General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - December 2018

Dec 2018

Oct 10, 2025

Blackstone Appoints Apurva Shah to Lead India Credit Division

Global investment firm Blackstone announced the launch of its India credit platform, appointing seasoned finance expert Apurva Shah as Managing Director to lead private credit origination operations in the country. This move marks a significant expansion of Blackstone's global credit business into one of its fastest-growing markets—India.
Apurva Shah brings over 26 years of experience in finance, including roles at Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, DSP Merrill Lynch, and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson.
He will lead Blackstone's India efforts under the Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI) vertical and report directly to Mark Glengarry, Head of Asia Pacific Private Credit Strategies.
Shah's role will include building relationships with Indian borrowers, identifying lending opportunities, and expanding Blackstone's footprint in the alternative credit space.

Oct 09, 2025

SoftBank to Buy ABB's Robot Business for $5.4 Billion

SoftBank Group agreed to buy the robotics business of Swiss engineering group ABB in a $5.4 billion deal, as the Japanese investor forges ahead with a strategy to fuse robotics and artificial intelligence.
The acquisition, announced is the latest by founder and CEO Masayoshi Son to establish Softbank as a core player in the development of artificial intelligence.
SoftBank pushed into humanoid robotics a decade ago with its Pepper robot but later scaled back its ambitions.

HDFC Bank Launches Country's first 'My Business QR' Powered by Vyaparify

In a major step toward empowering small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across India, HDFC Bank announced the launch of 'My Business QR', powered by Vyaparify -- a digital innovation designed to give Bharat's entrepreneurs their first commerce identity.
Vyaparify positions itself as the Commerce Playbook for Bharat's SMEs, bridging the gap between jaankari (information), pehchaan (identity), battein (engagement), and vyapar (business) -- all through a single, smart QR code.

PayPal Onboards India's UPI as First Payments System Partner

In a landmark development for global digital payments, PayPal CEO Alex Chriss announced that India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) became the first payments system partner to be integrated into PayPal World, the company's newly launched global payments platform. The partnership marks a significant milestone for both PayPal and India's fintech ecosystem, further enhancing UPI's global footprint and demonstrating its transformative role in the digital payments landscape.

Oct 08, 2025

PhonePe Partners with Mastercard to Launch Device Tokenisation, Unveils Smart Pod for Card and UP...

PhonePe announced a partnership with Mastercard to roll out ecosystem-wide device tokenisation on its payments gateway, making digital transactions more seamless and secure for users.
In addition to the tokenisation launch, PhonePe also introduced the Smart Pod--an all-in-one payment device for merchants.
The PhonePe Smart Pod combines the features of the PhonePe Smart Speaker with features of a card terminal. It accepts card payments and UPI payments from the same terminal. It will allow customers to pay with a card at smaller outlets.

FM Launches Foreign Currency Settlement System at GIFT City

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a foreign currency settlement system at GIFT International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) during Global Fintech Fest-2025.
The new system enables real-time transaction settlements, improves liquidity management, and ensures compliance, reducing the typical 36-48 hours lag for foreign currency transactions. With this, GIFT City joined elite financial hubs such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Manila — all of which have local currency settlement infrastructure.

Oct 07, 2025

India to Introduce RBI-backed Digital Currency

India will soon launch its own digital currency backed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said in a roundtable during his visit to Doha, Qatar.
The move aims to make financial transactions faster, safer, and more transparent, while reducing paper use in the economy.
The digital currency will function like traditional money, but in an electronic form.

Piyush Goyal Co-Chairs India-Qatar Joint Commission Meeting on Economic and Commercial Cooperation

Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, co-chaired the India-Qatar Ministerial Joint Commission on Economic and Commercial Cooperation with H.E. Sheikh Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal Al Thani, Minister of Commerce and Industry of Qatar.
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to deepening the India-Qatar partnership by building on our strong bilateral trade. They also agreed to further intensify cooperation to achieve the trade and investment goals set by the leadership during the visit of His Highness the Amir of Qatar to India in February 2025.
On his first visit to Qatar, Goyal was also accompanied by senior officials from different Ministries.

Piyush Goyal Launches UPI in Doha, Strengthening India-Qatar Economic Ties

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal launched India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) at the Lulu Mall in Doha, marking a new milestone in digital and financial cooperation between India and Qatar. The launch symbolises growing trust across borders and aims to enhance ease of transactions for citizens and businesses in both nations.
Launched nine years ago, UPI has become one of India's biggest digital success stories, accounting for 85 percent of the country's digital payments and nearly half of global digital transactions. With over 640 billion transactions processed annually, UPI continues to demonstrate India's leadership in fintech innovation.

Oct 06, 2025

Arunachal Pradesh Launches First Commercial Coal Mine at Namchik-Namphuk Block

Arunachal Pradesh witnessed a historic day with the launch of its first commercial coal mine at the Namchik-Namphuk coal block, marking a new chapter of growth, energy security, and local prosperity.
The Namchik Namphuk coal block, with reserves of 1.5 crore tonnes, was first allocated in 2003 but faced long delays and stoppages due to various challenges. It was revived through a transparent auction process in 2022, opening the doors for private sector entry and marking the end of years of delays.

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