General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - October 2018

Oct 2018

Oct 07, 2018

India's Coal Import Rises

India's coal import increased substantially by 35 per cent to 21.1 million tonnes (MT) in September, as against 15.61 million tonnes in the corresponding month previous fiscal.

Oct 06, 2018

RBI Leaves Key Rates Unchanged

The RBI left key rates unchaged, though it warned that rising global oil prices and tightening financial markets threatened economic growth and could increase inflation. The Repo Rate is kept unchanged at 6.5%. The Reverse Repo Rate was also left unchanged at 6.25%. CRR stands unchanged at 4%.

Indian Hotels sells 'Gateway' to Varun Group

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), which runs the Taj chain, has sold The Gateway Hotel on Beach Road in Visakhapatnam to Varun Group for Rs 120 crore. Though IHCL has divested The Gateway, it will, however, continue to manage the property.

IDBI Bank Names Rakesh Sharma as CEO

The government appointed senior banker Rakesh Sharma as managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of IDBI Bank.Sharma was appointed for six months or until further orders and will have the task of ensuring a smooth transfer of majority ownership from the government to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

Sharma is a former MD and CEO of Canara Bank. He takes over from B. Sriram, former MD of the State Bank of India (SBI), whose short threemonth term at the helm of IDBI Bank ended last month.

Oct 05, 2018

Chanda Kochhar Resigns as CEO

ICICI Bank Ltd chief Chanda Kochhar has resigned after seeking an early retirement and will be replaced by Sandeep Bakhshi.

Kochhar is the third high-profile woman banker in India to step down in recent months, following Arundhati Bhattacharya who retired from the State Bank of India a year ago and Shikha Sharma who is set to exit after almost ten years atop Axis Bank in December.

India Rich List

According to Forbes magazine, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has emerged as the richest Indian for the 11th consecutive year with a net worth of USD 47.3 billion.

As per the 'Forbes India Rich List 2018', Wipro chairman Azim Premji has retained the second spot, while ArcelorMittal chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal moved a place ahead to the third slot.

Mittal is followed by the Hinduja brothers and Pallonji Mistry.

Rules Eased for Oil PSUs

The RBI allowed forex borrowings for working capital by oil marketing companies, the largest consumers of foreign currency, under the automatic route with immediate effect.

Under the liberalised norms individual state-run refiners are allowed to borrow up to $750 million or equivalent, while for the system, it is capped at $10 billion.

VAT Rates Reduced by States

So far, 12 States have joined the Centre in cutting their tax rates on petrol and diesel by Rs. 2.5 per litre. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Assam, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Chhattisgarh were the States to match the Centre's rate cut.

Oct 04, 2018

Bengaluru Airport T2 Project

L&T Construction got an order worth Rs. 3,036 crore from Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) to construct its Terminal-2 (T2) at the Kempegowda International Airport.

The 2,55,000 sq. mt Phase 1 of T2 will augment the capacity of the airport by 25 million passengers per annum.

Currently L&T Construction is constructing the New South Parallel Runway apron and other auxiliary buildings at the Bengaluru Airport.

Bank of Maharashtra to Shut Branches

Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) will close 51 branches across the country as part of cost-cutting measures being implemented in the banking industry.

All the branches are in urban centres and have been identified for the action as they were declared non-viable and were incurring huge losses.

HOEC Signs Contract with GoI

Hindustan Oil Exploration Company Ltd. (HOEC) has signed a revenue sharing contract with the Government of India for the exploration block in Assam it won under the Open Acerage Licensing Policy (OALP) Bid Round I.

Tech Mahindra and Israeli Firm Tie Up

Tech Mahindra announced a partnership with Israel Aerospace Industries to develop and offer cybersecurity solutions mainly targeted at governments, critical infrastructure and defence sector.

Through the partnership, the firms aim to provide cyber-related solutions and services to customers in India as well as outside the country.

Revival of Closed NEPA Mill

The government has approved a Rs 469.41 crore package for the revival of closed NEPA mill in Madhya Pradesh. The plant was closed in 1981.

NEPA Ltd is a public sector newsprint company, incorporated in 1947.

Oct 03, 2018

Daily ATM withdrawal Cut Down

State Bank has cut its daily withdrawal limit from ATMs by half to check fraudulent transactions.

The limit has been reduced to Rs. 20,000 from Rs. 40,000 on classic debit card, which is the most popular ATM-cum-debit card of the bank. There is no change in the daily withdrawal limits on other cards.

The new limit will be effective from October 31.

Indian Firms Feature in Forbes' List

Twelve Indian companies featured in a list of the world's best regarded firms compiled by Forbes.

The Indian companies that made it to the coveted list include are Infosys at the 31st place, Tata Consultancy Services (35), Tata Motors (70), Tata Steel (131), Larsen & Toubro (135), Grasim Industries (154), General Insurance Corporation Of India (156), Mahindra & Mahindra (164), Asian Paints (203), HDFC (217), Steel Authority of India (227) and ITC (239).

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