Business & Finance - Current Affairs for March, 2015

The decision on gas pooling for the sector will help save a subsidy of Rs 1,550 crore annually. the move will also increase the operational efficiency of existing fertilizer manufacturing units. The Cabinet also gave its nod for establishing 2,000 kilometers Jagdishpur-Haldia gas pipeline to feed shut fertiliser and power plants and city gas. The Cabinet also decided to revive the closed units of fertilizers in Gorakhpur and Barauni through bidding process.

The announcements by the two United Arab Emirates carriers-Emirates Airways and Etihad Airways follow similar moves by many European airlines, Canada and Australia to implement the so-called rule of two which is already standard in the United States.

Idea Cellular, the country’s third largest operator bid a maximum of Rs.30,306.98 Crore to buy spectrum in the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2,100 MHz bands. Airtel and Vodafone bid Rs.29,130.20 crore and Rs.29,959.74 crore, respectively, in the same bands.

It issued bonus debentures amounting to Rs. 7725.76 crore to Government of India by virtue of its 74.96% shareholding in NTPC.

Union Bank of India collaborated with IRCTC and NPCI and on 23rd Mar’15 launched its RuPay pre-paid debit card service for the benefit of railway passengers. Passengers would be able to book railway tickets and make online payments through this debit card launched by the IRCTC.

The satellite which was among the seven of the constellation would provide navigational services to the region. The satellite will provide navigation, tracking and mapping services and will be the first one in the region of South Asia.

With this move, Facebook entered into the e-commerce business.

Mirach accused Sahara’s representatives of breaching an exclusivity contract with it following public comments by its CEO Saransh Sharma regarding the group’s acquisition strategy of the Sahara assets.

India accounted for 15% of the global arms imports from 2010 to 2014. "Between 2005-2009 and 2010-2014, India's arms imports increased by 140%.

Earlier this week, the I-T Department had slapped 10,247 crore rupees tax demand on Cairn Energy Plc for an alleged 24,500 crore rupees worth capital gains it made in 2006 while transferring all its India assets to a new company, Cairn India, and getting it listed on the stock exchanges.

LIC has taken the task of supporting Indian Railways and it is a commercial decision. The investment would be done in bonds issued by various railway entities such as Indian Railways Finance Corporation, beginning next fiscal. A MoU was signed in this regard in the presence of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

The TCS was ranked as the overall number one in a process that assessed 688 organisations across Europe.

“INAM-PRO” is a web based application (www.inampro.nic.in) for Infrastructure and Materials Providers and would act as a common platform for Infrastructure materials providers’ viz. Cement Companies, Infrastructure providers, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and other stakeholders.

After the change in management and control, the company will be renamed Reliance Defence Ltd. and Anil Ambani will be its Chairman.

The agreement was signed between visiting Spanish Defence Minister Pedro Moremes and his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar. Defence Ministry officials said that this is the primary pact that a country agrees to before embarking on deeper talks on defence cooperation.

Indian Railways Catering &Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Railways and country's largest travel and ticketing site, has appointed Amazon.in as its official shopping partner for two years.