General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - June 2020

Jun 2020

Jun 20, 2020

RIL First Indian Company to Cross the Rs. 11 lakh crore m-cap Mark

Reliance Industries became the first Indian company to cross Rs. 11 lakh crore in market value. The stock soared 6 per cent. The company's market capitalisation touched $150 billion in dollar terms. Analysts expect the stock to gain 10-13 per cent from current levels in 2020.
Reliance has turned net debt-free by raising Rs. 168,818 crore in two months through the country's largest ever rights issue and a series of stake sale deals in its arm Jio Platforms.

CCI Approves Acquisition of Metso Oyj's Minerals Business by Outotec Oyj

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the acquisition of Metso Oyj's (Metso) minerals business by Outotec Oyj (Outotec) under section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002.
The proposed combination is subject to changes made by the parties, under Regulation 25 (1A) of the Competition Commission of India (procedure relating to business transactions related to combinations) Regulations, 2011.
All the assets, rights, debts, and liabilities of Metso that relate to, or primarily serve, its minerals business will be acquired by Outotec.
The combination will be achieved through a partial demerger of Metso Minerals as per the Finnish Companies Act.

Facebook Acquires Sweden's Mapillary

In a move aimed at taking on Google Maps, Facebook has acquired Swedish start-up Mapillary, that is building a detailed, accurate, and up to date global street-level imagery platform, for an undisclosed sum.
Facebook is building tools and technology to improve maps through a combination of machine learning, satellite imagery and partnerships with mapping communities.
These maps power products like Facebook Marketplace that drive transactions for millions of small businesses, and supply vital data to humanitarian organisations around the world.

BSE among World's 10 Most Valued Exchanges

Leading bourse BSE figured among the world's 10 largest exchanges in terms of cumulative market capitalisation of all companies listed on its platform, as per the latest data from the World Federation of Exchanges.
BSE is at the tenth place in the top-10 list, with a market capitalisation of $1.7 trillion.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) tops the chart with a valuation of $19.3 trillion.
Nasdaq comes second with a market capitalisation of $13.8 trillion.
BSE, the first listed stock exchange of India, is one of the country's leading exchange groups, with over 5 crore registered investors. Its benchmark -- the S&P BSE Sensex -- is a widely tracked stock market index.
Others ranked in the list include Tokyo Stock Exchange, placed third with a market valuation of $5.7 trillion, followed by Shanghai Stock Exchange ($4.9 trillion).

Jun 19, 2020

Karnataka Bank Launches Health Insurance Policy to Cover COVID-19

Karnataka Bank in partnership with Universal Sompo General Insurance Company has launched a health insurance policy. The policy aims to cover the individuals' COVID-19 pandemic related health expenses.
The health cover can be availed at a nominal premium(current price without taking inflation or other factors into account) of Rs. 399, inclusive of all taxes.
It will cover-in-patient hospital expenses up to Rs. 3 lakh, outpatient treatment expenses of Rs. 3000.
The policy will provide Rs. 1000 per day against the expenses incurred towards 14 days of quarantine in a government or military hospital.
The validity period of the policy is 120 days.

Modi Launches Auction Process for 41 Coal Blocks

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the auction process for 41 coal blocks for commercial mining, a move that opens India's coal sector for private players, and termed it a major step in the direction of India achieving self-reliance.
Launching the auction of mines for commercial mining, that is expected to garner Rs. 33,000 crore of capital investment in the country over the next five to seven years, would win the coronavirus war and turn this crisis into an opportunity, and the pandemic would make India self-reliant.
The launch of the auction process not only marks the beginning of unlocking of the country's coal sector from the lockdown of decades, but aims at making India the largest exporter of coal.

ICICI Home Finance Launches SARAL

ICICI Home Finance Company Limited (HFC) launched SARAL, a special affordable housing loan scheme to finance homes in urban and rural areas. The beneficiaries are women, lower, middle income customers and economically weaker sections, with a maximum household income up to Rs. 6 lakh per annum.
The loan requires compulsory ownership of a woman in the country's rural areas from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 6 lakh.
The maximum limit of the loan is Rs. 35 lakh.
The interest rate of the loan starts from 7.98%.
The maximum tenure of the loan is 20 years.
ICICI HFC offers interest subsidy of up to Rs 2.67 lakh per house for SARAL loan applicants up to the end of this financial year, under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

Bank of Baroda to Fully Digitise Lending Operations

Bank of Baroda, India's 3rd largest lender to fully digitise its lending operations including home, agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME), personal and auto loans.
Verification and issuance of new loans will take place through this digital platform anbd past loans will also be digitised to reduce costs and improve profitability.
The bank plans to digitise a large part of its retail and MSME processes in the next 6 months.
The bank has set up a new vertical, digital lending department at the corporate office, which will have substantial overlap with various credit verticals including Retail, MSME, Agri & service verticals like Analytics centre, Risk Management, Marketing.
According to the Bank's 18-month Action Plan, it aims to set up and operate the digital lending department within two months.

Freight Body Ends Contract with Chinese Firm

As per the railway ministry, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) has decided to terminate a contract given to a Chinese firm in 2016 because of delays in the signalling and telecommunication work assigned to it. The decision to terminate the Beijing National Railway Research & Design Institute of Signal & Communication's contract was taken in April due to the firm's "slow progress.
The ministry's announcement came three days after 20 Indian soldiers were killed as hundreds of troops from India and China fought with iron rods and clubs studded with nails in Ladakh.
India is mulling economic measures, including limiting China's access to its vast market, in response to the face-off.
At least 100 Chinese products are staring at anti-dumping action and future investments from China, including the participation of its firms in big and important projects such as the 5G market, could be barred.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund to Invest in Jio Platforms

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) has agreed to invest Rs. 11,367 crore in in Mukesh Ambani led Jio Platforms Limited for 2.32% stake, valuing the company at an equity value of Rs. 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs. 5.16 lakh crore and marking PIF's largest investment into the Indian economy to-date.
With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised Rs. 1,15,693.95 crore from leading global investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG and L Catterton, since April 2020.
With the addition of PIF's investment, Jio Platforms has established partnerships with a marquee set of global financial investors, who will contribute to establishing the Digital Society vision for India.

Jun 18, 2020

Infosys Signs Climate Pledge with Amazon and Global Optimism

Infosys partnered with Amazon and Global Optimism and signed the Climate Pledge, an initiative by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Christiana Figueres, founder of Global Optimism and former United Nations Climate chief to become net-zero carbon by 2040, ten years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
Under the Climate Pledge the companies agreed to, measure and report the emission of greenhouse gases on a regular basis, implement decarbonization strategies through changes in business and innovations through renewable energy, materials reductions etc. and neutralize the remaining emissions with additional, real, permanent and socially beneficial offsets to achieve zero carbon emission by 2040.

RBI to Replace NHB Rules with its Own Set

As the new regulator of housing finance companies (HFCs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed to modify the rules governing these firms.
The RBI took over the powers to regulate HFCs from the National Housing Bank (NHB) in August 2019.
In the NHB regulations, according to the RBI, there was no formal definition of 'housing finance'. In a draft released on its website, the central bank set a formal definition for the same.
Housing finance would now mean "financing, for purchase/ construction/ reconstruction/ renovation/ repairs of residential dwelling unit.
All other loans, including those given for furnishing dwelling units, loans given against mortgage of property for any purpose other than buying/ construction of a new dwelling unit or renovation of the existing dwelling unit, will be treated as non housing loans.

India's 1st Pay as You Fly Insurance for Drones

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, the country's third-largest non-life insurance provider joined hands with UK based tech firm TropoGo Limited to launch India's 1st 'Pay as you Fly' insurance for drone-owners in India.
This policy, which will be offered on-demand to commercial drone owners and operators, give life insurance for Third Party Liability Claims cover for property damage and bodily injuries that may be happened while conducting activities like survey, mapping, monitoring, disaster relief initiatives, civil administration services, use during festivals & events, property management and travel & tourism purposes among others.
Members of this policy can claim an insurance cover of up to Rs. 10 lakh on TropoGo mobile app and they can opt for 4 hours, one-day, or a one-month cover to insure themselves against third-party liabilities.

India 9th Largest Recipient of FDI in 2019

In accordance with the "World Investment Report 2020" by United Nation's (UN) trade body, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), India has become the 9th largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2019 after receiving $51 billion last year.
This is an increase of 20% from the 42 billion dollars of FDI received in 2018, when India ranked 12 among the top 20 host economies in the world.
India is the largest South Asian recipient of FDI in 2019.
The top three contries in the list are: the US ($246 bn), China ($141 bn) and Singapore ($92 bn).

Great Wall Motor Signs MoU with Maharashtra

Chinese auto major Great Wall Motor (GWM) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Maharashtra government for its manufacturing facility in the state which it had acquired from General Motors (GM).
The company has committed an investment of $1 billion (about Rs. 7,600 crore) in India in a phased manner with estimated employment for over 3,000 people.
This would be a highly automated plant in Talegaon (near Pune) with advanced robotics technology integrated into many of the production processes.
In January this year, GWM had signed an agreement to acquire the plant from GM.

Jun 17, 2020

India's First Gas Trading Platform Launched

Indian Gas Exchange (IGX), first nationwide online delivery-based gas trading platform was launched by Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas in an e-ceremony, a move that is expected to lead to market-driven pricing and boost consumption by improving availability.
The IGX platform incorporated by Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), India's leading energy market platform commenced the trading on the platform.

India Becomes Founding Member of Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence

India joined international and multi-stakeholder initiative Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) on artificial intelligence as its founder member.
GPAI will bring together experts from the industry, civil society, governments, and academia to collaborate to promote responsible evolution of AI and will also evolve methodologies to show how it can be leveraged to better respond to the present global crisis around Covid-19.

CBIC launched 'e-Office' Application in all CGST

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Chairman M. Ajit Kumar launched the 'e-Office' application in over 500 CGST and customs offices across India, on 15th June, 2020 at New Delhi.
The e-Office is a Mission Mode Project(MMP) under the e-Governance of India.
e-Office has been developed by the National Informatics Center(NIC), and supported by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).
E-Office aims to improve governance by automating the internal processes of handling files and taking decisions within Government.

Jun 16, 2020

Alto Becomes Best-Selling Model for 16th Straight Year

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said that its entry level small car Alto has become the best-selling model for the 16th year in a row clocking sale of 148,000 units in 2019-20.
Launched in September 2000, the Alto became India's best-selling car in 2004 for the first time.
As per MSI Executive Director (Marketing and Sales) Shashank Srivastava, the strong customer base of Alto is a testament of customers appreciating the timely upgrades and refreshment in the brand.
Maruti Suzuki has kept a close eye on the evolving customer preferences and aligned its product range to such changes.

Nation's First Gas Trading Platform 'Indian Gas Exchange'

Indian Energy Exchange launched Indian Gas Exchange (IGX), first nationwide online delivery-based gas trading platform. The platform is fully automated with web-based interface to provide seamless trading experience to the customers and is powered by best-in-class technology from GMEX, one of the world's leading digital exchange trading and post trade technology providers. Incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of the IEX - India's leading energy market platform, IGX will enable market participants to trade in standardised gas contracts.
The IGX platform incorporated by Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), India's leading energy market platform commenced the trading on the platform.

ICICI Bank Launches 'Insta Flexicash' an Online OD Facility

ICICI Bank has launched 'Insta Flexicash', an online overdraft facility for its pre approved salary account customers, by which these customers can get approval for OD instantly and in a paperless manner. The end-to-end fully digital facility can be accessed with no documentation, using the Bank's internet banking platform without visiting a bank branch.
Few benefits of 'Insta Flexdicash':
The customers can start using the approved overdraft limit within 48 hours.
A credit limit worth up to 3 times their net salary.
The Interest payment must be paid every month only on the actual OD amount utilised and can clear the outstanding limit at their convenience.

GAIL and Petronet Join India's First Gas Trading Exchange

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal owners, state-run GAIL (India) Ltd and Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL), have joined India's first natural gas exchange that went online.
With others such as Manikaran Power, Torrent Power and Adani Gas on board, the exchange will help revive stranded gas fuelled power projects and reduce fertilizer prices and subsidy.
The natural gas trading platform, which has been set up by Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), will also help discover market prices of gas on the exchange, launched by petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan.The Indian Gas Exchange will offer six market products beginning from day-ahead market and forward contracts, including daily, weekly, weekday, fortnightly and monthly, at three physical hubs in Dahej, Hazira in Gujarat, and Odoru in Andhra Pradesh to begin with while it plans to add more hubs soon.

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