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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - July 2022

Jul 2022

Jul 09, 2022

RBI Liberalises Norms to Boost Forex Inflows

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) further liberalised norms to boost inflows of foreign exchange, including doubling the borrowing limit under the ECB route, amid the rupee falling against the US dollar.
The measures taken by the central bank comes in the backdrop of rupee depreciating by 4.1 per cent against the US dollar during the current financial year so far (up to July 5) amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions.
The measures include easing norms for FPI investment in debt market, and increasing the External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) limit under the automatic route from $750 million or its equivalent per financial year to $1.5 billion.

Sanjiv Puri Elected CII VP for FY23

ITC chairman and managing director Sanjiv Puri was elected the Vice President of CII for 2022-23, while TVS Supply Chain Solutions Executive Vice Chairman R. Dinesh has become the new President Designate.
Sanjiv was a member of CII National Council and has held several important positions in CII including Chairman of CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development and as the Chairman of CII Agriculture Council to name a few.
Dinesh was the Chairman of CII Southern Region during 2018-19 and has held several positions in CII, including those of Chairman of National Committees on Logistics, CII Family Business Network India Chapter Council, CII Tamil Nadu State Council and CII Institute of Logistics Advisory Council.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Bags DLL India's Agri & Healthcare Equipment Financing Portfolio

Kotak Mahindra Bank acquired the agri and healthcare equipment financing portfolio of global asset finance company De Lage Landen Financial Services India (DLL India).
DLL India is a subsidiary of De Lage Landen International B.V., owned by Rabobank.
With this acquisition, Kotak will gain access to over 25,000 customers with a total standard loan outstanding of around Rs. 582 crore.
Moreover, Kotak has also acquired the non-performing assets portfolio with a total loan outstanding of around Rs. 69 crore.
The operations related to DLL India will be transitioned to Kotak in a channelised way over the next few months. Until then, the portfolio will continue to be managed by DLL India.

Jul 08, 2022

MoD Allows 3 Private Sector Banks to Provide Financial Services in Overseas Procurement

The Defence Ministry allowed three private sector banks to provide financial services to it for overseas procurement of military hardware.
The banks are HDFC Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.
Till now, only authorised public sector banks were utilised to provide services like issuance of letter of credit and direct bank transfers to the ministry for overseas procurement.
The selected banks may be allocated with LC business of Rs. 2,000 crore, each on the capital and revenue side, for a period of one year on concurrent basis.

NTPC and GACL Ink MoU to Produce Green Ammonia and Green Methanol

NTPC REL signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals (GACL) to mutually explore the opportunities for setting up India's first commercial-scale green ammonia and green methanol project.
NTPC REL is a subsidiary of state-run power Genco NTPC, while GACL, a Gujarat government PSU, is engaged in the production of industrial chemical products.
The MoU envisages to collaborate in the field of Renewable Energy, green ammonia and green methanol project and mutually explore opportunities for supply of 100 megawatt (MW) RE-RTC (Round The Clock) power and synthesising 75 tonnes per day (TPD) green methanol and 35 TPD green ammonia for captive use for production of various chemicals by GACL at its Vadodara and Dahej complex in Gujarat.

SoftBank's Rajeev Misra to Step Down From Executive Role

Rajeev Misra, CEO, SB Investment Advisers, which manages SoftBank Vision Fund, will step back from his executive role at the technology fund, as per a communication sent by SoftBank's founder Masayoshi Son, in what is being seen as a major rejig at the Japanese conglomerate.
This marks the exit of one of the key architects of the Japanese conglomerate's sometimes chaotic evolution into the world's largest technology investor.
A key lieutenant of the SoftBank founder, Misra will retain a senior position with the group's first $100 billion Vision Fund, but relinquish other roles.
Misra will move from CEO of SoftBank Global Advisers, which manages the second fund, to vice chairman while SoftBank's founder and CEO, Masayoshi Son, will take a more direct leadership role.

Jul 07, 2022

Edelweiss General Insurance Launches SWITCH, Comprehensive Motor Insurance

Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI) launched SWITCH, which is an on-demand comprehensive motor insurance product, under the insurance regulator IRDAI's Sandbox initiative.
Under the policy, the app detects motion and automatically activates insurance when the vehicle is driven, making it convenient for customers. Moreover, it rewards policyholders if they are driving well, as it measures both the quantity and quality of driving and calculates premiums accordingly.
It is the only on-demand motor product in the country that places complete control in the hands of customers. Pay only for how much you drive and how well you drive. 'Drive less, pay less; Drive better, pay less' is what SWITCH is all about. With this, we are also hoping to encourage people to drive better and safer."

BoB to Make High-value Cheque Verification System Mandatory Bank of Baroda

Bank of Baroda customers will have to electronically confirm key information about cheques worth more than Rs. 5 lakh to the bank for authentication before they can be cleared. The positive pay confirmation rule will come to effect for Bank of Baroda customers from August 1, 2022.

Jul 06, 2022

RBI Imposes Monetary Penalty on IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a monetary penalty of Rs. 1.05 crore and Rs. 1 crore on Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank, respectively, for deficiencies in regulatory compliance.
In case of Kotak Mahindra Bank, the RBI found that the private lender failed to maintain margin on advances to stock brokers; credit (shadow reversal) the amount involved in the unauthorised electronic transactions to the customers' account within 10 working days from the date of notification by the customer; and credit eligible amount to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund within the period prescribed.
As for IndusInd Bank, the monetary penalty was imposed on it as it failed to adhere to customer due diligence procedure in the accounts opened using OTP based e-KYC, in non-face-to-face mode.

SBI General Insurance Launches Cyber Insurance Cover for Individuals

SBI General Insurance launched the Cyber VaultEdge insurance plan, a comprehensive cyber insurance cover for individuals that provides protection against financial losses arising from cyber risks and attacks.
To address the heightened risks that individuals face due to cybercrime and instances of reputation damage, fraudulent transactions with credit cards, debit cards, theft of personal information, etc., SBI General has designed SBI General Cyber VaultEdge which offers a range of benefits and protects individuals against cyber risks, allowing them to be assured against any such instances while conducting activities on the internet or during digital transactions.
This offering covers unauthorised e-transactions, loss of wages resulting from identity theft and instances impacting online reputation including social media trolling, bullying, and stalking.
SBI General Cyber VaultEdge also takes care of any legal expenses incurred in pursuing or defending legal action against any third parties and reimburses individuals for expenses incurred to restore data by availing services of any IT specialist.

Dabur's Burman Family Becomes Official Promoter of Eveready Industries

FMCG firm Dabur India promoter Burman family became promoter of Eveready Industries, according to a regulatory filing by the Kolkata-based flashlight and battery maker.
Entities belonging to the family -- Puran Associates, VIC Enterprises, MB Finmart, Gyan Enterprises and Chowdry Associates -- now jointly own 38.38 per cent in Eveready Industries after the completion of an open offer in June.

SBI Life and Paschim Banga Gramin Bank Sign a Bancassurance Agreement

The Paschim Banga Gramin Bank joined hands with SBI Life Insurance for a bancassurance pact.
The partnership will see all the branches of Paschim Banga Gramin Bank across West Bengal offer SBI Life's range of protection, wealth creation, credit life, annuity and savings products, thereby increasing accessibility of life insurance solutions in the region.
The agreement was signed by Arun Kumar Patra, General Manager of Paschim Banga Gramin Bank and Jayant Pandey, Regional Director of SBI Life.
Bancassurance is an arrangement between a bank and an insurance company, as a part of which the latter can sell its products to the lender's customers.

Jul 05, 2022

Julius Baer Appoints Umang Papneja as India unit CEO

Julius Baer, the leading Swiss wealth management group, appointed Umang Papneja as the new chief executive officer for its India operations.
Papneja will report to Rahul Malhotra, head global India and developed markets as he takes over the role from Ashish Gumashta, who will become executive chairman at Julius Baer India.
Umang Papneja joined the global wealth management company from IIFL Wealth Management where he served as the chief investment officer dealing with multiple asset classes including equities, real estate, fixed income, commodities and alternatives.

Aviva Life Insurance Appoints Asit Rath as New CEO

Private life insurer Aviva Life Insurance Company India appointed Asit Rath as its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director.
He will take up his role on July 11 and succeed Amit Malik who is leaving the business after 10 years.
Rath is currently the CEO of Prudential Myanmar Life Insurance and has 22 years of banking and insurance experience in India and Myanmar.
Aviva Life Insurance Company India Limited is a joint venture between Dabur Invest Corp and Aviva International Holdings Limited, a UK-based insurance group. Aviva International has been associated with India since 1834.

Neelachal Ispat Nigam Hands over Ownership to TSLP

The privatisation of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL) was completed, with its handover to Tata group firm TSLP.
NINL is the second successful privatisation by the current government. Incidentally, Air India, the first company on the privatisation list, too was bought by Tata Group.
Tata Steel Long Products (TSLP) had in January 2021 emerged as the winning bidder, for loss-making NINL, which is a joint venture of 4 CPSEs -- MMTC, NMDC, BHEL, MECON -- and 2 Odisha government PSUs -- OMC and IPICOL.

Start-up Ranking 2021: Gujarat, Karnataka Emerge as Best Performers

Gujarat and Karnataka emerged the "best performers" in the third edition of States' Start-up ranking, 2021, while Meghalaya bagged the top honour among North-eastern (NE) states.
In the second edition of the survey, which was conducted in 2020, Gujarat was the best performer.
States and UTs with a population of more than 10 million are ranked separately from those with a lower population.
UTs and states are classified into five categories based on their performance in the survey. They are best performers, top performers, leaders, aspiring leaders and emerging start-up ecosystems.
Top performers among the larger states include Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha and Telangana.
Among smaller states and UTs, Jammu and Kashmir was adjudged the top performer.

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