Economy Market Snapshot August 2024

General News

• Parliament adjourned sine die a day before schedule; Lok Sabha clocks 136 % productivity
• Parliament passes Finance, Appropriation and J&K Bills.
• Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 sent to Joint Parliamentary Committee for detailed review.
• Lok Sabha Speaker constitutes six new parliamentary committees for 2024-25.
• 12 members elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha, BJP now holds 96 seats.
• 78th Independence Day: PM Modi addresses the nation from the Red Fort for the 11th consecutive time.
• President approves 103 Gallantry Awards for Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces.
• PM Modi releases 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient, and biofortified crop varieties.
• Assembly election 2024: J&K to vote in 3 phases from Sept 18, Haryana to vote on Oct 1; results on Oct 4.
• Centre announces five new districts in Ladakh – Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang.
• India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Maldives sign Charter and MoU for establishment of Colombo Security Conclave Secretariat
• India and New Zealand sign customs co-operation arrangement to ease trade between the two countries./li>
• India and Australia call for strengthened international cooperation to combat terrorism comprehensively.
• PM Modi holds talks with Vietnam counterpart, agrees to expand strategic partnership
• Rajnath Singh, Jaishankar host their Japanese counterparts for 2+2 ministerial dialogue in New Delhi.
• Nirmala Sithraman, Piyush Goyal, Jaishankar, Vaishnaw participate in India-Singapore ministerial meet.
• PM Modi arrives in Kyiv in historic visit; holds talks with President Zelenskyy.
• Wayanad landslide triggered by heavy monsoon rains and midnight cloudburst claims over 450 lives, with more than 200 still missing..
• DRDO successfully tests the Long Range Glide Bomb GAURAV from a Sukhoi-30 MK-I.
• ISRO successfully launches EOS-08 Earth Observation Satellite.
• India develops indigenous RT-PCR testing kit for Mpox, CDSCO has approved Siemens Healthineer’s.
• SC allows states to sub-classify SCs, STs for quotas within reserved categories.
• Nationwide doctors’ protests escalate over murder of Kolkata doctor.
• Govt gives nod to enhance security deployment at all Central govt hospitals by 25%.
• Karnataka Governor grants permission to prosecute CM Siddaramaiah in MUDA ‘scam’.
• Over 250 killed, hundreds missing after 3 landslides hit Wayanad district in four hours amid heavy rain.
• SC grants bail to BRS leader Kavitha in Delhi liquor case.
• ED files supplementary charge sheet against Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi in land-for-jobs scam.
• PM Modi unveils a commemorative stamp and coin celebrating 75 years of the Supreme Court of India.
• NEET-UG 2024: SC maintains ‘no breach of sanctity’, directs seven measures for transparent exams.
• NIRF rankings 2024: IIT Madras tops for sixth consecutive year; IISc Bengaluru named best university.
• 70th National Film Awards: Aattam wins Best Film, Rishab Shetty is Best Actor, KGF 2 and Kantara bag top honours.
• Senior IAS officer Govind Mohan appointed as next Union Home Secretary.
• Vinay Mohan Kwatra assumes charge as India’s new Ambassador to US.
• Finance Secretary TV Somanathan appointed as Cabinet Secretary for 2 years.
• Jaishankar meets Maldives President Muizzu, reaffirms India’s commitment to strengthening bilateral ties.
• Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina resigns , leaves for India amid protests over job quota reforms.
• Bangladesh President appoints Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus as the head of the interim government.
• Chinese leader Xi meets with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan in a bid to improve ties.
• Kamala Harris secures Democratic presidential nomination; chooses Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as VP pick.
• Putin meets China’s Premier Li as Moscow and Beijing deepen their relations.
• US, Egypt and Qatar call for “urgent talks” to reach Israel-Hamas cease-fire.
• Hamas rejects “new conditions” by Israel for Gaza ceasefire deal.
• Russia launches its biggest drone barrage against Ukraine in 7 months.
• US and Russia complete biggest prisoner swap since end of Cold War.
• Zelenskyy confirms Ukrainian military forces are operating inside Russia’s Kursk region.
• WHO updates its list of pathogens that could trigger the next pandemic.
• WHO declares mpox outbreak a global health emergency.
• Turmoil in UK as nation hit by worst riots in years; hotels used to house asylum seekers attacked.
• Germany cuts visa processing time for Indian skilled workers from 9 months to 2 weeks.
• Rajapaksas’ party fields Mahinda’s son Namal in Sri Lanka’s presidential race.
• North Korea reopens borders for tourists first time after 5 years.
• Paris Olympics 2024 concludes; India finished at 71st spot with 6 medals.
• Manu Baker clinched two bronze medals in shooting; Hockey Indian team wins Bronze.
• Neeraj Chopra wins silver in men’s javelin throw; Wrestler Aman Sehrawat wins Bronze.
• Wrestler Vinesh Phogat disqualifies from Women’s Wrestling for being overweight by a few grams.
• India sends largest-ever contingent of 84 players to Paris Paralympic Games.
• Sri Lanka win 3 match ODI series against India 2-0.
• WTC Points Table: England moves to 4th in World Test Championship standings; India, Australia on top.
• US Open: Carlos Alcaraz knocked out in round 2, grand slam streak ends.
• Jay Shah elected unopposed as ICC chairman.

Business News

• Centre approves Unified Pension Scheme, providing assured family and minimum pension.
• Cabinet approves Vigyan Dhara scheme to promote S&T capacity building, research, innovation.
• Centre approves ‘BioE3’ policy for boosting innovation-driven support to R&D.
• Direct tax collections jump nearly 24% to ₹8.13 lakhs in April-Aug period.
• Finance Ministry grants five-year Income Tax exemption to UIDAI.
• Auto manufacturers to offer discount for those scrapping old vehicles to buy new ones: Gadkari.
• Union Cabinet approves three metro rail projects for Bengaluru, Thane and Pune.
• Government provides ₹35,000 crore push to build 12 smart cities.
• PM Modi lays the foundation stone for the Vadhvan Port, a ₹76,000 crore project in Palghar district.
• Centre unveils Krishi-DSS, a satellite-based platform to support farmers.
• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gives nod to eight railway projects worth ₹24,657 crore.
• India’s Q1 FY25 GDP grows at 6.7%, slowest in 5 quarters.
• India’s fiscal deficit hits 17.2% at ₹2.77 lakh crore of FY25 target in April-July
• RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6.5%, stance ‘accommodative’, GDP growth at 7.2% for FY25.
• Cheques to be cleared within few hours now, closing in on NEFT, RTGS speed of transfer.
• RBI announces ULI, new credit platform enables borrowers the benefit of seamless delivery credit.
• RBI instructs banks to provide short-term loans for crop and allied activities to farmers at 7% interest rate.
• RBI declares premature redemption calendar for Sovereign Gold Bonds issued between 2017-2020.
• IndusInd Bank gets RBI nod for undertaking mutual funds business via new subsidiary
• Karnataka temporarily withdraws order halting banking with SBI, PNB.
• SEBI revises criteria for stocks to enter, exit derivatives segment.
• Ola Electric Mobility, Unicommerce Esolutions, Saraswati Saree Depot, Brainbees Solutions, Orient Technologies and Interarch Building Products make their market debuts.
• SEBI refutes Hindenburg Research’s allegations, asserts strong internal mechanisms.
• Adani Group denies commercial relationship with SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch
• Telangana CM inks 19 investment deals/MoUs attracting ₹31,500 crore from US trip.
• Tamil Nadu govt inks pact with Nokia, PayPal, Microchip during CM Stalin’s visit to San Francisco.
• US Fed keeps interest rates steady; hints at September rate cut.
• China’s central bank leaves its 1-year and 5-year loan prime rates unchanged at 3.35% and 3.85%.
• India and the US sign an MoU to enhance cooperation on small and medium enterprises.
• Tata Motors ties with Delta Electronics and Thunderplus Solutions to expand charging infrastructure.
• Nazara Tech unit buys US-based gaming content firm Deltias Gaming for ₹7.5 crore.
• Xerox and HCLTech extend agreement to drive innovation with AI and Digital Engineering.
• Infosys expands collaboration with Nvidia for AI-driven solutions for telecom companies.
• Govt bans 156 medicines including antibiotics, painkillers, & multivitamins after review finds health risks.
• DoT allocates airwaves to all three telecom companies.
• Accenture get CCI’s nod to acquire stake in Vodafone’s arm.
• Air India, Vistara get DGCA nod to integrate aircraft line maintenance operations.
• HAL partners with SAFHAL to develop ‘Aravalli’ engines for its next gen helicopters.
• CIL, GAIL sign agreement to set up coal-to-synthetic natural gas project.
• Tata Power, DGPC partner to set up 600 MW hydro project in Bhutan.
• GAIL, Petron sign pact to explore setting up bio-ethylene plant in India.
• Reliance AGM 2024: Ambani unveils Jio AI Cloud, to give 100 GB free cloud storage to Jio users.
• Reliance Industries to consider 1:1 bonus shares at September 5 board meeting.
• CCI approves $8.5 bn merger of Disney-Reliance media assets.
• Cabinet approves 730 FM private radio channels’ e-auction for 234 cities.
• Competition watchdog approves merger between Viacom18 and Star India with caveats.
• Star terminates $1.5 billion ICC TV rights deal with Zee.
• Zomato buys Paytm’s ticketing business for ₹2,048 crore.
• Zee settles merger termination disputes with Sony, terminates $10 billion deal.
• Airtel to shut down Wynk Music, shifts focus to Apple Music.
• Amazon partners with 45 govt emporiums, NGOs, trade bodies to empower local artisans.

BharatPe launches secured loans for merchants, expands credit offerings with OTO, Volt.
India’s UPI processes nearly ₹81 lakh crore transactions in April-July; surpasses world’s leading digital payment platforms.
RBI governor rated A+ for the second time in the Global Finance Central Banker Report Cards 2024.
Dinesh Khara concludes tenure as SBI Chairman, SBI Cards Director; CS Setty takes over.
HCLTech names Shiv Walia as the Chief Financial Officer after Prateek Aggarwal steps down.
Gautam Adani to step down at 70, transfer control to heirs.

Q1 Results

• SBI Q1 Net profit rises marginally to ₹17,035.16 crore, NII up 16.2% YoY
• Tata Motors Q1 PAT surges 74% YoY to ₹5,566 crore.
• TVS Motor Q1 net profit rises 23% YoY to ₹577 crore.
• LIC Q1 Net profit rises 9% to ₹10,544 crore, APE up 21% to ₹11,560 crore.
• Adani Enterprises Q1 Cons PAT zooms 116% YoY to ₹1,454 crore.
• IRCTC Q1 Net profit rises 33% YoY to ₹308 crore, revenue up 11.8% to ₹1,120 crore.
• LIC Housing Finance Q1 Net profit drops 2% to ₹1,300 crore, NII down 10% YoY.
• ITC Q1 Net profit down marginally to ₹5,091.59 crore, revenue rises 7.5% to ₹20,029.60 crore.
• Biocon Limited reports 30% YoY rise in consolidated revenues in Q1 FY25 at ₹4,567 crore.
• Eicher Motors Q1 Net profit rises 20% to highest ever at ₹1,101.5 crore , revenue up 10% YoY
• HAL Q1 results: Net profit jumps 77% to Rs 1,437 crore; revenue up 11% to ₹4,347.50 crore.
• Zomato Q1 Profit jumps multifold to ₹253 crore; revenue soars 74% YoY to ₹4,206 crore.