General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - June 2020

Jun 2020

Nov 02, 2020

Reliance Capital Starts Monetization Process

Reliance Capital invited (RCAP) initial bids, known as Expression of Interest in market parlance, putting up a bundle of eight key assets for sale as the troubled non-banking finance company is now aiming to repay a mammoth Rs. 15,000 crore debt using expected sales proceeds.
SBI Capital Market and JM Financial are helping the Anil Ambani-owned company in this asset monetization plan.
The committee of debenture holders and a debenture trustee, which represents about 93 percent of outstanding debt of Reliance Capital, is overseeing the whole monetization process.

Invest India and AYUSH Ministry Set up Strategic Policy and Facilitation Bureau

The Ministry of AYUSH and Invest India will set up "Strategic Policy and Facilitation Bureau" to facilitate systematic growth of AYUSH sector.
The Bureau will help to make AYUSH systems future ready. It will support in making initiatives under the ministry to its full potential. Also, it will help to initiate the growth and investment of the AYUSH sector.
Invest India and the Ministry of AYUSH will collaborate to define short- and long-term targets. Also, it will deploy trained experts to implement and execute the plans of the ministry.
Invest India is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India. It was set up as non-profit organization under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). It also serves Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, State Government of India.

Vedanta and Adani in Race for Coal Block Auction

Companies like Vedanta, Jindal Steel and Power, Adani Enterprises, Hindalco Industries and JSW Steel are in the race for the first-ever auction of 19 coal blocks for commercial mining.
According to the latest calendar for electronic auction of the coal ministry, the auction, under which 19 coal blocks will go under the hammer, will continue for eight days (from November 2-9).

Nov 01, 2020

Yamaha Ties Up with Amazon India to Sell Apparels, Accessories Online

Two-wheeler maker India Yamaha Motor tied up with Amazon India to sell its range of apparels and accessories online. This is for the first time in India that the company would sell its apparels and accessories online.
Now, Yamaha customers and motorcyclists will now be able to take their pick from a wide range of accessories and apparels for motorcycles and scooters conveniently and easily through Amazon India.
The two-wheeler giant will offer a wide range of riding apparels including T-shirts, jackets, as well as merchandise like stickers, key chains and other two-wheeler accessories such as bike cover, seat cover, tank pads, USB mobile charger, engine guard, frame slider, scooter guard set, graphic set, skid plate, floor mats etc.
The two-wheeler giant made its foray into the Indian market in 1985. India Yamaha Motor has three manufacturing facilities at Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, Surajpur in Uttar Pradesh and Faridabad in Haryana.

ADIA and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund to Invest $1b in Jio Fibre Assets

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) will jointly invest $1.01 billion in an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) that holds Mukesh Ambani promoted Reliance Industries Ltd.'s fibre-optic assets.
Jio Digital Fibre Pvt. Ltd. owns Jio'a fibre network across the country.
ADIA and PIF have agreed to purchase units worth Rs. 3,779 crore each in the InvIT.
Also, RIIHL, a subsidiary of RIL, has completed the recapitalisation of Digital Fibre Infrastructure Trust (DFIT.
RIIHL will continue to be the sponsor of the InvIT and it is not known how much stake the two sovereign wealth funds will get in lieu of their investment in the InvIT - Digital Fibre Infrastructure Trust (DFIT).
Fibre network business monetisation falls exactly in line with RIL's original plan to make Jio become an asset-light digital services company and save significantly on costs as the group is gearing up to offer affordable 5G services.
According to the current plan, RIL will continue as the sponsor of the InvIT and retain a minimum 15% stake, while the remaining 85% could be sold to global investors, including ADIA and PIF.

Oct 31, 2020

Alphabet Sales Growth Revived

Google parent Alphabet Inc on Thursday powered back to sales growth, beating analysts' estimates for the third quarter as businesses initially hobbled by the coronavirus pandemic resumed advertising with the internet's biggest supplier of ads.
Google's billions of users are spending more time online transacting and entertaining themselves this year as they try to avoid the virus.
But many advertisers ceased spending in the second quarter as travel and leisure activity disappeared. As the global economy in the third quarter began to chug along again, advertisers flocked to Google to let shoppers know about deals and adjusted service offerings. Google also gained from political ad spending ahead of the U.S. presidential election on 3rd November.
Ad sales surged across all regions and industries.

Axis Bank Rejigs Max Life Deal

Axis Bank said that the RBI has not allowed it to directly acquire 17% stake in Max Life Insurance and the lender will now purchase shares in the life insurer along with its subsidiaries.
Axis Bank and its entities have revised the agreement with Max Financial, the promoter of Max Life, to acquire 19.002% stake in the insurance firm.
In August this year (2020), Axis Bank had entered into a definitive agreement with Max Financial Services Ltd (Max Financial) for the direct acquisition of 17.002 per cent of equity share capital of Max Life Insurance Company Ltd (Max Life) by the lender.

Eurozone Bounces Back to Economic Growth

According to new official figures, the economies of the Eurozone bounced back in the third quarter of the year.
Economic activity for the region as a whole was 12.7% higher than in the previous three months.
But the growth was not enough to reverse the declines in the first half of 2020 due to the pandemic.
The outlook for the end of the year is further weakness caused by a renewed surge in Covid cases and tighter official restrictions.

McDonald's HQ Building Sells for over $412 Million

The McDonald's Headquarters building in Chicago has been sold for more than $412 million, the largest office property sale in the city since 2018.
Seller Sterling Bay and investment partner J.P. Morgan Asset Management bought the site from Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios.
McDonald's, one of the world's largest fast-food giant, moved its headquarters into the building in June 2018.

Israel to Export Agricultural Produce to UAE

Israeli farmers and companies have received permission to export agricultural produce to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Following a concerted effort that included talks, exchanges of correspondence and coordination with the UAE's Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Israel has received official approval from the UAE authorities to export fresh agricultural produce and propagating material, including seeds.
The Ministry noted that export costs to the UAE will be low due to the geographical proximity between the two countries and the logistical options for transportation.
The development comes after the UAE signed normalization deal with Israel at the White House on September 15.
It is the first Arab nation in 26 years to establish formal ties with Israel, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

Doing Business in India Report, 2020

The "Doing Business in India Report, 2020" was released by the UK India Business Council. According to the report, the business environment in India is improving and there is a greater opportunity for UK India collaboration.
The businesses in the UK find 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat Mission' as an opportunity to do more business in India. The report has been published for the sixth time since 2015. This year the report has been prepared based on an in-depth survey of 106 UK firms that are operating in India. These firms belonged to services, manufacturing and higher education sector.
As per the report, 66% of the surveyed organisations believed that the ease of doing business in India is increasing. According to the report, this change is mainly due to the progressive reforms and improvements in the business environment of India. The changes are predominantly found in availability of support, skilled labour, service providers and supply chain.
India's score of doing business has improved from 2.74 in 2019 22.9 to in 2020. The most frequent obstacles in doing business with India is its legal and regulatory boundaries. The other irritants according to the report in doing business in India are GST issues, foreign exchange regulations, high import tariffs and lack of alignment with international standards.

Oct 30, 2020

Government Allows Exports under New Scheme to Boost API Production

The government has tweaked the newly proposed production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for bulk drugs to extend the incentives to exports of the products and ease other norms such as minimum investment threshold.
The pharmaceuticals department (DoP) announced amendments to PLI scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of critical key starting materials (KSMs), drug intermediates (DIs) and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in India and PLI scheme for promoting domestic manufacturing of medical devices based on suggestions and inputs from the pharmaceutical and medical device industry.
Aimed at reducing dependence on China for APIs and KSM, the scheme for bulk drugs was initially meant to cater to only the domestic demand.

Union Cabinet Approves Mechanism for Procurement of Ethanol

The Union Cabinet approved the Mechanism for the public sector oil companies to procure ethanol.
Under the new mechanism, the prices of ethanol obtained from sugarcane based raw material have been increased for the forth coming sugar cane season. This is between December 2020 and November 2021.
Also, the prices of ethanol obtained from C heavy molasses, B heavy molasses have been increased. The increase in price was around Rs. 2 to 3 per litre. Additionally, the oil companies will now have to pay transportation charges and GST while procuring ethanol.
The Oil Marketing Companies were selling petrol blended with ethanol under Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme. This was applied to the whole of India except Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands.
This was to reduce the energy dependence of India from oil imports and also to boost agriculture. Also, Ethanol Procurement Policy was adopted under the EBP programme.

CDSL IFSC Branch Gets Recognition as Foreign Depository

CDSL said that its branch at the International Financial Services Centre in Gift City, Gujarat has been recognised as a foreign depository by the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
The branch -- CDSL IFSC -- would facilitate holding and transfer of all the eligible securities which are permitted at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), Gujarat International Finance Tec (Gift) city.
The objective of the branch is to make IFSC the 'go-to' location for global investors and be the preferred choice amongst the financial markets.
Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL) maintains and services over 2.61 crore demat accounts of investors or spread across the country.

Output of Eight Core Industries Contracts for Seventh Consecutive Month

Production of eight core sectors contracted for the seventh consecutive month in September. Data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry shows that the output of India's eight core infrastructure sectors dropped by 0.8 per cent.
In September 2019, the production of eight core sectors had contracted by 5.1 per cent. This time around, the contraction has been attributed mainly to a decline in the production of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and cement.
Data released by the central government indicates that the decline in output in September of this year was the lowest since March 2020.
All sectors, namely crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizer and cement recorded negative growth in September 2020 with the exception of coal, electricity and steel.
The output of the eight core sectors had dropped by 14.9 per cent in April-September of this year. In 2019, the core sectors had witnessed a growth of 1.3 per cent in the same period.

Geojit to Launch Global Investment Platform

Geojit Financial Services has announced the launch of its global investment platform to help its customers invest in the US markets and diverse global assets through a single account from anywhere in the world.
Geojit has partnered with New York-based global wealth management services platform Stockal, to develop the AI-powered global investment platform which helps investors diversify their portfolio by investing in international equities.
The comprehensive tech-enabled digital experience will benefit more than 10 lakh Geojit customers as well as Indian retail investors, high-net-worth investors, ex-NRIs and expat IT professionals who want to invest in the global assets.
The global investment platform from Geojit presently offers investment options in the US stock market and will soon be adding other key global markets such as the UK, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany and Singapore to the platform.

Oct 29, 2020

India, UK Ink Pacts on Infrastructure, Financial Services and Sustainable Finance

India and the UK signed agreements on financial services, infrastructure and sustainable finance at the 10th Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) between the two countries.
The agreements will help boost jobs and investments in both countries while building economic ties.
UK chancellor Rishi Sunak and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman held discussions.
This partnership is helping set up a project preparation support facility-cum-centre of excellence for PPP projects.

NPCI Launches RuPay Festive Carnival

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched 'RuPay Festive Carnival'.
The 'RuPay Festive Carnival' will give compelling advantage and interesting discounts to RuPay users. It aimed at contactless, motivating safe and cashless payments.
Customers will be able to benefit discounts ranging from 10-65 % on famous brands, including, Swiggy, Samsung, Amazon, Flipkart among others.
The NPCI is an government organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. It is founded in 2008.

DPIIT Releases Next Edition of Consolidated FDI Policy

The Commerce and Industry Ministry released the next edition of its consolidated foreign direct investment (FDI) policy document, incorporating all the changes made over the past year.
According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the new circular comes into effect in October.
The consolidated policy is a compilation of various decisions taken by the government with regard to FDI in different sectors.
DPIIT, which deals with FDI related matters, compiles all policies related to foreign investment regime into a single document to make it simple and easy for investors to understand.
Investors would otherwise have to go through various press notes issued by the department, and the RBI regulations to understand the policy.
The whole exercise is aimed at providing an investor-friendly climate to foreign players and, in turn, attracts more FDI to boost economic growth and create jobs.

IFSCA Approves Two New Regulations

International Financial Services Centre Authorities approved to new regulations during the board meeting held.
During the meeting the following new regulations were approved:
International Financial Services Centre authorities Bullion exchange regulations, 2020
International financial services Centre authorities' Global in-house centres regulation, 2020
Based on the recommendation of the International Financial Services Centre authorities, the Government of India notified bullion depository receipt and bullion spot delivery contract as financial products. They were notified under the International Financial Services centre at Authority Act, 2019. The IFSCA was tasked to operate this bullion exchange. For the first time a single authority regulated both the derivative contract and the bullion spot.

Govt. Streamlines Patent Rules to Promote Ease of Doing Business

The central government amended patent rules to streamline the submission requirements regarding the working of a patented invention on a commercial scale in India, a move aimed at promoting ease of doing business.
The changed rules allow an applicant to file a single form for multiple patents, and a joint form for multiple patentees has been introduced.
As per the commerce and industry ministry, the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2020, which came into effect in October 2020, have further streamlined the requirements related to filing of Form 27 and submission of verified English translation of priority documents not in English language.
Form 27 is related to submission of statements regarding the working of a patented invention on a commercial scale in India.
As per the changed rules, priority document is not required to be submitted if it is available in World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and English translation of these documents is needed only in certain cases.

Direct Port Entry Facility Launched at the V. O. Chidambarnar Port

A direct port entry facility was launched at the V. O. Chidambarnar Port in Tuticorin by Union Minister of State for Shipping and Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh Mandaviya.
The modern direct port entry would allow direct movement of containers from mills to the container terminal round the clock, without in-between handling at CFSs.
The customs segment is expected to generate the Let Export Order (LEO) under a single roof without any problem. A loyal team of CWC and conventional officials in association with VOC Port will serve Tier-II, Tier-III certified export and import clients.
IT-enabled infrastructure at ports would make ports world-class, aligning 'Maritime Vision 2030'.

Tatas to Buy Majority Stake in BigBasket

Indian online grocery startup BigBasket is in advanced talks to sell a majority stake for about $1 billion to salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group.
The century-old group has been planning to launch a "super app", one that will tie in all its consumer businesses as it competes against Amazon and Reliance Industries, who have made big bets on India's booming e-commerce market.
Bengaluru-based BigBasket competes with Walmart Inc-owned Flipkart and Amazon's "Fresh" service as more consumers stay indoors and choose to shop online during the Covid outbreak.
China's Alibaba, which holds around 26% stake in BigBasket, is expected to sell its entire shareholding in the company.

Wipro Launches Tenant Acquisition Management Solution

Wipro Ltd announced that it will co-innovate with SAP SE on cloud-based solutions for the real estate industry.
To start with, the Bengaluru-headquartered IT major launched the Tenant Acquisition Management solution, which can be integrated as a cloud extension to SAP 'Customer Experience' and SAP S/4HANA software as well.
Anchored with technologies like robotic process automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning, the solution enables faster deal conversion with respect to tenant leasing by providing a seamless, real time and consistent experience for leasing agents to perform Lead to Lease activities.
The solution also leverages Wipro's preconfigured industry solution for real estate to accelerate SAP S/4HANA deployments and manage end-to-end real estate business processes.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

October GK, September GK, August GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services and Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26