Economy / Market Snapshot – August, 2020

General News

• India celebrated its 74th Independence Day.
• PM Modi announces launch of National Digital Health Mission; all Indians to get Health IDs.
• Global COVID-19 cases surpass 25.6 million-mark, recoveries cross 17.9 million.
• India’s COVID tally crosses 36.9 lakh mark, 4,33,24,834 samples tested, recovery rate improves to 76.94%.
• Govt announces guidelines for ‘Unlock 4’ to be in force till September 30 – no restrictions on inter-state
• and intra-state movement of people and goods.
• Metro rail will be allowed to operate with effect from 7th September 2020 in a graded manner.
• Centre releases over ₹890 crore as second instalment of emergency COVID-19 package to 22 States/UTs.
• Films and TV shoots allowed to resume all across the country, govt releases SOP.
• PM inaugurates 2,300-km long submarine Optical Fibre Cable project connecting Chennai, Port Blair.
• PM Modi performs Bhoomi Pujan for Ram Temple in Ayodhya; releases a commemorative postage stamp.
• PM Modi holds telephonic conversation with Afghan President, discusses evolving security situation.
• S Jaishankar, Mike Pompeo discuss efforts to combat COVID, peace process in Afghanistan.
• Foreign secretary meets Harsh Vardhan Shringla Bangladesh PM amid rising Chinese influence.
• Cabinet approves setting up of ‘National Recruitment Agency’ to conduct Common Eligibility Test.
• India, China held Major General-level talks on border disengagement.
• Defence ministry approves procurement of weapons and basic trainer aircraft worth ₹8,722 crore.
• Two light combat helicopters developed by HAL deployed in Ladakh for high altitude IAF operations.
• Rajnath Singh launches Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation.
• Chhattisgarh gets defence category industry to manufacture bulletproof jackets, helmets.
• J&K Lt Governor Girish Murmu resigns; former Union Minister Manoj Sinha appointed new LG.
• Former J&K LG Girish Chandra Murmu appointed as the Comptroller & Auditor General of India.
• Satya Pal Malik appointed Meghalaya Governor; Maharashtra’s Koshyari gets additional charge of Goa.
• Rakesh Asthana appointed Director General of Border Security Force.
• Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa resigns, set to join ADB as Vice President.
• Former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar replaces Ashok Lavasa as Election Commissioner.
• Sonia Gandhi to continue as Congress interim president until next All India Congress Committee session.
• Rajasthan assembly session convenes; Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot wins trust vote.
• Biren Singh-led BJP coalition in Manipur wins controversial trust vote, eight Congress MLAs abstain.
• Bihar Floods: Around 78 lakh people affected, death toll mounts to 25.
• Assam floods: Death toll reaches 113, over 56.9 lakh people affected in 30 districts.
• AI Express flight from Dubai with 191 onboard crash-lands at Kozhikode; 19, including pilot dead.
• Landslide after heavy rainfall in Idukki, Kerala kills 65.
• Indore in Madhya Pradesh declared as the cleanest city in national Swachh Survekshan 2020 awards.
• Chandrayaan-2 completes a year in lunar orbit, adequate fuel to last for 7 years: ISRO.
• JEE-Main, NEET-UG exams to be held as per schedule in September.
• Karnataka govt announces all colleges to start offline classes from October 1; online classes from Sept 1.
• Supreme Court refuses to direct transfer of contributions made to PM CARES to NDRF.
• SC gives equal inheritance right to daughters from 1956.
• India, Pakistan should resolve dispute on two hydroelectric: World Bank on Indus Waters Treaty.
• Former President of India, Pranab Mukherjee passed away at 84.
• WHO team ends first round visit to China to probe COVID-19 origin.
• Republicans nominate Donald Trump as presidential candidate and Mike Pence for Vice President.
• Joe Biden nominated as Democratic presidential candidate; Kamala Harris accepts VP nomination.
• Trump signs executive order against hiring H1B visa holders for federal contracts.
• Donald Trump meets Iraq PM Mustafa al-Kadhemi, says US troops to exit ‘at some point’.
• US State Secretary Pompeo starts his visit to Israel, Sudan, Bahrain, UAE.
• Shinzo Abe resign as Japanese Prime Minister due to health concerns.
• Russia starts production of Sputnik V, to be rolled out by end of August.
• French President Macron meets German Chancellor Merkel; offers EU mediation in Belarus.
• Israel agrees to halt further annexation of Palestine under ‘historic’ US-brokered deal with UAE.
• Australia to manufacture ‘promising’ COVID-19 vaccine and give it free to citizens, says PM Scott Morrison.
• North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in coma, sister declared de facto second-in-command.
• Pakistan bans 88 new terrorists in bid to slip out of FATF’s grey list.
• Mahinda Rajapaksa takes oath as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for fourth time.
• More than 170 dead and 4,000 wounded as massive explosion rocks Beirut port
• UAE becomes first Arab nation to open a Nuclear Power plant with operations starting at Barakah plant.
• Mali President steps down after being detained by mutinous troops; Military promises elections.
• National Sports Awards 2020: 5 sportspersons named for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and 27 athletes
• for Arjuna Award.
• ICC ODI rankings: Kohli, Rohit hold on to top two batting spots, Bumrah remains second among bowlers.
• India to host 2021 World T20, Australia get 2022; Women’s ODI World Cup postponed to 2022.
• Dream 11 replaces Vivo as IPL 2020 title sponsor, to pay BCCI ₹222 crore.
• Emirates Cricket Board gets BCCI’s official clearance to host tournament.
• England to host Australia for T20I, ODI series in September behind closed doors.
• ‘Consider me retired’: MS Dhoni announces exit from international cricket; Suresh Raina follows.

Business News

• PM Modi launches ‘Transparent Taxation – Honoring the Honest’ platform.
• 41st GST Council: GST collection shortfall stands at ₹2.35 lakh crore due to COVID-19 impact.
• Centre proposes 2 borrowing options before States to meet GST compensation shortfall.
• NITI Aayog releases Export Preparedness Index 2020.
• Govt operationalises ₹20,000 crore stressed fund for MSMEs; expected to benefit around 2 lakh MSMEs.
• ₹10,300 crore approved for 101 stressed housing projects under SWAMIH.
• PM Modi launches financing facility worth ₹1 lakh crore under Agricultural Infrastructure Fund.
• Nitin Gadkari inaugurates 45 Highway projects of over ₹11,000 crore in Madhya Pradesh.
• Textile ministry abolishes All India Handicrafts Board, All India Handloom Board and powerloom board.
• Government launches online registration of gold hallmarking centers.
• Kisan Rail: India’s first train to transport perishable commodities begins journey.
• Railways suspends all regular passenger services indefinitely, 230 special trains will continue to run.
• Private trains should have sliding doors, talk-back, coach surveillance, alarms: Railways draft specification.
• Finance Ministry asks banks to refund charges collected on electronic transactions after 1st Jan 2020.
• RBI leaves repo rate unchanged at 4% and reverse repo at 3.3%; maintains accommodative stance.
• RBI to pay ₹57,128 crore dividend to centre for FY20; NABARD, RBI get ₹10,000 crore liquidity facility.
• RBI raises LTV ratio for gold loans to 90% from 75%; extends loan restructuring facility to corporates.
• Punjab National Bank recovers ₹24 crore by liquidating Nirav Modi’s US assets.
• People’s Bank of China invests ₹15 crores in ICICI Bank through QIP.
• ICICI Lombard signs definitive agreement to acquire non-life insurance business of Bharti AXA.
• ₹1,000 fine per day if companies fail to redress investor complaints: SEBI.
• MCX launches Bulldex, India’s first bullion index.
• SBI Life, Divis Labs to replace Bharti Infratel, ZEE in Nifty50 effective September 25.
• UK enters recession after GDP plunged by a record 20.4% in the second quarter.
• Japan economy shrinks 27.8% in April-June, the worst contraction on record.
• China, US hold trade talks, agree to push forward phase one economic deal.
• Madras HC refuses to allow the reopening of Sterlite Copper smelting plant in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi.
• US expands sanctions, adds 38 affiliates of China’s Huawei to entity list.
• Serum Institute signs deal with GAVI, Gates Foundation to deliver 100 million doses.
• US inks $2.1 billion deal with Sanofi, GSK for COVID-19 vaccine; $1.5 billion deal with Moderna.
• Lupin, Dr Reddy’s and MSN Labs launch COVID-19 drug Favipiravir in India.
• China grants country’s first COVID-19 vaccine patent to CanSino Biologics.
• US FDA-approved ointment found to treat, kill viral infections including COVID-19.
• DGCA extends suspension of international flights till September 30.
• Govt extends last date for receiving EoI in disinvestment case of Air India till Oct 30.
• Cabinet clears proposal for leasing out Jaipur, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram airports through PPP.
• Kerala Assembly passes unanimous resolution against leasing out Trivandrum airport.
• Virgin Atlantic airline files for US bankruptcy protection.
• IndiGo completes engine replacement exercise for 128 Pratt & Whitney-powered A320 neo aircraft.
• Supreme Court allows registration of BS-IV vehicles bought before lockdown.
• UK govt’s bailout talks for Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Steel fall through.
• Eicher Motors and Volvo VECV acquire Volvo’s India bus business for ₹100 crore.
• Abu Dhabi to merge oil services firms into $2.4-billion national champion.
• Vodafone Idea pays ₹1,200 crore dues towards license and spectrum dues after initial delay.
• Bharti Airtel signs pact with Amazon Web Services for cloud services.
• Bharti Airtel becomes first operator to launch ‘Ultra-Fast 4G’ services in Andaman and Nicobar.
• IBM collaborates with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to offer free digital skills training.
• US makes exception to visa ban, allows H-1B visa holders to return for same jobs they did before ban.
• Trump signs executive order giving Chinese owner ByteDance 45 days to sell TikTok.
• Walmart teams up with Microsoft in joint bid to acquire TikTok.
• Oracle enters race to buy TikTok’s US operations.
• IBM rolls out newest processor chip, taps Samsung for manufacturing.
• Apple vendors, Samsung, propose ₹11 lakh crore mobile phone production in India.
• Nokia phone maker HMD Global secures $230 million in new funding from Google, Qualcomm.
• India blocks top Chinese apps Baidu, Weibo, to be taken off from app stores.
• Reliance Retail buys Future Group’s retail, wholesale, logistics, warehousing business for ₹24,713 crore.
• Amazon upgrades ‘Amazon Easy’ stores in India with touch-and-feel product experience, last-mile delivery.
• Amazon forays into online pharmacy space with the launch of Amazon Pharmacy.
• Flipkart partners with Sastodeal in Nepal to enable cross-border trade.
• Paytm Money launches stock broking with free delivery trades, intraday trades at ₹10.
• Paytm ties up with StockHolding Corpoation for payment gateway services.
• RBI Gives Nod For Sashidhar Jagdishan as Aditya Puri’s Successor at HDFC Bank.
• Govt extends Ajay Tyagi’s term as SEBI chairman by 18 months till Feb 2022.
• Ford names Jim Farley as new CEO, succeeding Jim Hackett.
• TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigns amid ongoing disputes with the Trump administration and sale talk.
• ZEEL appoints Subhash Chandra as Chairman Emeritus, R Gopalan as Chairman of the Board.

Business News

• PNB Q1 net profit plunges 70% to ₹308 crore; Total income up at ₹24,293 crore; NII stood at ₹6,749 crore.
• Tata Motors Q1 loss widens to ₹8,444 crore; revenue declines 48% YoY to ₹31,983 crore.
• M&M Q1 net profit plunges 97% YoY to ₹68 crore, revenue fell 56% YoY to ₹5,589 crore.
• Ashok Leyland Q1 reports net loss of ₹389 crore, revenue dips 77% to ₹1,486 crore.
• Vodafone Idea reports Q1 loss of ₹25,460 crore; revenue down 5% YoY to ₹10,659 crore.
• Lupin Q1 net profit drops 65% to ₹107 crore, revenue stood at ₹3,528 crore.