India Surpasses Japan to Become 3rd Largest Auto Market Globally
India's sales of new vehicles totalled at least 4.25 million units, based on preliminary results, topping the 4.2 million sold in Japan. New vehicles delivered in India totalled 4.13 million between January and November 2022, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. Adding December's sales volume reported on Sunday by Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker, brings the total to roughly 4.25 million units.
RBI Allows Six Entities to Test Fintech Products to Deal with Financial Frauds under Sandbox Scheme
Six entities, including HSBC and Creditwatch, were allowed to test their fintech products to prevent and mitigate financial fraud as part of the fourth cohort under the RBI's regulatory sandbox scheme. Regulatory sandbox refers to the live testing of new products or services in a controlled/test regulatory environment for which the regulators may permit certain relaxations.
The Reserve Bank had announced the opening of the fourth cohort under the regulatory sandbox in June 2022 for the prevention and mitigation of financial fraud.
The RBI had received nine applications under the fourth cohort, of which six entities were selected for the 'test phase'.
The six entities are -- Bahwan Cybertek, Crediwatch Information Analytics, enStage Software (Wibmo), HSBC in collaboration with Wibmo, napID Cybersec and Trusting Social.
The selected entities would commence testing their products in February.
The regulatory sandbox allows the regulator, innovators, financial service providers and customers to conduct field tests to collect evidence on the benefits and risks of new financial products.
The objective of the regulatory sandbox is to foster responsible innovation in financial services, promote efficiency and bring benefits to consumers.
Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council Elects Saiyam Mehra as Chairman
The All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) its members elected Saiyam Mehra as Chairman and Rajesh Rokde as Vice Chairman of the industry body for a period of two years (2023-24). GJC represents over 6,00,000 industry players comprising manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, distributors, laboratories, gemologists, designers and allied services providers. GJC is constantly creating newer and better platforms for the industry and his focus will be on connecting with the maximum number of people creating a synergy for development of the industry.
All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council is a national trade federation established with the objective to address the industry, its functioning and its cause with a 360° approach to promote and progress its growth, while protecting the industry's interests. As a self-regulated trade body, GJC, since the last 15 years, has been serving as a bridge between the Government and the trade as well as undertaking various initiatives on behalf of and for the industry. GJC represents various industry segments such as Manufacturers, Retailers, Wholesalers, Allied, gold, silver, platinum, diamonds, Gem stones, machinery, etc. including the entire industry value chain from bullion to retail.
Paytm Payments Bank Appoints Surinder Chawla as MD, CEO
Paytm Payments Bank received banking regulator RBI's nod to appoint Surinder Chawla as its Managing Director and CEO.
The RBI, however, continues to bar Paytm Payments Bank from on-boarding new customers.
Before joining PPBL, Chawla was working with RBL Bank, where he served as Head - Branch Banking and focused on expanding the CASA base, fee revenue, and cross-selling across channels.
Kerala Becomes Country's First Fully Digital Banking Service
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared Kerala as the first state in the country to go fully digital in its banking service and said this recognition would boost the state economy.
As per Vijayan, this achievement was possible due to social interventions through local self-government institutions along with infrastructure development and technological advances in the banking sector.
The Chief Minister also said that the ambitious Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON) project of the state government, which was almost 90 per cent completed, will reduce the digital divide.
Axis Bank Partners with OPEN to Launch a Fully Digital Current Account
Axis Bank partnered with OPEN to provide a fully native digital current account journey for its customers including SMEs (small and medium enterprises), freelancers, homepreneurs, influencers and more. This is the bank's first-ever partnership with a fintech player to launch a fully digital current account. Using this account, customers can avail 250+ banking services and claim up to 50 per cent cashback through grab-deals. With this partnership, all existing Axis Bank account holders also get access to OPEN's all-in-one digital banking platform that is used by over 30 lakh businesses currently.
The partnership aims to offer access to Axis Bank's holistic banking services coupled with OPEN's end-to-end financial automation tools for business management like payments, accounting, payroll, compliance, expense management and several other services to a larger business community.
Jan 08, 2023
Chennai, Southern Cities Top in Terms of Women Employment: Report
According to a report by Avtar, a firm specialising in workplace inclusion, Chennai is India's best city for women's employment and it is followed by Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai.
The report ranked 111 cities on parameters nurturing a conducive ecosystem for women's employment. Ahmedabad, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata, Coimbatore and Madurai form the rest of the top 10 cities, each has a population of more than one million, in terms of women's employment.
Metros like Delhi and Kolkata have fallen behind in terms of social inclusion due to lower standards of safety and poor enablers for women to pursue employment.
L&T Realty Developers to Sell Its Entire Stake in Think Tower Developers
L&T Realty Developers Ltd, a subsidiary of L&T, agreed to sell its complete stake in Think Tower Developers Pvt Ltd.
The agreement is expected to complete by January end, which is subject to the completion of closing conditions.
TTDPL will cease to be a subsidiary company, the filing added.
The entire stake held by L&T Realty Developers Ltd in the company is being sold to Pratik Harshad Kalsariya, who does not belong to the promoter group.
Allegis Group Names Venkat Shastry as New India Managing Director
Allegis Group, an international talent solutions company, appointed Venkat Shastry as its new India regional Managing Director effective January 5.
Shastry will focus on revenue, profit, and customer excellence. He will strengthen partner relationships and work with the local ecosystem.
Shastry succeeded Pravin Tatavarti, who stepped down from the role at the end of 2022.
Allegis Group is headquartered in Hanover, Maryland, USA.
Jan 07, 2023
Microsoft, NIELIT Team up to Train Youth in Cybersecurity Skills for Jobs
Tech titan Microsoft and National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) announced a collaboration to increase access to skills for jobs through Cyber Shikshaa and Ready4Cybersecurity programmes. Nearly 3,500 learners will undergo training and receive internship or employment opportunities for in-demand cybersecurity jobs.
NIELIT and Microsoft will deploy Cyber Shikshaa and Ready4Cybersecurity programmes in 30 training centres of NIELIT in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns, with a special focus on Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and states in the North-East region of India.
NIELIT and Microsoft have collaborated to train youth in cybersecurity skills for jobs, a release said, adding these programmes would be scaled in subsequent years to integrate cybersecurity training programmes in all the training centres of NIELIT.
ICICI Bank Launches Digital Solutions for Exporters
ICICI Bank announced the launch of digital solutions for exporters, a comprehensive set of banking and value-added services on a single platform. The suite of solutions digitises the entire export life-cycle - from discovery of export markets, export finance, foreign exchange services to receipt of export incentives.
The initiative aims to simplify the journey of exporters by decongesting the current time-intensive manual procedures, thereby significantly improving their operational efficiency.
Prasanna Kumar Motupalli New Chairman and MD of NLC India Ltd
Prasanna Kumar Motupalli was appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the state-run NLC India Ltd (NLCIL).
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved Motupalli's appointment till the date of his superannuation that is June 30, 2026.
NLC India Limited (NLC) (formerly Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited) is a central public sector undertaking under the administrative control of the Ministry of Coal, Government of India.
It was incorporated in 1956 and was wholly owned by the Government of India.
Jan 06, 2023
RBI Lifts Ban on M&M Finance for Outsourcing Recovery, Repossession Agents
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifted the ban on Mahindra & Mahindra Finance for outsourcing recovery and repossession agents with immediate effect.
On September 22, 2022 the regulator barred Mahindra Finance from carrying out any recovery or repossession activity through outsourced agents, after reports that a woman was crushed to death in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district, while she was trying to stop a loan recovery agent working on the company's behalf from seizing her father's tractor over loan dues.
Mahindra Finance said the ban was lifted after the company assured the RBI to strengthen recovery practices and outsourcing arrangements.
Aegon Life Insurance Launches iTerm Prime Insurance Plan
Aegon Life Insurance launched a new term plan named 'iTerm Prime Insurance plan' for the self-employed sector. The minimum sum assured is Rs. 25 lakh. It also offers a special discount of 10 per cent on the first-year premium.
The policy also offers special add-on features like critical illness cover and accidental death.
The minimum entry age is 18 years. The maximum age is 65 years for regular pay, and 50 years for limited pay.
Sundararaman Ramamurthy Takes Charge as Managing Director, CEO of BSE
Sundararaman Ramamurthy assumed charge as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of leading stock exchange BSE.
Market regulator SEBI approved the appointment of Ramamurthy as its Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer.
The appointment came after BSE's erstwhile MD & CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan resigned from the bourse in July 2022 and moved to NSE.
Ramamurthy has previously served as the senior member of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) since its inception. However, after serving this role, he took up the position of MD and Chief Operating Officer at the Indian arm of Bank of America.
Jan 05, 2023
India Accelerator, ICICI Bank and Infosys Finacle Join Hands
India Accelerator, a seed-stage accelerator program, announced the launch of the i3 Launchpad, a program created to nurture and co-innovate with the start-up ecosystem in India. This has been developed in collaboration with ICICI Bank and Infosys Finacle, part of EdgeVerve Systems, a wholly-owned product subsidiary of Infosys. The objective of the i3 Launchpad is to support a community of entrepreneurs who are on a mission to create brands that can have a global impact. It is designed to help start-ups accelerate their success by leveraging mentorship, resources, and opportunities from Infosys Finacle, ICICI Bank, and India Accelerator (IA).
The program is open to start-ups across all industries and will onboard two cohorts a year, with a target of 12-18 start-ups in each cohort. Sectors in focus for the first cohort include fintech, enterprise tech & SaaS, proptech, wealthtech, sustainability & greentech, and insurtech. Founders can join a mix of remote and in-person group learning sessions. Start-ups who wish to apply can learn more at the I3 Launchpad website.
ONGC Top Profit Making Public Sector Enterprises in 2021-22
The net profit of operating public sector enterprises jumped 50.87 per cent to Rs. 2.49 lakh crore during 2021-22, with ONGC, Indian Oil Corp, Power Grid, NTPC and SAIL emerging as the top five performers. The net profit of operating central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) stood at Rs. 1.65 lakh crore in the previous fiscal. The Public Enterprises Survey 2021-22 also revealed that the net loss of loss-making CPSEs narrowed to Rs. 0.15 lakh crore in FY 2021-22 from Rs. 0.23 lakh crore in FY 2020-21, showing a decrease of 37.82 per cent. Major loss-making CPSEs include Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL), Air India Assets Holding Ltd, Eastern Coalfields Ltd and Alliance Air Aviation Ltd.
Bandhan Bank Launches 'Jahaan Bandhan, Wahaan Trust' Campaign
Bandhan Bank launched its 'Jahaan Bandhan, Wahaan Trust' campaign featuring cricketer Sourav Ganguly as its brand ambassador. According to the company, this is the first time that Bandhan Bank appointed a pan-India brand ambassador. The campaign was conceptualised by Leo Burnett Orchard, which was brought in as the bank's creative agency in August 2022. The marketing campaign will be visible across TV, print, out-of-home (OOH), cinema and digital media.
Indus Towers Appoints Prachur Sah as MD & CEO
Telecom infrastructure company Indus Towers appointed Prachur Sah as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company.
The position was vacant since the resignation of Bimal Dayal in July 2022.
Prior to his appointment as MD and CEO of Indus Towers, Sah led the oil and gas vertical of Vedanta, Cairn.
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