India and Uzbekistan signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT)

♦ India and Uzbekistan signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) to assure appropriate protection to investors of the two countries.

♦ The Bilateral Investment Treaty was signed by Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman and H.E. Mr. Khodjayev Jamshid Abdukhakimovich, Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan at Tashkent. 

♦ Investments in various fields, including pharma and healthcare, textiles and auto components, agriculture and food processing, and mining and jewellery sector are in various stages of discussion.

♦ India is among the top 10 trade partners of Uzbekistan with bilateral trade $756.60 million (as per Uzbek statistics-2023) is well below potential.

S& P Global Ratings

♦ S&P Global Ratings maintained its growth forecast for India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at 6.8% for current fiscal (2024-25). In its latest Asia-Pacific economic outlook report, it also kept its forecast of 6.9% for the next fiscal year (2025-26). 

♦ The Indian economy grew 8.2 per cent in the last fiscal (2023-24).

♦ S&P expects inflation to average 4.5 per cent in the 2024-25 fiscal.

Tata Consultancy Services

♦ According to the Kantar BrandZ latest report, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was ranked the most valuable brand for the third consecutive year with a brand value of $49.7 billion. HDFC Bank ($38.3 billion), Airtel ($29.9 billion), Infosys ($25.3 billion) and State Bank of India ($18 billion) were ranked among the top five in the Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Indian Brands Report 2024. ICICI Bank, Jio, Asian Paints, HCL Tech and LIC also featured in the top ten rankings.

♦ The report noted that the combined brand value of the top 75 brands in India saw a 19 per cent increase over 2023 to $450.5 billion which was led by a diverse set of brands.

♦ Zomato, which is ranked on 31 spot, was seen as the “Fastest Riser” with 100 percent growth in brand value year-on-year on the back of innovation and expansion into quick commerce.

S& P Global latest report

♦ According to the S&P Global latest report, India will become the world's third-largest economy by 2030-31, with an expected annual growth rate of 6.7 percent this fiscal year (2024-25). According to the report, titled "India Forward", continued reforms are crucial to improving business transactions and logistics, boosting private sector investment, and reducing reliance on public capital.

♦ The report highlighted that reforms are key to sustaining this momentum, with an anticipated 8.2 percent growth in FY2024. 

Highlights:

♦ Infrastructure development and geopolitical strategies will play an important role in maximising trade benefits.

♦ The report also mentioned that foreign inflows into Indian government bonds have surged since the country joined major emerging market indexes, with further growth anticipated.
 

The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)

♦ The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has selected IT major Infosys to develop its NextGen digital platform.

♦ This initiative will focus on providing omnichannel experiences and data-driven hyper-personalization for customers, agents, and employees. 

♦ Infosys will provide LIC with turnkey system integration services using AI capabilities from Infosys Topaz and DevSecOps services from Infosys Cobalt.
What is NextGen Platform?

♦ The NextGen Digital Platform will be modular, flexible, cloud-native, and have platform driven architecture which will be capable of quickly adopting innovative technologies, new products and features.

♦ This platform will form the foundation for building high value business applications such as the Customer & Sales Super Apps, Portals and Digital Branch for LIC.

Indias growth forecast for the Financial Year 2024-25

♦ The World Bank has raised India’s growth forecast for the Financial Year 2024-25 to 7%, up from an earlier projection of 6.6 percent. World Bank projected this in its report, 'India Development Update: India’s Trade Opportunities in a Changing Global Context', released in New Delhi on 3 September 2024. 
Highlights

♦ The report underscores India’s status as the fastest-growing major economy, with an impressive growth rate of 8.2% recorded in FY23-24.

♦ The World Bank projects India's growth rate to stay strong at 7% for 2024-25, as noted in the India Development Update. While a slight slowdown in industry is expected, the recovery in agriculture will help balance this out, and the services sector will continue to perform well.

♦ India's medium-term economic growth rate will remain strong at an average of 6.7% over the next two fiscal years.

♦ The main challenges to India's economy include job creation. The urban unemployment rate remains high at an average of 17%, the World Bank said.

Gross GST collection in August

♦ Gross GST collection in August 2024 recorded a 10 percent jump to Rs.1,74,962 crore. The country’s revenue from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) had stood at Rs.1,59,069 crore in August 2023.

♦ GST collections in July rose 10.3 percent to over Rs 1.82 lakh crore.

♦ The GST refunds during August 2024 stood at Rs 24,460 crore. After adjusting the refunds, India’s net GST collection rose 6.5 per cent to Rs 1,50,501 crore in August 2024, compared with Rs 1,41,346 crore a year ago.