General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - August 2019

Aug 2019

Apr 03, 2022

Cabinet Clears Rs 6,062 Crore World Bank-Assisted Programme for MSMEs

The Union Cabinet approved a World Bank-assisted Rs. 6,062 crore funding programme for the small and medium businesses to help improve their access to market and credit. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the Rs. 6,062.45 crore or USD 808 million 'Raising and Accelerating MSM Performance' (RAMP) for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), an official release said
The government formulated and proposed RAMP for strengthening MSMEs in line with the recommendations of the UK Sinha committee, KV Kamath committee and the Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). A total of 5,55,000 MSMEs are specifically targeted for enhanced performance. In addition, expansion of target market to include service sectors and increase of about 70,500 women MSMEs is envisaged.

Central Bank of India Partners Kwik.ID to Digitize Customer Onboarding

State-owned Central Bank of India selected Kwik.ID to implement digital know your customer (KYC), video KYC and eKYC for its network across India. Central Bank of India had an eight-month-long gruelling evaluation process on technology and product experience followed by a reverse auction commercial round for this selection. With Kwik.ID — an AI-based video KYC solution — the lender aims to digitize 10 million customers' onboarding annually and streamline their end-to-end processes.
Video KYC tools that reach even the farthest rural areas with provisions for low bandwidth mode and guided step-by-step processes are essential to increase financial access to all community segments.

Crypto Tax at 30% from April 1, 2022

April 1 marks the onset of the new financial year. Effective from FY 2022-23, gains from various virtual digital assets (VDA) such as bitcoin, dogecoin etc. will be taxed at a flat rate of 30%. Further, no deduction in respect of any expenditure (except cost of acquisition) will be allowed. No set-off of losses of buying /selling of virtual digital assets from other incomes will be allowed.
New section 115BBH has been inserted into the Income-tax Act, 1961 for taxation of virtual digital assets.

ADB and HSBC India Establish $ 100 mn Guarantee Plan for Microcredit

ADB and HSBC programme will help women running small businesses and microfinance institutions lending after the pandemic. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Hongkong and (Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited) HSBC India have signed an agreement to establish a $100 million partial guarantee program to support more than 0.4 million micro-borrowers, especially women running small businesses.
ADB's Microfinance Program was launched in 2010 and has provided more than $1.8 billion in loans and helped mobilize $881 million in co-financing. It has provided access to microloans for more than eight million borrowers, 98 per cent of them women.

Tata Power Gets NCLT Nod to Merge CGPL with Itself

Tata Power Ltd received approval from the Mumbai bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for the Composite Scheme of Arrangement between Coastal Gujarat Power Limited (CGPL) and Tata Power and their respective shareholders.
CGPL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power and operates the 4000 MW UMPP in Mundra, Gujarat.

Apr 02, 2022

Microsoft to Empower Indian Start-ups from Idea to Unicorn with New Platform

Tech giant Microsoft has launched its 'Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub' in India. The aim is to empower startups' vision and fuel innovation to drive economic and societal progress for India and beyond. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a new digital inclusive platform for startup founders in India. The platform offers over $300,000 worth of benefits and credits, giving start-ups free access to the technology, tools, and resources they need to build and run their business. From the most trusted, secure, open-source friendly and compliant cloud platform, to best-in-class developer and productivity tools including GitHub Enterprise, Visual Studio Enterprise and Microsoft 365.
Beyond access to technology, Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub will empower entrepreneurs to innovate and grow by connecting them with mentors who will provide them with industry, business, and technical support to guide them through their next business milestones.

L&T Appoints Former Citibank India Head Pramit Jhaveri as Director

Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) has appointed former Chief Executive Officer of Citibank India Pramit Jhaveri as independent director. He is also senior advisor to Premji Invest and PJT Partners and an independent director on the board of Bajaj Finance Limited.
Prior to his current activities, he was Vice Chairman – Banking, Asia Pacific Citi. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Citibank India from 2010 to 2019.

Airtel, TechM Team up for Digital Solutions Across 5G, Pvt Networks, Cloud

Bharti Airtel and Tech Mahindra announced a strategic partnership to jointly develop and market enterprise-grade digital solutions across 5G, private networks and cloud. Telecom operator Airtel has been undertaking 5G demonstrations and testing in India, while IT services major Tech Mahindra has developed 5G applications and platforms. The two firms will set up a joint 5G innovation lab for developing 'Make-in-India' use cases for the Indian and global markets. These solutions will focus on combining Airtel's integrated connectivity portfolio of 5G ready mobile network, fibre, and Internet of Things (IoT) along with Tech Mahindra's system integration capabilities.

RBI Turns 87 Not Out

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) turned 87. The Indian Central Bank was established in 1935. It was constituted to regulate the issue of banknotes, maintain reserves with a view to securing monetary stability and to operate the credit and currency system of the country to its advantage.
The Bank began its operations by taking over from the Government the functions so far being performed by the Controller of Currency and from the Imperial Bank of India, the management of Government accounts and public debt.

Govt. to Borrow Rs. 8.45 lakh crore from Market in April-September

As per the Budget document, the gross market borrowing through dated securities for 2022-23 is Rs. 14,95,000 crore. The Union government is looking to raise Rs. 8.45 lakh crore through borrowing in the first half of 2022-23 to fund the revenue gap for reviving the economy. Out of gross market borrowing of Rs. 14.31 lakh crore estimated for FY2022-23, Rs. 8.45 lakh crore is planned to be borrowed in the first half (H1).

Apr 01, 2022

HDFC ERGO Launches VAULT, Digitally-enabled Rewards Program

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, a leading private general insurer and a digital-first company leads the way in customer loyalty with the launch of the VAULT program, an industry-first digital customer engagement and rewards program.
Under this program, the insurer will incentivize its Optima Restore health insurance customers by way of reward points for performing certain activities like staying insured under the policy for more than two years, holding two active HDFC ERGO retail policies, interacting digitally, using the cashless network of healthcare providers, etc.
HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company is a joint venture between HDFC Ltd. and ERGO International AG; the primary insurance entity of the Munich RE Group of Germany. HDFC ERGO is one of India's largest non-life insurance company in the private sector.

India Ratings Lowers India's FY23 GDP Growth Forecast to 7-7.2%

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) revised downwards the GDP growth forecast for India in FY23 to 7-7.2 per cent. Earlier in January, the rating agency Ind-Ra had forecast this rate at 7.6 per cent.
According to Ind-Ra, in scenario one, the crude oil price is assumed to be elevated for three months, and in scenario two, the assumption is for six months, both with a half cost pass-through into the domestic economy. Since the duration of the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to be uncertain, Ind-Ra has created two scenarios with respect to the FY23 economic outlook basis certain assumptions.

Max Life Insurance Partners PhonePe to offer Financial Protection to Consumers

Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd announced the debut of the Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan via the PhonePe app, a non-linked non-participating individual pure risk premium life insurance plan aimed at digitally savvy customers.
Customers can choose a sum assured of up to ten crore rupees and have their policies renewed through the PhonePe app. Max Life will provide PhonePe users an inherent terminal sickness benefit and a particular exit option within the life insurance category. IRDAI has awarded PhonePe, a digital payments platform, a direct broking licence, allowing them to offer insurance through their app.

Mar 31, 2022

HURUN Global U40 Self-Made Billionaires 2022: India Ranks 4th

Hurun Research Institute released the Hurun Global Forty and Under Self-Made Billionaires 2022. Hurun Research Institute released the Hurun Global Forty and Under Self-Made Billionaires 2022, which ranks the self-made billionaires in the world (in terms of US dollars) aged forty years and under. The Hurun Report 2022 lists 87 Self-Made Billionaires in the world aged 40 and under, which is up by 8 from last year.
The US leads the list with 37 self-made billionaires. China is second with 25 billionaires, followed by the United Kingdom (8), India (6) and Sweden (3) respectively in the top five.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the world's richest self-made billionaire aged 40 and under with a total wealth of $76 billion. He is followed by ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, respectively.

Axis Bank Buys Citi's India Consumer Business for $1.6 billion in Cash

Citi announced that it has reached an agreement with Axis Bank for the sale of Citi's consumer businesses in India. Axis was selected by Citi following an extensive and competitive auction process. Axis will pay to Citi cash consideration of approximately US$1.6 billion for the acquisition of the consumer business.
The transaction comprises the sale of the consumer banking businesses of Citibank India, which includes credit cards, retail banking, wealth management and consumer loans. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2023 subject to requisite regulatory approvals.
The transaction also includes the sale of the consumer business of Citi's non-banking financial company, Citicorp Finance (India) Limited, comprising the asset-backed financing business, which includes commercial vehicle and construction equipment loans, as well as the personal loans portfolio.

PVR Ltd, INOX Merger to Create Largest Multiplex Chain in India

Leading film exhibition players PVR Ltd and INOX Leisure Ltd announced a merger deal to create the largest multiplex chain in the country with a network of more than 1,500 screens.
The combined entity will be named PVR Inox Ltd with the branding of existing screens to continue as PVR and INOX. New cinemas opened post the merger will be branded as PVR Inox. As per the agreement, INOX will merge with PVR in a share swap ratio of 3 shares of PVR for every 10 shares of INOX.
When the merger comes into effect, the board of the merged company would be reconstituted with total strength of 10 members and both the promoter families having equal representation on the board with two seats each.

Punjab National Bank Reports Maximum Bank Frauds Amounting to Rs. 4820 cr in First Nine Months of...

State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported fraud to the tune of Rs. 4,820 in the first nine months of fiscal year FY20-21, the highest among all other banks in the same period. While Punjab National Bank recorded the highest value of frauds worth Rs. 4,820 crore, Bank of India recorded the highest number of frauds at 13, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India. A total of 27 scheduled commercial banks and financial institutions have reported 96 cases of fraud, involving a total amount of Rs. 34,097 crore in the nine months ended December.

Mar 30, 2022

HDFC Life Insurance Launches KlarifyLife

HDFC Life, one of India's leading life insurers, launched 'KlarifyLife', a digital education and awareness initiative, to simplify life insurance. Aimed mainly at the Millennial and Gen-Z audience base, 'KlarifyLife' is available on social media platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook. It focuses on simplifying complex topics, clarifying doubts, and addressing life insurance-related questions in an engaging and straightforward language, with no jargon or information overload.

Uday Kotak Resigns as the Chairman of IL&FS

Uday Kotak is stepping down from his position as non-executive chairman of IL&FS three-and-a-half years after the government and regulators asked him to steer the infrastructure financing giant out of a colossal mess. Kotak, who was often asked to play the role of a trouble shooter in badly managed companies, is leaving with more than half the job done.
In a statement issued, IL&FS said the government-appointed board led by Kotak had resolved debt worth over Rs. 55,000 crore out of a total outstanding amount of Rs. 99,000 crore. Kotak is set to step down on April 2. The Union government has appointed C.S. Rajan as chairman and managing director of IL&FS and he will take charge for a period of six months.

DBS Bank India and EaseMyTrip Partner to Launch an Environment-friendly Green Debit Card

DBS Bank India partnered with EaseMyTrip to launch an environment-friendly international debit card made using 99% recycled polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material. This first-ever 99% recycled PVC debit card–the digibank EaseMyTrip Green Debit Card - helps reduce carbon footprint and rewards cardholders for supporting sustainability. The digibank EaseMyTrip Green Debit Card provides exclusive travel-related offers to customers and rewards them for adopting eco-friendly practices while encouraging them to reduce their carbon footprint.
The digibank EaseMyTrip Green Debit Card offers exclusive best-in-class deals on bookings made through the EaseMyTrip website and mobile app, offering a 10% discount up to INR 2000 on flight ticket bookings and up to 17% discount on stays at select eco-friendly hotels & resorts.

SIDBI Partners with Meghalaya to Grow the MSME Ecosystem

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) joined hands with the Meghalaya government to develop an ecosystem for small and medium businesses. SIDBI entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Meghalaya Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation Ltd (MiDFC) to develop the MSME ecosystem in the state
SIDBI is the country's principal financial institution for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). As per the MoU's few broad objectives, SIDBI will aid in entrepreneurship development in the state; development of MSME clusters; capacity building of NGOs/development organisations/ MSMEs; support and showcase replicable livelihood projects aligned to the priority identified by the state among others.
It will also help in building capacity of MSMEs using online platforms PSB 59, Mitra portals, GeMS, TReDS, initiating business information and counselling centres for micro enterprises among others.

Suzuki, SkyDrive Team up to Make Flying Cars

Suzuki and SkyDrive announced a partnership for research and development of flying cars. Japanese company, SkyDrive, has been developing flying cars and cargo drones since 2018, with the company saying its cargo drones are already in service at various worksites in Japan, especially in mountainous areas. Currently, the company is developing a compact, two-seat electric flying car and is aiming for full-scale production.
SkyDrive is looking to commence air taxi service during the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, Japan. SkyDrive and Suzuki will collaborate in business and technology, and develop new markets, with an initial focus in India. The two parties are yet to disclose details on investment collaboration, product timelines and target.

Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL) Set Up an Ink Manufacturing Unit Nam...

BRBNMPL was set up Varnika with an annual ink manufacturing capacity of 1,500 MT to enhance
the security of banknotes. It is a boost to 'Make in India' initiative. It ensures that the entire requirement of banknote printing inks is produced in-house. This unit also manufactures Colour Shift Intaglio Ink (CSII) and meets the entire requirements of bank note printing presses in India, which has resulted in cost efficiency and self-sufficiency in bank note ink production.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das also laid the foundation stone for establishment of a Learning and Development Centre (LDC) of BRBNMPL in Mysuru. Such a Centre will facilitate human resource capacity building in the currency production eco-system of the country and emerge as a global centre of excellence.

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