(Current Affairs For SSC Exams) Economic April : 2015

April-2015

ECONOMY

GoAir CEO quits

The Chief Executive Officer of Wadia group-promoted budget carrier GoAir, Giorgio De Roni, has quit the carrier, citing health reasons, sources said.
Mr. De Roni, an Italian national, had joined GoAir in 2011.
“De Roni has quit GoAir. He had requested the management to relieve him on health grounds. Today was his last day at the airline,” sources close to the development told.
When contacted, a GoAir spokesperson did not comment on the issue.
De Roni had taken over the post from Kaushik Khona, who was instrumental in getting back the no-frills airline on its feet.

Videocon d2h gets listed on NASDAQ

Videocon d2h has closed its initial public offer (IPO) process, and is getting listed on NASDAQ in the U.S., joining a select band of Indian companies that are listed on the U.S. bourses.
The company is getting listed on NASDAQ late Tuesday night by issuing ADR (American Depository Receipts) worth $325 million to the public with a current market capitalisation of $1.15 billion.
"We had plans to have a simultaneous listing on the NASDAQ, the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE),’’Venugopal Dhoot, Chairman, Videocon Group, told this correspondent.
"However, the NASDAQ authorities have responded very fast, and we chose to go ahead and list there first. We will list on the BSE and the NSE within the next three months,’’ he said.
Videocon d2h is the first Indian media company to list overseas and the largest Indian IPO in the US in over eight years.
The funds raised will be used for growth opportunities and to strengthen the financial position by deleveraging the balance sheet of the company, Mr. Dhoot, said adding that the company had a debt of around Rs.1,200 crore, which would be brought down.

Anoop Kumar Sharma is Essar Shipping CEO

Capt. Anoop Kumar Sharma has taken over as whole-time director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Essar Shipping Ltd (ESL).
He replaces Ramakrishnan A. R., who retired from service on March 31, the company said in a statement.
Capt. Sharma has been associated with ESL since August 2008.
An alumni of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai and a fellow of Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, London, he is also the member of the Governing council of Narottam Morarjee Institute of Maritime studies.
He was previously associated with Shipping Corporation of India for 16 years where he was the Senior Vice President of the Chartering division responsible for exploring global business opportunities for bulk carriers, tankers, containers and other vessels and developing new businesses.
Essar Shipping operates a diversified fleet of 15 vessels, including very large crude carriers (VLCCs), Capesize, Mini-capesize, Supramaxes, mini-bulk carriers and tugs.

Dena Bank ties up with LIC

Dena Bank signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India under the Prime Minister’s Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJBY) scheme to provide insurance cover to all Aadhaar-linked savings account holders of the bank in the age group of 18 to 50 years.
“People who join the scheme before completing 50 years can continue to have the risk of life cover up to the age of 55 years. The scheme will come in effect from June 1, 2015,” said Dena Bank in a press release.
Under the scheme, a risk of Rs.2 lakh will be covered in case of death and a premium sum of Rs.330 per annum will be auto-debited to the account holder’s account. As per the terms of risk coverage, a person has to opt for the scheme every year.

TRAI reviews operator accounts reporting system

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has started review of accounts reporting system of operators on concerns over products and network licences, among others, raised by the industry.
TRAI is in the process of reviewing the Reporting System on Accounting Separation Regulations, 2012, a release said.
The Regulations are intended to collect financial data from telecom operators that would enable analysis of the financial performance of different telecom products and services, costs, returns and capital employed.
It also seeks data to identify cross subsidisation, and investigate predatory pricing. Views are sought on this issue by April 22.
The Regulator seeks data to identify cross subsidisation, investigate predatory pricing and understand pricing and arrangement.

Google unveils ‘Find My Phone'

If you misplace your Android phone in the car or leave it somewhere around the house, search engine giant Google can now help locate the smartphone.
Using Google search on a desktop, users need to type in ‘Find my phone’ and an approximate location of the device will be shown, Google said in a blog post.
The users just need to ensure that they have the latest version of the Google App on their registered device and smartphone location services are also on.
The Android Device Manager will allow users to ring their device, using which they can locate their device. The phone will ring for five minutes, once the ring option is chosen. However, there are other apps available in the market to track and erase data remotely, if required.

New interest subvention scheme for farmers on anvil: RBI

A week after the Prime Minister announced higher compensation for damaged crops, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said a new scheme for interest subvention for farmers was being worked out though it might take ‘some time’.
In the meanwhile, the earlier interest subvention scheme would continue till June 30, the RBI said.
“As regards the scheme for the year 2015-16, the Government of India has advised that presently various alternative approaches for improving the efficacy of the scheme are being examined, the finalisation of which may take some time,” it said through a notification.
RBI further said it has been decided by the government, ‘as an interim measure’, to implement the interest subvention scheme for 2015-16, till June 30, on the terms and conditions approved for the scheme for 2014-15.
“All banks are, therefore, advised to take note and implement the interest subvention scheme for 2015-16 accordingly,” it said.
In 2014-15, interest subvention of two per cent was made available to banks on funds used for short-term crop loans up to Rs.3 lakh per farmer provided they make available short term credit at the ground level at 7 per cent.
Also, additional interest subvention at the rate three per cent was made available to farmers repaying loans promptly.
On April 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the government’s decision to raise by 50 per cent the quantum of compensation to farmers affected by crop losses due to recent unseasonal rains.
Besides, the criterion of 50 per cent crop damage for providing compensation to farmers has been reduced to 33 per cent, which will help more people get better compensation for the crop loss. He also said insurance companies have been instructed to expeditiously settle the claims of the distressed farmers.

Investment via P-Notes surges

Investments into Indian markets through participatory notes (P-Notes) has surged to the highest level in over seven years at Rs.2.72 lakh crore (over $43 billion) at the end of March 2015.
P-Notes, mostly used by overseas HNIs (high networth individuals), hedge funds and other foreign institutions, allow such investors to invest in Indian markets through registered foreign institutional investors (FIIs).
This saves time and costs for investors, but the flip side is that the route can also be used for round tripping of black money.
According to the data released by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the total value of P-Note investments in Indian markets (equity, debt and derivatives) rose to Rs.2,72,078 crore at the end of March from Rs.2,71,752 crore in the preceding month.
This is the highest investment since February 2008, when the cumulative value of such investments stood at Rs.3.23 lakh crore.
The quantum of FII investments through P-Notes, too, climbed to 11.3 per cent last month from 11.1 per cent in February.
Till a few years ago, P-Notes used to account for more than 50 per cent of the total FII investments, but their share has fallen after SEBI tightened the disclosure norms and other regulations for such investments.
P-Notes have been accounting for mostly 15-20 per cent of the total FII holdings in India since 2009, while it used to be much higher — in the range of 25-40 per cent — in 2008.
It was as high as over 50 per cent at the peak of Indian stock market bull-run in 2007.

Volvo launches petrol variant of hatchback

Swedish carmaker Volvo, launched a petrol variant of its luxury hatchback, V40 Cross Country.
The vehicle is available at a price of Rs.27 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai). The new V40 is powered by T4 Engine, 1.6 GDTi 4 Cylinder, 6 Speed Automatic transmission system.
It will compete with German brands’ premium hatchbacks — Mercedes-Benz’s A-Class, Audi’s entry-level Q series and BMW’s 1 series in the market.The V40 has received the top rating of five stars in the Euro NCAP collision test.
The company said the vehicle had a host of preventive safety features.
Its products are sold through dealers in 13 cities and Volvo will soon add dealers in west Delhi and Kolkata.

Centre keeps GPF rate at 8.7%

The government has kept the rate of interest on General Provident Fund contributions unchanged at 8.7 per cent for 2015-16. The rates are effective from April 1.
“It was decided by the government to link the interest rates of State PFs [General Provident Fund and other similar funds], including Special Deposit Scheme, 1975 [SDS, 1975] for Non-Government Provident, Superannuation and Gratuity Funds, for the FY 2015-16 to Public Provident Fund [PPF] rates,” said a Union Finance Ministry statement.
The government recently maintained the rates for the PPF at 8.7 per cent for 2015-16.
Interest rates for senior citizens in small savings schemes will now be 9.3 per cent and for the Sukanya Samriddhi Account for the girl child, 9.2 per cent.