General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - June 2022

Jun 2022

Jun 10, 2022

India's FDI Rank Rises to 7th Position Despite Falling Inflows: UNCTAD

India jumped one position to 7th among the top recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the last calendar year (2021) despite FDI inflows into the country declining, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
In its latest World Investment Report released, FDI inflows into India declined to $45 billion in 2021 from $64 billion in the preceding year. While the United States ($367 billion) remained the top recipient of FDI, China ($181 billion) and Hong Kong ($141 billion) also retained second and third position respectively.
Among the top 10 host economies, only India saw a decline in its inflows. However, outward FDI from India rose 43 per cent to $15.5 billion in 2021.

Doordarshan's DG Mayank Agrawal Appointed Prasar Bharti CEO

Doordarshan and Doordarshan News Director-General Mayank Kumar Agrawal was given the additional charge of Prasar Bharati Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The move came after the five-year tenure of Shashi Shekhar Vempati as Prasar Bharati CEO came to an end. Mr. Vempati was appointed as CEO of the public broadcaster in June 2017, on the recommendation of a three-member committee headed by the then Vice-President.
An alumnus of IIT-Bombay, Mr. Vempati was the youngest and first non-bureaucrat to hold the public office since its creation in 1997.

RBI Proposes to Allow Linking of Credit Cards to Unified Payments Interface

The Reserve Bank of India proposed to allow linking of credit cards to the Unified Payments Interface. The facility would initially be enabled for Rupay Credit Cards, that too after the required system development is complete. It has informed that UPI is the most inclusive mode of payment in India with over 26 crore unique users and five crore merchants onboard the platform. It added that 594 crore 63 lakh transactions amounting to 10.40 lakh crore rupees were processed through UPI in the month of May 2022 alone.
The apex bank hopes that the linking of credit cards with UPI will provide more avenues and convenience to the customers in making payments. The necessary instructions in this regard will be issued by the National Payments Corporation of India. It may be recalled that NPCI had developed UPI as an instant real-time payment system, facilitating inter-bank peer-to-peer and person-to-merchant transactions.

Jun 09, 2022

RBI Hikes Repo Rate by 50 Basis Points to 4.90%

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the benchmark repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.90% to tamp down rising inflation. In a surprise off-cycle meet in May 2022, the central bank hiked the repo rate by 40 basis points to 4.49%. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
The aggressive stance of the RBI comes amid a grim prognosis of geo-political uncertainties over the grinding war in Ukraine, continuing supply-chain disruptions, and rising energy and food prices. Consumer prices accelerated to an eight-year high of nearly 7.8% in April, according to official data.
The two successive rate hikes point to a clear withdrawal of the RBI's accommodative policies to fuel growth. The central bank slashed the repo rate in March 2020 to push nascent economic recovery after the impact of the Covid pandemic.

Jio Becomes First Telecom to Provide 4G Mobile Services in Ladakh's Pangong

Reliance Jio expanded the reach of its 4G services in Ladakh region to a village close to Pangong lake, an area which has been a friction point between India and China. The telecom operator became the first network to provide 4G mobile connectivity in and around the Pangong area, a popular tourist destination.
Lok Sabha member from Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal inaugurated the Jio mobile tower at Spangmik village. Namgyal asserted that with the launch of the mobile network in the area, the long pending demand of the locals has been fulfilled.
This launch will boost the economy of the region besides providing seamless connectivity to the tourists and the troops in the area.

Maruti Suzuki Installs Asia's Largest 20 MWp Solar Plant at Manesar

Maruti Suzuki India installed a 20 MW solar carport at its Manesar, Haryana, site. The project is projected to provide the organisation with 28,000 MWh of electricity per year. According to the firm, the energy generated by this initiative will be similar to the energy required to create nearly 67,000 cars every year. This is Asia's largest solar carport, according to the business.
The commercial and industrial sectors have witnessed a significant increase in demand for solar to meet their energy needs at lower costs while also achieving their sustainability goals. Through an offshore corporate power purchase agreement, Suzuki Motor Gujarat, a Suzuki subsidiary, began purchasing power from a 17.6 MW hybrid wind and solar power project erected by ReNew Power in June 2022.
Suzuki Motor Corporation, the parent firm of Maruti Suzuki India, inked a memorandum of understanding with Gujarat in March 2022, agreeing to invest around 150 billion yen ($1.13 billion) in local manufacturing of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and BEV batteries.

Apple Launches Apple Pay Later

Apple joined the thriving "buy now, pay later" industry, with a customised service called Apple Pay Later. Pay Later will be built into the Apple Wallet and eligible for use on any purchase made through Apple Pay. Customers will be able to split the cost of a purchase into four equal payments, with zero interest and fees, spread over a period of four months.
To qualify, however, Apple will first do a soft credit check on users wanting to use the service. The technology behemoth claims it has designed the feature with "users' financial health in mind". It's likely that Apple is trying to consolidate its foothold in the world of consumer finance, and increase its profitability. And consumers should be aware of the risks of using such a service.
Apple will benefit from its huge market and brand power, with the capability to attract millions to its products and services. And with an acute focus on customer experience, Apple has managed to foster a community of evangelists. There's no doubt the company is a consumer darling.

World Bank Cuts India GDP forecast to 7.5%

The World Bank slashed its growth forecast for India for the 2022-23 financial year to 7.5 percent, a hefty 1.2 percentage points down from its previous forecast of 8.7 per cent. The World Bank said it cut India's GDP growth forecast due to headwinds from rising inflation, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical tensions.
The bank sees India's growth slowing further to 7.1 per cent in FY24. This is 30 basis points higher than the previous forecast of 6.8 per cent. For FY25, GDP growth has been pegged at 6.5 per cent. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. While the downward revision in the growth forecast for FY23 is large, it remains higher than local projections.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the standard measure of the value added created through the production of goods and services in a country during a certain period.

Jun 08, 2022

Global BPM Providers in 2021: TCS Maintains 10th Rank

Top Indian IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) retained its 10th rank among the top global BPM (business process management) providers in 2021. The top 5 BPM players in terms of revenue were ADP, Teleperformance, Accenture, Concentrix and Sitel Group, with ADP's revenue being $10.5 billion.
The rankings were released by outsourcing consultancy Everest Group, based on a composite score of revenue. TCS had a revenue of $3 billion and its revenue growth witnessed a growth of 14-16 per cent over 2020.
Moreover, the top 5 fastest growing companies year-on-year were Tech Mahindra, Telus International, Majorel, Teleperformance and Comdata. The BPM businesses of Infosys, Wipro and Tech Mahindra were ranked at 20, 21 and 22 with revenue of $1.3 billion, $1.4-$1.5 billion and $675 million, respectively.

Sowmyanarayan Sampath to Head Verizon Business

Sowmyanarayan Sampath was appointed Executive Vice-President and CEO of Verizon Business, effective July 1, 2022. Sampath is currently the Chief Revenue Officer. He will succeed Tami Erwin, who will become Strategic Advisor to the CEO till the end of the year.
Sampath joined Verizon in 2014. "He has been a decisive driving force behind the organisation's commercial success, its culture of shared success and relentless focus on customer needs," said a press note from the company.
Over the years, Sampath has served in strategic roles. He joined as SVP of Business Transformation, and created two of the company's largest core initiatives — Network Transformation and OneFiber.

'Har Time EMI on Time' a Financial Education Initiative by Bajaj Finance

Bajaj Finance Limited, the lending arm of Bajaj Finserv Limited, a global financial services conglomerate, launched Har Time EMI on Time, a digital campaign to raise awareness about the importance and advantages of good financial habits for a secure financial future. The campaign aims to inform the general public about the advantages of paying their monthly loan EMIs on time, as well as the long-term consequences of missing payments on their overall financial health.

Axis Bank, Indian Oil Launch Co-branded RuPay Contactless Credit Card

Axis Bank and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) launched a co-branded contactless INDIAN OIL AXIS BANK RuPay Credit Card in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
Apart from a fuel surcharge waiver and cash back on fuel purchases, the credit card offers a slew of other incentives on everyday purchases, like accelerated reward points, quick cinema ticket discounts, and dining delights at partner restaurants, among some of the benefits listed by the companies.
the companies also announced that users of this card will also be entitled to receive a 100 per cent cashback of up to Rs. 250 as an onboarding reward on all fuel purchases made within the first 30 days of the card's issuance, aside from a surcharge waiver of 1 per cent on fuel spends between INR 200 to INR 5000 and reward points worth 4 per cent for every Rs. 100 spent on fuel at Indian Oil fuel outlets.

Alok Kumar Choudhary New MD of State Bank of India

The centre appointed Alok Kumar Choudhary as Managing Director of State Bank of India (SBI) for a period of two years. Choudhary, who was Deputy Managing Director (finance) until this appointment, had started his career at SBI as a probationary officer.
With this appointment, SBI, the country's largest bank, now has four Managing Directors and a Chairman. The other three MDs are C. S. Setty, Swaminathan Janakiraman and Ashwini Kumar Tewari.

Jun 07, 2022

Kiya.ai Launches India's First Banking Metaverse Kiyaverse

Kiya.ai, a digital solutions provider serving financial institutions and governments globally, announced the launch of India's first-ever banking metaverse "Kiyaverse". In the first phase, Kiyaverse will allow banks to extend their own metaverse for clients, partners, and employees, through services that will include Relationship Manager & Peer Avatars and Robo-advisors. Kiyaverse will enable customers to use their personalized avatars on digital banking units, mobiles, laptops, VR headsets and mixed reality environments.
The platform will bring banking services from the real world to the virtual world and vice-a versa, interacting with a relationship manager's avatar creation and customisation, AI-based digital customer interaction, portfolio analysis, wealth management, co-lending, and corporate banking.

PM Modi Launches New Series of Coins with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Design

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a special series of coins that are also 'visually impaired friendly'. The launched coins of Re. 1, Rs. 2, 5, 10 and 20 denominations have the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) design. They are not commemorative coins and will be part of circulation. Meanwhile, lenders like HDFC Bank and Axis Bank said that these special coins will be distributed through select branches.
PM Modi said that these new series of coins will remind people of the goal of amrit kal and motivate people to work towards the development of the country. Modi also launched the 'Jan Samarth portal' -- a credit-linked portal of 12 government schemes.

No Plan to Replace Mahatma's Image on Notes: RBI

Reserve Bank of India clarified that it is not considering changes to the existing currency and banknotes by replacing the face of Mahatma Gandhi with that of others. There were reports in certain sections of the media that the Reserve Bank of India is considering changes to the existing currency and banknotes by replacing the face of Mahatma Gandhi with that of others.
According to a report, the central bank and the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL) had sent two sample sets of Gandhi, Tagore, and Kalam to IIT-Delhi Emeritus Professor Dilip T. Shahani, who is responsible for selecting and submitting watermarks to the government for final approval.

India Adds 14 Unicorns in 2022 First Half, Builds 70K Start-ups in 8 Years

India got 14 unicorns between January and June of 2022. According to Tracxn, India saw 13 unicorns in the same time period in 2021. According to Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh, the country has risen from 300 to 70,000 start-ups in the last 8 years, which is a massive 20,000 per cent increase. It is a matter of pride that globally out of every 10 unicorns, one is Indian. Nearly 47 per cent of startup businesses have women as their director or CEO.
However, the start-ups ecosystem is witnessing a funding winter owing to Aglobal macro-economic factors that can last up to 18-24 months.

Mukesh Ambani Richest in Asia, up at 8th Rank on Bloomberg Billionaires List

Mukesh Ambani regained his spot as Asia's richest man, surpassing his rival Gautam Adani, the difference between the two billionaires was 'just $1 billion'. Reliance Industries chairman's net worth was $99.7 billion, while the wealth of Adani Group's founder stood at $98.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. Ambani's wealth surged as RIL shares continued to rise, trading near record high levels.
The 65-year-old is now the eighth-richest person worldwide in June 2022, the Bloomberg's Billionaires Index said, while Adani is just behind him, at the ninth spot.

Jun 06, 2022

IRDAI Eases Capital Requirement for Insurers to offer PMJJBY Schemes

After the hike in the premium rate, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) relaxed capital requirement norms significantly for insurers to encourage their participation in the government's flagship programme Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY). The regulator has reduced the capital required to be held by insurers offering PMJJBY by almost 50 per cent.
This move will enable life insurers to offer more policies under the scheme, and provide financial security to the bottom of the pyramid of the Indian population through life insurance. The easing of capital requirements by Irdai will accelerate the penetration of life insurance in India and will support the life insurers in achieving the target set by the government. The government has in May 2022 hiked the premium rates for the two flagship schemes, PMJJBY and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, to make these schemes viable.

Govt. Ratifies 8.1 pc EPF Interest Rate for 2021-22

The government approved 8.1 per cent rate of interest on employees' provident fund (EPF) deposits for 2021-22, an over four-decade low for about five crore subscribers of retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). Earlier in March 2022, EPFO had decided to lower the interest on provident fund deposits for 2021-22 to 8.1 per cent from 8.5 per cent provided in 2020-21.
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation is the statutory body under the Government of India's Ministry of Labour and Employment, which is responsible for regulation and management of provident funds in India. The EPFO administers the mandatory provident fund.

Xiaomi Names New Head for India Unit

The Indian unit of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp appointed founding member Alvin Tse as its general manager, a change of guard as the company faces government scrutiny over its business practices. Tse, a British national who was also the former general manager of Xiaomi Indonesia, has helped the company expand into many global markets. The organisational rejig will also have Anuj Sharma rejoin the company as the chief marketing officer.
The development comes nearly two months after India's federal financial-crime fighting agency summoned former Xiaomi India head Manu Kumar Jain in an investigation on whether the company's business practices conformed with Indian foreign exchange laws.
In India, Xiaomi has seen its share of the domestic smartphone market surge to 24% in 2021 from 6% in 2016, making it the market leader.

Tata Projects to Construct Noida International Airport

Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), the concessionaire for the upcoming Noida International Airport selected Tata Projects Ltd to undertake the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of the new Greenfield airport coming up at Jewar. Tata Projects will construct the terminal, runway, airside infrastructure, roads, utilities, landside facilities and other ancillary buildings at Noida International Airport.
YIAPL is a 100% subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, which has been incorporated as a Special Purpose Vehicle to develop the greenfield Noida International Airport at Jewar.

In a first, IIM-Ahmedabad Brings out Agriculture Land Price Index

In a unique initiative, IIM-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) joined hands with an e-marketplace for agricultural land, SFarms India, to develop a farm land price index based on the sales and purchases done on the platform. The index has been designed to record and present the "quality-controlled" data on prices of agricultural land in the country. The index will track the price movements in the marketplace (SfarmsIndia) and come up with a composite pricing mechanism on a monthly basis, which will be updated twice a year.
SFarms India is an agricultural-land discovery platform, having more than 25,000 registered buyers and sellers. The platform has over 7,000 land listings, which are growing at around 15 per cent a month, according to its website. According to IIM-A, the index will be a reliable source in benchmarking land prices in rural and semi-urban areas and help in signalling converting agricultural land into real estate.

Govt. Appoints of Canara Bank ED A. Manimekhalai as Union Bank MD & CEO

The government appointed A. Manimekhalai as Managing Director of Union Bank of India. The notifications in this regard were issued by the Department of Financial Services. Canara Bank Executive Director Ms. Manimekhalai replaced Rajkiran Rai G., who retired on May 31 after a five-year stint. With her assuming charge, Ms. Manimekhalai becomes the first woman managing director of Union Bank of India. Ms. Manimekhalai, a Master of Business Administration degree holder from Bangalore University, joined erstwhile Vijaya Bank as Officer in 1988.
She was instrumental in devising and implementing strategic policies, covering core areas like strategic planning, setting organisational goals, growth strategies, action plans, compliance, internal control.

Airtel Payments Bank Partners with Muthoot Finance to Offer Gold Loans on Airtel Thanks App

Airtel Payments Bank has partnered with Muthoot Finance to offer gold loans through Airtel Thanks app. There will be no-processing charge on the loan and Muthoot Finance will provide up to 75 per cent of the pledged gold value as a loan. Gold Loans are secured loans that can be availed to cater to a variety of needs, from personal to professional. The partnership will give access to secured and affordable credit to customers looking for quick liquidity against their gold assets.
The loan facility will also be available at the 5 lakh banking points for Airtel Payments Bank.

HDFC Ties up with Accenture for Digital Transformation

NBFC giant, HDFC announced the collaboration with global information technology services and consulting firm, Accenture to digitally transform its lending business. The tie-up will revamp HDFC's customer experience and business processes to provide greater operational agility and efficiency, and drive business growth.
The collaboration is aimed at making HDFC's lending lifecycle paperless and nimble. HDFC highlighted that a key element of the program is a cloud-native lending platform with digital workflows for every step of the customer journey including application, loan processing, credit underwriting and decisions, disbursement, and loan servicing.

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