crore from disinvestments against a target of Rs. 72,500 crore.

Government Exempted from Open Offer for UBI

Markets regulator SEBI exempted the central government from making an open offer for the shareholders of Union Bank of India following capital infusion.
In February, the government had proposed a capital infusion of Rs. 4,112 crore in the public sector lender through preferential allotment of shares.
Post-allotment, the Centre's shareholding is likely to rise from 67.43% to 73.98%, an increase in excess of 5% in the current fiscal thereby attracting takeover provisions.

SpiceJet in Talks with Lessors

SpiceJet was in discussion with various lessors to bring in more planes into its fleet.
The no-frills airline has grounded 12 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft following regulatory directives earlier in March.
In order to cater to the gap from the reduced fleet size due to grounding of Max fleet, the company is in discussion with various lessors globally to induct aircraft in its fleet.

Mar 22, 2019

Daiki to Set Up Unit in A.P.

Japan-based Daiki Aluminium Industry Co. Ltd. through its Indian subsidiary, will be setting up an aluminium alloy plant at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh.
Daiki Aluminium Industry India Pvt. Ltd. would make an initial investment of Rs. 250 crore.
The plant is expected to go on stream by February 2020.
The plant will produce aluminium alloy ingots. It will have an annual capacity of 84,000 tonnes. The products will be exported to automobile companies in ASEAN and Japan.

Rupee-dollar Swap

The RBI's decision to infuse rupee liquidity through long term foreign exchange swap, a first of its kind in liquidity management policy, is likely to boost investments by foreign portfolio investors under the voluntary retention route (VRR).
The central bank will conduct dollar-rupee buy/sell swap action of $5 billion for a three-year tenor, on March 26.
Such a swap route has been explored by various emerging market economies as an effective tool to manage liquidity.
Apart from liquidity infusion, the move will boost the country's foreign exchange reserves and is likely to support the exchange rate.

Intain Fintech to Launch Software Product

Intain Fintech, an AI and block chain-based software products firm will be launching eMulya, an intelligent block chain that facilitates efficient, secure and trustworthy asset securitisation transactions for NBFCs in India by end-2019.

Mar 21, 2019

Global toy Firms Eye India Sourcing

A leading international toy maker has started exploring options for sourcing toys from India, due to the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China.
The trade war has put pressure on China. Besides, the labour cost is going up significantly in China.
As a result, international companies are planning to source not only toys but also other products from India and south-east Asia.
Toy major Mattel had already initiated talks with Funskool, while other players were seriously contemplating alliances.
For nearly three years, Hasbro has been sourcing products from India and SpinMaster recently started importing products from Funskool Goa factory.
In the last 10 years, the Indian toy industry had grown 8-10%, whereas Funskool had grown 10-15%.

EU Fines Google

European Union regulators have hit Google with a 1.49 billion euro ($1.68 billion) fine for abusing its dominant role in online advertising.
The EU's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, announced the results of the long-running probe of Google's AdSense advertising business case at a news conference in Brussels.
It's the third time the commission has slapped Google with an antitrust penalty, following multibillion-dollar fines resulting from separate probes into two other parts of the Silicon Valley giant's business.

Online Import Licence

The Commerce Ministry's foreign trade arm DGFT has come up with a new online facility for obtaining import licence for restricted category goods.
This move is aimed at promoting paperless work and ease of doing business.
Currently, importers need to obtain licence for certain goods such as gold dore, some pulses, plastic waste, and bio-fuels.

RBI Says 'No' to IDBI Bank Name Change

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has turned down IDBI Bank's proposal to change its name following the transfer of a controlling 51% stake to insurance behemoth LIC from the government of India.
The board of IDBI Bank had, in February, sought the RBI's approval for a change in the name of the lender to either LIC IDBI Bank or LIC Bank following the takeover by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

PFC to Acquire Government Shares in REC

State-owned Power Finance Corporation will acquire the entire 52.63% stake of the Centre in REC for Rs. 14,500 crore by March end, a move that will help the government meet its disinvestment target.

Toyota and Suzuki Expand Scope of Collaboration

Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation and Suzuki Motor Corporation announced the strengthening of their collaboration, including manufacturing of Suzuki-developed compact SUV Vitara Brezza at Toyota's plant in India from 2022.
The two partners have agreed to extend their collaboration to Europe and Africa over and above their partnership in India.

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