Economy / Market Snapshot – September, 2021

General News

• India COVID tally touches 33.7 million, 883 million vaccine doses administered so far.
• Active cases account for 0.80% of total infections; recovery rate improves to 97.84%.
• Govt allows door-to-door COVID vaccination for differently-abled persons.
• PM Modi launches Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, health ID for every citizen.
• PM Modi holds first bilateral meeting with Biden; discusses Indo-Pacific, climate, COVID.
• PM participates in the first in-person Quad Summit; addresses at 76th session of UNGA.
• India, Australia holds ‘2+2’ talks to strengthen defence, strategic cooperation.
• Jaishankar meets China’s Wang Yi; calls for early resolution on LAC issues in eastern Ladakh.
• S Jaishankar meets with UK’s Foreign Secretary; calls for resolution of ‘quarantine Issue’.
• Indian envoy to Qatar meets Taliban leaders, says Afghan soil must not be used for terrorism.
• India to host G-20 summit in 2023 for the first time; Piyush Goyal appointed sherpa for grouping.
• Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari to be new chief of Indian Air Force.
• IAF plane carrying Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari conducts mock emergency landing in NH 925 in Barmer.
• India signs a project agreement with the US for air-launched unmanned aerial vehicles.
• India, Singapore conduct major naval exercise near South China Sea.
• Defence Ministry places order for 118 Arjun Mk-1A tanks worth ₹7,523 crore.
• Indian Air Force signs deal with French Air Force to purchase phased out Mirage aircraft.
• India buys 4 Israeli Herons, to upgrade them with missiles as Army, IAF, Navy ramp up drone inventory.
• Smriti Irani inaugurates Poshan 2.0, urges all districts to establish Poshan Vatikas.
• Shikshak Parv 2001: PM Modi launches five new initiatives for accessible education.
• Centre, Assam govt signs Karbi Peace Accord with 5 insurgent groups in Assam.
• President Kovind appoints new governors to Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Nagaland.
• Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani resigns; Bhupendra Patel takes oath as 17th Chief Minister.
• Captain Amarinder Singh resigns as Chief Minister of Punjab; Charanjit Singh Channi takes oath as CM.
• BJP deploys 13 Union ministers, including seven of Cabinet rank, for poll-related duties in the states.
• Navjot Singh Sidhu resigns as president of Punjab Congress.
• Former Union minister Babul Supriyo and Former Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro join Trinamool Congress.
• Kanhaiya Kumar joins Congress, Jignesh Mevani extends support to party.
• Senior Congress leader and former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee V.M. Sudheeran resigns from AICC.
• PM Modi launches Sansad TV, a news channel combining the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha TV.
• Pegasus snooping row: SC to pass interim order on pleas seeking independent probe.
• PM-CARES not a fund of Government of India, can’t be brought under RTI: Centre to Delhi HC.
• Farmers call for Bharat Bandh; block highways, roads at many places to protest three farm laws.
• Cyclonic storm Gulab brings heavy rains to Andhra Pradesh, Odisha.
• NEET-UG 2021: Over 95% of registered candidates appeared at over 3,800 centres across India.
• Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Kashmir’s separatist leader dies aged 92 after a prolonged illness.
• Global Coronavirus cases touch 234 million; UN reports substantial decrease in both cases and deaths.
• WHO urges rich countries to hold off on booster shots until 2022.
• UK health service begins COVID booster vaccine rollout; begins vaccination for school children aged 12-15.
• U.S. FDA clears Pfizer COVID-19 booster for older and at-risk Americans.
• UK, US, Australia launch new trilateral Indo-Pacific alliance; Australia to get nuclear powered submarines.
• France recalls envoys from US and Australia in protest at submarine deal.
• Mullah Hassan Akhund to lead Taliban’s interim govt, Abdul Ghani Baradar to be Deputy.
• Taliban nominates spokesman Shaheen as Afghan envoy, seeks UN participation.
• Afghanistan commercial flights resume as UN warns of humanitarian crisis.
• Antony Blinken defends Afghan withdrawal at testy U.S. congressional hearing.
• FBI releases declassified record on 9/11 terror attacks, offers no proof on Saudi involvement.
• Pakistan Foreign Minster Qureshi meets Secretary Blinken, urges engagement with Taliban.
• Russia’s ruling pro-Putin party wins majority despite losing around one-fifth of its support.
• Germany’s Angela Merkel loses elections narrowly to Social Democrats after 16 years.
• Justin Trudeau re-elected Canadian PM for 3rd time but fails to secure majority.
• Japan’s former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida wins party vote, to become new Prime Minister.
• North Korea tests first ‘strategic’ cruise missile with possible nuclear capability; fires 2 ballistic missiles.
• South Korea successfully fires first submarine-launched ballistic missile.
• India finishes 24th in its best showing at the Paralympics in Tokyo with 5 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze medals.
• US Open: Emma Raducanu becomes first British woman to win title in 53 years; Daniil Medvedev stuns Novak Djokovic to win Maiden Grand Slam title.
• ICC ODI Rankings: Mithali Raj retains top spot in batting list.
• ICC T20I Rankings: Virat Kohli rises to fourth, KL Rahul retains sixth spot.
• Virat Kohli to step down as India’s T20I Captain after ICC T20 World Cup.
• Virat Kohli becomes first Indian batter to score 10,000 runs in T20 format.
• Cristiano Ronaldo breaks the international goal scoring world record with 111 goals for Portugal
• IND vs ENG Test series: India leads the 5-match by series by 2-1; 5th Test to be rescheduled.
• IPL 2021: IPL 14 second leg kick off in UAE; final on Oct 15, Chennai Super Kings qualifies for play-offs.

Business News

• GST exemptions on expensive drugs like Zolgensma, Viltepso; 5% GST levied on food delivery apps.
• Cabinet approves ₹ 10,683 crore PLI scheme for textile sector.
• Cabinet approves telecom relief package; approves moratorium of 4 years for AGR dues.
• Cabinet clears ₹26,538 crore scheme for auto sector; ₹120 crore to be allotted for drone PLI.
• Union Cabinet clears decks for National Asset Reconstruction Company.
• Government hikes Minimum Support Price for wheat by ₹40 to ₹2,015 per quintal.
• Finance Ministry releases ₹9,871 crore to 17 states as revenue deficit grant.
• Finance ministry approves capex projects of over ₹2,900 crore in 8 states, releases first batch of funds.
• Piyush Goyal sets exports target for textile industry at $100 billion, up from $33 billion.
• Cabinet approves additional capital infusion of ₹4,400 crore in ECGC.
• Centre announces auction for sale of ₹26,000 crore govt securities.
• PM Modi launches 35 crop varieties with special traits to address climate change, malnutrition.
• FSSAI introduces green coloured ‘V’ logo to denote vegan food products.
• PAN-Aadhaar linkage deadline extended by six months till March 2022.
• Income tax dept extends due date to file returns for AY FY22 from current 30th Sept to 31st Dec.
• India becomes world’s 6-biggest stock market, overtakes France for the first time in market capitalization.
• Aptus Value Housing Finance, Vijaya Diagnostic Centre, Ami organics, Sansera Engineering make their market debut.
• RBI, Monetary Authority of Singapore announce project to link UPI and PayNow.
• RBL Bank restarts credit card issuances with rival Visa.
• ICICI Bank partners with Amazon India to offer OD facility to sellers, small businesses.
• IRDAI grants final approval for transfer of Bharti AXA General into ICICI Lombard.
• HDFC Life acquires Exide Life Insurance for ₹6687 crore.
• Indiabulls get CCI nod to sell mutual fund business to Groww for ₹175 crore.
• Ford Motor to stop making cars in India, to sell only imported vehicles as part of a restructuring exercise.
• Toyota cuts annual auto production target by 3% on shortage of chips, parts.
• Ola Electric crosses ₹1100 crore in combined sales of S1 scooters over two days.
• Govt increases domestic flight capacity to 85% of pre-COVID levels with immediate effect.
• Government gives final approval to privatise 13 airports.
• SpiceJet gets lease rental waiver of ₹300 crore for 4 Boeing MAX aircraft.
• HAL signs pact with Alliance Air for deployment of civil Do-228 Aircraft in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Singapore lifts flight ban on Boeing 737 Max planes.
• Infosys, Microsoft ink multi-year cloud transformation deal with Australian utility, Ausgrid.
• HCL signs up with South Korean software company HANCOM for global expansion, tech solutions.
• Intel to invest up to $95 billion over the next decade in boosting EU chip capacity.
• TCS partner Colombian airline Avianca to build latter’s IT infrastructure and cloud transformation.
• TCS signs 10 year contract with Transport for London for design, operation of mobility system.
• Wipro launches co-innovation space with Google Cloud in Bengaluru.
• Mphasis acquires US-based Blink UX for $94 million in an all-cash deal.
• DCGI gives nod for phase 2/3 trials of Biological E’s Covid vaccine on those aged between 5 & 18.
• DCGI allows Serum Institute to enroll 7-11-year-olds in COVID-19 vaccine trial.
• Sputnik’s single-dose vax gets DCGI nod for Phase-III trials in India.
• Biocon Biologics to offer 15% stake to Serum Institute Life Sciences; gets access to 100 million doses.
• Hetero gets DCGI nod for biosimilar version of Tocilizumab to treat COVID-19.
• Future-Reliance Retail deal: Supreme Court stays Delhi HC order for seizure of Future Group’s assets
• Tata Steel commissions India’s first plant for CO2 capture from Blast Furnace gas at Jamshedpur.
• India accelerates talks with Taiwan on chip plant, trade deal.
• Zee Enterprises board approves merger with Sony Pictures, Punit Goenka to remain MD & CEO.
• Piramal Group completes DHFL acquisition in total consideration of ₹34,250 crore.
• PepsiCo commissions ₹814-crore foods plant in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura.
• Shapoorji Pallonji Group sells majority stake in Eureka Forbes to PE major Advent for ₹4,400 crore.
• Kitex group increases investment in Telangana to ₹2,400 crore, promises 22,000 jobs.
• China pumps $17 billion into system amid Evergrande concerns.
• Huawei CFO leaves Canada post agreement with US prosecutors to end the bank fraud case against her.
• New York court halts tax suit to allow Cairn to settle dispute with India.
• US aerospace companies to get $482 million in payroll support.
• El Salvador bought $21 million of bitcoin as it becomes first country to make it a legal currency.
• Sri Lanka central bank chief steps down as foreign exchange reserve crisis deepens.
• World Bank discontinues ease of doing business reports after ethics review.
• Freshworks makes stellar debut on Nasdaq, market cap crosses $12 billion.
• New iPhone 13 series, ipad and Watch Series 7 unveiled at Apple Event.
• Byju’s acquires coding platform Tynker for $200 million in US expansion push.
• Gaming start-up Mobile Premier League valued at $2.3 billion, joins unicorn club.
• Vedantu raises $100 million at $1 billion valuation, becomes India’s 5th edtech unicorn.
• Zomato scraps its grocery delivery plans and health supplements businesses.
• Blue-collar worker app Apna acquires unicorn status after $100 million fundraise led by Tiger Global.
• PayPal acquires Japanese Unicorn buy now, pay later firm Paidy in $2.7 billion deal.
• Amazon Pay partners Kuvera to offer wealth management services.
• Paytm Money launches investment advisory marketplace on platform.
• Myntra and Flipkart announce Strategic Partnership with British Sports Brand Slazenger.
• Govt appoints K Rajaraman as telecom secretary.
• Former SBI Chief Rajnish Kumar joins Andhra government in advisory role.
• Microsoft announces share buyback of up to $60 billion, ups dividend; names Brad Smith Vice Chair.
• Yahoo names tinder CEO Jim Lanzone as its next chief.
• Zomato cofounder Gaurav Gupta quits two months after IPO.