General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - October 2018

Oct 2018

Oct 12, 2018

M&M to Bring Back Jawa in India

As per reports, Classic Legends Pvt Ltd, a part of the Mahindra Group, is set to bring back popular motorcycle brand of yesteryears Jawa to the Indian market next month.

The company, in which the Mahindra group has 60% stake, plans to unveil three products on November 15 and will play in the 250cc plus mid-segment of the Indian motorcycle market.

Sundaram-Clayton Ltd. Sets Up New Foundry

As part of its capacity expansion programme, Sundaram-Clayton Ltd. (SCL) has set up a new foundry at Oragadam.

The plant has come up with an investment of more than Rs. 150 crore. It will have a capacity of 8,000 tonnes, and produce machined castings.

Customs Duty on Several Items Hiked

To cut the current account deficit and prevent a further slide in the rupee, the government has increased the import duty on 17 items from October 12.

Products that have seen an increase from the current 10% duty to 20% include smart watches and telecom equipment.

TCS Net Profit Up in Q2

TCS reported a 22.6 per cent jump in consolidated net profit in the July-September 2018 quarter, buoyed by strong demand for digital services.

The Tata group company saw a revenue growth of 20.7 percent at Rs 36,854 crore in the September quarter.

Oct 11, 2018

Excise Duty on Jet Fuel Slashed

The aviation industry got a relief after the government reduced excise duty on jet fuel from 14 per cent to 11 per cent.

Jet fuel prices this month hit their highest level since January 2014 as rising international oil prices and plummeting rupee value pushed rates.

Saudi to Supply Extra Oil to India

Saudi Arabia will supply Indian oil buyers with an additional 4 million barrels of crude oil in November.

The extra supply indicates a willingness by Saudi Arabia to make up the shortfall once sanctions by the United States on oil exports from Iran start in November.

The following companies are seeking an additional 1 million barrels each in November: Reliance Industries Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemicals Ltd.

Sunil Bhaskaran to Head AirAsia India

Tata Group veteran Sunil Bhaskaran has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of low cost carrier AirAsia India with effect from November 2018.

At present Mr. Bhaskaran is vice-president, Corporate Services at Tata Steel.

RBI Gets Two New Directors

The government has appointed Sachin Chaturvedi and Revathy Iyer on the central board of the Reserve Bank of India for a period of four years.

Sachin Chaturvedi replaces Nachiket.

With these appointments, RBI will now have 18 members on its central board, including four deputy governors and the governor.

Oct 10, 2018

Punjab Appoints Business Facilitators

The Punjab government has appointed 13 business facilitators at the district level for faster regulatory clearance of private investments worth Rs. 60,000 crore that will also help the state improve its ranking in the ease of doing business.

BHEL Bags Orders from NTPC

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has bagged four orders from NTPC for supply of emission control equipment.

The orders involve supply and installation of Flue Gas De-sulphurisation (FGD) systems for control of sulphur oxides emissions at NTPC's North Karanpura, Mauda Stage-I, Barh Stage-I and Stage-II power projects.

SBI to Triple Asset Purchase

State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to triple the target for loans it purchases from non-banking finance companies (NBFCs). The move is expected to provide much-needed liquidity to these entities.

SBI had earlier planned to buy Rs. 15,000 crore worth of portfolio from NBFCs. It has now decided to raise the purchases by another Rs. 20,000 crore to Rs. 30,000 crore.

NLCIL and Coal India Sign MoU

NLC India Limited (NLCIL), Neyveli, and Coal India Limited (CIL), Kolkata, have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form a joint venture company for setting up solar power projects of 3,000 MW and thermal power projects of 2,000 MW.

The joint venture is based on equity participation of 50:50 and has a time line of 15 months for the completion of solar power projects and 60 months for thermal power projects.

Interest for Gratuity Funds Hiked

The Centre has notified a higher interest rate of 8% for the non-government provident, superannuation, and gratuity funds, effective from October 1.

The interest rate on these funds has been raised from 7.6%. The move comes on the back of a hike in small savings rates.

Revival of hydro power project in Chamba

JSW Energy is planning to revive its 240 megawatt (MW) hydro power project in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh.

The plant, conceived in 2007, was put on hold as the company could not have a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with the buyers.

Oct 09, 2018

Syndicate Bank's New MD and CEO

Mrutyunjay Mahapatra has taken over as MD & CEO of Syndicate Bank. He has 32 years of experience in all major fields of banking.

Earlier, he was Deputy MD and CIO, State Bank of India.

India to buy Iranian oil Despite Sanctions

According to Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, two state refiners have placed orders for importing crude oil from Iran in November, the month when US sanctions on Iranian oil purchases take effect.

IOC and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) together have placed order for 1.25 million tonne (MT) of crude oil from Iran.

Amazon and Flipkart Create Jobs

Walmart-backed Flipkart has added 30,000 direct jobs in its supply chain and logistics arm to tap the upcoming festive season.

Amazon has created more than 50,000 seasonal positions across its network of fulfilment centres, sorting centres, delivery stations and customer service sites this festive season. These have been created in Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune and other cities.

Anti-terror Force Called Kavach

According to Haryana Chief Minister, an anti-terrorist force called Kavach will be set up to further strengthen the security arrangements in the state.

Kavach would have 150 police personnel who would be provided 14 weeks training by the National Security Guard (NSG) at Manesar.

The headquarters of Kavach would be at Gurugram and it would be headed by an officer of inspector general or additional director general of police rank.

Refinance Limit for HFCs Raised

The National Housing Bank (NHB) has decided to increase the refinance limit to Rs. 30,000 crore in 2018-19, from Rs. 24,000 crore set in July this year.

The bank added that all eligible housing finance companies (HFCs) and other entities would have increased availability of funds.

Oct 08, 2018

Solo Bid for Essar Steel

Russia's second-largest banking group VTB is set to make a solo bid for the bankrupt Essar Steel.

This follows the Supreme Court order that VTB cannot be barred from the auction process because of sanctions imposed by the US on Russian government entities in the wake of the Ukraine annexation in 2014.

Last week the SC had allowed VTB-led Numetal consortium and ArcelorMittal to resubmit bids for Essar Steel.

Auctioning of Mines

According to the ministry of mines, the government is looking to put on block another 100 mines in the next six months.

The government so far has auctioned 50 mines.

There are 102 blocks in pipeline to be auctioned by March 2019 in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Assam.

Flipkart Forays into Insurance

E-commerce major Flipkart is foraying into the insurance segment after securing a corporate agent license.

Flipkart has partnered Bajaj Allianz General Insurance to offer customised insurance solutions to power its mobile phone protection programme for all leading mobile phone brands that are sold on its platform.

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