DAILY G.A UPDATE : 21-07-2016
1. Cabinet approves Air Services Agreement with Mozambique
The Union Cabinet approved signing of an Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and Mozambique, a move that will promote air connectivity between the two countries.
2. India, Tunisia to foster cooperation in IT, telecom sector
India and African country Tunisia signed an agreement for strengthening bilateral cooperation in the field of IT, telecom and digital economy.
3. IRCTC joins hands with SBI to promote rail ticketing
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has joined hands with the State Bank of India (SBI) to chalk out a detailed plan for promotion of rail ticketing activities, including internet ticketing and unreserved ticketing system.
IRCTC, a PSU of Railways which handles catering, tourism and Internet ticketing activities, and the SBI have signed a MoU which will also undertake development of Unreserved Ticketing System and such other services which can be jointly undertaken.
The MoU was signed by IRCTC CMD A. K Manocha and Arundhati Bhattacharya, CMD, SBI on July 18.
The MoU also envisages for undertaking activities which can provide value to customers and bring about synergy in working of both the organisations.
4. Brookfield to invest $1 billion in JV with SBI for Indian distressed assets
Country's largest commercial bank, State Bank of India (SBI) and Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc have made a Joint venture with an initial fund of $1 billion. This fund will be used to invest in properties of bad loans.
Brookfield and SBI have signed a preliminary agreement to set up a joint venture for the investments, the firms said. SBI aims to contribute up to 5 percent of the total investments targeted by the venture, which may also rope in other banks at a later stage, they said.
Indian banks, with 11.5 percent of their loans soured, are under pressure from the regulator and the government to clean up their books as higher bad loans choke fresh lending in an economy whose main source of funding is bank credit. The government earlier this year eased rules for bad-loan buyers, and was also in talks with banks to help set up funds to deal with distressed assets.
5. AEPC signs MoU with Tehran to promote bilateral trade
The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), India’s largest export promotion council, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tehran Garment Union (TGU), to promote bilateral trade and industrial cooperation in the textile and fashion sectors between the two countries.
The MoU was signed at the 57th edition of India International Garment Fair (IIGF) 2016, which is being held from July 18-20, in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Ashok G Rajani, Chairman, AEPC and Mohamad Javad Sedghamiz, Vice President, TGU signed the MoU on behalf of Indian and Iranian bodies, respectively.
6. Centre Bifurcates Communication Ministry; New Ministry for Information Technology
A new Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has been created by the Centre after bifurcating Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoC&IT) to exclusively deal with Aadhaar, promotion of internet and other related services. According to the decision, there will be two ministries - Ministry of Communications and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
Further, the Ministry of Communications will have two departments--Department of Telecommunications and Department of Posts. The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), which used to be in the erstwhile MoC&IT, will be under the new Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
President Pranab Mukherjee has approved changes in Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, in this regard, says a recent order by Cabinet Secretariat.
The newly formed Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will deal with all matters related to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)--mandated to issue Aadhaar numbers to all Indian citizens.
7. Seven Indian firms on Fortune 500
Seven Indian companies have made it to the latest Fortune 500 list of the worlds biggest corporations in terms of revenue with the retail giant Walmart topping the global rankings.
Indian Oil Corp is ranked highest at 161st among Indian firms, while another state-run firm ONGC has moved out of the rankings for 2016. Private gems and jewellery major Rajesh Exports has made its debut at 423rd position.
Among the seven Indian companies, four are from the public sector while Reliance Industries is the top-ranked among private sector firms, followed by Tata Motors and Rajesh Exports.
Among state-run majors, Indian Oil is followed by banking behemoth SBI, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum.
Indian Oil is ranked 161st with revenue of USD 54.7 billion (down from 119th last year), while RIL is now at 215th (down from 158th). Bharat Petroleum slipped from 280th to 358th this year and Hindustan Petroleum is at 367th, down from 327th.
However, Tata Motors and SBI have improved their position.
While Tata Motors has taken the 226th position, up from 254th last year, SBI is ranked 232nd, up 7. from 260th last year.
The overall list was topped by Walmart with revenue of USD 482,130 million, followed by State Grid (revenue of USD 329,601 million) and China National Petroleum (USD 299,271 million) at the second and third place respectively.
Others in the global top 10 companies include Sinopec Group (4th, USD 294,344 million), Royal Dutch Shell (5th, USD 272,156 million), Exxon Mobil (6th, USD 246,204 million), Volkswagen (7th, USD 236,600 million), Toyota Motor (8th, USD 236,592 million), Apple (9th, USD 233,715 million) and BP (10th, USD 225,982 million). The world’s 500 largest companies generated USD 27.6 trillion in revenues and USD 1.5 trillion in profits in 2015, Fortune said.
Together, this year’s Fortune Global 500 companies employ 67 million people worldwide and are represented by 33 countries, Fortune added.
1. Cabinet approves Air Services Agreement with Mozambique
The Union Cabinet approved signing of an Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and Mozambique, a move that will promote air connectivity between the two countries.
2. India, Tunisia to foster cooperation in IT, telecom sector
India and African country Tunisia signed an agreement for strengthening bilateral cooperation in the field of IT, telecom and digital economy.
3. IRCTC joins hands with SBI to promote rail ticketing
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has joined hands with the State Bank of India (SBI) to chalk out a detailed plan for promotion of rail ticketing activities, including internet ticketing and unreserved ticketing system.
IRCTC, a PSU of Railways which handles catering, tourism and Internet ticketing activities, and the SBI have signed a MoU which will also undertake development of Unreserved Ticketing System and such other services which can be jointly undertaken.
The MoU was signed by IRCTC CMD A. K Manocha and Arundhati Bhattacharya, CMD, SBI on July 18.
The MoU also envisages for undertaking activities which can provide value to customers and bring about synergy in working of both the organisations.
4. Brookfield to invest $1 billion in JV with SBI for Indian distressed assets
Country's largest commercial bank, State Bank of India (SBI) and Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc have made a Joint venture with an initial fund of $1 billion. This fund will be used to invest in properties of bad loans.
Brookfield and SBI have signed a preliminary agreement to set up a joint venture for the investments, the firms said. SBI aims to contribute up to 5 percent of the total investments targeted by the venture, which may also rope in other banks at a later stage, they said.
Indian banks, with 11.5 percent of their loans soured, are under pressure from the regulator and the government to clean up their books as higher bad loans choke fresh lending in an economy whose main source of funding is bank credit. The government earlier this year eased rules for bad-loan buyers, and was also in talks with banks to help set up funds to deal with distressed assets.
5. AEPC signs MoU with Tehran to promote bilateral trade
The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), India’s largest export promotion council, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tehran Garment Union (TGU), to promote bilateral trade and industrial cooperation in the textile and fashion sectors between the two countries.
The MoU was signed at the 57th edition of India International Garment Fair (IIGF) 2016, which is being held from July 18-20, in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Ashok G Rajani, Chairman, AEPC and Mohamad Javad Sedghamiz, Vice President, TGU signed the MoU on behalf of Indian and Iranian bodies, respectively.
6. Centre Bifurcates Communication Ministry; New Ministry for Information Technology
A new Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has been created by the Centre after bifurcating Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoC&IT) to exclusively deal with Aadhaar, promotion of internet and other related services. According to the decision, there will be two ministries - Ministry of Communications and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
Further, the Ministry of Communications will have two departments--Department of Telecommunications and Department of Posts. The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), which used to be in the erstwhile MoC&IT, will be under the new Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
President Pranab Mukherjee has approved changes in Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, in this regard, says a recent order by Cabinet Secretariat.
The newly formed Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will deal with all matters related to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)--mandated to issue Aadhaar numbers to all Indian citizens.
7. Seven Indian firms on Fortune 500
Seven Indian companies have made it to the latest Fortune 500 list of the worlds biggest corporations in terms of revenue with the retail giant Walmart topping the global rankings.
Indian Oil Corp is ranked highest at 161st among Indian firms, while another state-run firm ONGC has moved out of the rankings for 2016. Private gems and jewellery major Rajesh Exports has made its debut at 423rd position.
Among the seven Indian companies, four are from the public sector while Reliance Industries is the top-ranked among private sector firms, followed by Tata Motors and Rajesh Exports.
Among state-run majors, Indian Oil is followed by banking behemoth SBI, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum.
Indian Oil is ranked 161st with revenue of USD 54.7 billion (down from 119th last year), while RIL is now at 215th (down from 158th). Bharat Petroleum slipped from 280th to 358th this year and Hindustan Petroleum is at 367th, down from 327th.
However, Tata Motors and SBI have improved their position.
While Tata Motors has taken the 226th position, up from 254th last year, SBI is ranked 232nd, up 7. from 260th last year.
The overall list was topped by Walmart with revenue of USD 482,130 million, followed by State Grid (revenue of USD 329,601 million) and China National Petroleum (USD 299,271 million) at the second and third place respectively.
Others in the global top 10 companies include Sinopec Group (4th, USD 294,344 million), Royal Dutch Shell (5th, USD 272,156 million), Exxon Mobil (6th, USD 246,204 million), Volkswagen (7th, USD 236,600 million), Toyota Motor (8th, USD 236,592 million), Apple (9th, USD 233,715 million) and BP (10th, USD 225,982 million). The world’s 500 largest companies generated USD 27.6 trillion in revenues and USD 1.5 trillion in profits in 2015, Fortune said.
Together, this year’s Fortune Global 500 companies employ 67 million people worldwide and are represented by 33 countries, Fortune added.