Petroleum products to be out of GST for now: CEA Arvind Subramanian
Petrol
and other petroleum products would not be brought under the GST regime
for some time after its roll out, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind
Subramanian said today. "Constitutionally petrol and other petroleum
products will be within the GST system. But it would be out of the GST
dispensation after its implementation for some time", Subramanian told
reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by ISI here. He said
that the GST council would decide for how long these products wo
[….] Read more at:
SEBI
Sebi mulls collective issue of orders, not via a single officer
In
a bid to improve accountability and ensure every order is looked upon
as a regulatory action, the Securities and Exchange Board of India
(Sebi) might get its orders passed by a panel. Currently, orders are
passed by a single officer from one department. “To make orders a
collective responsibility of the regulator and to prevent one officer
from being singled out, we are mulling to have a panel to pass orders,”
said a source. Another source says this would increase the quality of
orders and ensure [….] Read more at:
Miscellaneous Laws
IRDAI to liberalise norms for trade credit insurance
In
a move that can positively impact the availability of finance for
trade, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India
(IRDAI) will liberalise norms for trade credit insurance. Trade credit
insurance is generally offered for short-term receivables in business
and is a tool to protect businesses from sudden or unexpected customer
insolvency. According to Suresh Mathur, Senior Joint Director
(Non-Life), IRDAI, recent changes in the economy, especially in micro,
small and [….] Read more at:
Rules eased: auditors need to report to Centre corporate frauds of over Rs. 1 cr KR SRIVATS
Statutory
auditors will now have to mandatorily report to the Centre all
corporate frauds amounting to Rs. 1 crore or above. By specifying a
threshold of Rs. 1 crore, the Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA) has now
done away with the requirement to report immaterial frauds to the
Centre. The Ministry has also now spelt out the procedure for fraud
reporting to the Centre. First, the auditor has to inform the Board or
audit committee and seek their views within 45 days. On receipt of audit committee [….] Read more at:
US, UN welcome Modi-Sharif meeting in Pakistan
The US and UN on Saturday
welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Pakistan,
saying improved ties between the two neighbours will benefit the entire
region. "We welcome the December 25 visit between PM Modi and PM (Nawaz)
Sharif. Better relations between neighbors India and Pakistan will
benefit the people of the entire region," US State Department spokesman
John Kirby said. The spokesman was responding to a question on Modi's
surprise visit to Lahore, where [….] Read more at:
Startups get $8.4 bn funding in 2015; Nearly 1k deals inked
Making
it a year of startup s, Indian and foreign investors have pumped in a
whopping USD 8.4 billion in new ventures including e-commerce platforms
in 2015 through close to 1,000 deals, even as questions have begun to be
asked about their hefty valuations. Those opening the purse for Indian
start-up s included industry titans like Ratan Tata and N R Narayana
Murthy as also marquee global investors like Alibaba and Softbank.
According to data compiled by domestic technology and startup b [….]
Read more at:
Onion exports fall 18% during Apr-Sep on govt restrictions
Onion
exports declined by 18 percent to 4.86 lakh tonnes in the first half of
the fiscal on the government's steps to curb outbound shipments. The
exports stood at 4,85,930.51 tonnes during April- September period of
the current 2015-16 fiscal compared with 5,89,900.89 tonnes in the
corresponding period of the previous year, according to data compiled by
National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF).
Exports dipped during the first six months of the fiscal as the gove
[….] Read more at:
Reliance Jio to launch 4G services for employees today
On
the eve of Reliance's Founder Chairman Dhirubhai Ambani's 83rd
anniversary, Reliance Jio will roll out its 4G service for its employees
at a mega event in Navi Mumbai. Shah Rukh Khan and AR Rahman will host
the function at Reliance Corporate Park on December 27. The event will
also be streamed to about 1000 locations around the world via Jio's own
digital network. While an expected 35,000 attendees will witness the
launch at the venue, tens of thousands more will join in virtual
[….] Read more at:
Vadra slams exemptions granted to VIPs in rationing scheme
Robert Vadra - the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi – on Saturday
criticised the exemptions granted to VIPs vehicles by Delhi government
in its 'even-odd scheme' to contain pollution in the national capital.
In his Facebook post Vadra slammed the Kejriwal government and wrote,
"Odd and Even ways!! Creating parallel lists of exemption, is complete
hypocrisy. If a law is implemented in the interest of the people, we all
must adhere, and not be VIPs." The Delhi governme [….] Read more
at:
Economy & News
India may be third largest economy after 2030: UK think tank
India
could become the world's third largest economy after 2030 and its
ascension could see France and Italy kicked out of the exclusive G8
group or its membership increased to 10 to accommodate India and Brazil,
according to a new study. According to a report by the UK think tank
Centre for Economics Business and Research (CEBR), China will overtake
the US as the largest economy in the world in 2029 with the US slipping
to second place and India close behind at third. India's projected
GDP [….] Read more at:
Allow infra firms to access medium term foreign debt: Centre tells RBI
The
government has asked the Reserve Bank to reconsider its external
commercial borrowing (ECB) norms to allow foreign currency debt to
infrastructure sector for medium term also. In a letter to RBI Governor
Raghuram Rajan, Road, Transport and Highways Secretary Vijay Chhibber
has urged him to examine the ECB policy to allow overseas borrowings
under medium term also. The RBI, in November, allowed infrastructure
companies to access long-term foreign currency [….] Read more at:
Mann ki Baat: Action Plan on 'Start-up India' to be unveiled on January 16, says PM Narendra Modi
Seeking
to boost entrepreneurship at the grassroots level, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi today said the Action Plan of the 'Start-up India,
Stand-up India' will be unveiled on January 16
and urged the states to help spread this campaign across the country's
nook and corner. Modi, who had made the announcement about the campaign
in his last Independence Day address, said the programme will be
designed to suit Indian conditions and focus would be on ensuring
benefits for the youth [….] Read more at:
India did well in year of global economic turmoil: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
Voicing
"great satisfaction" over performance of the Indian economy in "a year
of turmoil and volatility" globally, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today
dismissed grumblings about the economy not having taken off as
"cynicism -- a way of life in India". Looking back at 2015, Jaitley said
India has been the bright spot with growth prospects of 7-7.5 per cent
despite global slowdown and adversities, and expressed optimism that the
growth rate which is "quite good" would impro [….] Read more at:
CCI doesn't want orders stuck down on technical issues: Chairman Ashok Chawla
Weeks
after Compat set aside the order against cement companies on technical
grounds, CCI Chairman Ashok Chawla has said all rules of judicial system
are not applicable to the regulator, which is a body of experts with
each of them bringing their own inputs. He also asserted that the
tribunal focusing substantially on procedural and technical issues would
mean that "substantiative points of law or issues on merit don't get
decided easily". Competition Commission of India (CCI) does not want
its [….] Read more at:
Thanks & Regards,
Meetesh Shiroya
