- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
HERE are news in brief on Indian economy and business for Monday, February 26, 2024:
Embattled digital payments company Paytm on Monday confirmed its CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s resignation as non-executive chairman and board member of its payments bank unit amid a board overhaul following the Reserve Bank of India’s directive to wind down operations by March 15 due to compliance issues and supervisory concerns that triggered a meltdown in Paytm’s stock. Srinivasan Sridhar, former chairman of state-owned Central Bank of India, former Bank of Baroda executive director Ashok Kumar Garg and two retired Indian Administrative Service officers will join the payments bank’s board, Paytm said in an exchange filing on Monday.
Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday exhorted the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to hold monthly meetings with startup and fintech firms to address their concerns, officials said. At a meeting with top executives of about 50 startup and fintech firms, she also asked the department of financial services to organise a meeting between start-ups and law enforcement agencies. The meeting comes at a time when RBI’s action against Paytm Payments Bank has put the spotlight on regulatory compliance in the fintech industry. “Sitharaman exhorted the regulators, including RBI, that they may hold meetings via virtual mode once a month to discuss any questions/queries/concerns of the startups and fintech companies,” an official statement said.
India on Monday expressed “serious” concerns in a WTO meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, over the increase in the use of trade protectionist measures by certain countries in the name of environment protection. The remarks assume significance as the country has earlier flagged issues over the European Union’s (EU) decision to impose carbon tax (a kind of import tax) on sectors such as steel and fertiliser; and adoption of deforestation regulation by the 27-nation bloc. Speaking at a session on sustainable development and policy space for industrialisation, Indian commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said developing countries require flexibility in the existing WTO (World Trade Organization) agreements to overcome the constraints faced by them in their industrialisation.
Raghu Vamsi Machine Tools Pvt Ltd, a manufacturer of high precision engineering components, mechanical sub-assemblies and tooling systems for aerospace & defence, oil & gas and power transmission sectors, based in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, has developed a fully indigenous micro turbojet engine – INDRA RV25: 240N, the Times of India reported. Officials of the company said while the engine, developed in academic partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad, is mainly meant for unmanned aerial vehicles or drones, it can also be used in air taxis, jetpacks, power generation and for other purposes, the report added. The engine has been developed in line with ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (sel-reliant India) initiatives.
Indian Army chief Gen Manoj Pande on Monday said leveraging both the MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and the start-up ecosystem has been a “focus area” for the force as part of the pursuit of “Atmanirbharta” (self-reliant) in meeting the capability development requirements. Gen Pande said this during a visit to the Maharashtra MSME (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) Defence Expo – 2024 in Pune, the defence ministry said in a statement. The expo, organised by the government of Maharashtra, showcases the indigenous capabilities and innovations of the MSMEs, private companies, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratories, and Defence Public Sector Unit setups in Maharashtra, it said.
India’s economic crime-fighting agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said it has attached flats in Noida in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and fixed deposits worth Rs 2.18 crore (£207,510) in connection with a 2018 money-laundering case against journalist Upendra Rai and some others. A provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act has been issued to attach these properties. “The immovable properties are in the form of flats owned by accused Upendra Rai located at Noida, Uttar Pradesh and movable properties are in the form of fixed deposits (FDs) and balance in savings account,” the federal agency said in a statement. Rai is the CMD and editor-in-chief of Hindi news channel Bharat Express.
(With agencies)
