Economy / Market Snapshot – October, 2021

General News

• India crosses 100 crore COVID vaccinations milestone; over 106.14 crore vaccinated so far.
• India COVID tally touches 34.2 million, Active cases account for 0.48% of total infections; recovery rate improves to 98.18%.
• PM Modi launches Swachh Bharat-Urban 2.0, AMRUT 2.0 for ‘Garbage Free’ and ‘Water Secure’ cities.
• PM Modi launches Jal Jeevan Mission App and Rashtriya Jal Jeevan Kosh.
• 16th East Asia Summit: PM Modi calls for free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
• PM Modi hosts Danish PM; both countries agree on 5-year plan to implement green strategic partnership.
• G20 Summit: PM Modi highlights India’s contribution to fight against COVID.
• Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla calls on Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa.
• Jaishankar, UK counterpart agree to facilitate travel between two nations.
• US Navy chief Admiral Mike Gilday arrives in Delhi; holds talks with Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh.
• Gen Naravane meets Sri Lanka’s top civilian and military leadership; discusses steps to boost defence ties.
• Jaishankar takes part in new quadrilateral with Israel, UAE and U.S.
• Jaishankar calls on Israeli President, PM; discusses bilateral full potential of bilateral relations.
• S Jaishankar-UK counterpart Liz Truss review progress on roadmap 2030; discuss terror, Afghanistan.
• S Jaishankar holds talks with UK CDS Gen. Carter on Afghanistan situation, issues related to Indo-Pacific.
• India allows foreign tourists travelling by chartered flights from Oct 15, rest from Nov 15.
• Indian Space Association, industry body of Indian space and satellite companies, launched.
• Parliament panels reconstituted; Congress leaders retained as Chairmen.
• Amit Shah approves release of ₹7,274 crore to 23 states as central share of State Disaster Response Fund.
• Union Cabinet approves affiliation of 100 schools in Govt, private sector with Sainik School Society.
• Army chief reviews security situation at forward areas along LoC in Jammu and eastern Ladakh.
• India deploys Pinaka, Smerch rocket system on China border.
• Agni-5, surface-to-surface ballistic missile capable of striking targets up to 5,000 km, successfully test-fired.
• India-China standoff clashes: 20 ITBP personnel honoured with gallantry medals.
• Sonia Gandhi reinstates her position as a full-time and hands-on Congress President.
• Bhabanipur Bypoll: Mamata Banerjee secures chief minister’s seat, wins bypolls.
• Lakhimpur Kheri: UP govt announces ₹45 lakh, govt jobs for families of 4 farmers who died in the incident.
• Tamil Nadu rejects National Education Policy 2020, to form expert panel to formulate State Policy.
• Uttarakhand rains: Death toll 64, state govt pegs damage at ₹7,000 crore
• Kerala rains: At least 27 people killed after torrential rain triggers landslides and floods.
• Pegasus spyware case: SC forms three-member committee to probe snooping allegations
• SC asks Kerala, TN to abide by supervisory committee’s view to maintain water level in Mullaperiyar dam.
• IAF showcases Sukhoi Su-30, Rafale at Hindon airbase on 89th Air Force Day.
• Tamil drama ‘Koozhangal’ is India’s official entry for Oscars 2022.
• Rajinikanth receives the Dadasaheb Phalke Award at 67th National Film Awards ceremony in Delhi.
• Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov win Nobel Peace Prize.
• Global COVID-19 caseload tops 247.4 million: deaths surge to more than 5 million.
• WHO panel recommends COVID vaccine booster shot for people with weak immunity.
• WHO forms new 26-member team, says this may be ‘last chance’ to find COVID-19 origins.
• UN starts vaccinating people against Ebola in Congo.
• Australia, New Zealand ease COVID-19 travel advisory ahead of border reopening.
• China re-imposes fresh lockdowns amid rising Covid-19 cases.
• Moscow shuts most workplaces as COVID-19 infections, deaths soar.
• Pakistan FM Qureshi, ISI chief Hameed visit, hold talks with Taliban leaders in Kabul.
• Moscow hosts worldwide talks on Afghanistan, calls for inclusive government.
• Afghanistan resumes passport issuance after a few months delay.
• US President Biden, Europeans take up Iran nuclear program in Rome talks.
• Biden signs bill to avert government shutdown, approves bill to fund government through Dec. 3.
• US govt allows fully vaccinated foreign travellers to enter country from November 8.
• UK approves India-made Covishield; drops 10-day quarantine for Indians.
• Mauritius exits FATF grey list; Turkey joins Pakistan on the list for failing to check terror financing.
• Sudan PM returns home, remains under guard after military takes power in coup and arrests leaders.
• Kim Jong Un orders people to eat less as North Korea faces acute food shortage.
• Fumio Kishida elected as new Prime Minister; lower house dissolved for October 31 national election.
• Qatar’s first legislative elections see 63.5% voter turnout
• ICC Women’s T20 rankings: Shafali Verma drops to second spot, Smriti Mandhana static at third.
• Rahul Dravid to succeed Ravi Shastri as India’s head coach after T20 World Cup.
• India win 8th SAFF Championship title, Chhetri equals Messi 80-goal record.
• Germany unveils logo for soccer’s Euro 2024 tournament.
• Australia’s Ellyse Perry is 1st woman cricketer to achieve 5000 runs, 300 wickets in international cricket.
• IPL 2021: Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs to clinch fourth IPL title.
• New IPL teams: CVC Capital wins bid for Ahmedabad, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group gets Lucknow.
• Shakib Al Hasan becomes highest wicket-taker in T20 Internationals.
• ICC men’s T-20 World Cup 2021 kicks off in the UAE.
• ISSF Junior World Championships: India tops table with 9 gold medals.

Business News

• Gati Shakti: PM Modi launches ₹100-lakh crore national master plan for multi-modal connectivity.
• Centre releases ₹40,000 crore to States/UTs to meet GST compensation shortfall.
• Finance Ministry releases ₹9,871 crore of revenue deficit grant to 17 states.
• Nirmala Sitharaman discusses issues of anti-money laundering, terror financing with Janet Yellen.
• Nirmala Sitharaman hold talks World Bank chief, discusses post-pandemic economic recovery, other issues.
• Piyush Goyal meets trade ministers from UK, US, Brazil, Australia, S Africa, South Korea on G-20 sidelines.
• Vehicle Scrapping Policy to come into force from 1st April 2022; list of incentives, disincentives released.
• Oil touches 7-year high after OPEC+’s plan for gradual output hike; LPG, fuel rates surge to record highs.
• Country’s power crisis eases on account of increased coal supply, onset of winter.
• Govt begins process for self-reliance in green energy; global bids invited for setting up new units.
• PM Modi inaugurates UP’s 3rd international airport in Kushinagar, to boost tourism on Buddhist circuit.
• Govt approves 31 proposals for telecom PLI scheme entailing ₹3,345 crore investment.
• RBI keeps policy rate unchanged at 4% for 8th time in a row, revises FY22 retail inflation projection to 5.3%.
• RBI maintains GDP growth target for FY22 year at 9.5% ; IMPS daily transaction limit increased to ₹5 lakh.
• HDFC Bank, Mastercard, USAID and DFC launch $100 million credit facility for MSMEs in India.
• Paras Defence makes stellar stock market debut; Aditya Birla Sun Life makes a tepid debut.
• Centre permits export of 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik Light manufactured in India to Russia.
• WHO seeks ‘additional clarifications’ for Covaxin to conduct final ‘risk-benefit assessment’.
• Covaxin approved for emergency use in children aged 2 years and above.
• US FDA clears Moderna, J&J COVID vaccine booster shots; clears Pfizer’s vaccine for kids aged 5 – 11 years.
• EU regulator OKs Pfizer vaccine booster for 18 and older.
• Tata Sons wins bid for acquiring national carrier Air India at ₹18,000 crore.
• Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air gets aviation ministry’s NOC to operate in India.
• MG Motor India sells out first batch of SUV Astor within 20 minutes of opening bookings.
• Ola Electric raises over $200 million funding, valuation touches $3 billion.
• TVS Motor, Tata Power in pact to create EV charging infrastructure in India.
• Toyota, Stellantis to build EV-battery factories in the US.
• AGR dues: Vodafone Idea, Airtel accepts four-year spectrum payment moratorium.
• New Zealand and United Kingdom reach free trade deal.
• Sri Lanka seeks $500 million loan from India for fuel purchase.
• Taliban meet with UK, Iran delegations as Afghanistan teeters on the brink of economic collapse.
• Venezuela introduces new currency, drops six zeros.
• US introduces a bill that would bar Big Tech platforms from favoring their products and services.
• Saudi Arabia comes to cash-strapped Pakistan’s rescue with $3 billion package.
• Food prices surge for 3rd straight year in Pakistan, inflation rate shoots up at 12.66%.
• Singapore-based arbitrator rejects Future Retail’s plea to lift the interim stay on RIL deal.
• Adani Group finalises 35-year deal to build and operate Colombo Port’s West Container terminal.
• Gautam Adani meets UK PM in London, assures to commit $70 billion for clean energy.
• RIL floats wholly-owned subsidiary ‘Reliance International’ in UAE.
• Reliance Retail extends deadline to complete ₹24,713 crore deal with Future Group.
• Reliance Retail launches 7-Eleven convenience stores; forays into premium grocery format with Freshpik.
• Facebook changes name of parent company to ‘Meta’, to reflect its metaverse ambitions.
• Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp face outages twice, restored later.
• Microsoft to shut down LinkedIn in China, cites ‘challenging’ environment.
• Paytm Group takes over complete ownership of digital lending startup CreditMate.
• BharatPe forays into Buy Now Pay Later segment with launch of postpe.
• Swiggy rolls out 2-year ESOP liquidity program worth $35-40 million.
• Licious becomes India’s first D2C unicorn after raising $52 million.
• Karnataka notifies law banning online betting games.
• IMF board backs Kristalina Georgieva to continue as Managing Director after review of data-rigging claims.
• IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath resigns, to return to Harvard University in January.
• Govt re-appoints Shaktikanta Das as RBI governor for another three years.
• Krishnamurthy Subramanian steps down as Chief Economic Adviser after three-year term.
• RBI approves reappointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as MD & CEO of Axis Bank.
• Ex-Air India MD Rajiv Bansal takes charge as Civil Aviation Secretary.
• Former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar joins BharatPe board.

Q2 Results

• TCS Q2 net profit jumps 29% YoY to ₹9,620 crore, board approves second interim dividend of ₹7/share.
• Infosys Q2 net profit up by 12% YoY to ₹5,421 crore, revenue rose 20% to ₹29,602 crore.
• Wipro Q2 net profit rises 19% YoY to ₹2,930.7 crore, revenue climbs 30.1% to ₹19,667.4 crore.
• HCL Technologies Q2 Profit rises 1.6% QoQ to ₹3,265 crore, revenue up 2.9% at ₹20,655 crore
• HDFC Bank Q2 net profit rises 17.5% to ₹8,834 crore, NII grew 12% to ₹ 17,684 crore, GNPA at 1.35%.
• ICICI Bank Q2 net profit grew 30% to ₹5,511 crore, NII jumps 25%; NNPA down at 0.99%..
• Kotak Mahindra Bank Q2 net profit down 7% at ₹2,032.01 crore, NII rose 3% YoY to ₹4,021 crore.
• HUL Q2 net profit rises 9% YoY to ₹2,187 crore, revenue up 11% to ₹12,724 crore, to pay ₹15 dividend.
• Maruti Suzuki Q2 net profit falls 65% YoY to ₹475 crore, Net sales declined 9.09% to ₹19,297.80 crore.
• TVS Motor Q2 net profit rises 41% to ₹277.6 crore, reports the highest ever revenue of ₹5,619 crore.
• HDFC Life Insurance Q2 net profit down 16% to ₹274 crore; Net premium income up 14% to ₹11,445 crore.
• RIL Q2 net profit rises 43% YoY to ₹13,680 crore, revenue grew 48% to ₹1.74 lakh crore.
• Jio Platforms Q2 net profit rises 23% to ₹3,728 crore, ARPU up at ₹143.6.
• Dr Reddy’s profit rises 30% to ₹992 crore, revenue rises by 18% to ₹5,763 crore in Q2.