Govt. Appoints SBI Managing Director Ashwini Bhatia as SEBI Member
The government appointed State Bank of India (SBI) managing director Ashwani Bhatia as whole-time member (WTM) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Bhatia as a member initially for a period of three years.
He started his career with SBI in 1985 as a probationary officer. Over a tenure of 33 years with SBI, he has donned many hats. He has taken the lead in revamping the entire credit structure and processes of SBI.
ToneTag Launches VoiceSe UPI Digital Payments for Feature Phone Users
ToneTag partnered with NSDL Payments Bank and NPCI and to launch its "VoiceSe UPI payments service" for feature phone users. This comes after the Reserve Bank of India has launched the UPI 123Pay facility that enables UPI payments for feature phone users. ToneTag is a sound-based proximity communication and payments service provider based in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
To access the "VoiceSe UPI payments service" feature phone users need to call on the IVRS number 6366 200 200. Every user can only proceed with the financial transaction through UPI PIN. They do not require internet connectivity or a smartphone for making payments. This is an all-inclusive technology that fills the gap in the existing financial ecosystem and brings many benefits to the customers.
Govt. Appoints SBI Managing Director Ashwini Bhatia as SEBI Member
The government appointed State Bank of India (SBI) managing director Ashwani Bhatia as whole-time member (WTM) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Bhatia as a member initially for a period of three years.
He started his career with SBI in 1985 as a probationary officer. Over a tenure of 33 years with SBI, he has donned many hats. He has taken the lead in revamping the entire credit structure and processes of SBI.
Mar 10, 2022
India Ranks 2nd for Global Investment in Digital Shopping Companies
According to an official analysis released, India was the second-largest global venture capital investment hub for digital shopping companies, growing by a whopping 175 per cent from USD 8 billion in 2020 to USD 22 billion in 2021.
On a global scale, India came in second to the US last year, which attracted USD 51 billion in investment, followed by China at third with USD 14 billion and the UK at fourth with USD 7 billion.
Within India, Bengaluru comes out on top globally with USD 14 billion worth of Venture Capital (VC) investments in digital shopping in 2021, followed by Gurugram at No. 7 with USD 4 billion and Mumbai at No. 10 with USD 3 billion.
RBI Releases Booklet on Modus Operandi of Financial Frauds
Reserve Bank of India launched a booklet named "BE(A)WARE" which features common modus operandi used by fraudsters and precautions to be taken while carrying out various financial transactions. The booklet aims to enhance public awareness about various types of financial frauds perpetrated on gullible customers while carrying out digital payments and other financial transactions.
Booklet: provides safeguards against commonly used fraudulent techniques like SIM swaps, vishing/phishing links, lottery, fake loan websites and digital apps etc.
The booklet emphasises the need for keeping one's personal information confidential at all times, being mindful of unknown calls/emails/messages, etc., and also outlines the due diligence measures to be followed while undertaking financial transactions.
The term "modus operandi" is a Latin term that describes an individual or group's habitual way of operating, which represents a discernible pattern. A modus operandi (commonly abbreviated as "M.O.") is mainly used to discuss criminal behavior and is often used by professionals to prevent future crimes.
Sunil Kataria Joins Raymond as the Chief Executive Officer of Lifestyle Business
Raymond announced the appointment of Sunil Kataria as the CEO of lifestyle business. In his new role, Kataria would be responsible for steering the next phase of growth by driving the digital agenda and strengthening the brand's presence in domestic and international markets.
As per the company, the appointment of Kataria comes at a critical juncture in Raymond's journey. Kataria's role would be pivotal in driving the ongoing transformation to create a future ready Raymond that intersperses digital and physical experiences while infusing freshness to product portfolio to drive growth.
The lifestyle business is the flagship vertical of Raymond Group which includes branded textiles, garmenting, shirting, retail and apparel business including brands such as – Raymond, Raymond Ready-To-Wear, Raymond Made to Measure, Park Avenue, ColorPlus, Parx and Ethnix by Raymond.
Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Partners Bharat Co-operative Bank
Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance (ABSLI), the life insurance subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL), and Bharat Co-operative Bank (Mumbai) Ltd. announced their bancassurance partnership. This collaboration facilitates a common platform to reach out to the bank's five lakh plus customers with relevant life insurance solutions.
The partnership enables ABSLI to directly reach out to these customers through Bharat Co-operative Bank's (Mumbai) 103 branches and fulfil their life insurance and investment planning needs. This will further strengthen ABSLI's extensive distribution reach across the urban and semi-urban areas of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat.
With this strategic move, ABSLI now has high-impact and growing bancassurance partnerships with eight leading banks across the country.
HUL Appoints Madhusudhan Rao, Deepak Subramanian to Management Committee
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) appointed Madhusudhan Rao as the executive director, beauty and wellbeing and personal care segment, and Deepak Subramanian as the executive director for the home care segment.
Rao took over from Priya Nair, who moved into a global role as chief marketing officer for beauty and wellbeing and Subramanian took over from Prabha Narasimhan, who has decided to leave the company to pursue an external opportunity.
Rao joined HUL in 1991 and worked across marketing, customer development, and brand development roles in various geographies.
Subramanian joined HUL in 1995 as a management trainee. He was the marketing manager for Kissan in India and regional brand director for Vitality Foods. He went on to become the vice-president for foods and refreshment for central and Eastern Europe.
Mar 09, 2022
Telangana Government Presents Tax Free Budget for 2022-23
Telangana Finance Minister T. Harish Rao presented a tax-free budget of Rs. 2.56 lakh crore for 2022-23, up from about Rs. 2.31 lakh crore last year.
The budget proposed an outlay of Rs. 17,700 crore for the state government's flagship Dalit welfare scheme 'Dalit Bandhu'.
In FY 2021-22, the revenue expenditure and capital expenditure were Rs. 1.69 lakh crore and Rs. 29,046 crore respectively.
Interest Subsidy Scheme for Exporters Extended till March 2024
The Reserve Bank extended the interest equalisation scheme for pre and post shipment rupee credit for MSME exporters till March 2024 with the objective of boosting outbound shipments.
Exporters get subsidy under the 'Interest Equalisation Scheme for pre and post-shipment Rupee Export Credit'.
In April last year, the scheme was first extended till June end and later till September 2021.
The interest equalisation rates under the scheme have been revised to 2 per cent and 3 per cent for specified categories of MSME manufacturer exporters.
The scheme will not apply to telecom instruments and entities availing benefits under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme of the government.
Eveready Names Suvamoy Saha as MD
Close on the heels of the resignation of Amritanshu Khaitan as managing director of the country's largest dry cell battery maker, Eveready Industries India appointed Suvamoy Saha as the managing director of the company for three years.
On March 3, Khaitan family members – Aditya Khaitan and Amritanshu Khaitan – resigned from the board as non-executive director and chairman and as managing director of the company, respectively.
Saha has been with Eveready for long. Before his appointment as joint managing director in August, he was a whole-time director of Eveready from March 2005 to July 2019.
CapitaLand Appoints Gauri Shankar Nagabhushanam as CEO, India Business Parks
CapitaLand Investment Ltd, Singapore (CLI) appointed Gauri Shankar Nagabhushanam as chief executive officer, India Business Parks, with effect from 1 April 2022 as part of its ongoing leadership renewal.
Formerly the head of investment and chief financial officer of Ascendas-Firstspace, CLI's India logistics venture, Nagabhushanam would be based in Bengaluru, the headquarters for CLI's India business parks business. He would oversee CLI's India business parks operations, investment, development, asset management and private fund management, as well as grow its portfolio of assets in the country.
Gauri Shankar has been in the company for over 10 years and has played a key role in launching and expanding our logistics business in India.
CLI is present in India across the real estate value chain, from owning, developing and managing properties to fund management through Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust) and private funds. In India, it has a portfolio of over 20 business and IT parks, industrial, lodging, logistics, as well as a data centre campus across seven cities.
Airtel, Axis Bank Partner for Financial Services; Launch Co-branded Credit Card
Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank announced the launch of Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card as part of a "strategic partnership to strengthen the growth of India's digital ecosystem through a range of financial solutions".
In a bid to accelerate adoption of digital payments in the country, over the coming months, Airtel and Axis Bank will bring to market a range of innovative financial offerings and digital services exclusively for Airtel's 340 million plus customers.
These will include a co-branded credit card with industry leading benefits, pre-approved instant loans, 'Buy Now Pay Later' offerings and many more.
Mar 08, 2022
RBI Launches UPI123Pay that Allows UPI Payments on Feature Phones
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das launched the country's most famous unified payments interface (UPI) service for feature phones. Termed as UPI123PAY, the service would allow 40 crore feature phone users across India to access the payment service.
So far UPI was available only across all smartphones in India but with the latest move, feature phone users would also be allowed to send and receive payments.
Additionally, the central bank also launched a 24×7 helpline for digital payments called DigiSaathi.
The UPI123Pay service is a three-step method to initiate and execute services for users, which would work on phones which do not have an option for internet connection.
SBI Appoints Nitin Chugh as DMD of Digital Banking
State Bank of India (SBI) appointed former Ujjivan Small Finance Bank CEO Nitin Chugh as Deputy Managing Director (DMD) to drive digital banking operations. He was appointed for an initial term of three years.
Prior to this appointment, Chugh was CEO and managing director of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank. He joined there from HDFC Bank where he served as the Group Head of Digital Banking. Chugh, who joined Ujjivan Small Finance Bank in 2019, quit the bank in September 2021 citing personal reasons.
According to a public notice by SBI, the position would be responsible for envisioning, developing and in execution of bank's digital banking strategy and business plan for imparting digital knowledge/skills in a constructive, empowering and collaborative way.
RBI Launches UPI123Pay that Allows UPI Payments on Feature Phones
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das launched the country's most famous unified payments interface (UPI) service for feature phones. Termed as UPI123PAY, the service would allow 40 crore feature phone users across India to access the payment service.
So far UPI was available only across all smartphones in India but with the latest move, feature phone users would also be allowed to send and receive payments.
Additionally, the central bank also launched a 24×7 helpline for digital payments called DigiSaathi.
The UPI123Pay service is a three-step method to initiate and execute services for users, which would work on phones which do not have an option for internet connection.
L&T launches B2B E-commerce Platform L&T-SuFin
In line with its strategy to grow its presence in the services business, Larsen & Toubro announced the launch of L&T-SuFin an integrated e-commerce platform for B2B industrial products and services.
L&T developed the platform to target MSMEs in order to enable them to source their industrial supplies pan-India, digitally.
The platform will be an end-to-end platform for all the requirements of MSME's starting from product pricing, to financing, logistic and fulfillment. For sellers, L&T-SuFin is an opportunity to broaden their markets like never before. The platform is designed to reach out to buyers across categories and pan India geographies.
ACME and Norway-based Scatec to Develop Green Ammonia in Oman
Gurugram based ACME Group signed an agreement with Norway-based Scatec ASA for a 50:50 joint venture to design, develop, build, and operate a large-scale green ammonia facility in Oman.
ACME said that the first phase of the facility is expected to produce 100,000 tonnes of green ammonia annually and will be expanded to 1.2 million tonnes per annum with about 3.5 GW of electrolyser capacity, which will be powered by 5.5 GW of the solar PV plant.
The facility will be located in the Duqm Special Economic Zone of Oman. Potentially, the facility can be further expanded in later phases at the same location.
Mar 07, 2022
Sachin Bansal-backed Navi MF Appoints Hari Shyamsunder as CEO
Sachin Bansal-backed Navi Mutual Fund (MF) appointed Hari Shyamsunder as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the fund house. He took over from Saurabh Jain who resigned from his current role in February 2022.
Jain would be moving to another role within the Navi Group where he would lead a new business vertical. Jain is also part of Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) advisory committee on MFs.
Navi MF largely focused on offering low-cost passive funds in the last few months. Navi MF had acquired assets of Essel MF in 2021.
Himachal Reduces Age Limit for Pension
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur announced no new tax proposal and increased the old-age pension to Rs. 1,500 per month while bringing down the age limit to 60 years in the Rs. 51,365-crore budget for 2022-23 presented in the Assembly.
The budget focuses on social security and the poor, the Chief Minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, said after the presentation of the budget.
M&M Signs Pact with IIT Madras-incubated Entity to Launch Campers in India
Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) signed a pact with Campervan Factory, an IIT Madras-incubated research-based caravan manufacturing company, to launch campers in India. These well-equipped campers, based on the double-cab Bolero Camper Gold platform, will cater to the self-drive tourism segment that is gaining popularity in the country.
This is the first time that an Indian automotive OEM (original equipment manufacturer) has ventured into the caravan segment in India. As part of this agreement, the auto major will introduce innovative campervan designs and models in India that match international standards.
Mahindra's entry into this segment fulfils the requirements of travel enthusiasts for whom the open road is the destination and those who want to enjoy the outdoors in complete freedom.
Reliance Industries Opens Country's Largest Business, Commerce Hub in Mumbai
Reliance Industries (RIL) announced the opening of the country's largest business, commerce and cultural destination — the Jio World Centre — spread across 18.5 acres at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai.
The initial launches are the Dhirubhai Ambani Square, the musical Fountain of Joy and The Jio World Convention Centre. The Jio World Centre will have a phase-wise opening over the course of the current and the next year.
The Jio World Centre will include a cultural centre, a musical fountain, an upscale retail experience, a curated selection of cafés and fine dining restaurants, serviced apartments and offices, and the convention facility.
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