General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - June 2020

Jun 2020

Jun 05, 2020

Mubadala to Buy Stake in Jio Platforms

Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor, has agreed to invest Rs. 9,093.60 crore in Mukesh Ambani led Jio Platforms for 1.85% stake, valuing Jio Platforms at enterprise value of Rs. 5.16 lakh crore.
Jio Platforms with this investment has raised Rs. 87,655.35 crore from leading global technology and growth investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR and Mubadala in less than six weeks.
Jio Platforms, a next-generation technology platform focused on providing high-quality and affordable digital services across India, has more than 388 million subscribers.
Mubadala's Ventures business currently manages several venture funds in the US, Europe and Middle East.
Mubadala's portfolio spans advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, metals and mining, pharmaceutical and medical technology, renewable energy and utilities, and the management of diverse financial holdings.

Eurozone in Fresh Emergency Action to Boost Economy

The European Central Bank has taken further dramatic measures try to boost the eurozone economies, amid their biggest recession since World War Two.
Just months after emergency measures, the central bank said it would increase the size of its bond buying programme by €600bn (£546bn) to €1.35tn.
The programme will run until June 2021, six months longer than planned.
The move will keep borrowing costs low for countries and firms as they face huge budget deficits and recessions.
The bond purchases are often referred to as Quantitative Easing (QE). When central banks buy bonds with printed money, the value of the bonds rise and borrowing costs drop.

Double Whammy for Textile Mills as Operations Resume

Textile mills in the State (Tamil Nadu), numbering over 2,000, are facing a difficult situation despite resuming operations — orders are less, prices have fallen, and export enquiries are yet to pick up.
Tamil Nadu has almost 45% of the country's spindle capacity and produces approximately 175 million kg of yarn a month.
As per Ashwin Chandran, chairman of Southern India Mills' Association, with the mills resuming operations in the last one month, the average capacity utilisation is just 40 %.
Some mills operated at 80% to 90 % capacity, only resulting in rising inventory. Of the total yarn produced in Tamil Nadu, nearly 40% was sold in the powerloom weaving clusters in north India, mainly Maharashtra. Weaving activities were yet to gain momentum in these clusters. Even in Tamil Nadu, where there were nearly five lakh powerlooms, the weaving clusters were operating at just 50% capacity.
Mr. Ashwin appealed to the Union and State governments to come out with schemes to boost exports so that Indian yarn was competitive in the international market.
The mills face labour shortage as most of the migrant workers have gone home. The demand should revive by the time the workers return, say the spinners.

Zomato and Swiggy Get Permit to Test Drone Delivery

Hyperlocal delivery start-ups including Dunzo, Swiggy and Zomato can begin to test fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drones for deliveries, after receiving permission from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
A senior DGCA official confirmed the development that along with the delivery start-ups, budget airline SpiceJet, Reliance-backed drone startup Asteria Aerospace were among the 13 consortia which had received the approvals to test fly these drones.
The DGCA wanted to see the commercial possibilities which could be achieved through the BVLOS drones, and set up the BVLOS Experiment Assessment and Monitoring (BEAM) committee, in the first half of 2019, calling in for applications.

India's Unemployment Rate Saw a Small Dip in 2018-19

As per the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in May 2020, India's unemployment rate improved from the 45-year high of 6.1% in 2017-18 to 5.8% in 2018-19. The labour force participation rate also improved marginally, from 36.9% in 2017-18 to 37.5% in 2018-19. The labour force is defined as people who are working, or seeking work or available for work. Its participation rate is the percentage of the labour force in the population. The unemployment rate is the percentage of people without work within the labour force.
The report shows the dip came across all categories, though women and rural workers showed the most improvement.
Women's unemployment fell from 5.7% to 5.2%, while male unemployment only fell from 6.2% to 6%. Urban unemployment was still at a high of 7.7% in 2018-19, a marginal drop from 7.8% in 2017-18, while rural unemployment fell from 5.3% to 5%.

Jun 03, 2020

Horticulture Production in 2019-20 Estimated

In 2020, onions are not likely to bring tears as the government expects 17% rise in the onion output from last year.
As per the second advance estimate, the production onion is likely to be 26.74 million tonnes in 2019-20 as against 22.82 million tonnes in 2018-19.
The second advance estimates also places total horticulture production in 2019-20 to be at 320.48 million tonnes - 3.13% higher than last year.
The official said that the production of fruits is likely to be 99.07 million tonnes as compared to 97.97 million tonnes in 2018-19.
The production of vegetables is also likely to be higher in 2019-20.

SBI Creates Separate Business Vertical for Financial Inclusion

State Bank of India has created a separate business vertical to focus on financial inclusion and micro-markets (FI&MM) in semi-urban and rural areas.
Under FI&MM, the bank will offer loans predominantly for agriculture and allied activities, and micro/small enterprises and vastly improve customer experience for the citizens in the hinterland.
About 8,000 branches in rural and semi urban areas have been identified for providing specialised services to the micro segment including micro credit for small businesses and farmers under new vertical.
At the national level, the FI&MM vertical will be headed by Deputy Managing Director, Sanjeev Nautiyal.

Jun 02, 2020

Yes Bank Acquires 24.19% Stake in Dish TV

Yes Bank Ltd acquired a 24.19% stake in direct-to-home service provider, Dish TV India Ltd, by invoking pledges against 44.53 equity shares kept as collateral with the private lender for a loan.
This is the fifth instance in the past one year that Yes Bank has acquired majority stake in a non-banking businesses simply due to invocation of pledge against shares of a company that had availed loans from the bank and later failed to repay the dues.
According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), the DTH market in the country is dominated by Dish TV (40%), followed by Tata Sky (25%) and Airtel TV (22%).

Indian Energy Exchange Launches Real-Time Electricity Market

Energy trading platform Indian Energy Exchange launched the real-time electricity market (RTM) on its platform, a move that will help utilities buy and sell power just an hour before the requirement.
The RTM enables consumers, including distribution companies (discoms) and captive users, to buy power on exchanges just an hour before delivery.
The real time market is an endeavour by the regulator, CERC, to make the power market dynamic by enabling trade in electricity through half-hourly auctions, Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) said in a regulatory filing.

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