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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - January 2019

Jan 2019

Dec 16, 2022

AstraZeneca Pharma India's MD Resigns; Appoints Sanjeev Panchal

AstraZeneca Pharma India said that Gagandeep Singh Bedi resigned from the post of Managing Director.
The drug firm approved the appointment of Sanjeev Panchal as its Managing Director for a period of three years with effect from January 1, 2023.
Panchal had joined AstraZeneca Pharma in February 2003 as Brand Associate and progressed through several positions in India, Indonesia, Asia Pacific and the international region, based in Singapore and the United Kingdom (UK).

Bank of Baroda Board to Divestment Majority Stake in Nainital Bank

Bank of Baroda's board approved the divestment of its majority shareholding in the Nainital Bank.
The board of the Mumbai-based bank authorised issuance of an advertisement inviting expressions of interest (EOI) through a preliminary information memorandum (PIM) from interested parties (IPs).
The government backed lender currently holds 98.57% of the total equity share capital of Nainital Bank.
Nainital Bank NBL) was originally promoted by Late Bharat Ratna Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant and few prominent personalities of Nainital in 1922. In 1974, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed Bank of Baroda to manage the affairs of NBL.

IEX Become India's First Carbon-neutral Power Exchange

India's leading energy trading platform IEX said that it became the country's first carbon-neutral power exchange using market-based tradable instruments to offset its carbon emissions.
To reduce its carbon footprint, the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) voluntarily cancelled the certified emissions reductions (CERs) from clean projects registered under the Clean Development Mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. A CER is a certificate issued by the United Nations to member countries for preventing one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions.

Dec 15, 2022

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Launches 'NPS Prosperity Planner' to Calculate ...

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) launched "NPS Prosperity Planner" which is a personalised calculator for subscribers to calculate their retirement Income (Annuity) as per the annuity options based on their existing contribution under NPS. This initiative is a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) and the new calculator will allow subscribers to plan for adequacy retirement income and the NPS Prosperity Planner (NPP) has been made available by the CRAs.
NPS Prosperity Planner is futuristic and offers personalized retirement planning for the subscribers based on their past contribution, expected income rise in the future and their cost of living. The calculator thus can provide the subscriber with the reasonable projections which aid in better retirement planning to ensure adequate and sustainable old age income.

RBI Removes Informal Restrictions on Rupee NDF Trades

The Indian central bank lifted the informal restrictions on rupee non-deliverable forward trades it had placed on local banks in October.
All banks are now back to building positions in this segment.
The central bank had in October informally communicated to banks to halt building new positions in the NDF market to manage the rupee's volatility. The rupee had dropped to record low of 83.29 in October.
NDFs are offshore dollar-settled currency derivatives used by investors with limited access to onshore markets to hedge their exposure or speculate.

Vedanta Emerges as Successful Bidder for Bicholim Mining Block in Goa

In a development paving the way for resumption of iron ore mining in Goa, the state government announced that Vedanta Limited emerged as successful bidder for a mining block auctioned earlier this year.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that Vedanta was the highest bidder with 63.55 per cent revenue for Bicholim Mining Block, spread over 485 hectares. The state government had started the process to auction four mining blocks in the state including the Bicholim one earlier this year.
The existing block was being operated by Vedanta itself before iron ore mining was stopped in the coastal state on the Supreme Court's orders in 2012.

Dec 14, 2022

Vedanta Inks Pacts with 30 Japanese Firms to Develop Semiconductor Manufacturing

Vedanta signed pacts with 30 Japanese technology companies to develop an Indian semiconductor and glass display manufacturing ecosystem.
The pacts were signed at the Vedanta-Avanstrate Business Partners Summit 2022 held last week at Tokyo, Japan. The summit was attended by more than 200 delegates from over 100 global companies.
The company is committed to make India a hub for electronics manufacturing. It is focussed on taking the lead in creating the electronics industry ecosystem rather than just technology transfers.
The summit saw interests from a host of companies eager to be part of the ecosystem for India's semiconductor mission.

Tata Power Gets Shareholder Nod to Appoint Mehrishi as Independent Director

Tata Power received shareholders approval to appoint former Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi as an independent director on its board.
The special resolution for the appointment of Mehrishi as an independent director was passed with requisite majority.
Mehrishi is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1978 batch belonging to the Rajasthan cadre and has a wide experience of over 42 years.
He has served in various key posts in Union and Rajasthan governments. Among other positions, he served as Union home secretary, was also the 13th Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG).
In 2022, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan.

PTC India Appoints Mohammad Afzal as Power Ministry Nominee Director

Power trading solutions provider PTC India appointed Mohammad Afzal as power ministry nominee director on its board.
Afzal's appointment was approved by the board in a circular resolution. He is a Joint Secretary (Transmission) in Ministry of Power.
Afzal holds M.E. (First with Honours) in Power System Engg. degree from the then University of Roorkee (Now, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee).
He joined Central Electricity Authority in November 1996 and has served in various divisions like System Engg. & Technology Division, Grid Management Division and Fuel Management Division.

Bajaj Capital Appoints Kamayani Aniruddh Nagar as CEO-Wealth

Bajaj Capital Limited appointmented Kamayani Aniruddh Nagar as its Chief Executive Officer to strengthen its Wealth management business. Nagar, whose last stint was with CitiBank, has a background of over 20 years in setting and scaling up business performance, delivering revenue, profitability, operational targets, customer excellence, building and maintaining solid relationships with channels, trade partners, and internal as well as external stakeholders.
She has expertise in setting up and managing large-scale distribution and retail banking operations, helming P&L ownership, optimizing sales of core and fee products, revising/improving processes and policies, enhancing customer relations, and ensuring compliance.

Dec 13, 2022

Jaiprakash to Sell Cement, Power Units to Dalmia Group

Jaiprakash Associates will sell its cement, clinker, and power plants to Dalmia Cement (Bharat), a subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat, at an enterprise valuation of Rs. 5,666 crore. With this Jaiprakash Associates will exit the cement business.
Dalmia Cement will get additional cement capacity of 9.4 million tonnes (mt), along with clinker capacity of 6.7 mt, and thermal power capacity of 280 Mw.
Jaiprakash Associates decided to exit the cement business in order to repay loans and focus on other core business areas.

Top Five Steel Companies, Few others Selected under the PLI Scheme

The top five steel companies -- Tata Steel, JSW Steel, JSPL, AMNS India and SAIL -- dominate the list of qualifiers under the PLI scheme for specialty steel.
Besides, there were a few others like Gallant Metalliks, Shyam Metalics Flat Products, and Sunflag Iron and Steel who were selected to invest under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme.
The government had announced shortlisting 67 out of 79 applications, with an investment potential of Rs. 42,500 crore, under the PLI scheme for specialty steel. The proposed investments are expected to generate 70,000 job opportunities and add 26 million tonnes of speciality steel capacity in the country.

Dec 12, 2022

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Signs Pact with Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) entered into a strategic alliance with Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance to sell term, annuity and other value-packed products of the private life insurer across its over 500 branches.
An agreement to this effect was signed by the bank's MD & CEO S. Krishnan and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance MD & CEO Tarun Chugh.
this tie-up will enable the bank to expand the network pan India and offer added features in the products and services.
Through this partnership, new and existing customers of TMB can now choose from Bajaj Allianz Life's retail products including term, savings, retirement, and investment products.

RBI Shortlists 7 Consultancy Firms to Use AI, ML to Improve Supervision

The Reserve Bank shortlisted seven global consultancy firms, including Pricewaterhouse Coopers, McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group (India), to use artificial intelligence and machine learning for supervisory functions.
The RBI is looking to extensively use advanced analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyse its huge database and improve regulatory supervision over banks and NBFCs. For this purpose, the central bank plans to hire external experts.
Based on the scrutiny/evaluation set out in the EOI document, the central bank shortlisted seven applicants for participating in the request for proposal process (RFP) for the selection of consultant(s), according to an RBI document.
The seven firms are Accenture Solutions Private Limited; Boston Consulting Group (India) Pvt Ltd; Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP; Ernst and Young LLP; KPMG Assurance and Consulting Services LLP; McKinsey and Company; and Pricewaterhouse Coopers Pvt Ltd.

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