General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - December 2018

Dec 2018

Mar 02, 2022

India Ranked Third in Billionaire Population Globally in 2021

According to Knight Frank report, the number of ultra-high-net worth-individuals, having net assets of about Rs. 226 crore or more in India increased 11 per cent in 2021 on the back of buoyant equity markets and digital revolution.
India ranked third in billionaire population globally in 2021.
US was number one with 748 billionaires, followed by Chinese mainland at 554 billionaires and India with 145 billionaires, as per property consultant Knight Frank's latest report.
As per the latest edition of The Wealth Report 2022, the number of ultra-high-net-worth-individuals (UHNWIs) globally increased by 9.3 per cent in 2021 to 6,10,569, from 5,58,828 in the previous year.

Ilker Ayci Turns Down Air India CEO Role 2 Weeks after Appointment

Ilker Ayci turned down the Tata Group's offer to be Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Air India. On February 14, Tata Sons had said that Ayci, former chairman of Turkish Airlines, would take charge as CEO and MD of the debt-laden airline bought out by the Tatas in a $2.4 billion equity and debt deal.
Ayci declining the Tata's offer comes after Swadeshi Jagran Manch - an outfit linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh - called on the government to block the appointment of the hugely experienced Turkish aviation expert over 'national security concerns'.

RBI Imposes Penalty on 3 Cooperative Banks

The Reserve Bank of India imposed a penalty on three cooperative banks, including Nagrik Sahakari Bank Maryadit, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, for deficiencies in regulatory compliances.
A fine of Rs. 4.50 lakh was imposed on Nagrik Sahakari Bank Maryadit for contravention of the directions issued by the RBI to urban cooperative banks.
The Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of Rs. 1 lakh on Jila Sahakari Kendriya Bank Maryadit, Panna for contravention of certain provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014 and KYC.
A penalty of Rs. 25,000 was imposed on Jila Sahakari Kendriya Bank Maryadit, Satna for non-compliance with the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014.

Japan and India Renew the Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA)

As per a RBI statement, India and Japan renewed their bilateral swap arrangement to the extent of $75 billion. The Bank of Japan, acting as an agent for the Minister of Finance Japan, and the RBI signed the amendment and restatement agreement of the bilateral swap agreement (BSA).
Japan and India believe that the BSA, which aims to strengthen and complement other financial safety nets, will further deepen financial cooperation between the two countries and contribute to regional and global financial stability.
Essentially, BSA is a two-way arrangement where both authorities can swap their local currencies in exchange for dollars.
The BSA was negotiated between India and Japan during the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Japan in 2018. Consequently, the swap arrangement was signed to the tune of $75 billion in October 2020, to bring greater stability to foreign exchange.

Ease of Doing Business: Sitharaman Launches e-Bill Processing System

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the electronic bill (e-Bill) processing system as part of ease of doing business and Digital India eco-system.
The Finance Minister had announced this major e-governance initiative in the Union Budget 2022-23 presented in Parliament on February 1.
The e- Bill system will be implemented across all Central Ministries and Departments. This will be a further step to enhance transparency, efficiency, and a faceless- paperless payment system. Suppliers and contractors will now be able to submit their claim online which will be trackable on a real-time basis.

Dalmia Bharat Consolidates its India Refractory Businesses under Single Entity

Dalmia-OCL, the refractory business of the Dalmia Bharat Group, announced merger of all its domestic businesses into a single consolidated entity titled Dalmia Bharat Refractories Ltd (DBRL).
Effective immediately Dalmia Refractories Ltd, Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd – Refractory Unit and GSB India will transition into Dalmia Bharat Refractories Ltd.
The consolidation is aimed at strengthening DBRL's financial standing, increasing its investment capabilities, expanding its talent base, and positioning the new entity as a trustworthy and long-term partner for its customers in steel, cement and other industries having high temperature processes.

Adani Forays into Media Business with Quintillion Stake

Quint Digital Media Limited, a digital media group, entered into a binding term sheet with the Adani Group.
Adani Group will acquire a minority stake in Quintillion Business Media Private Limited.
The proposed transaction with the Adani Group is only for QBM which is a digital business news platform and not in relation to other digital media/ media tech properties owned by Quint Digital viz.
QBM is a business and financial news company and operates a leading business news digital platform in India.

Mar 01, 2022

Former Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia Nominated again as BoB Chairman

Former Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia was nominated again as the chairman of state-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB), according to a government order.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the proposal of the Department of Financial Services for re-nomination of Adhia as chairman of the BoB.
His term was extended by another two years as chairman with effect from March 1, 2022.
BoB is the third biggest public sector lender after State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank.
Adhia retired as Revenue-cum-Finance Secretary in November 2018.
It was during his tenure as Financial Services Secretary that the decision to split the post of Chairman and Managing Director of public sector banks was taken to foster greater transparency in decision making.

Twitter India Appoints Samiran Gupta to Lead Public Policy for Twitter in India

Samiran Gupta was named the new head of policy for microblogging platform Twitter in India. He would lead the company's public policy and philanthropy efforts in India and South Asia.
His appointment came almost a year after the former Public Policy Director for India and South Asia Mahima Kaul resigned.
Gupta, a public policy veteran was head of Public policy, South Asia for The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) prior to this.

Madhabi Puri Buch Becomes First Woman Chief of SEBI

Madhabi Puri Buch was appointed chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the regulator in charge of overseeing India's $3.3-trillion stock market ecosystem. She replaced Ajay Tyagi, whose tenure as SEBI chairman ended on February 28, 2022.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, approved her appointment for an initial period of three years.
Puri Buch is the first woman, and the first person from the private sector, to head the securities market watchdog.
She has had a more than four-year stint at SEBI as a whole-time member (WTM) -- a post just below the chairman. The IIM-Ahmedabad alumna will also be the youngest SEBI chief.
Buch has three decades of financial market experience. She joined ICICI Bank in 1989. Since then, she has worked as an investment banker, headed the country's leading broking outfit, held a senior position at a private equity major, and had a brief stint with the New Development Bank, set up by the BRICS bloc of nations.

US, European Union Cut Few Russian Banks from SWIFT

In a major move aimed to cripple Russia's economy, the US along with its key allies, including EU and the UK, decided to disconnect key sanctioned Russian banks from the global financial system SWIFT and impose restrictive measures on its central bank in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is the world's main banking messaging service which links around 11,000 banks and institutions in more than 200 countries, including India.
Based in Belgium, the system is considered central to the smooth functioning of global finances and Russia's exclusion from it would hit the country hard.
Removing banks from SWIFT is deemed to be a severe curb because almost all banks use the system. Russia is heavily reliant on the SWIFT system for its key oil and gas exports.

Standard Chartered India Appoints Saurabh Jain as Wealth Management Head

Standard Chartered Bank, India, appointed Saurabh Jain as its new head of wealth management.
Jain took over from Samrat Khosla, who moved to a new role within the bank.
He joined Standard Chartered Securities (India) as its CEO in October 2019 and later went on to be the head – deposit products and client acquisition with Standard Chartered Bank, India, a position he held before this current appointment.
He brings to the role over 20 years of experience in wealth management, private banking and retail banking products and distribution. He has held various senior roles in Citibank India and HDFC Bank as well.

Ashneer Grover Resigns as BharatPe MD

Ashneer Grover resigned as managing director of fintech BharatPe. Grover, also lost the arbitration in Singapore he filed against the fintech platform for launching a probe against him.
BharatPe currently has 8 million merchants on its platform.
Grover had filed an arbitration plea with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). In his appeal, Grover pleaded that the investigation was illegal because it violated the shareholder agreement and articles of association.

Feb 28, 2022

World Bank's India Head Junaid Ahmad Appointed Vice President of Operations

The World Bank's India head Junaid Kamal Ahmad was appointed as a Vice President of the international lending institution.
Ahmad, who as vice president, Operations would head the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), is only the second Bangladeshi national to be appointed to such a high position in the history of the bank.
Faisal Chaudhary was the first Bangladeshi national who became the vice president on the operational side.

Union Cabinet Approves Offering of Coal via Common e-auction Window

The government approved offering of dry-fuel by coal companies, including state-owned CIL, through a common e-auction window instead of sector specific auctions.
The approval was given during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Due to the move, market distortions would be removed and single rate for all the consumers will evolve in the e-auction market. It will increase operational efficiencies and lead to an increase in domestic coal demand.

Reliance Takes over Operations of 200 Future Group's Stores

Reliance Industries is in the process of transferring over 30,000 Future Retail and Future Lifestyle employees and also took over 200 Future Group stores that are now being re-branded as Reliance stores.

Feb 27, 2022

RBI Cancels PC Financial Service's Certificate of Registration

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cancelled the certificate of registration of PC Financial Services, a non-banking finance company, which was engaged in mobile app-based lending business through its app called 'Cashbean', citing a number of violations including charging exorbitant rate of interest and other charges to its borrowers in an opaque manner.
The company violated the central bank's directions on outsourcing and "Know Your Customer" norms and was also found to be charging very high interest rates and other charges from its borrowers in an opaque manner.

International IP Index 2022: India Ranks 43rd

India improved its overall IP score from 38.4 per cent to 38.6 per cent, and the country is ranked 43 out of 55 countries on the International Intellectual Property Index 2022. This index was released by the Global Innovation Policy Center of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In July 2021, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce released a Review of the Intellectual Property Rights Regime in India. This review is a welcome development and offers a comprehensive and detailed study of the strengths and weaknesses of India's national IP environment.

RBI Extends Tenure of its Additional Director on Board of Dhanlaxmi Bank

The Reserve Bank extended the tenure of its additional director G. Jagan Mohan on the board of Dhanlaxmi Bank by two years.
Mohan was appointed as an additional director on the board of the private sector lender for two years from February 27, 2020.

Indian Oil Corp Buys First Russian Urals Crude in 2 Years

Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, bought Russian Urals crude for the first time in two years, after spot differentials slumped.
The opportunity for India to buy more of the Russian flagship grade that typically heads to Europe arose after its discount to global benchmark Brent fell to the widest since 2005, hit by rising tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine.
Urals crude was last imported by IOC at its Paradip port in April 2020.

Govt. Appoints Aggarwal as RBI Nominee Director in Indian Overseas Bank

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) said that the government appointed Vivek Aggarwal on its board as an RBI nominee director with immediate effect.
With this, Deepak Kumar, nominated by the government as the RBI nominee director, ceases to be a director on the board with effect.

Standard Chartered, IATA Tie-up for Payment Platform for Airline Industry

Global banking group Standard Chartered partnered with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to launch a payment platform for airline industry in India.
In addition to existing payment options such as credit cards, IATA Pay will be a new payment option that enables participating airlines to offer instant payment options such as UPI Scan and Pay and UPI Collect (Request to Pay).
The service, which is already available in several European markets, leverages the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), a domestic real-time payments scheme, thereby enabling consumers to instantly pay for airline tickets from their bank accounts.
IATA Pay in India is powered by Standard Chartered's Straight2Bank Pay, a payment platform that helps online merchants digitalise collections via multiple payment options through a single global connectivity.

Feb 26, 2022

RBI: Amendments in Payments Systems Rules

The Reserve Bank of India amended the Payments and Settlement Systems Regulations. This system allows the companies who are seeking to run payment businesses to apply for licenses from the regulator.
The application for licensing should include the technology platform which is to be used, the operator's process flow, interoperability with operators of the other payment systems, and security features.
As per the rules that have been set, the operators will be required to submit all documents and information which are desired by the RBI from time to time.
Three months after the closing of the account, annual accounts also have to be submitted by the system provider to the regulator along with a copy of the audited balance sheet.

Vedanta Aluminium Launches Green Aluminium Brand 'Restora'

Vedanta Aluminium Business launched 'Restora', its low carbon, green aluminium brand.
The company unveiled two product lines -- Restora (low-carbon aluminium) and Restora Ultra (ultra-low carbon aluminium) --under the new brand.
It is the first major non-ferrous Indian metals producer to manufacture low carbon products (primary aluminium) for customers worldwide, exhibiting a strong step towards its commitment of achieving net zero carbon by 2050. Both products have been verified as low-carbon aluminium post assessment by an independent, global verification assurance firm.
Vedanta Aluminium has the capability to tailor-make Restora and Restora Ultra as billets, primary foundry alloy (PFA), wire rods, slabs, P1020 Ingots, and more, customised to the needs of the end-use industries.

Hero Electric Partners with IDFC FIRST Bank for Vehicle Finance

Hero Electric joined hands with IDFC FIRST Bank for vehicle finance.
The collaboration allows Hero Electric customers to avail an instant loan on KYC with low processing fees and down payment.
This partnership with IDFC FIRST Bank will further our penetration to newer markets to promote green commuting via seamless financing options. It will benefit our customers significantly in aiding commute savings.

NHPC Inks Pact with HDFC Bank to Monetise RoE of Chamera-I Power Plant

State-owned NHPC inked a pact with HDFC bank to securitise return on equity of its 540-MW Chamera-I Power Plant in Himachal Pradesh for 10 years.
In December 2021, NHPC's board had approved the proposal for monetisation by securitisation through bidding process of return on equity (RoE) of Chamera-1 Power Station (3 X 180 MW), Himachal Pradesh, and further to monetise RoE of one or more power stations for 5 or 10 or 15 years in one go or rollover.

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