Economy / Market Snapshot – December, 2019

General News

• Month-long winter session of Parliament ends: Lok Sabha productivity at 116% and Rajya Sabha at 99%.
• Parliament passes Citizenship(Amendment) bill, 2019; gets President’s assent, becomes Act.
• Major Bills passed: Bills to ban e-cigarettes, limit SPG protection to Prime Minister & immediate family of PM and to merge UTs of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, & Daman & Diu.
• Cabinet clears National Population Register, approves over ₹8,500 crore for updating.
• Protests intensify across country; Centre remains firm on CAA and NRC.
• JMM-Congress-RJD alliance wins polls with clear majority; JMM’s Hemant Soren takes oath as CM.
• Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar back as deputy CM, Congress’s Nana Patole elected as Speaker.
• BJP sweeps Karnataka by poll; BS Yediyurappa retains govt with 12 seats, Congress gets 2, JDS draws blank.
• 2+2 dialogue: India, US sign industrial security agreement for transfer of defence technology.
• India & Australia hold third 2+2 dialogue, discusses various issues related to bilateral engagements.
• NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hold 22nd round of India-China border talks.
• S Jaishankar meets Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif; agree to accelerate work on Chabahar Port project.
• Swedish Royals and Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth visit India.
• India gifts patrol vessel “”KAAMIYAAB”” to Maldives, launches RuPay card.
• Rahul Gandhi on visit to South Korea, meets country’s Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon.
• Japan PM Shinzo Abe’s postpones visit and Bangladesh Foreign Minister cancels visit amid NE violence.
• Centre makes standard format for ration cards, asks states to follow it.
• Aadhaar crosses 125 crore mark, used 37,000 crore times since inception.
• Amit Shah sets 2024 deadline for NRC, says all infiltrators to be expelled by then.
• Gen Bipin Rawat named as India’s 1st Chief of Defence Staff; Lt Gen M M Naravane as next Army Chief.
• Govt sanctions ₹100 crore from Nirbhaya Fund to set up women help desks in police stations.
• INX Media case: Supreme Court grants bail to P Chidambaram after 106 days of custody.
• 2002 Gujarat riots: Nanavati commission gives clean chit to former CM Modi.
• Jammu and Kashmir: Farooq Abdullah’s detention under PSA extended by three months.
• Arvind Kejriwal teams up with Prashant Kishor for poll campaign in Delhi.
• Mamata government curtails Bengal Governor’s powers as Chancellor of state universities.
• SC appoints 3-member panel to probe killing of Hyderabad rape accused by the Telangana police.
• SC refuses to pass order on plea for protection for women entering Sabrimala temple.
• India successfully launches RISAT-2BR1, an earth observation satellite, along with 9 commercial satellites.
• Pinaka missile and BrahMos missile successfully test-fired.
• Trump impeached by US House for abuse of power, obstruction of Congress, to face Senate trial.
• Kamala Harris ends campaign for 2020 presidential race citing financial restraints.
• US House approves resolution supporting two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• UK PM Boris Johnson wins election; unveils legislative plan to pull Britain out of the EU on 31 January.
• Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf sentenced to death in the high treason case.
• North Korea conducts another ‘crucial test’ that would strengthen ‘nuclear deterrent’.
• Saudi sentences five to death, three to jail for killing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
• Australia bushfires: New South Wales declares emergency for second time in 2 months.
• Afghan President Ashraf Ghani re-elected for a second five-year term.
• Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa suspends Parliament ahead of snap polls.
• Finland elects Sanna Marin, 34, as world’s youngest serving Prime Minister.
• Greta Thunberg named 2019 Time Person of the Year.
• Hong Kongers mark half-year protest anniversary with huge rally.
• EU visitors will need e-visas after Brexit: UK government.
• Macron pension reform: France braces for severe disruption amid massive strike in decades.
• Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi denies ‘genocidal intent’ in Rohingya case in the UN’s top court.
• UN approves resolution condemning human rights abuses against Myanmar’s Rohingya, other minorities.
• South Asian Games 2019 medals tally: India on top with 218 medals.
• Ind vs WI: India clinch T20 and ODI series 2-1.
• India is the most successful ODI team of the decade with 157 wins from 249 ODIs followed by Aussies.
• Virat Kohli tops ICC Test rankings, Steve Smith slips to second; Pat Cummins heads bowlers’ list.
• Virat Kohli ends 2019 as leading run-scorer across formats.
• IPL auction: Pat Cummins becomes most expensive foreign buy; goes to KKR for a whopping ₹15.50 crore.
• S Mandhana, J Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav named in ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Year.
• ICC announces extension of its partnership with OPPO till Sept 2023.
• Manu Bhaker, Anish Bhanwala clinch gold medals at 63rd National Shooting Championship.
• Leander Paes to retire from professional Tennis in 2020.
• Roger Federer becomes the first living Swiss to have a coin minted in their honour.
• Lionel Messi wins record sixth Ballon d’Or title, overtakes Ronaldo;
• WADA bans Russia from the Olympics for four years over doping.

Business News

• RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 5.15%; cuts GDP growth forecast for current fiscal from 6.1% to 5%.
• GST collections up 6% at ₹1,03,492 crore in November, crosses ₹1 trillion after three months.
• Centre releases GST compensation of ₹35,298 crores to states & union territories.
• 38th GST meeting: Council fixes 28% uniform tax rate for lottery, extends GSTR 9 & 9C return filing.
• Finance Ministry sets ₹1.1 lakh crore monthly GST collection target.
• Govt to infuse ₹2,153 crore in Allahabad Bank, ₹2,142 crore in UCO Bank and ₹4,630 crore in IOB.
• Govt defers FASTag deadline to January 15.
• Nirmala Sitharaman unveils ₹102 lakh crore of infra projects for next 5 years.
• IPOs worth ₹51,000 crore lapsed in 2019 as fund raising hit lowest since 2014.
• CSB Bank, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Somany Home innovation, Prince Pipes and Fittings make their stock market debut.
• Cabinet approves ordinance to further amend Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
• RBI introduces new Prepaid Payment Instrument for daily grocery payments with a limit of 10,000/month.
• Businesses with ₹50 crore annual revenue to be penalised for not providing RuPay, UPI.
• NEFT facility made available round the clock from December 16.
• Bank of Baroda signs SPA with Ansa Merchant Bank to sell Trinidad & Tobago operations.
• PNB under-reported bad loans by ₹2,617 crore in FY19: RBI report.
• National, United & Oriental Insurances seek capital infusion of ₹12,000 crore from the Centre.
• CCI approves stake buy in SBI General Insurance by Napean Opportunities LLP.
• NCLAT restores Cyrus Mistry as Tata Group Chairman, rules N Chandrasekaran’s appointment as illegal.
• Nirav Modi declared fugitive economic offender by PMLA court, 2nd after Vijay Mallya.
• Govt gives nod to NHAI to set up Infrastructure Investment Trust & monetise national highway projects.
• ADB advances $490 million loan to upgrade Madhya Pradesh roads and $206 million to Tamil Nadu.
• Centre’s nod for 22 express highways worth ₹1.5 lakh crore in Karnataka.
• Cabinet approves the restructuring of the Railway Board, merging cadres.
• Kia Motors officially opens India production plant in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.
• M&M picks 36.63% stake in Meru, as part of its ₹201.5 crore deal to acquire 55% shareholding.
• Tesla delivers first China-made Model 3 sedans in just under a year.
• Mitsubishi Corp and NTT to acquire 30% stake in Digital Mapping Company HERE Technologies.
• Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot owner PSA agree binding merger in $50 billion deal.
• Govt launches the 4th round of Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN.
• NCLT allows extension of Jet Airways’ resolution process by 90 days.
• Debt-ridden Air India receives ₹500-crore guarantee from Centre.
• UP Cabinet approves Zurich Airport International as developer for Jewar airport.
• Boeing suspends production of 737 Max model involved in fatal crashes for first time in two decades.
• US Fed keeps interest rates unchanged, indicates no changes through 2020.
• Saudi Aramco debut in Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange.
• US trade deficit falls 7.6% in October to 16-month low on decline in Chinese imports.
• Trump approves US-China trade deal to halt December 15 tariffs.
• U.S. House passes new North American trade pact to replace NAFTA.
• Digital Communication Commission approves ₹4.9 lakh crore spectrum auction plan.
• Over 92,000 staff of BSNL, MTNL opt for VRS.
• Airtel launches Wi-Fi calling in Mumbai, Kolkata, Andhra, Karnataka, TN.
• DoT clears ₹1,500 crore for BSNL, BBNL to pay dues to vendors.
• TRAI postpones abolition of telecom interconnection fees by a year.
• Bharti Telecom seeks ₹4,900 crore FDI nod; infusion to make Airtel foreign firm.
• Vodafone Idea Business Services, IBM collaborate to launch secure device management solution.
• Infosys to pay California $800,000 to settle allegations of workers misclassification, tax fraud.
• Google agrees to pay Australian authorities $327 million as tax settlement.
• OPEC agree to cut production by 500,000 barrels per day in the first quarter of 2020.
• Qatar Investment Authority picks 25% stake in Adani Transmission arm for ₹3,200 crore.
• Reliance, BP sign pact to set up 5,500 petrol pumps under Jio-BP brand.
• ArcelorMittal forms joint venture with Nippon Steel to run Essar Steel.
• India, ADB sign $250 million loan to expand energy efficiency investments.
• SoftBank’s subsidiary, SB Energy, to invest ₹30,000 crore in renewable energy in Gujarat.
• Govt asks e-commerce firms to file FDI compliance report annually.
• Walmart, Flipkart invest in Bengaluru-based Ninjacart.
• Xiaomi launches online lending app Mi Credit in India.
• SoftBank-backed Paytm raises $660 million from Alibaba arm Alipay.
• Lenskart’s valuation crosses $1.5 billion with SoftBank investing $231 million.
• Uber asked to suspend service in Colombia, after setbacks in UK and Germany.
• TCS and Elisa Smart Factory partner to deliver advanced analytics solutions to the manufacturing sector.
• Apple, Amazon, Google partner to make smart devices compatible with each other.
• Patanjali Ayurved completes acquisition of Ruchi Soya for ₹4,350 crore.
• Thomas Cook India signs pact for branding rights in India, Sri Lanka & Mauritius for £1.5 million.
• Pakistan, World Bank ink Khyber Pass economic agreement worth $406 million.
• Government allows 50% hike in prices of 21 widely used pharma items.
• Amazon brings Fire TV edition smart TVs to India, partners Onida.
• CDC Group makes $36 million equity investment in tech-enabled Indian logistics company Ecom Express.
• Nirmala Sitharaman, Roshni Nadar & Kiran Mazumdar among Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.
• India slips to 112th rank on gender gap index; in bottom 5 on health, economic fronts: WEF survey.
• Reliance Industries tops Fortune India 500 list ending IOC’s 10-year reign.
• Sundar Pichai named CEO at Google’s parent firm Alphabet.
• NSE appoints Girish Chandra Chaturvedi as Chairman.
• Anand Mahindra to step down as Exec Chairman of M&M, Pawan Goenka re-designated as MD & CEO.
• Siddharth Mittal succeeds Arun Chandavarkar as CEO, Joint MD of Biocon.
• Niranjan Hiranandani takes over as new ASSOCHAM President.
• Boeing fires Dennis Muilenburg, names David Calhoun as CEO amid Max crisis.
• Uber Co-Founder Travis Kalanick cuts all ties with Uber; leaves board, sells all shares.