General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - June 2020

Jun 2020

Dec 18, 2020

Government to Press Ahead with PSU Stake Sale

According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the government will press ahead with the sale of public sector companies that have been approved by the Cabinet.
Highlighting that the FDI flow into India is much higher compared to other emerging economies, Sitharaman said that India's strong macroeconomic fundamentals, ability to do reforms and a stable government help attract long-term foreign funds into Indian businesses.
The government has set an ambitious Rs. 2.01 lakh crore disinvestment target in the current fiscal. However, COVID-19 pandemic has derailed the stake sale plans and so far over Rs. 11,006 crore has been mopped up from minority stake sale in various CPSEs.
The Cabinet has approved strategic sale, along with transfer of management control, in over 25 public sector companies, including Air India , BPCL, Pawan Hans, Scooters India, Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML), Shipping Corporation, Cement Corporation and some steel plants of SAIL.

BPCL Board Approves Buying out Oman Oil's Stake in Bina Refinery

Privatisation-bound Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) said that its board has approved buying out Oman Oil Company's stake in the Bina refinery project in Madhya Pradesh on mutually agreeable terms.
The BPCL board at its meeting also approved merging Bharat Gas Resources Ltd (BGRL) with itself.
BPCL holds 63.68 per cent stake in Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL), which built and operates a 7.8 million tonne oil refinery at Bina in Madhya Pradesh.

Tata Motors to Buy Partner's Share in Tata Marcopolo Motors

Tata Motors will buy its partner's stake in bus joint venture (JV) firm Tata Marcopolo Motors for around Rs. 100 crore. "After a successful venture in India, and as a consequence of its refreshed business strategy, Marcopolo S.A. has decided to exit from the JV and offered to sell its 49 per cent shareholding in the JV to the company.
Tata Marcopolo Motors is a 51:49 JV formed in 2006, which has manufacturing facilities in Dharwad and Lucknow.

RBI to Conduct 3rd OMO Purchase of SDLs Next Week

The Reserve Bank of India will conduct the third auction of state developments loans (SDLs) aggregating Rs. 10,000 crore under the Open Market Operations (OMO) next week..
The Reserve Bank has conducted two OMOs in SDLs covering all states/UTs for a cumulative amount of Rs. 20,000 crore. The first-ever auction under OMOs in SDLs was conducted in October and the second in November.
The central bank will purchase the SDLs through a multi-security auction using the multiple price method. There is no security wise notified amount.

IndusInd Bank Launches its First Metal Credit Card 'PIONEER Heritage'

IndusInd Bank in partnership with Mastercard announced the launch of its first metal credit card - 'PIONEER Heritage' for the bank's ultra-high net worth segment of customers. Equipped with best-in-class features & privileges across an array of categories like travel, wellness, lifestyle among others, the all-new credit card has been specially curated to match the requirements of affluent Indian professionals and entrepreneurs.
It is also part of the 'World Elite' platform by Mastercard comprising privileges that complement the lifestyle of the discerning few. The 'World Elite' platform is Mastercard's signature global program that offers the choicest benefits to HNI cardholders across their passion points.

EU Approve Google's Fitbit Takeover

Google's takeover of Fitbit has been approved by the European Commission, following a four-month investigation.
The search giant bought the fitness tracking company for $2.1bn (£1.5bn) in November 2019 - but the EU warned the acquisition could harm competition.
Google has made a series of pledges to address investigators' concerns.
Commission executive vice-president Margarethe Vestager said that the deal would keep the wearables market "open and competitive".
The European Commission had expressed concerns Google would:
use the tranche of Fitbit data for targeted advertising, making it harder for rivals to compete
exclude third parties from the Fitbit platform
disadvantage rival wearable device-makers by degrading their compatibility with Google's Android smartphone operating system
Google has promised not to use health, fitness and location data from Fitbit devices for advertising, for users in the European Economic Area, to store Fitbit data in a "silo", kept separate from any other data used for advertising, to maintain third-party access to the Fitbit platform, not to degrade the user experience of third-party smartwatches when paired with an Android phone.
The commitments must be kept for 10 years.

Dec 17, 2020

NPCI Strengthens RuPay Contactless with New Features

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) introduced RuPay Contactless (Offline) feature, which also provides reloadable wallets within RuPay Card, for day to day transit payments. It has also introduced RuPay Contactless (Offline) feature for retail payments on pilot basis. These additional features will augment the overall transaction experience for the RuPay cardholders and revolutionize the overall card payment ecosystem.
This RuPay card comes with a reloadable wallet feature where customers can store money to ensure quick and seamless transactions without any irregularities even if they witness poor connectivity at the POS machines.

Cabinet Approves Next Round of Spectrum Auction

The Union Cabinet approved the next round of the telecom spectrum auction, I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar informed in a press briefing adding that the cabinet has approved relief for sugarcane farmers and improvement in electricity infrastructure in the north-eastern states.
Spectrum in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz frequency bands would be auctioned for a validity period of 20 years. A total of 2251.25 MHz is being offered with total valuation of Rs. 3,92,332.70 crore (at reserve price).
Apart from the decision on spectrum auctions, the Cabinet also approved a subsidy of Rs 3,500 crore to sugar mills for the export of 60 lakh tonnes of sugar during the ongoing marketing year 2020-21 (October-September) in a bid to help them clear outstanding dues to sugarcane farmers.

US Adds India, Thailand and Taiwan to Currency Manipulation Watch List

The US added India along with Taiwan and Thailand to the monitoring list of currency manipulating countries that includes major trading partners like China and six others.
It also branded Vietnam and Switzerland as currency manipulators.
Other countries on the monitoring list are Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, Singapore and Malaysia. Ireland has been removed from the Monitoring List, the US Department of Treasury said in its report 'Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States'.
Over the four quarters through June 2020, four major US trading partners, Vietnam, Switzerland, India and Singapore, intervened in the foreign exchange market in a sustained, asymmetric manner.

UK and Singapore Funds Invest in Low-cost Housing Co Janaadhar

UK-based impact investor Reall and Singapore-based hedge fund Tree Line Asia Master Fund have invested Rs. 77 crore in a combination of equity and external commercial borrowing (ECB) in Bengaluru-based affordable housing developer Janaadhar India, showing confidence in the sector's ability to deliver sustainable financial returns in the long run.
Tree Line has invested Rs. 22.5 crore in equity raising its stake in the company with Reall putting Rs. 49.5 crore in debt. Other existing investors have put in another Rs. 5 crore between them.
The developer would use the fund to build low-cost dwelling units in Ahmedabad. The company kept the shareholding details under wraps.
This is Reall's first financing to an Indian developer in the affordable housing sector. Reall is backed by the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Swedish International Development Agency.

Venture Catalysts Group to Invest Rs. 1,000 cr in Start-Ups in 2021

Indian early-stage start-up investor Venture Catalysts Group (VCats) is planning to invest around Rs. 1,000 crore in start-ups in 2021.
In 2020, the fund invested around Rs. 700 crore, up by 40 per cent compared to 2019, through syndication in several idea-stage and early stage businesses across sectors. Some co-investors, who were part of the syndication include Sequoia Surge, Nexus Venture Partners, Facebook FB Start, Lightspeed Venture Partners among others.
The Mumbai-based investment firm VCats runs an incubator and a SEBI registered accelerator fund 9Unicorns. It made the highest number of deals at 102 this year, compared to 63 a year ago.

UK's Liberty Group Buys Bankrupt SBQ Steels

The UK based Liberty group has acquired the bankrupt 0.25 million tonne SBQ Steels, cumulating a three-year process in which the company was put into liquidation after initial efforts to sell it failed.
Liberty paid Rs 262.45 crore plus interest of Rs. 8 crore to take the Nellore based steel company, its second acquisition through the bankruptcy process after acquiring the bankrupt Adhunik Metaliks and its associate Zion Steel in February 2020 under the insolvency law in a Rs. 425 crore cash deal.
Liberty outbid Switzerland based IMR Metallurgical Resources to emerge the highest bidder during liquidation with a Rs. 262 crore offer in August. However, the company could not pay in three months stipulated.

Dec 16, 2020

Russia Approves Sinopec's Participation in huge Petrochemical Project

The Russian government approved participation of China's Sinopec company in a large-scale petrochemical project, in line with Moscow's plans to forge closer ties with Beijing.
Russia's privately held Sibur petrochemical company wants to build one of the world's largest polymer-producing plants in the country's far east, targeting the Chinese and broader Asian markets.
The Amur Gas Chemical Complex, with investments of up to $11 billion, is set to start producing 2.3 million tonnes of polyethylene and 400,000 tonnes of polypropylene per year beginning in 2024-2025. Sinopec is set to take a 40% stake in the complex.
Chinese companies have been actively participating in Russia's projects, including in production of oil and gas.

RBI Imposes Penalty on an Urban Co-operative Bank in Kerala

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 50.00 lakh on The Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd. No. 1758, Perinthalmanna for non-compliance with directions issued on Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms and on Management of Advances-UCBs.
The central bank said that statutory inspection of the bank with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2019, conducted by RBI, revealed that the bank had not complied with the directions.

India Post Payments Bank Launches its Digital Payments' Services 'DakPay'

Department of Posts (DoP) and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) unveiled a new digital payment app called 'DaKPay' at a virtual event. The app is part of the department's ongoing efforts to provide digital financial inclusion to all corners of the country.
DakPay is not just a digital payment app but a suite of digital financial and assisted banking services provided by India Post and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) through the postal network across the nation to cater to the financial needs of various sections of the society — be it sending money to the loved ones (Domestic Money Transfers — DMT), Scan QR code and make payment for services/merchants digitally (Virtual debit card and with UPI), enabling cashless ecosystem through biometrics, providing interoperable banking services to the customers of any bank (AePS) and Utility Bill Payment services.

Dec 15, 2020

Tata's among Multiple Bidders for Air India

Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group and US-based fund Interups Inc were among multiple entities that put in preliminary bids for buying loss-making carrier Air India.
A group of 219 Air India employees submitted an expression of interest (EoI) for the carrier in partnership with Interups at the close of the deadline.
The identity of the bidders or the number of bids received for buying the national carrier were revealed.
As per reports, Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, has put in an EoI and so did Interups, whose chairman Laxmi Prasad had in the run-up to the disinvestment made his intentions clear to bid for Air India.

MG Motor Announces Partnership with TES-AMM for Recycling of Li-ion Batteries

MG Motor India has announced its partnership with the TES-AMM for battery recycling in the country. The partnership will ensure the correct and safe recycling of lithium-ion batteries used in the brand's ZS EV electric-SUV.
According to the company, the partnership will ensure environmentally-sustainable and secure recycling of MG ZS EV batteries. It will ensure greater peace of mind to the ZS EV owners about their ecological footprint by proper recycling of batteries.
TES-AMM is Asia's only Li-ion battery recycling plant. It is one of the few companies certified in multiple management systems including battery recycling and more.
Annually TES process millions of devices across from over 35 countries. It uses a unique mechanical-hydrometallurgical process for enhanced asset recovery that is environmentally superior and safer.

Nokia Enters Laptop Market in India

Nokia entered its third consumer tech category in India by announcing its first laptop PureBook X14.
The company has already been selling smartphones and televisions in India. The smartphones come in collaboration with HMD Global but the PureBook laptops have been designed in partnership with e-commerce website Flipkart. The BIS listing that was spotted some days back suggested that these laptops are manufactured by Tongfang HongKong in Jiangsu, China.
Now, this is not a new category for Nokia. The Finnish tech manufacturer has been selling notebooks in other markets but has only decided to come to India now.
The category has seen a revival of sorts post COVID-19 pandemic and eventual Work From Home practices. The segment is fast evolving and expanding with several new and old brands looking to make most of it. To keep up, is going to be tough.

Torrent Gas to Invest Rs. 5,000 crore in Chennai City Gas Project

Torrent Gas Ltd pledged Rs. 5,000 crore investment to develop infrastructure to retail CNG to automobiles and piped gas to households and industries in Chennai, the biggest city gas license in its portfolio.
Torrent Gas, part of the pharma-to-energy Torrent Group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Tamil Nadu for development of city gas infrastructure at the Growth and Investment Conclave in Chennai.
The firm will lay pipelines and other infrastructure in Chennai and Tiruvallur districts, covering an area of 3,569 square kilometres, to provide piped natural gas (PNG) connections to homes, industries and commercial establishments. It will also set up the infrastructure to dispense compressed natural gas (CNG) to automobiles.

Oaktree, Piramal, Adani Submit Revised Bids for DHFL

Oaktree Capital, Piramal Capital and Housing and Adani Group are the three entities that have submitted revised bids for troubled Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd even as jailed promoter, Kapil Wadhawan, has sent a fresh missive promising to fully pay back all creditors.
Oaktree Capital is understood to be the highest bidder at about Rs. 36,700 crore, while Piramal has put in a bid for Rs. 35,500 crore. Adani Group has bid for DHFL at Rs. 33,100 crore.
Adani and Piramal are understood to have put in two separate offers. Piramal has bid for the entire portfolio and has also put in a separate offer for the retail book.

Dec 14, 2020

Oracle Moves Headquarters to Texas, Joining Silicon Valley Exodus

Oracle Corporation has moved its headquarters to Texas, from its home state of California to give employees more flexibility on where they do their jobs.
The move to Austin from Redwood City means that many of the employees can choose their office location as well as continue to work from home part time or all of the time. The company will continue to support its other US office locations in Santa Monica, California, Seattle, Denver, Orlando, and Burlington, Massachusetts.

IMF, World Bank Raise Pressure on Nigeria to Reform Currency

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have intensified calls on Nigeria to speed up currency reforms without which Africa's largest economy may fail to achieve the growth it needs to prevent millions more from falling into penury.
According to IMF, a unified and flexible exchange rate will ease external imbalances and bolster activity in the OPEC nation, which slid into its second recession in four years in the third quarter.
As per the World Bank President, Muhammadu Buhari's administration needed to change foreign-exchange policies if it wanted to get a $1.5 billion loan. The country is asking for financial help to overcome a crisis that could sink an extra 11 million people into poverty by 2022, bringing the total number to 100 million, or about half of the population.

Kia Motors Aims to Expand its Sales Network in Smaller Towns

South Korean automaker Kia Motors aims to expand its sales network in smaller towns and rural areas as it looks to scale up its presence across the country.
The company, which has achieved success in India with models like Seltos and Sonet, is also focusing on enhancing the profitability of its dealer partners.
According to Tae-Jin Park, executive director and chief sales officer of Kia Motors India, the company is expanding its network and aiming to reach 300 touch points by the end of this year and will now focus on expansion in tier-IV and upcountry markets which will help further penetrate deeper in the Indian market.

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