Economy / Market Snapshot – November, 2021

General News

• Winter Session of Parliament begins from November 29, to go on till December 23.
• PM Modi announces repeal of 3 contentious farm laws; Farm laws repeal Bill passed by both the Houses.
• WHO names new COVID strain ‘Omicron’, classifies it as ‘highly transmissible’.
• Centre advises States to ramp up testing for early detection of cases over Omicron scare.
• India COVID tally touches 3.46 crores, Active cases account for 0.30% of total infections.
• Global COVID-19 caseload crosses 263 million: deaths surge to more than 5.2 million.
• Over 124 crore COVID vaccine doses administered I India so far; 32% fully vaccinated.
• India to hit net-zero climate target by 2070: PM Modi at COP26 climate summit.
• Almost 200 nations strike climate deal with coal compromise; International Solar Alliance signs UN pact.
• Centre extends funding for weather, climate services to ₹2,135 crore.
• Defence Acquisition Council gives nod to production of AK 203 rifles.
• Ajit Doval chairs Security Dialogue on Afghanistan; NSAs of 7 countries raise issue of terrorism in Kabul.
• CDS General Rawat meets Czech Army’s Chief of General Staff, discusses bilateral defence cooperation.
• Gen Naravane meets with Israeli General; discusses aspects of bilateral military cooperation.
• Admiral R Hari Kumar takes charge as 25th Chief of Naval Staff.
• Defence Ministry formally lifts ban on Italian firms Leonardo SpA, AgustaWestland.
• President confers honorary rank of ‘General of the Indian Army’ to Nepal Army Chief.
• President Ram Nath Kovind confers Gallantry Awards and Padma Awards.
• PM Modi launches 341km long Purvanchal Expressway; inaugurates projects worth ₹3,240 crore in UP.
• PM Modi inaugurates re-development projects worth ₹130 crore in Uttarakhand.
• Centre releases about ₹8,400 as health sector grant to states.
• Govt extends 5-kg free foodgrains scheme till March 2022 under PMGKAY.
• Delhi govt extends free ration supply till May 2022; approves allocation of ₹1,544 crore for COVID-19.
• Air pollution: Delhi govt bans construction, demolition activities, entry of trucks till further orders.
• Workers affected by ban on construction activities to be given ₹5,000 each: CM Arvind Kejriwal.
• Assam CM Himanta Biswa and Mizoram CM Zoramthanga agree to form panel to solve the border dispute.
• Rajasthan Cabinet expansion: 11 Cabinet Ministers, 4 MoS sworn in including 5 Pilot loyalists.
• Captain Amarinder Singh quits Congress, launches new party ‘Punjab Lok Congress’.
• Jammu and Kashmir gets State Investigation Agency to conduct speedy probes in terror-related cases.
• Heavy rains lashes most parts of South India; Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala received over 100% rains in Nov.
• Ex-Meghalaya CM Mukul Sangma joins Trinamool with 11 MLAs.
• Trinamool names ex-Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro as candidate for Rajya Sabha bypoll.
• Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yada finalises alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal for upcoming UP elections.
• Kartarpur Sahib Corridor reopens after 20 months.
• Shimla tops Niti Aayog’s urban development index followed by Coimbatore and Chandigarh.
• Swachh Survekshan 2021 Awards: Indore’s clean sweep bags top honours fifth time in a row.
• India re-elected to UNESCO executive board for 2021-25 term.
• Pakistan allows India to send 50,000 wheat over land to Afghanistan.
• US mandates vaccines or weekly tests for big companies by January 4.
• Biden-Xi virtual meeting ends with both sides calling for more cooperation amid tensions.
• Biden signs the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill into law; House sends social spending bill to Senate.
• Xi Jinping officially announces establishment of China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership.
• UK PM Johnson and French President Macron agree to step up efforts to prevent migrant crossings.
• German parties seal coalition deal to make Olaf Scholz chancellor.
• UAE reopens embassy in Afghanistan; Taliban says ‘we have good relations’.
• China’s Communist Party’s key conclave passes ‘landmark resolution’ ensuring Xi Jinping’s record 3rd term.
• Beijing tightens measures as COVID cases spike, raises concerns over zero-virus policy.
• Countries reintroduce travel bans over omicron variant.
• Fumio Kishida reelected Japan’s Prime Minister in parliamentary vote.
• US, Canada, Mexico leaders meet in first summit since 2016.
• Sri Lanka reports new sub-lineage of COVID-19’s Delta variant.
• Troika Plus: Pakistan pitches for including Taliban in talks on Afghanistan with US, Russia, China envoys.
• Pakistan enacts law to give Kulbhushan Jadhav right to file review appeal against his conviction.
• Sudan’s military agrees to reinstate ousted PM Abdalla Hamdok.
• T20 World Cup: Australia win their 1st title by outclassing New Zealand in final.
• India vs New Zealand: India wins the T20I series 3-0; 1st Test ends in draw.
• BCCI appoints Rahul Dravid as India head coach till 2023 ODI World Cup.
• West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo to retire from international cricket after T20 World Cup.
• AB de Villiers announces retirement from all forms of cricket.
• Australian Open confirms players must be vaccinated to play in 2022.
• J&K’s alpine skier Arif Khan becomes first Indian to win 2022 Winter Games quota.
• Lionel Messi wins record 7th Ballon d’Or as Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas claims women’s award.

Business News

• Centre notifies GST rate changes for footwear, textiles to correct inverted duty structure.
• Auto-rickshaw services provided through e-commerce platforms to attract 5% GST.
• Centre releases ₹17,000 crore as GST Compensation to States, UTs.
• India’s Purchasing Managers’ Index moves up to 55.9 as against 53.7 in September.
• India’s service sector PMI surges to decade high at 58.4 in October.
• Cabinet approves construction of 32,152 km roads in far-flung areas of country at a cost of ₹33,822 crore.
• PM Modi lays foundation stone of highway projects worth ₹11,090 crore in Maharashtra.
• Govt to install 6,000 EV charging stations across 9 expressways in the country.
• Centre cuts excise duty on petrol by ₹5, diesel by ₹10 in Diwali reprieve.
• Commercial LPG cylinder price hiked by ₹266; no change for domestic use.
• Government announces bill to ban cryptocurrencies, push official digital currency of RBI.
• Centre approves ₹6,466 crore package for telecom services in remote areas.
• SIDBI ties up with Google to support MSMEs with upto ₹1 crore.
• Govt inks $61 million loan pact with ADB for development projects in Agartala.
• Jyotiraditya Scindia launches online platform e-GCA to provide 298 services of DGCA.
• India, ADB sign $300 million loan pact to boost primary health care in country.
• RBI issues revised Prompt Corrective Action framework for banks, to be effective from Jan 1 .
• RBI gives go-ahead to FPIs to invest in InvITs, REITs.
• PB Fintech, Fino Payments, One 97(Paytm), Nykaa, Sapphire Foods, Tarsons Product, Go Fashion, Sigachi Industries make their market debuts.
• India resumes overseas supply of India-made COVID-19 vaccines.
• India’s first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin wins WHO emergency use listing.
• Bharat Biotech’s US partner Ocugen seeks Covaxin approval for kids.
• President Biden nominates Jerome Powell for second term as Fed chief, opting for continuity.
• China’s central bank injects 1 trillion yuan via medium-term loans into the financial system.
• Bank of England holds interest rate at a record low 0.1% despite soaring inflation.
• Japan unveils record stimulus package worth $490 billion to fix ailing economy.
• US launches auction for 32 million barrels of crude oil from 4 strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) sites.
• G20 nations agree to limit global average temperature increase to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels.
• India, Indonesia, Philippines and South Africa join coal transition programme.
• US bank BNY Mellon cuts ties with Adani’s Carmichael coal mine in Australia.
• Reliance Industries exits US shale gas business.
• UK launches India Green Guarantee, commits new funds for EVs in India.
• Maruti Suzuki Toyotsu India opens first vehicle scrapping unit in Noida.
• Rivian and Ford scrap plans to develop an electric vehicle together.
• Ford partners with GlobalFoundries to advance semiconductor chip manufacturing in the U.S.
• Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air orders 72 Boeing 737 Max Aircraft to launch service in India.
• Boeing reaches $225 million settlement in shareholder lawsuit over 737 Max safety.
• General Electric to split into 3 public companies to simplify business, pare debt.
• Airtel conducts India’s 1st 5G trial in 700 MHz band with Nokia in Kolkata.
• OPPO conducts first 5G call from Hyderabad lab.
• Bharti Airtel, Oracle widen alliance to bring cloud solutions range to over 1 million enterprise users.
• Lava becomes first Indian brand to launch 5G smartphone.
• Govt asks Indians to not subscribe to Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink.
• IBM, Amazon partner to extend reach of data tools for oil companies.
• Microsoft enters metaverse race by launching 3D avatars and immersive meetings on Teams.
• Acer India, Dixon Tech partner to manufacture 500,000 laptops annually.
• Apple allows self-repairs to iPhones and Mac computers.
• Microsoft to end support for OneDrive desktop application on Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 from March 1.
• Google signs 5-year licensing deal with AFP for paid news subscription.
• Yahoo pulls out of China, citing ‘challenging’ environment.
• Google commits $740 million to Australia to mend ties after exit threat.
• Amazon, Apple hit with € 200 million antitrust fine in Italy.
• Myntra launches ‘M-Live’ for real-time video-enabled, interactive shopping experience.
• NPCI increases WhatsApp UPI payment cap to 40 million users from 20 million.
• Uber hits its 100th city milestone in India with launch in Telangana’s Warangal.
• Mensa Brands becomes India’s fastest startup to turn unicorn, raises $135 million.
• NoBroker becomes India’s first proptech unicorn after $210 million funding round.
• Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey steps down as CEO, succeeded by Parag Agrawal.

Q2 Results

• SBI Q2 net profit surges 67% YoY to ₹7,627 crore, NII up 29% at ₹31,183.9 crore, NNPA down at 1.52%.
• HDFC Q2 net profit rises 32% to ₹3,780 crore, revenue from operations rose 4% to ₹12,216 crore.
• Tata Motors consolidated loss widens to ₹4,441 crore in Q2, revenue increase 14.6% to ₹61,378 crore.
• M&M Q2 Net profit soars 785% YoY to ₹1,431.7 crore, revenue grows 14.7% to ₹13,305.4 crore.
• Ashok Leyland reports Q2 net loss at ₹84 crore, consolidated revenue up by 44% YoY to ₹5,562 crore.
• Hero MotoCorp Q2 Net profit falls 17% YoY to ₹794 crore, revenue declines 11% to ₹8,453.40 crore.
• IRCTC Q2 net profit soars 386% YoY to ₹159 crore, revenue spiked 357.3% YoY to ₹404.9 crore.
• ONGC reports highest ever net profit by any corporate at ₹18,347 crore in Q2.
• Sun Pharma Q2 net profit rises 13% YoY to ₹2,047 crore, revenue rose 12.5% to ₹9,625.9 crore.
• Bharti Airtel Q2 Revenue rises 13% to ₹28,326 crore; PAT climbs to ₹1,134 crore.
• Vodafone Idea loss narrows sequentially to ₹7,132 crore in Q2.
• Zomato Q2 net loss widens to ₹434.9 crore, revenue up at ₹1,024.2 crore.
• Paytm Q2 revenue jumps 64%, net loss widens to ₹473 crore.
• Nykaa reports 96% decline in Q2 net profit at ₹1.1 crore, revenue up 47% YoY to ₹885 crore.