General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - July 2022

Jul 2022

Apr 23, 2023

South Indian Bank Debuts Two Flexible Savings Accounts for NRIs

South Indian Bank launched two flexible saving products for NRI customers dubbed as SIB SEAFARER and SIB PULSE for mariners and healthcare professionals.
With these products, NRIs can now take advantage of the freedom to either keep deposits or the required minimum amount in their savings accounts.
Here, the customer will get the flexibility to maintain a minimum balance of Rs. 10,000 in the linked accounts, eligible for the latest two non-resident accounts opened. There is no minimum balance required for maintaining the NRI term deposit of Rs. 2 lakh and above.

RBI Approves Appointment of Kaizad Bharucha as Deputy MD of HDFC Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the appointment of Kaizad Bharucha as the Deputy Managing Director of HDFC Bank for three years from April 19, 2023.
The RBI also approved Bhavesh Zaveri's appointment as HDFC Bank's Executive Director for a period of three years, with effect from April 19.
HDFC Bank, which is India's largest private sector lender, had recommended the two appointments to the central bank back in November 2022. It appointed a Deputy Managing Director five years after Paresh Sukthankar resigned.
Bharucha has more than 35 years of experience in banking and he has been associated with HDFC Bank since 1995. Before his new assignment, Bharucha was executive director responsible for wholesale banking. He previously worked at SBI Commercial and International Bank.

Federal Bank Signs Agri Fintech Start-up KiVi as Banking Correspondent

Federal Bank entered into a Banking Correspondent agreement with Chennai-based KiVi, an agri fintech start-up operated by Agrosperity Tech Solutions, with a view to scaling and expanding its agri lending portfolio in Tamil Nadu.
Federal Bank launched the instant KCC platform in September 2022. Claimed to be the first of its kind in agriculture lending, it offers farmers convenience and turnaround time. It aims at providing small-value loans to small and marginal farmers, and is designed to facilitate efficient credit flow to underserved rural populations.
KiVi employs a phygital model that combines features of the lending technology platform and the last-mile channel to serve farmer households and MSMEs such as input retailers, output aggregators or other village entrepreneurs. It provides a frictionless and secure customer experience through seamless API integrations with bureaus and other service providers, along with user-friendly WhatsApp journeys.
Under the agreement, KiVi will acquire, service and augment Federal Bank's underwriting capability.

Apr 22, 2023

Kevin Vaz Resigns from Disney Star, to Join Viacom18 as its New CEO

Kevin Vaz, the virtual second-in-command in the Disney Star ecosystem, resigned from the company after a tenure of more than 20 years.
The TV broadcast executive will become Viacom18's next CEO. Also, significant organisational changes at Viacom18 are anticipated to occur in the next months.
Currently, Jyoti Deshpande is the CEO of Viacom18, and the CEO of the sports business is Anil Jayaraj. Deshpande also oversees Jio Studios and is president of Reliance Industries' media division.

Tata Steel Named Sustainability Champ for Sixth Time

Tata Steel was recognised as 2023 Steel Sustainability Champion by the World Steel Association.
The Sustainability Champions were announced at the World Steel Special General Meeting of the Board of Members held in Vienna, Austria.
Recognised for the sixth consecutive year, Tata Steel has bagged the honour every year since the programme's launch in 2018.
Being recognised as a Sustainability Champion for the sixth consecutive year by World Steel Association reinforces the company's commitment to sustainable development.

RBI Allows AU Small Finance Bank, Equitas Bank to Deal with Foreign Exchange

AU Small Finance Bank received permission from Reserve Bank of India to deal in foreign exchange. Reserve Bank of India granted Licence to act as Authorized Dealer Category-I (AD-I) under section 10 of FEMA, 1999 to deal in foreign exchange.
Equitas Small Finance Bank also received Authorized Dealer Category-I (AD-I) License from RBI.

TCS Tops LinkedIn's 2023 Best Place to Work in India

At a time when several IT giants are on a laying off spree, software major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) topped LinkedIn's 2023 Top Companies India list and emerged as the best place to work in the country.
Amazon and Morgan Stanley bagged the second and the third spots, respectively, in the seventh edition of the report, which featured 25 best workplaces for professionals in India.
Bengaluru led the workplace location list, followed by Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi and Pune.
In what could be called a startling trend, the list this year witnessed a shift from the tech companies towards e-sports and gaming sector. Companies such as Dream11 (20th spot) and Games24x7 (24th spot) made their way to the chart, marking the growing popularity of the gaming space. Out of the 25 companies, 10 are from the financial, banking sector and fintech sector.

Apr 21, 2023

India Retains Third Spot as a Unicorn Hub

In the Hurun Research Institute's Global Unicorn Index 2023, India retained its 3rd spot as the country with the highest number of unicorns worldwide after the US and China. With 68 new unicorns, India lags behind the US and China, which have 666 and 316 unicorns, respectively.
India added 14 new unicorns since the pandemic began. Despite the rise, none of the start-ups made it to the top 10. According to the report, BYJU's is the top-most unicorn in India, with a valuation of $22 billion, followed by Swiggy and Dream11, valued at $8 billion each. BYJU'S is also among the top 10 unicorns that saw the highest increase in valuation since pre-Covid.
The report also mentioned that India and China produce more offshore unicorns than any other country. Founders from India co-founded 70 unicorns outside, while China co-founded 32 outside of China, compared with 316 in China.

Vodafone IDEA Reappoints Kumar Mangalam Birla as Non-executive Director

Kumar Mangalam Birla rejoined the board of Vodafone Idea (Vi) as an additional non-executive director. The company's board of directors approved his appointment. It also accepted the resignation of non-executive director K. K. Maheshwari from the board.
Birla had stepped down from the post of non-executive chairman of the company in August 2021 barely two months after offering his entire stake to a public sector or a domestic finance company. Birla handed over the reign to group veteran Himanshu Kapania. Ravinder Takkar took charge as non-executive chairman replacing Kapania in August 2022.

IndusInd Bank Signs $100 mn Loan Deal with JBIC to Push Japanese Equipment

IndusInd Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) signed a $100 million long-term loan agreement to foster the growth of Japanese construction equipment companies in India, through need-based credit facilities to upstream and downstream companies. The loans will be further co-financed by Mizuho Bank, Japan, the Shizuoka Bank, Singapore, and Joyo Bank, Japan.
Under this initiative, IndusInd Bank will offer credit to companies that make up the supply chain of Japanese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India. The programme will initially cover component suppliers and dealers of select Japanese OEMs, and final buyers of the construction machinery made by those companies.
The agreement was signed by the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) branch of IndusInd bank, which is an IFSC Banking Unit (IBU). An IFSC caters to customers outside the jurisdiction of the domestic economy. Such centres deal with flows of finance, financial products, and services across borders.

Apr 20, 2023

Tata Electronics Appoints Randhir Thakur as CEO & MD

Tata Group, appointed Randhir Thakur, as the CEO and MD of Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd (TEPL), as the group drew a strategy to strengthen its semiconductor manufacturing capabilities in an attempt to gain an edge over rivals in the country's thriving precision machining business. Previously, Thakur was associated with global electronic chip and circuits manufacturing giant Intel. Thakur, a veteran in the manufacturing space, was serving as the president of Intel Foundry Services before taking charge at the helm of TEPL.
Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd (TEPL) was founded in 2020 as a greenfield venture of the Tata Group with expertise in manufacturing precision components and has a roadmap that extends to semiconductor fabrication and packaging segments. TEPL, a greenfield venture of the conglomerate, is essentially an electronic component manufacturing firm, with its primary manufacturing facility located in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, India. Through TEPL, the salt-to-software conglomerate intends to gain a beachhead in the country's precision machining and assembly capabilities space.

AU Small Finance Bank Launches Bill Payments Via Video Banking

AU Small Finance Bank became the country's first commercial bank to connect with the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) and deliver bill payment services via video banking. The fundamental goal of this effort is to increase digital accessibility and economic capabilities, which will lead to greater financial inclusion.
Customers can make payments directly from their AU account to more than 20,000 billers in 20+ categories with the assistance of the banking staff. "Using AU SFB's video banking service, people can now make payments such as FASTag, loan repayment, insurance, investments, education fees, municipal taxes, utility payments including gas, electricity, mobile, landline, water, DTH bills, and other payments.

HSBC India Ropes in Virat Kohli as Brand Influencer

HSBC India appointed former Indian men's cricket team captain Virat Kohli as brand influencer.
"Virat Kohli is a symbol of an ambitious India that is striving forward, going global and leaving its indelible mark on the global stage across various fields. We're keen to partner the country in its upward trajectory of growth and our association with Virat Kohli will provide a significant impetus to this journey. Virat's appeal and pursuit of excellence is aligned to our growth ambitions in India," said Hitendra Dave, CEO, HSBC India.

Apr 19, 2023

CBIC Likely to Introduce New System of Publishing Daily Currency Exchange Rates

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is reportedly set to replace the existing fortnightly notification system for currency exchange rates with a daily publishing system on the integrated customs portal. The move is expected to capture daily fluctuations in exchange rates, enabling importers and exporters to calculate customs duties with greater precision.
The current system requires the CBIC to manually notify exchange rates of 22 currencies every fortnight, based on rates from the State Bank of India. The exchange rate data will now be automatically forwarded by SBI to ICEGATE, adjusted to the nearest five paise, and integrated with the Indian Customs EDI System before being published on the ICEGATE portal by 6:00 pm each day.
This new daily publishing system is expected to provide greater accuracy, time efficiency, and a contingency plan in case of technical snags. Experts believe the change will help prevent incorrect customs duties calculations, while giving importers and exporters a more informed understanding of their transactions.

Essar Oil Appoints Corporate Governance Expert Tony Fountain to Board

Essar Oil (UK) appointed Tony Fountain, managing partner at Essar Energy Transition (EET), as a non-executive board director.
Fountain's appointment came at a time as Essar works on its investment plan to become a low-carbon refinery. Tony's appointment will support EET's ambition to lead the UK's energy transition and invest $3.6 billion in developing low-carbon energy transition projects in the next five years. Of these investments, $2.4 billion will be at the Essar site in Ellesmere Port, between Liverpool and Manchester.
Fountain started his career at BP and he later worked as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of refining and marketing at Reliance Industries. This was followed by a period as the CEO of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Karnataka Bank Launches Home Loan Campaign

Karnataka Bank launched a special campaign 'KBL Centenary Mahotsav' for home loan till July 17 to mark its centenary year.
Customers may avail the benefits of digital banking and offers of the special campaign across all its 901 branches with discount in upfront fee, attractive rate of interest starting from 8.75%, nil processing charge for home loan, and other benefits.
Karnataka Bank developed digital loan products for home loans, allowing customers to enjoy seamless digital processing and immediate in-principle approvals at their convenience and comfort.

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