What is it? Tata Motors’
rank in research and development (R&D) spend among 2,500 companies analysed
by the European Commission.
Why is it important? Tata Motors is the only Indian
firm among the top 50 companies in the latest annual Industrial R&D
Investment Scoreboard. It has moved up from the 104th position last year. It
also recorded the largest increase in R&D investments among the top firms,
though most of this R&D is at its UK subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover.
Tell me more: The top five ranking companies
are Volkswagen, Samsung, Microsoft, Intel and Novartis. There are 26 Indian
companies in the list of 2,500 firms compared to 829 companies from the US, 360
from Japan, 301 from China, 114 from Taiwan, 80 from Switzerland and 27 each
from Canada and Israel.
0.7%
What is it? General insurance penetration, or insurance premium as a
percentage of national income, in India in 2014-15.
Why is it important? It has come down from 0.80% in
2013-14 despite an increase in per capita premium. Reflects corporate
underperformance with respect to GDP growth rate. While GDP grew by 7.3% in 2014-15 compared
to 6.9% the previous fiscal, corporate executives have said they don’t see that
reflecting in their revenue and other metrics. According to Universal Sompo General Insurance
executive chairman O.N. Singh, the decline in general insurance penetration has
also been because “some products like health insurance have been taken away by
the life insurers”.
Tell me more: The general insurance density
(per capita premium) increased to Rs.686 in 2014-15 from Rs.664 in the previous fiscal.
Rs.1,719 crore
What is it? The amount 1,181 companies listed on the BSEhave spent towards healthcare
and sanitation for corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in 2014-15,
according to a report. This included conducting of health camps, construction
of medical facilities, building toilets and provision of safe drinking water.
Why is it important? This is 27% of the total amount
spent by these companies on CSR initiatives. This partly explains the
performance of Swachh Bharat and Swachh Vidyalaya. Work has commenced in
building nearly 20 lakh toilet
seats(includes individual household toilets, community toilets and
public toilets) in addition to the 6.2 lakh toilet seats built up to October
2015.
Tell me more: The CSR spend by the 1,181
companies amounted to Rs.6,400 crore in 2014-15. India legislated that certain
classes of companies (subject to some criteria) have to spend at least 2% of
their three-year annual average net profit towards CSR activities.
$238 million
What is it? Box office collections of Star Wars: The Force Awakens over the weekend in the US and Canada.
Why is it important? It is the highest-ever in
Hollywood’s history, beating the previous record of $208.8 by Jurassic World (released this June) in its first
weekend. Its estimated worldwide ticket sale was $517 million until Sunday,
just $8 million short of Jurassic
World’s global sales (including China) in its June opening. However, the
latest Star Wars movie will be released in China,
the world’s second-largest movie market, only on 9 January. This makes it a
likely contender to be the highest-grossing movie of all time. Avatar is the current record-holder with $2.8
billion worldwide after its December 2009 release.
Tell me more: Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the seventh
instalment in the science-fiction franchise created by George Lucas in 1977 and
is a battle between the good and evil in a faraway galaxy.
1.2%
What is it? The error percentage in
revenue forecast by the Indian government between April-September 2015.
Why is it important? It is significantly less than the
error percentage recorded in the first half of 2014-15—16%. And, the forecast
error this year is also “less than 20% of the average for the last few years
in all categories”. Better revenue estimates help the government plan their policies
better and have an effect on its budgetary targets for the financial year,
which are usually slashed at the end of the year due to errors in revenue
estimation.
Tell me more: In the first half of 2014-15, the
government over estimated its tax revenues by Rs.1,05,000 crore.
-liveMint
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