General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - December 2018

Dec 2018

Feb 11, 2022

RBI Enhances Cap on Amount for e-RUPI Vouchers from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 1 lakh

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed to increase the cap on the amount for e-RUPI vouchers from Rs. 10,000 currently to Rs. 1,00,000 so as to enhance the scope of application of these vouchers and facilitate faster delivery of various government services to beneficiaries efficiently.
The e-RUPI vouchers can be used multiple times, until the amount on the voucher is completely redeemed. Currently, each voucher can be redeemed only once. The RBI will issue necessary instructions in this regard to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
The increase of the cap on e-Rupi vouchers from the present Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 100,000 is a significant jump, and the purpose is to address some practical issues with the lower current cap, and to broaden the applicability to a much larger set of use-cases which can involve amounts all the way up to Rs. 100,000.

Soft Drink Brand Thums Up Becomes a Billion-dollar Brand in 2021

Desi soft drink brand Thums Up became a billion-dollar brand in 2021, global soft drinks major The Coca-Cola Company, which owns the brand, said.
Thums Up was acquired by The Coca-Cola Company in 1993, when the Atlanta-headquartered company had re-entered into the Indian market, from Ramesh Chauhan of Parle Bisleri.
Coca-Cola had then bought the entire portfolio of aerated drinks from the Chauhan brothers, which also included Gold Spot and Limca.
Brand Thums Up was launched almost 45 years ago in 1977, after Coca-Cola had exited from the Indian market after the then Morarji Desai government had directed it to reduce the ownership stake of its Indian operation.
This is the first home-grown Indian beverage brand, scaling to billion-dollar sales and is one of the leading players into the aerated drinks market in the country.

TVS SCS Appoints Ravi Viswanathan as Managing Director

TVS Supply Chain Solutions (TVS SCS), part of the Rs. 15,000 crore TVS Mobility Group, appointed Ravi Viswanathan as the Managing Director.
The company, in its Board Meeting, approved the appointment and announced the changes. R Dinesh, the fourth generation TVS Scion, would continue to guide the company in his new role as the Executive Vice Chairman.
Ravi Viswanathan joined the firm in February 2020 as the Joint Managing Director and has been working on growing the business with a specific focus on technology adoption and building the globally relevant network-integrated as a single company.
Dinesh, the founder of the company, has been instrumental in driving the company's strategy and growth.

NHPC Inks Pact to Build 10,000 MW Renewable Energy Capacity in Rajasthan

State-run NHPC signed a letter of intent (LoI) to build renewable energy projects of 10,000 MW in Rajasthan.
The LoI was signed by Y. K. Chaubey, Director (Technical), NHPC Ltd and Subodh Agarwal, Additional Chief Secretary, Mines and Petroleum Department and Energy Department, and Chairman and Managing Director, RRECL and Chairman, Rajasthan Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd.
Under the leadership of A. K. Singh, chairman and managing director of NHPC, the company is expanding its renewable energy portfolio and has taken up several projects under different modes.

Feb 10, 2022

RBL Bank Partners with Creditas Solutions to Automate Collection

RBL Bank partnered with Creditas Solutions for its 'Neo Collections' platform.
The private sector lender will utilise the SaaS-based platform to accelerate efficiency in collections across the loan cycle.
Powered by AI and ML technology, the platform is built to automate strategies for reaching out to customers individually in an empathetic manner and motivate them to repay loans.
The platform can also determine the best course of action for every customer by offering customised payment plans to service debt, schedule an EMI plan or opt for payment resolution options.

RBI Maintains Status Quo; Leaves Benchmark Lending Rate Unchanged

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent and decided to continue with its accommodative stance in the backdrop of elevated level of inflation.
This is the tenth time in a row that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has maintained the status quo.
The RBI had last revised its policy repo rate or the short-term lending rate on May 22, 2020 in an off-policy cycle to perk up demand by cutting the interest rate to a historic low.
The reverse repo rate will continue to earn 3.35 per cent interest for banks for their deposits kept with the RBI.

James Murdoch, Uday Shankar Form New Investment Venture Backed by Qatar

Lupa Systems founder and CEO James Murdoch and former Star India chief executive officer Uday Shankar announced a new venture called Bodhi Tree that will get up to $1.5 billion from the Qatar Investment Authority, which manages the sovereign wealth fund.
Bodhi Tree will seek investments in media and consumer technology in Southeast Asia, with a focus on India. The Qatar Investment Fund has pledged the financial commitment to the venture.
The new venture, Bodhi Tree, is aiming to invest in media, education and healthcare companies with the potential to improve the lives millions of consumers across the region.

RBI Extends Restrictions on Karnataka's Millath Co-Operative Bank till May

The Reserve Bank extended the restrictions on Millath Co-Operative Bank, Devangere (Karnataka), by another three months till May 7, 2022.
As per the directions issued first on May 10, 2019, withdrawals were capped at Rs. 1,000 from any account. The directions have been periodically extended till now.
The directions also include no new loans, new investments or taking on any new liabilities, including borrowing of funds or paying any other liabilities, sans RBI approval.

Feb 09, 2022

PTC India Bags Contracts under Consulting Services

Power trading solutions provider PTC India bagged new contracts worth Rs. 10.08 crore under consulting services.
As per the contracts, PTC will provide services to Madhya Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation (MPIDC).
This is a unique project in India where services to an industrial area for distribution licensee were granted after following due regulatory process as per Electricity Act 2003 by SERC.
PTC had supported MPIDC in the process of getting the distribution licence for Mohasa-Babai Industrial Area.
PTC India is emerging as a strong player in energy management consultancy and is focusing on expanding the consulting business in emerging areas of battery storage, clean energy and hydrogen.

Dalmia Cement Bharat Emerges Highest Bidder for 2 Coal Blocks in Jharkhand

Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd emerged as the highest bidder for two coal blocks in Jharkhand that were auctioned for commercial use.
While Mahanadi Mines and Minerals Pvt Ltd emerged as the highest bidder for a coal block in Odisha, Yazdani Steel And Power Ltd was the highest bidder for another coal mine in the eastern state.
Assam Mineral Development Corp Ltd was the higest bidder for a mine in Assam.
Five coal mines were put up for auction on the first day of the auction.
Four coal mines are fully explored and one block is partially explored. The total geological reserve of these five coal mines is 1,188.16 million tonnes. The cumulative peak rated capacity for these coal mines is 5.944 million tonnes per annum.

Prashant Peres to Head Kellogg India and South Asia

Kellogg India appointed Prashant Peres as the new Managing Director for India and South Asia.
Incumbent Mohit Anand was elevated as General Manager, Snacks Portfolio, for Kellogg AMEA (Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa). He will be based out of Singapore.
Peres is an FMCG veteran of 25 years.
Peres was earlier with Mondelez International, where he led the Indonesia business as President and Managing Director. In the past he has also held various leadership roles at Unilever.

Bajaj Electricals to Demerge its Power Transmission & Distribution Business

Bajaj Electricals Ltd would demerge its power transmission and distribution (T&D) business into a separate company in a move to create a sector-focused firm and streamline the management structure.
The board of Shekhar Bajaj-led company approved the scheme of arrangement between Bajaj Electricals (the demerged company) and Bajel Projects Ltd (the resulting company) subject to the approval of shareholders.
The segregation will enable both the companies to move forward independently, with greater focus and specialisation, building on their respective capabilities and their strong brand presence.
After the demerger, Bajaj Electricals will have two business segments - Consumer Product segment and Engineering Procurement and Construction segment.

BharatPe Appoints Investor's Lawyer on Board

Fintech unicorn BharatPe appointed the lawyer of one of its investors on its Board even as the company is in the middle of an audit to probe alleged irregularities and a heated boardroom battle with Founder & MD Ashneer Grover at its centre.
According to data from Tofler, John Bernard Weinstein, a lawyer who is a partner and deputy general counsel at venture capital firm Insight Partners, joined the BharatPe Board on February 2. This appointment takes the number of members on the company's Board to nine.
This development comes days after embattled founder Ashneer Grover withdrew his nomination of CEO Suhail Sameer from the board, alleging in a media interview that Sameer manipulated him into going on a voluntary leave.

Feb 08, 2022

JSW Group Joins World Business Council for Sustainable Development

JSW Group, one of the country's leading business houses, joined over 200 forward-thinking companies as the newest member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
JSW will be represented in WBCSD by Seshagiri Rao, Joint Managing Director and Group CFO, who also sits on the board of directors of JSW Steel.
The JSW Group is a USD 13 billion multinational conglomerate headquartered in India.
JSW's innovative and sustainable presence in various sectors including steel, energy, infrastructure, cement, paints, venture capital and sports is helping the group play an important role in driving India's economic growth.

Gautam Adani Overtakes Mukesh Ambani as Asia's Richest Person

Gautam Adani, the Indian billionaire who turned a small commodities trading business into a conglomerate spanning ports, mines and green energy, is now Asia's richest person.
His net worth reached $88.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, eclipsing fellow countryman Mukesh Ambani's $87.9 billion. With an almost $12 billion jump in his personal fortune, Adani is the world's biggest wealth-gainer this year.
The Adani Group has spotted and entered all the happening sectors at the right time, which has appealed to a select band of foreign portfolio investors.

L&T, Microsoft Sign Pact to Develop Regulated Sector-focused Cloud Offering

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Microsoft India signed a pact to develop a regulated sector-focused cloud offering to empower customers with the best-of-breed cloud computing and infrastructure services.
In line with emerging regulations, L&T and Microsoft will co-engage with a defined set of large customers in regulated sectors to develop architectures and road maps to modernise their traditional data centres to potentially hybrid models and advance their digital transformation goals.
Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU), the two industry leaders will set up a joint governance group to define future platform designs, investments, and commercial/business models to service the regulated sectors' emerging technology requirements.

ICICI Lombard Tie-up with Airtel Payments Bank for Cyber Insurance

ICICI Lombard General Insurance partnered with Airtel Payments Bank to offer cyber insurance to customers of the bank. This Cyber Insurance policy provides financial protection to customers against potential financial fraud relating to banking, credit or debit card; identity theft; phishing or email spoofing etc. Airtel Payments Bank customers can purchase this cyber insurance policy within minutes using the Airtel Thanks app.
The insurance comes with zero waiting period and allows users to make multiple claims multiple times during the policy tenure, within the limits of the insured amount opted for
The policy will provide a 90-day discovery period followed by a seven-day reporting period.
This means that if the insured discovers an unauthorised transaction processed from their card or account on the 90th day from the transaction date, they can still report it in the next seven days to the issuing bank or mobile wallet company.

Ralf Dieter Speth to Replace Venu Srinivasan as TVS Motor Chairman

TVS Motor announced that its non-executive director Ralf Dieter Speth will be taking charge as the chairman of the company from April 1, 2022, replacing veteran Venu Srinivasan.
TVS Motor Company is an Indian multinational automotive company that manufactures motorcycles, scooters, and three-wheelers, headquartered in Chennai, India. It is the third largest motorcycle company in India.

Mphasis Appoints Dave Cassie as New Country Head Canada

IT services firm Mphasis named Dave Cassie as its new country head for Canada where he will work with the leadership team to increase growth.
Cassie is experienced in consulting, technology solutions, outsourcing, and transformation in multiple industries across North America. He has led major transformation programs for leading banks, insurance companies, investment managers and wealth managers in the US and Canada.
Before joining Mphasis, Cassie was Managing Director, Financial Services Advisory at PwC where he led the PwC Canada Asset and Wealth Management practice. He has worked with TD Bank in Toronto, Canada and Cherry Hill, USA, where he led transformation programmes.

Pfizer India Appoints Pradip Shah as Chairman

Pfizer India appointed Pradip Shah as the chairman of its board following the resignation of R. A. Shah.
Pradip Shah is the ex-managing director and a founding member of Crisil. Prior to founding Crisil, he assisted in founding HDFC in 1977.
He has also served as a consultant to USAID, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. He is a director with several reputed companies and also a member of various prestigious committees/commissions. He is currently the chairman of IndAsia Fund Advisors.
He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and is a chartered accountant and a cost accountant.

Feb 07, 2022

Honeywell Appoints Rajesh Rege as Country President for its India Business

Honeywell International Inc. appointed Rajesh Rege as country president for its India business. He would be based in the company's Bengaluru office.
Rege succeeds Ashish Gaikwad, who served as the interim president for Honeywell India in addition to his existing leadership roles including as managing director of Honeywell Automation India Ltd. (HAIL).
Rege will be responsible for the continued growth of India operations across Honeywell's four strategic business groups: Aerospace, Honeywell Building Technologies (HBT), Performance Materials and Technologies (PMT), and Safety and Productivity Solutions (SPS).
Rege has more than 32 years of corporate experience and his last assignment was with Microsoft, where he was Executive Director, leading the Technology and Cloud Solutions business for India.

Sukla Mistry, First Woman Director on IOC Board

Country's largest oil marketing company Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) appointed Sukla Mistry as the director of refineries. She is also the first woman director on the IOC board.
With a rich experience of over 35 years in refining and petrochemicals, Ms Mistry took over the reins of the refining business and operations of India's largest refiner.
Prior to her appointment as the Director (Refineries), she was heading IOC's Barauni Refinery in Bihar where she played an important role in rolling out BS-6 grade fuels and ethanol blended MS. Mistry has an experience of over 35 years in the areas of refining and petrochemicals.
She has worked at IOC's refineries at Barauni, Digboi, Haldia and Panipat as well as at the Refineries Headquarters. Mistry has execution-related experience in various greenfield and brownfield projects in refineries.

SBI Lines up 6 NPA Accounts for Sale to ARCs

Country's largest lender SBI lined up six non-performing assets (NPAs) for sale to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) to recover dues of nearly Rs. 406 crore.
The six NPA accounts put up for sale to the ARCs are -- Patna Bakthiyarpur Tollway with outstanding of Rs. 230.66 crore; Steelco Gujarat Ltd Rs. 68.31 crore; GOL Offshore Ltd Rs. 50.75 crore; Andhra Ferro Alloys Ltd Rs. 26.73 crore; Guru Ashish Taxfab Rs. 17.07 crore and Genix Automations Pvt Ltd Rs. 12.23 crore.

Vodafone Idea Remains Sole Telco to Offer Equity Stake to Govt.

Tata Teleservices (TTSL) withdrew its proposal to offer equity in lieu of interest on deferred liabilities to the government leaving Vodafone Idea (Vi) as the only telco with an active offer.
The finance ministry is currently examining Vi's proposal to convert interest on deferred spectrum and adjusted gross revenue dues into equity and the process is expected to be completed in six weeks. Vi has estimated net present value of interest (NPV) at Rs. 16,000 crore and that would result in issuance of 35.8 per cent stake to the government.

Adani Group Forms New Subsidiary

Ports-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group incorporated a new subsidiary to set up a data centre in Mumbai, one of the half a dozen cities that the billionaire Gautam Adani's group has identified to set up data centres initially.
AdaniConnex Pvt Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture of Adani Enterprises and EdgeConnex Europe BV incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary Mumbai Data Centre Ltd.
The new unit would undertake business to develop, operate, maintain, deal with data centres, information technology (IT)/ information technology-enabled services (ITES)/ cloud, providing services related thereto and to undertake activities associated with its infrastructure development including land acquisition and development for the said purpose.

IIT Hyderabad to Set Up Suzuki Innovation Centre on its Campus

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) and Suzuki Motor Corporation signed a three-year contract to start Suzuki Innovation Centre (SIC) with the vision of "creating innovations for India and Japan" by way of providing a platform for exchange of knowledge between the two organizations.
SIC is yet another milestone for IITH to play an important role in strengthening the India-Japan relationship. As a part of this initiative, IITH has offered the necessary support for the Centre within the Technology Research Park.

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