General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - June 2020

Jun 2020

Oct 03, 2020

Tesla Reports Record Vehicle Deliveries in Q3 Despite Pandemic

Electric-car maker Tesla has delivered a record 1,39,300 vehicles in the third quarter, beating the earlier estimates of 1,34,720 vehicles.
The company produced 1,28,044 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles and delivered 1,24,100 of those.
As for the Model S and Model X, it produced 16,992 of the vehicles and delivered 15,200.
The company is expecting to deliver 5,00,000 vehicles in 2020, or a 36 per cent increase over 2019.
So far the EV maker has only sent out 3,18,350 cars to customers, meaning it would need to make 1,81,650 deliveries to meet that goal.

Exports Rise, Trade Deficit Narrows

According to data released by the commerce ministry, after contracting for six months in a row, the country's exports grew by 5.27% year-on-year to $27.4 billion in September, while imports slipped by 19.6% to $30.31 billion.
The trade deficit during the month under review narrowed to $2.91 billion as against $11.67 billion in the same period of 2019. The exports in September last year stood at $26.02 billion.
Exports during April-September this fiscal dipped by 21.43% to $125.06 billion. Imports during the period stood at $148.69 billion, recording a negative growth of 40.06%. Commodities that registered positive growth in exports in September include iron ore, rice, oil meals, carpet, pharmaceuticals, meat, dairy and poultry products, cotton yarn/fabrics/made-ups, handloom products, tobacco, spices, petroleum products, engineering goods, chemicals and coffee.
The ministry said that in September 2020, oil imports fell 35.92% to $5.82 billion. During April-September 2020-21, it contracted 51.14% to $31.85 billion.
Non-oil imports in September too declined by 14.41% to $24.48 billion. The imports during the first half of the current fiscal declined 36.12% to $116.83 billion.

Tesla CEO Musk Hints at India Entry Next Year

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk indicated that the US electric carmaker will make a foray into India in 2021.
Tesla's entry could come at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is increasingly becoming focused on promoting the use and manufacture of electric vehicles.
India's auto sector, already reeling from a slowdown in demand last year, has been further hit by the novel coronavirus pandemic and carmakers are seeking government support to push sales.

India Post Payment Bank Achieves 3.6 crore Custombers

The India Post Payment Bank, even amid COVID-19 pandemic, has attained 3.6 crores of customers. Till September 15, 2020, the bank had completed 38,500 crores of financial transactions.
In August 2019, it had crossed the milestone of one crore customers. This has been achieved by the bank in just two years of launch. The main reason behind the success of the bank is Aadhaar Enabled Payment System Service (AEPS). The AEPS helped to extend the banking and financial services to millions of unbanked and poor.
The top three circles that performed well in AEPS transactions were UP, Bihar and Gujarat. UP recorded 61.7 lakh transactions. Bihar and Gujarat recorded 20 lakh and 16.9 lakh transactions respectively.
The AEPS transactions helped to provide door step banking to old age pensioners, sick and elderly and Divyangs.
The IPPB platform through AEPS transferred the DBT benefits of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana to local post offices.
The IPPB was launched by PM Modi on September 1, 2018. IT aimed to avail banking services at people's door step. It is a payment bank that works through network of post offices. The banks are operated by the Indian Postal Department. It aims to build most affordable, accessible and trusted bank for common man. Also, it focuses to achieve financial inclusion for under banked populace. The bank is governed by Reserve Bank of India.

Billionaire British Brothers and TDR Buy Walmart's Asda

The British billionaire Issa brothers and private equity group TDR Capital have agreed to buy the British supermarket chain Asda from Walmart for $8.8 billion to take on rivals such as Tesco with new smaller stores.
The deal, led by Mohsin and Zuber Issa who founded the petrol station operator EG Group nearly two decades ago, and TDR means Asda will be back under British ownership for the first time since 1999, when Walmart paid 6.7 billion pounds for the business.
The new owners said that they would look to drive growth at Asda by expanding its presence into smaller neighbourhood shops from its primarily large supermarket format, bringing it more in line with larger competitors Tesco and Sainsbury's which offer both.
Walmart will retain an equity investment in the business, with an ongoing commercial relationship and a seat on the board.

Oct 02, 2020

Tribes India E-market Place

The Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda is to launch the largest handicraft and organic product market place called "Tribes India E-Market Place". The market place is an initiative of TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India).
Keeping in line with the vision of the Prime Minister of making India Aatmanirbhar and self-reliant,this pathbreaking initiative of TRIFED under Ministry of Tribal Affairs will showcase the produce and handicrafts of tribal enterprises from across the country and help them market their produce/ products directly, is also a major leap towards the digitisation of tribal commerce.On this occasion, Shri Munda will also flag off several other TRIFED initiatives that are aimed to support the tribal brethren. These include the inauguration of Tribes India's 123rd and 124th outlets in Rishikesh and Kolkata; inclusion of new tribal product ranges from the states of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh; partnership of TRIFED/ Tribes India with Amazon in their Seller Flex program. Sh Arjun Munda will also launch Pakur Honey by Trifed & Tribes India. It is 100% natural honey which is Multi Floral , Forest Fresh, gathered by Santhal Tribals and Vulnerable Pahadhiya tribes from Pakur, Jharkhand.
Tribes India e-Marketplace is an ambitious initiative through which TRIFED aims to onboard 5 lakh tribal producers for sourcing of various handicraft, handloom, natural food products across the country and brings to you the best of tribal produce. The suppliers comprise of individual tribal artisans, tribal SHGs, Organisations/ Agencies/ NGOs working with tribals. The platform provides the tribal suppliers with an Omni-channel facility to sell their goods through their own retailers and distributors, TRIFED's network of Outlets and eCommerce partners as well as their own account in e-Marketplace.

Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Get Additional Borrowing Limit

The states of Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Uttar Pradesh (UP) have been granted an additional borrowing limit of Rs. 7,106 crore based on reforms in the public distribution system (PDS) and the ease of doing business (EoDB).
While UP has been permitted to borrow Rs 4,851 crore on account of One Nation One Ration Card System (ONORCS) reforms under the PDS, AP will be allowed to undertake open market borrowings of another Rs 2,252 crore for making the state more investor and business-friendly.
This makes AP the first state to achieve the second tranche of the additional borrowing limit of 0.25% of gross state domestic product (GSDP)
On September 24, five states including AP, Telangana, Goa, Tripura and Karnataka were granted the increased borrowing limit after implementing the PDS related reforms.

ShareChat Inks Global Music Licensing Deal with Times Music

Indian social media platform ShareChat signed an agreement with Times Music to license the latter's music catalogue on its platforms.
The partnership will include Punjabi Music catalogue of Speed Records, which boasts largest market share in Punjabi music and has some of the top Punjabi Hits like 'Lamberghini',' Mann Bharrya' and others.
The collaboration would enable more than 240 million users of ShareChat and Moj (its short video platform) to access an exhaustive library of Times Music and Speed Records to create content on the two platforms, bringing a more immersive experience.
Times Music's library includes Bollywood, Spiritual, Indie, Pop, Rock and other non-film music genres.
The partnership with Times Music is one such step to bolster ShareChat's music library and give wings to the creator's creativity.

Six PSBs Excluded from Schedule II of RBI Act

The Reserve Bank of India excluded six public sector banks from the Second Schedule of RBI Act. This was done following their merger with other banks. These six banks are Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), Syndicate Bank, United Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Andhra Bank and Allahabad Bank.
There were 27 Public Sector Banks in 2017. Their count has now come down to 12 with seven large PSBs and five smaller PSBs. The OBC and United Bank of India were merged into Punjab National Bank. The Syndicate Bank was merged with Canara Bank and Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank were merged into Union Bank of India and Allahabad Bank was merged into Indian Bank.
A bank that is mentioned in the Second Schedule of the RBI Act is called as the Scheduled Commercial Bank.
Every bank listed in the schedule II of RBI act is a Scheduled Bank. In order to enter the category, a bank should hold a paid-up capital of Rs 5 lakh (minimum). These banks are eligible for loans from RBI at bank rate.
Those banks that are not listed in Schedule II of the RBI act are non-scheduled banks. They are not eligible to receive loans from RBI.
A Commercial Bank can be a scheduled or a non-scheduled bank. They operate on profit basis. They extend loans to businesses, public and government.

Oct 01, 2020

Government Extends Deadline to Bid for BPCL Till November 16

The government has for the fourth time extended the deadline for bidding for privatisation of India's second-biggest oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) by one and a half month to November 16.
While the Cabinet, in November last year, had approved the sale of the government's entire 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL, offers seeking expression of interest (EoI) or bids showing interest in buying its stake were invited only on March 2020.
Initially, the EoI submission deadline was May 2, but it was first was extended up to June 13, then to July 31 and later to September 30.
The government is keen to close the sale before March 31, 2021, to help meet a record Rs. 2.1 lakh crore target which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has set from disinvestment proceeds in the Budget for 2020-21.
But with this extension, the sale being completed by March 2021 looks doubtful as after EoIs come in, the government will open a data center for interested bidders to conduct due diligence, only after which financial bids will be called.
The financial bids will have to be evaluated and approved by the Cabinet and the transaction will close once the payment is made.

General Atlantic Picks Up Stake in Reliance Retail

Global private equity firm General Atlantic will invest Rs. 3,675 crore to buy a 0.84% stake in Reliance Industries' retail arm, extending the fundraising spree by Mukesh Ambani-led firm.
This is the third private equity investment in Reliance Retail, following US-based private equity firm Silver Lake's Rs. 7,500 crore investment for a 1.75% stake and global private equity firm KKR's Rs. 5,550 crore investment for a 1.28% stake earlier this month.
This marks the second investment by General Atlantic in a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, following a Rs. 6,598.38 crore investment in Jio Platforms announced earlier this year.
Reliance Retail operates India's largest, fastest-growing and most profitable retail business spanning supermarkets, consumer electronics chain stores, cash and carry wholesale business, fast-fashion outlets, and online grocery store JioMart.

India Asks Bangladesh to Reduce Duty on Apparel Imports

India has asked Bangladesh to remove duties on its apparel imports and said that the two sides can together capture 35% of the global market for textiles in the next five years and replace China.
Textile minister Smriti Zubin Irani said that when we compare our share of imports in Bangladesh with China, China stands at 54% and India is at 17% given the high tariffs on Indian textiles and apparel export products. Indian industry can rejoice if Bangladesh allows retail of ethnic apparel from India at zero duties.
India is also actively looking at addressing logistics challenges at its borders to facilitate quicker turnaround times for both the industries in India and Bangladesh.

Sep 30, 2020

Mukesh Ambani tops Hurun India Rich List 2020

Mukesh Ambani gained Rs. 90 crore per hour since the coronavirus lockdown in March, thus retaining his position as the richest Indian for the ninth consecutive year on the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020.
Ambani, who is the only Indian in the world's top 5 richest persons, amassed Rs. 2,77,700 crore through a series of fund-raising and strategic investment from Facebook, Google, Silver Lake among others into Jio and Reliance Retail, taking his personal wealth to Rs. 6,58,400 crore.
Ambani's total wealth, which is now bigger than the combined wealth of the next five in the list, making him Aisa's richest individual and fourth richest man across the world, according to the report.
The IIFL Hurun India list names the richest individuals in the country having a wealth of Rs. 1,000 crore or more. This year, the list names 828 Indians, where 627 increased their wealth and 162 are new entrants. Top 100 individuals in the list account for nearly 64 per cent wealth of the list.
London-based Hinduja brothers, with a joint wealth of Rs. 1,43,700 crore, bagged the second spot. HCL founder Shiv Nadar with Rs. 1,41,700 crore is ranked third, followed by Adani's Group's Gautam Adani at fourth and Wipro's Azim Premji at fifth spot.
Avenue Supermarts founder Radhakishan Damani made his debut to the top 10, positioned at the seventh place.

SEBI Eases Rules for Delisting of Listed Subsidiaries

The capital markets regulator SEBI has eased rules for delisting of listed subsidiaries and asked companies to disclose details of forensic audit initiated by them. These decisions along with a few others were taken in the Securities and Exchange Board of India's board meeting.
Companies have been exempted from doing a reverse book building—a process followed to decide on a price that has to be paid to public shareholders to buy back shares before delisting- for listed units. The regulator said that to avail of this delisting route, the listed holding company and the listed subsidiary should be in the same line of business.
The exemption from reverse book building would provide an opportunity for eligible companies to streamline their corporate structure and consolidate the relevant businesses into one listed entity.

IDBI First Bank to Enable Document Embedding Feature on SFMS

IDBI Bank has implemented the new feature of document embedding facility with Letter of Credit (LC) / Bank Guarantee (BG) messages over SFMS (Structured Financial Messaging System) platform of Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services (IFTAS).
This new feature of "document embedding" provides banks with the functionality of transmitting a "pdf" document up to 1MB along with the LC / BG messages.
Transmission of digitally signed documents ensures reliability of the transaction. The bank added that it is the first bank to implement this feature.
The new feature will ease the current process of manual verification, reconciliation, reduce frauds, and enable documentary evidence for all the parties involved in the transaction.

Nokia Wins First UK Deal Since PM Johnson's Huawei 5G Ban

Finland's Nokia will replace Huawei as BT's largest equipment provider after winning a deal to supply 5G networks across the UK, the companies announced.
The move is the first UK contract for the Finnish telecoms maker since Prime Minister Boris Johnson banned mobile providers in July from using equipment made by the Chinese giant in their new 5G networks.
The restriction, on national security grounds, forces mobile providers to begin switching out "high-risk vendors" from 2021, and marks a golden opportunity for Huawei's two main rivals in the 5G market, Finland's Nokia and Swedish Ericsson.
Companies in the UK have until 2027 to remove Huawei equipment from their 5G networks, a change which BT has said will cost it £500 million ($643m).
Under the BT deal, Nokia will supply base stations and other network equipment to allow its customers to access super-fast 5G internet.
Although the ban on Huawei offers a signifcant boost to Nokia and Ericsson, industry watchers have warned that fulfilling the increasing demand left by the market leader may not be straightforward.

Sep 29, 2020

RBI ropes in Amitabh Bachchan for Customer Awareness Campaign

After sport stars, the Reserve Bank has roped in Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan for the customer awareness campaign to prevent gullible account holders from being duped by fraudsters. As part of the public awareness initiative of RBI, the regulator keeps informing about dos and don'ts that have to be followed by customers to transact safely and securely.
Besides its main twitter handle, RBI has another twitter account called 'RBI Says'. Here, Big B shared a message saying "the cost of awareness is hardly a penny, but ignorance can cost you hard earned money."
The regulator has been running the campaign for more than a year not only in English and Hindi but in various regional languages for maximum reach. It keeps on repeating the message so that people don't forget their rights and responsibilities.
Bachchan promoted digital banking during the lockdown period urging people to adopt digital payment and be safe.
RBI has emerged as the most popular central bank on twitter, beating US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank in terms of number of followers.

HDFC Bank Launches India's First Warehouse Commodity Finance App

In a first of its kind in the country, HDFC Bank launched a Warehouse Commodity Finance App which will enable customers in drawing down and managing the loan against pledge of commodities online without physical intervention or multiple visits to a Bank branch. This in turn will bring in enhanced efficiencies and time savings for the agri value chain. The new app will greatly benefit agri processors, traders and farmers who are primary beneficiaries of WHR loans (Warehouse Receipt Loans).
The App has been launched at a time when large parts of India are still unlocking, and travel restrictions are still in place. At a time like this the agri industry which is crucial to economic revival has to function uninterrupted. Warehouses which store goods help maintain price stability in an uncertain economic environment by ensuring a steady supply of goods to the market. Especially essentials like rice, wheat, soyabean, cotton, pulses and oilseeds. Warehouse financing is the lifeblood of this business as banks are able to sanction loans against these commodities which are stored safely. Similarly, on repayment of the loan, the Pledged commodities will be released digitally. This helps in timely delivery of goods and timely consumption of the same for agri processing.
The App will be offered to both existing as well as new customers of the Bank who avail warehouse receipt/commodity pledge loan from HDFC Bank. While existing customers who have already been sanctioned loans can avail these by just logging on to the App in just 3 simple steps, new customers can get the pledge loan sanctioned from HDFC Bank and register for the Warehouse Commodity Finance app.

Anukool Bhatnagar Takes Over as CGM, SBI, Chandigarh Circle

Anukool Bhatnagar has taken over as Chief General Manager, SBI, Chandigarh Circle. The circle comprises bank's operations in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and UTs of Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Earlier, he was heading Nepal SBI Bank Ltd., Kathmandu, as its Managing Director.

RBI Okays Three-member Panel to Run LVB Operations

After shareholders ousted seven directors of the Board, the RBI has approved appointment of three-member Committee of Directors (CoD) to run the daily affairs of debt-ridden Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB). This CoD will exercise the discretionary powers of MD & CEO in the ad-interim. The RBI appointed the CoD composed of three independent directors Meeta Makhan, Shakti Sinha and Satish Kumar Kalra, adding that the committee will be headed by Meeta Makhan. On Friday, shareholders of LVB ousted seven directors, including its MD & CEO and auditors at the AGM.

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