Economy / Market Snapshot – August, 2021

General News

• India celebrates its 75th Independence Day; PM Modi announces ₹100 lakh crore Gatishakti plan for holistic growth and National Hydrogen Mission.
• PM Modi declares August 14 to be observed as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.
• Parliament session ends 2 days ahead of schedule; 22 Bills passed by both the Houses.
• Rajya Sabha records 29% productivity and Lok Sabha records 22%.
• President Kovind gives assent to Constitutional Amendment Bill allowing States to identify OBCs.
• India COVID tally touches 32.8 million, active cases account to 1.14% of total infections.
• India administers over 65.41 crore doses of COVID vaccination; recovery rate stands at 97.49%.
• Centre releases 2nd tranche of COVID Emergency Package to help states improve health infrastructure.
• DGCI approves study on mixing of Covaxin and Covishield doses; trial to involve 300 volunteers.
• Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose COVID vaccine gets approval for Emergency Use in India.
• Many states announce COVID relaxation measures; schools, colleges , cinema halls set to reopen.
• Kerala govt reimposes Sunday lockdown, announces night curfew from 10pm to 6am from August 30.
• India, China agree to disengage from a key patrol point in Ladakh.
• Bhubaneswar becomes first Indian city to achieve 100% COVID-19 vaccination.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launches 5th edition of Defence India Startup Challenge.
• DRDO develops technology to safeguard fighter aircraft from radar threats.
• Indian and Chinese Armies establish hotline for Sikkim sector.
• ISRO’s GSLV fails to put EOS-3 into orbit after cryogenic stage glitch.
• PM Modi launches Ujjwala 2.0 in UP, 1 crore additional LPG connections for low-income families.
• Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel announces 4 new districts, 18 tehsils on Independence Day.
• Tamil Nadu Budget: Petrol price reduced by ₹3; ₹257.16 crore allotted for healthcare at doorstep scheme.
• CM Jagan Mohan Reddy launches ₹4,500 crore Naadu-Nedu-2 to give fillip to 16,000 schools in Andhra.
• Karnataka becomes first state to issue order on implementation of National Education Policy 2020.
• Delhi CM Kejriwal inaugurates India’s first-ever Smog Tower in Connaught Place to improve air quality
• No govt jobs, passport clearances for those involved in stone-pelting, other crimes: J&K govt.
• Nagaland political parties agree to set up all-party government to resolve Naga conflict.
• Delhi Government, International Baccalaureate Board sign MoU for Delhi Board of School Education.
• Indore declared as the first ‘water plus’ city of India under the Swachh Survekshan 2021.
• India’s highest altitude herbal park inaugurated near Indo-China border in Uttarakhand.
• Govt need not disclose anything that compromises national security: SC on Pegasus snooping row.
• Calcutta HC orders CBI, SIT probe into West Bengal post poll violence.
• Former Congress MP from Assam Sushmita Dev joins TMC in presence of senior leader Abhishek Banerjee.
• Prashant Kishor quits as Punjab Chief Minister’s principal advisor.
• Former Uttar Pradesh CM Kalyan Singh passes away after prolonged illness.
• Global Coronavirus cases exceeds 218.5 million; U.S. hits daily average of 100,000 hospitalizations.
• WHO calls for halt on booster shot of vaccines to ensure wider coverage in poor countries.
• UK regulator approves Moderna COVID-19 shot for 12 to 17-year-olds.
• UAE approves Sinopharm’s COVID vaccine for children aged three and over.
• Australia expands lockdown amid virus spread fears.
• Japan extends COVID-19 “state of emergency” lockdown through mid-September.
• New Zealand moved into a snap three-day lockdown, after 1st COVID case in 6 months.
• President Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan, Taliban seize Presidential Palace.
• Taliban announce ‘amnesty’ for govt officials, urges women to join government.
• ISIS-K claims responsibility for Kabul airport blasts; U.S. drone strike destroys Its car bomb in Kabul.
• Countries officially end their evacuation mission; over hundred thousand people flown out of the country.
• UNSC adopts resolution on Afghanistan; demands territory not be used to attack other countries.
• US Senate narrowly passes Biden’s $3.5 trillion budget plan.
• US Vice President Kamala Harris begins Asia Trip amid Afghan crisis.
• Iran swears in new hard-line president Ebrahim Raisi amid regional tension
• Canada PM Justin Trudeau calls snap election on September 20 to retake a majority in Parliament.
• Mexico and US vow to expand cooperation to address immigration in high-level talks.
• Malaysia PM Muhyiddin Yassin resigns after losing majority; King appoints Ismail Sabri as Prime Minister.
• Myanmar army chief General Min Aung Hlaing appoints himself Prime Minister, promises election by 2023.
• Tokyo Olympics: India finishes 48th, best in four decades; 33rd in terms of terms of overall medals won.
• USA tops medal table with 113 medals (39 Golds), followed by China 38 Golds, Japan (27) and Britain (22).
• Odisha Govt extends its sponsorship of Indian National hockey teams by another 10 years.
• Tokyo Paralympics: Shooter Avani Lekhara wins Gold; Sumit Antil wins Gold, breaks world record thrice.
• India’s medal tally rises to 10 with 2 Gold, 5 Silver and 3 Bronze.
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award renamed after Hockey Great Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
• ENG vs IND: England beat India in 3rd Test by an innings and 76 runs to level 5-match series 1-1.
• ICC T20 World Cup 2021 scheduled from Oct 17 to Nov 14; India to face Pakistan on Oct 24.
• ICC Test Rankings: Kohli slips to fifth, Bumrah rises to ninth spot.
• World Athletics U20 Championships: India clinch Bronze in 4x400m Mixed Relay.
• Lionel Messi signs 2-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain after leaving Barcelona.
• Cristiano Ronaldo leaves Juventus, returns to Manchester United after 12-years.

Business News

• Cabinet approves Amendments to LLP and Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Bills.
• Government amends FEMA to enable FDI hike in insurance sector to 74%.
• Taxation Laws Amendment Bill passed to nullify retro tax.
• Cabinet approves National Mission on Edible Oils with outlay of ₹11,040 crore.
• Finance minister launches ‘Ubharte Sitaare’ scheme for export oriented MSMEs.
• Centre announces asset monetisation plan to raise ₹6 lakh crore by 2025.
• PM Modi launches e-RUPI: India’s new purpose-specific digital payment solution.
• Govt launches web portal, mobile app to make skill development schemes accessible.
• Govt launches e-SHRAM portal to maintain database of 38 crore unorganised sector workers.
• PM Modi transfers ₹19,509 crore directly to accounts of 9.75 crore farmers under PM-KISAN scheme.
• Govt introduces new registration mark “Bharat series (BH-series)” to facilitate seamless transfer of vehicles.
• Aviation ministry passes Drone Rules, 2021; slashes fees, eases rules of using drones in India.
• DGCA extends suspension of international flights till September 30.
• DGCA allows Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to fly 30 months after global ban.
• Tourism Ministry signs MOU with MakeMyTrip, Ibibo to strengthen hospitality industry.
• Govt launches ‘Samridh’ schemes to support 300 start-ups for creating 100 unicorns.
• RBI keeps policy rate unchanged for 7th time in a row; repo retained at 4%.
• ICICI Bank files ₹563 crore fraud case against Karvy Stock Broking.
• SEBI bars Kotak AMC from launching new fixed maturity plan for 6 months.
• India, World Bank sign $250 million project to make existing dams safe and resilient.
• RBI partially lifts ban on HDFC Bank, allows it to sell new credit cards.
• Glenmark Life Sciences, Rolex Rings, Devyani International, Windlas Biotech, Exxaro Tiles, Krsnaa Diagnostics, CarTrade Tech, Nuvoco Vistas, Chemplast Sanmar, Aptus Value Housing Finance make their market debuts.
• IT Ministry empanels Oracle as cloud infrastructure solutions provider.
• Cognizant acquires a digital engineering firm Hunter Technical Resources, its sixth acquisition in 2021.
• HCL Tech signs contract with Munich Re for digital workplace services in 40 countries.
• Govt approves Bharat Biotech’s manufacturing facility in Gujarat’s Ankleshwar for production of Covaxin.
• Wockhardt inks pact with RDIF’s subsidiary Enso Healthcare to produce, supply Sputnik vaccine.
• Serum Institute buys 50% stake in country’s largest vial maker Schott Kaisha.
• Zydus Cadila’s needle-free Covid-19 vaccine, ZyCoV-D, gets approval in India.
• Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine becomes first to win FDA’s full approval.
• Glenmark, Canadia’s SaNOtize inks pact to produce, market anti-COVID-19 nasal spray.
• Nitin Gadkari asks automakers to offer six airbags as standard in cars, SUVs.
• Centre exempts battery-operated vehicles from RC issue, renewal fees.
• Renault-Nissan ordered to pay additional wages, despite warning India unit could become ‘unviable’.
• Maruti Suzuki & Toyota Jointly Developing Hybrid Cars For India.
• Great Wall Motor to shift some India investment to Brazil after approval delays.
• Tesla gets approval for four models from India’s testing agencies.
• Yahoo shuts down news sites in India over FDI regulations.
• 75 Vande Bharat trains to connect different parts of country in 75 weeks of ‘Amrit Mahotsav’.
• Centre raises caps on domestic airfares by 9.83% – 12.82%.
• First direct flight operations flagged off on Imphal – Shillong route under UDAN.
• Tata Sons, Singapore International Airlines invest ₹750 crore in Vistara.
• Lockheed Martin gets $328.8 million contract to maintain IAF’s C-130J transport fleet.
• Twitter has ‘prima facie’ complied with new IT Rules: Centre tells Delhi HC.
• Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn secure Afghan users’ accounts amid Taliban takeover.
• Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic restarts space-trip sales at $450,000 and up.
• China passes major data protection law as regulatory scrutiny on tech sector intensifies.
• Amazon India’s top seller, Cloudtail to cease ops from May 2022.
• PayPal launches cryptocurrency trading in the UK.
• Prosus acquires Indian payments giant BillDesk for $4.7 billion, will merge with its PayU fintech group.
• Supreme Court stalls ₹24,713-crore Future-Reliance deal, says arbitrator’s award enforceable in India.
• Delhivery inks $200 million deal to acquire rival Spoton Logistics.
• ShareChat and Moj in multi-year music licensing deal with T-Series.
• Spotify expands its Music+Talk show format to 15 new markets including India.
• India jumps to 48 rank in Global Innovation Index amid record patent grants, trademark registrations.
• CoinDCX becomes India’s first crypto exchange to hit unicorn status, raises $90 million led by B Capital.
• N K Singh succeeds Dr ManMohan Singh as President of the Institute of Economic Growth Society.
• Mini Ipe takes charge as new Managing Director of LIC ahead of proposed IPO.
• Vinod Dasari resigns as Royal Enfield CEO & ED; COO B Govindarajan to take charge as ED.
• Eicher board re-appoints Siddhartha Lal as MD with revised remuneration package.
• Adi Godrej to step down as Godrej Industries’ chairman; Nadir Godrej to take over.

Q1 Results

• SBI reports highest-ever quarterly net profit of ₹6,504 crore in Q1, NII rose 3.7% to ₹27,638 crore.
• Bank of Baroda posts net profit of ₹1,208 crore in Q1; NII rises 16% to ₹7,892 crore.
• HDFC Q1 net profit dips to ₹3,001 crore; NII rises 22% YoY to ₹4,147 crore.
• Ashok Leyland loss narrows to ₹282 crore in Q1; revenue grows to ₹2,951 crore.
• Hero MotoCorp Q1 net declines 72% QoQ to ₹249 crore, revenue declined by 37% at ₹5,503 crore.
• Zomato Q1 net loss widens to ₹356 crore; consolidated revenue rises to ₹844 crore.
• Voda Idea Q1 net loss widens to ₹7312.9 crore; Revenue fell 4.7% QoQ to ₹9,152.3 crore.
• ONGC Q1 Net profit soars 772% to ₹4,335 crore, Gross revenue rose 77% to ₹23,022 crore.