Current Affairs - Business

The apex bank of the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred the Equitas Small Finance Bank (ESFB) from opening new branches. The decision comes after ESFB missed the deadline to list its shares on stock exchanges. It also froze the salary of ESFB's Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Vasudevan PN. As per the RBI's licensing conditions issued in November 2014, a small finance bank's shares have to be mandatorily listed on the stock exchanges within 3 years of touching a net worth of Rs 500 crore & 3-year period of ESFB lapsed on September 4, 2019. It had received the license in July 2016.

Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd (CDEL) closed the deal to sell the Global Village Technology Park in Bengaluru to New York-based private equity giant Blackstone Group Llp. CDEL owns Coffee Day Global Ltd (coffee business), Sical Logistics Ltd (integrated logistics), Tanglin Developments Ltd ,Way2Wealth (financial services), and Coffee Day Hotels and Resorts Ltd (hospitality)obligations of at least ₹7,653 crore.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) to place orders worth around ₹45,000 crore with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to acquire 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas fighters. The IAF issued a tender for 83 LCAs about two years ago and the project was stuck over the pricing issue as the government and the Air Force felt that the price offered by the HAL was slightly higher. The Defence Ministry determined the cost of the 83 LCA Mark 1A aircraft around ₹45,000 crore and the Indian Air Force is now expected to place orders for these planes in the next few weeks.

IndiGo announced its partnership with online video streaming service SonyLIV to offer passengers entertainment content at 25. The airline is expanding its footprint globally resulting in longer flights for its passengers calling for the need to provide entertainment content onboard. The airline has 50% of its new destinations in 2019 will be international ones. The passengers will have to download the app and the video content before they board their flight.

Mukesh Ambani's Jio announced the launch of its fiber-based broadband service, offering minimum internet speed of 100 Mbps for 699 a month, a rate 35-45 per second. Jio Fiber will offer free voice calling anywhere in the country, unlimited data and video conferencing. Jio Fiber - Plans and Advantages The annual subscribers will get 4K set top box, for streaming TV channels, free while a 4K television set would be complementary with plans with higher payouts such as 'Gold'.