General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - December 2018

Dec 2018

Jan 06, 2022

Toyota Dethrones General Motors as Top-selling Automaker in US

For the first time since 1931, Detroit-based General Motors lost the crown of top-selling automaker in the US, handing over the baton to Japanese giant Toyota Motor, as automakers stare at acute chip shortage and supply chain constraints.
General Motors and its dealers delivered 2.2 million vehicles in 2021, with Chevrolet and GMC cementing the company's eighth consecutive year of combined full-size and midsize pickup sales leadership.
Toyota sold 2.3 million vehicles in the US last year, up by 10.4 per cent compared to 2020.
It also marks the first time a non-domestic automaker has taken the top spot in the US.

Jindal Aluminium Acquires Indo Alusys' Extrusion Plant

Jindal Aluminium Limited concluded a Rs. 100-crore acquisition of the assets of Indo Alusys Industries Limited (IAIL) and commencement production at the revived Bhiwadi plant.
The acquisition of IAIL's assets covers its manufacturing unit located in the industrial area of Bhiwadi, Rajasthan. About 70 km from the national capital, the location offers strategic access of the northern market to Jindal Aluminium and brings a potential capacity of 14,000 metric tonnes per annum extrusions.
Once fully operational, Jindal Aluminium's extrusion capacity is expected to rise from 125,000 tonnes to 139,000 tonnes.

RBI Window for Primary Dealers

The Reserve Bank of India provided a new special window for bond houses called "Primary Dealers". The window allows to exchange illiquid securities. Illiquid securities are those securities that cannot be sold easily or directly. That is, the investors buying the securities can sell them only in limited instances.
The primary dealers are those dealers who buy securities directly from the government. They then resell the security to the others. Thus, their main role is to assist the government in selling bonds or securities. They earn some fees for selling these securities. The Bond house is the security firm that creates and distributes bonds. Now, these primary dealers have a separate section or window to buy securities from the government. The government securities are debt issuances.

IIFL Finance Appoints Richa Sachdeva as President

IIFL Finance Ltd has appointed Richa Sachdeva Chatterjee as the company's president and chief human sources officer (CHRO).
IIFL Finance is a major employer in the financial services space in India, and has nearly 24,000 employees across its 2,914 branches.
She is a seasoned HR leader and has 16 years of experience.
She was previously the head of HR at Network18's Digital, Print and Publishing verticals, and has also had senior roles at Viacom 18, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Tata Motors.
Richa is a certified coach and has received the prestigious 'India HR 40 under 40 Award'.

Jan 05, 2022

SBI, ICICI, HDFC Bank Continue to Remain Systemically Important Banks

As per RBI, state-owned SBI, along with private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank continue to be Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) or institutions which are 'too big to fail'.
SIBs are perceived as banks that are 'too big to fail (TBTF)'. This perception of TBTF creates an expectation of government support for these banks in times of distress. Due to this perception, these lenders enjoy certain advantages in the funding markets.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had announced SBI and ICICI Bank as D-SIBs in 2015 and 2016.
Based on data collected from banks as on March 31, 2017, HDFC Bank was also classified as a D-SIB.

GAIL Completes Acquisition of Bankrupt IL&FS' 26% Stake in OTPC

State-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd completed the acquisition of bankrupt Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services' (IL&FS) 26 per cent stake in ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC).
OTPC is a special purpose vehicle set up by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to build a 726.6 megawatt combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) thermal power plant at Palatana, Tripura. The IL&FS group and the Government of Tripura (GoT) were partners in the special purpose vehicle (SPV).
GAIL had in November 2021 got the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approval for the acquisition.

Ajay Kumar Choudhary, Deepak Kumar New Executive Directors of RBI

Deepak Kumar and Ajay Kumar Choudhary were promoted as executive directors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Prior to being promoted as ED, Kumar was heading the Department of Information Technology of the RBI, while Choudhary was Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Supervision.
As executive director, Kumar will look after the Foreign Exchange Department, Department of Communication and Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI.
Choudhary will look after the Fintech Department, Risk Monitoring Department and Inspection Department.

RBI Designates Airtel Payments Bank as Scheduled Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that Airtel Payments Bank Ltd. was included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 which means it has been categorised as a Scheduled Bank.
With this, the bank can now pitch for government-issued Requests for Proposals (RFP) and primary auctions and undertake both Central and State Government business participating in government-operated welfare schemes.

15-year Cap on Tenure of MD, CEOs of Insurance Companies on Cards

The insurance regulator has proposed to cap the tenure of managing directors (MDs) and chief executive officers (CEOs) of insurance firms at 15 years, aligning it with what the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated for the top honchos of banks. It has also proposed changes to the compensation structure of the top management at insurance companies, so as to ensure sound compensation practices and avoid situations resulting from excessive risk-taking behaviour due to inappropriate compensation structures or incentive plans.
After 15 years, the incumbent will only be eligible to be appointed CEO of the company after a gap of three years, but in those three years, the individual cannot be associated with the company or its group entities, either directly or indirectly.

Jan 04, 2022

RBI Gives Nod to Fino Payments Bank's International Money Transfer Service

Customers of Fino Payments Bank will be able to receive remittance money sent from overseas as it was granted approval by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to offer the international money transfer service.
Fino Bank received the RBI approval to commence the international remittance business under the Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS).
The lender will undertake inward cross-border money transfer activities in association with an overseas principal, the details of which are being worked out.

Reliance Becomes Promoter in SWREL

Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Ltd (SWREL) said that Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd (RNESL) has become its promoter post payment of balance Rs. 1,583 crore for acquisition of 25.90 per cent equity in it.
With this transaction, RNESL and other group firms together hold over 40 per cent stake in SWREL.

RBI Framework on Offline Digital Payments

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a framework for small-value offline transactions in digital mode.
As per framework, offline payments can be made using any channel or instrument such as wallets, mobile devices or cards. However, they shall be made in proximity, or in face-to-face mode only.
Authorised payment system operators (PSOs) and payment system participants (PSPs) including banks and non-banks, which wants to offer payments in offline mode will require to comply with the requirements under the prescribed framework.
Total limit for offline transactions on a payment instrument should be Rs 2,000 at any point in time.
Replenishment of the used limit should be allowed only in online mode with AFA.
Bank or non-bank issuer have been mandated to send transaction alerts to users as soon as transaction details are received. However, there is no compulsion to send alert for each transaction.

ONGC Appoints Alka Mittal as Company's First ever Female Chairman & MD

Alka Mittal, the Director for Human Resources (HR) at Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was given the additional charge as the public sector undertaking's Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), making her the first woman to head the energy major.
This development comes two days after Subhash Kumar, the Director (Finance) who was holding additional charge of CMD, superannuated on December 31, 2021.
She was the senior-most ONGC Board Member after Kumar's retirement. She joined the ONGC Board in November 2018 and was the first woman to hold the charge of a full-time Director in ONGC's history.

Apple Becomes First Firm to Hit $3tn Market Value

US technology giant Apple became the first company to hit a stock market valuation of $3tn (£2.2tn).
The firm's share price has risen by around 5,800% since co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007.
Apple has been one of the big winners of the pandemic, as coronavirus lockdowns saw spending on gadgets jump.
It took just over 16 months for Apple's stock market valuation to rise from $2tn to $3tn, as the world's biggest technology companies saw demand soar as people became more reliant on smartphones, tablets and laptops during lockdowns.
The company became the first company to hit a stock market valuation of $1tn in August 2018.

Jan 03, 2022

SEBI Reconstitutes Market Data Advisory Panel

SEBI restructured its advisory committee on market data that recommends policy measures pertaining to areas like securities market data access and privacy.
Rejigging its market data advisory committee, SEBI said that the panel is now chaired by S. Sahoo, Professor at National Law University, Delhi and former chairperson, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).
The 20-member committee was earlier headed by Madhabi Puri Buch, ex-whole time member of SEBI.
Apart from Sahoo, the panel has CEOs of stock exchanges and depositories, representatives of various stakeholders and senior officials of Sebi as members.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the regulatory body for securities and commodity market in India under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It was established on 12 April 1988 and given Statutory Powers on 30 January 1992 through the SEBI Act, 1992.
SEBI has its headquarters at the business district of Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai and has Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Regional Offices in New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Ahmedabad respectively.

Vinod Kannan Takes over as Vistara CEO

Vinod Kannan took over as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vistara Airline.
Kannan replaced Leslie Thng who was the CEO from July 16, 2017 to December 31, 2021.
Kannan started his stint with Vistara as the Chief Strategy Officer in June 2019 and took over as Chief Commercial Officer in January 2020 with responsibility for developing, executing, and sustaining Vistara's corporate strategy and ensuring the airline's commercial success.
Kannan spent over two decades working with Singapore Airlines (SIA) and has held several senior positions in the airline's head office in Singapore as well as overseas.

ONGC Without a Chairman as Subhash Kumar Retires

India's most valuable public sector firm by market capitalisation ONGC became a company with no chairman and managing director after incumbent Subhash Kumar superannuated and the government did not immediately name his replacement.
Kumar was Director-Finance of ONGC and was since April last year holding the additional charge of chairman and managing director and superannuated on December 31, 2021.
Anurag Sharma, Director (Onshore) was entrusted with an additional charge of the post of Director (Finance) with effect from January 1, 2022.

Cryptowire Launches India's First Index of Cryptocurrencies

CryptoWire, a crypto super app, launched India's first index of cryptocurrencies — IC15. This is aimed at empowering knowledge on crypto and blockchain ecosystem.
The IC15 is a rule-based broad market index by market capitalization, which tracks and measures the performance of top 15 widely traded liquid cryptocurrencies listed on leading crypto exchanges of the world.
The Base Value of the index is set at 10,000 and the Base Date is April 1, 2018.

Jan 02, 2022

Sri Lanka, Indian Oil Corp Unit to Sign Oil Tank Restoration Deal

Sri Lanka will sign a deal with Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) to restore 75 oil tanks as the country moves to secure a $500 million fuel credit line from India.
The island nation is facing dwindling foreign exchange reserves and has nearly $4.5 billion worth of debt repayments in 2022, prompting it to look at innovative ways to bring in foreign exchange.
The facility, with 99 storage tanks, is located next to a harbour off Sri Lanka's east coast and though India and Sri Lanka agreed to jointly develop it in 1987, negotiations dragged on for decades.
Under the proposed agreement, LIOC, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), will be given 14 tanks on a 50-year lease and a 49% stake in 61 other tanks that will be held jointly with State-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).

West End Housing Applies for small Finance Bank Licence with RBI

The Reserve Bank said that West End Housing Finance Ltd has applied for 'on tap' licence for setting up a small finance bank.
West End Housing Finance is headquartered at Mumbai.

Asheesh Pandey Takes Charge of Bank of Maharashtra's Executive Director

Asheesh Pandey assumed the charge of executive director (ED) of Pune-based Bank of Maharashtra (BoM).
Pandey replaced Hemant Kumar Tamta who demitted office after completion of his term.
Prior to joining BoM, Pandey was chief general manager and chief operations officer (COO) at Union Bank of India (UBI).
Pandey started banking career at Corporation Bank at its Industrial Finance Branch, and Investment and International Banking division in Mumbai.

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