FM: PROCESS OF REFORMS TO CONTINUE
Arun Jaitley said that the
Government is committed to facilitate trade and industry in the country so that
the momentum of the growth continues to move-up. He asked the captains of
Indian industry to comply with the recent recommendations of the GST Council
with regard to reduction of rates of various items and pass on the benefits to
the consumers at large. Shri Jaitley said that the process of reforms in case
of direct and indirect taxes will continue in order to facilitate and further
expedite the process of ease of doing business in the country. He said that
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has brought a change in the credit culture
in the country and is helping the Banking Sector in making fast recoveries. The
Finance Minister said that GST is now on the track and is in process of fast
settling down. The Finance Minster said that the thrust of the Government is to
lower the tax rate and widen the tax base and keep the revenue collections
moving-up. He said that the indirect tax collections will further increase in
future. Jaitley further said that India continues to be the sweet spot as far as
the Foreign Direct Investment is concerned and is the fastest growing economy
in the world. He concluded that the Government is committed to keep this growth
momentum high and inclusive to ensure that the benefits of growth reaches to
all sections of the society especially to the vulnerable and weaker sections. FICCI
President also congratulated the Finance Minister for the decisive action taken
on many economic fronts including Landmark Reforms like Introduction of GST and
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Act among others. To continue with the process of
Direct Tax reforms. President, FICCI requested the Finance Minister to consider
lowering of the Corporate Tax Rate to 25% for all companies irrespective of
their turnover. A rationalisation of the Corporate Tax Rate would make the
Indian Corporate Sector globally competitive. The point on further
consolidation of the Banking Sector and the need for divestment of Government
Shareholding in some of the banks was also discussed. Another related point was
the need to have Development Finance Institutions in the country to be able to
provide long term finance for growth of the industrial and infrastructure
sectors. The importance of the NBFC sector was highlighted and members drew
attention to growth in the consumer durables and real estate sector, much of
which was supported by the NBFC sector. In this context it was mentioned that
while the liquidity situation in the market had improved, some more steps were
needed to restore the situation to complete normalcy. Discussions were also
held on the need to take all possible steps to improve employment generation in
the economy. President, FICCI urged the Finance Minister to reintroduce
investment allowance linking it with employment generation A request was also
made to extend the Phased Manufacturing Program to other sectors where the
country is largely dependent on imports.
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INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY CODE INTRODUCED COMPETITION FOR
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND CAPITAL
Injeti Srinivas, has
stated that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code) is a very deep
economic reform initiated in the recent years in the country and yet there is
no parallel to the swift enactment and implementation of the law. Tracing the
path of economic reforms in the country, he stated that some businessmen
earlier had 'vested interests' in failing businesses, and as a result, there
was no competitive spirit among the entrepreneurs. The Code has introduced
competition for entrepreneurship and capital It encourages entrepreneurs to
compete with one another to utilise the resources locked up in inefficient or
defunct firms. Srinivas further stated that about 4000 applications for
initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process were withdrawn before
their admission indicating early settlement of default by corporate debtors. The
addition to NPAs and overall level of NPAs in the banking system has started
declining, he added. The Code has brought discipline in the economic system and
has proved to be the most successful law after independence. He commended the
performance of NCLT in disposal of matters, both in terms of quality and
quantity. While appreciating the performance of insolvency professionals,
Srinivas hoped that the Graduate Insolvency Programme (GIP) conceived by the
IBBI and to be delivered by the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs would
bring more efficiency in to the system.
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ICICI-VIDEOCON CASE: MCA FINDS VIOLATIONS BY DEEPAK KOCHHAR,
VENUGOPAL DHOOT
The ministry of corporate
affairs (MCA) has discovered at least 25 violations of the Companies Act by
NuPower Renewables Ltd and Videocon Industries Ltd, the companies at the heart
of the controversial ICICI Bank-Videocon loan case, two people aware of the
matter said. The report prepared by MCA’s Mumbai regional director will be
submitted to the union finance ministry this week. The alleged breaches,
however, do not pertain to transactions where charges of conflict of interest
and quid pro quo have been levelled. The MCA had initiated a probe against the
companies last year to examine violations of Companies Act. The findings
indicate that the companies defaulted on at least 25 occasions and were in
contravention of the provisions of the Companies Act.
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FIRE AT CGO COMPLEX: NCLAT SUSPENDS HEARING TILL FURTHER
NOTICE
The National Company Law
Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Wednesday suspended its hearing till further notice
after a fire broke out at Pandit Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan of the CGO complex,
where it is situated. The appellate tribunal was scheduled to hear some
important matters listed before it, including matters of Jyoti structures,
Dishnet wireless, Monnet Ispat and Liberty House. Due to fire incident in Pt
Deen Dayal Antyodaya Bhawan today morning, the Court proceedings etc. of NCLAT
shall remain suspended till further notice, said a notice on the portal of
NCLAT. When contacted, an NCLAT official said that they would take time as they
would have to inspect the premise and assess the probable damages. Once it is
opened, we would go inside and inspect the condition of the premise and then
would decide after seeing various conditions, he said.
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NCLT NOTICE TO ESSAR POWER ON L&T ARM’S PLEA AT AHMEDABAD
BENCH
The Ahmedabad bench of
National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday issued a notice to Essar Power
after L&T Infrastructure Finance Company approached it to initiate
insolvency proceedings against the Essar Group company. L&T has approached
the two-member bench comprising Harihar Prakash Chaturvedi and Manorama Kumari
for non-repayment of 45.5 crore in dues. The bench, in its notice asked Essar
Power, to present its arguments before L&T’s plea is admitted. The matter
will come on board in April this year. The L&T group company had lent the
amount to Essar Power Gujarat, subsidiary of Essar Power. As the subsidiary
defaulted on its debt repayment, L&T Infrastructure approached Essar Power
for being the guarantor. However, the parent company too failed to repay the
dues and L&T decided to file interlocutory application under Section 7 of
the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to start corporate insolvency
resolution process against the Essar Group company.
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RBI FINES ICICI, SBI AND 17 OTHER BANKS FOR NON-COMPLIANCE ON
SWIFT USE
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has fined at least 19 lenders for failing to comply with its guidelines
on the use of global payments network SWIFT. The RBI imposed the fines over the
past four days, according to stock exchange filings by the banks, though
specifics of the non-compliance were not disclosed. Four bankers whose
institutions were fined said that most of the issues related either to
interpretation of the RBI's guidelines or minor technical matters. The
penalties totalled more than 400 million rupees ($5.67 million) and ranged from
10 million rupees to 40 million rupees for each bank, the filings showed.
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REAL ESTATE FIRMS MOVE SC AGAINST 'FINANCIAL CREDITOR' TAG FOR
HOMEBUYERS
Real estate companies such
as Wave Group’s Wave Megacity Centre, among others, are said to have approached
the Supreme Court challenging the government’s decision to grant homebuyers the
status of financial creditors. In their petition before the top court, these
real estate companies have claimed that granting financial creditor status to
all homebuyers and real estate allottees will complicate the situation as they
will now have to accommodate all such people to the committee of creditors.
These companies have been fighting battles on many fronts. Adding homebuyers to
the mix has only added confusion. In fact, if they are not part of the legal
process, the chances of them getting at least their money back is much more,
said a source close to a company against which insolvency proceedings are on.
The Parliament had, on August 11 last year, passed a Bill to amend the
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, allowing homebuyers to be treated as
financial creditors. The petition by real estate companies comes nearly a month
after the top court had stayed further proceedings against Ansal Housing in a
similar case. Hearing the petition moved by Ansal Housing challenging the
government’s decision, a two-judge Bench of Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman and
Vineet Saran had issued notice to the central government and stayed further
proceedings against the company. The case is likely to be heard next on March
25. Even in the case of justifiable delay, the petitioner will be faced with no
alternative but to refund amounts as demanded by such allottees that approach
the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). This, in turn, would have a cascading
effect and significantly hamper construction work of all ongoing projects being
developed, Wave Megacity Centre has said in its petition.
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SC HEARING ON CHALLENGE AGAINST RBI FEBRUARY 12 CIRCULAR ON
WEDNESDAY
The Supreme Court is
scheduled to start hearing in the power, sugar, and shipping companies
challenge to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) February 12 circular from
Wednesday. With a total exposure of nearly Rs 2 trillion in the power sector
alone companies hoping for a verdict in their favour may have to face some disappointment,
experts said. Value maximization is the main purpose of the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and that has been upheld by the Supreme Court time and
again via various judgments. If the petitioners limit themselves to this line
of argument, there is some hope for them. It is going to be tough otherwise,
Saurav Kumar, said. While the power companies are hoping that there would be
resolutions outside the court, they had also pinned their hopes on a report by
cabinet secretary-led High Level Empowered Committee (HLEC). The HLEC had come
up with a report suggesting ways to resolve stress in the sector. Though the
government claimed that the recommendations made by HLEC were under action
through various schemes, APP said that there has been little or no action on
the issue. In their petition before the top court, the association had sought
that there should be no coercive action against them until the recommendations
of the HLEC were implemented. The APP had also sought that issues that had not
been taken up by HLEC should be taken up by and directions be passed by the
court. In its petition, the association has also drawn the court's attention
towards the poor state of power distribution companies, payments defaults by
states and other issues pertaining to irregular coal supply. HLEC, the
association alleged, had not taken up issues related to regulations governing
change in law and subsequent pass through of any cost escalation due to the
same. HLEC has not addressed a crucial term of reference in relation to the
changes required in provisioning norms/ IBC to facilitate restructuring of
stressed assets in the power sector, APP had said in its petition. Legally,
experts said, there is little hope for power companies as acts and rules do not
favour them, experts said. One argument the petitioners could forward for the
court’s considerations is that the power sector is heavily regulated and thus
they faced problems. This is perhaps the only hard argument they have, Kumar
said.
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IBBI SUGGESTS GROUND RULES FOR RESOLUTION PROFESSSIONALS,
COMMITTEE OF CREDITORS
The Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has come up with a charter of responsibilities
for Insolvency Resolution Professionals (IRPs) and Committee of Creditors (CoC)
so that stakeholders have a complete and clear understanding of their roles and
responsibilities in a Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under the
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). This charter, which is not mandatory, has
been prepared in consultation with the three insolvency professional agencies
that have been set up by the CA Institute, the Institute of Company Secretaries
and the Cost Accountants Institute. This charter is only indicative and meant
for the sole purpose of educating the stakeholders, said an IBBI official. While
specifying their roles, the IBC does not envisage one assuming the role of the
other. It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had, in a recent decision,
observed that the commercial wisdom of the CoC has been given paramount status
without any judicial intervention for ensuring completion of the stated
processes within the timeline prescribed by the IBC. The legislature consciously
has not provided any ground to challenge the commercial wisdom of the
individual financial creditors or their collective decision before the
adjudicating authority, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the apex
court had ruled. That is made non-justiciable, it said. Meanwhile, the
government has clarified who can represent a financial creditor and initiate a
CIRP under the Code. So now a guardian, an executor or administrator of an
estate of a financial creditor, a trustee (including debenture trustee) and a
person duly authorised by the board of directors of a company can file an
application for initiating CIRP on behalf of the financial creditor.
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IL&FS BOARD CHARGES FORMER DIRECTORS OF MONEY LAUNDERING,
CRIMINAL INTENT
Tasked with cleaning up of
mammoth financial mess at embattled IL&FS, its government-appointed board
has charged 14 former directors of group firm IL&FS Financial Services Ltd
(IFIN) of facilitating money laundering, sanctioning loans in violation of
rules and causing huge financial stress and losses to the company. In
show-cause notices issued to the 14 former directors, the new management has
charged them of having sanctioned loans deceptively to external and group
companies with sole objective to infringe RBI guidelines of excessive exposure
of IFIN to intra-group companies. They have also been accused of extending
loans for criminal intent of falsification of repayment by a number of
borrowers, including some entities associated with large corporate groups. The
notices, dated February 27, have asked former directors to reply within seven
days upon receipt as to why departmental and legal actions should not be taken
against them for their misconduct, dereliction of duties, gross negligence and
acts of conspiracy and getting unlawful gains for oneself and others. Officials
said no reply has been received from any of the 14 noticees and the board is
set to follow up the notices with stern action, which may include filing of
cases. In the show-cause notice, former IFIN directors have been accused of
sanctioning loans worth thousands of crores to certain entities by overlooking
negative assessment by the credit risk assessment group and without recording
any cogent justification, despite having full knowledge that the assets of the
borrower entities were stressed. In some cases, the notices have alleged, the
former directors were responsible for sanctioning loans without any security or
with inadequate collaterals. The former directors have also been charged of
facilitating money laundering by some entities who diverted the loan amount to
individual accounts of directors of the borrower company, including those from
the IL&FS group itself. As such individuals were allowed to go scot-free,
it showed conspiracy in loan sanctioning, the notice said.
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SEBI DIRECTS PROMOTERS, DIRECTORS OF SUPREME TEX TO DISGORGE
OVER RS 18 CRORE
Markets regulator Sebi
Tuesday directed 10 promoters and directors of Supreme Tex Mart to disgorge
over Rs 18 crore of unlawful gains made by them while trading in the scrip of
the firm. Sebi in its interim order passed in 2017 prima facie found that the
entities had engaged in the manipulative practice of sending SMS to the
investors recommending buying of Supreme Tex's shares. In a fresh order
Tuesday, Sebi noted that the promoters and directors of the firm had offloaded
over 27 per cent shares of the company, making unlawful gains of over Rs 14
crore, during the investigation period between June-October 2016. The connected
entities acted in concert and were part of a fraudulent scheme to plant
unsolicited and misleading advice recommending purchase of shares of Supreme
Tex Mart Ltd, with a view to fraudulently induce gullible investors to purchase
shares of the company and succeeded in offloading large number of shares in the
secondary market Sebi said. Accordingly, the Securities and Exchange Board of
India (Sebi) has directed the promoters and directors of the firm to disgorge
Rs 14.25 crore with an interest of Rs 3.97 crore, a total of Rs 18.23 crore.
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VODA IDEA, AIRTEL, JIO PAY SPECTRUM DUES OF OVER RS 6,000 CR
IN MARCH; RCOM YET TO PAY
Telecom operators Vodafone
Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have paid the government about Rs 6,000
crore in spectrum dues slated for March 03, but debt-ridden Reliance
Communications has so far not deposited its dues of Rs 21.5 crore, sources
said. A source privy to the development told that India's largest telecom
operator Vodafone Idea has made payment of over Rs 3,042.7 crore to the
Department of Telecom towards its spectrum dues (that is, deferred payment
installment for spectrum bought in auctions). The due date for the said payment
was March 3, and Vodafone Idea made its payment on March 2, the source said. While
Bharti Airtel made payment of Rs 1,918 crore and Reliance Jio of Rs 1,053 crore
by the due date, the embattled Reliance Communications has not yet made payment
of Rs 21.5 crore as on the due date. The sources aware of the stipulated
procedures said that telecom companies are given a grace period of 10 days
after the due date by the DoT to make the payment, failing which a further
decision is taken on such matters.
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RBI TO INFUSE RS 12,500 CR THROUGH OMO ON THURSDAY
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) on Tuesday said it would infuse Rs 12,500 crore into the financial system
through open market operations. The central bank said it has decided to
purchase certain government securities under Open Market Operations (OMO) for
an aggregate amount of Rs 12,500 crore on March 7, 2019 through multi-security
auction using the multiple price method. The decision on OMO is based on an
assessment of prevailing liquidity conditions and also of the durable liquidity
needs going forward it added. There is an overall aggregate ceiling of Rs 125
billion for all securities in the basket put together. There is no security
wise notified amount, RBI said. It further said the eligible participants
should submit their offers in electronic format on RBI Core Banking Solution (E
Kuber) system before noon on Thursday. The result of the auction will be
announced on the same day and payment to successful participants will be made
during banking hours on the following day.
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‘INSURERS MUST PROVIDE FOR IL&FS HIT’
Chairman of the Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Subhash Chandra Khuntia,
has said that insurers must make provisions on their exposure to IL&FS
Although insurance companies were required to make provisions earlier, IRDAI’s
reiteration comes in the wake of a tribunal order that IL&FS and group
companies should not be classified as non-performing assets (NPAs). Khuntia
said that insurance companies need to be proactive to protect the interest of
policy holders He said that IRDAI required insurance companies only to invest
in better rated companies. Now that the IL&FS rating has changed, they will
have to keep a watch on what to do with those investments and make required
provisions, said Khuntia. He added that while insurers are required to ensure
that they put money only in investment-grade bonds, the regulator expects them
to use their own judgment and not go by the views of rating agencies alone.
Khuntia said that the LIC will have to eventually pare its stake in IDBI Bank
to 15%. This will be in keeping with IRDAI’s investment limit, which prevents
an insurer from holding more than 15% in an investee company. They are
preparing a road map and, when it is ready, they will communicate it to us,
said Khuntia. Incidentally, the RBI has also said that LIC should divest stake
in the bank in keeping with RBI’s norms for promoter shareholding.
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POWER SECTOR WOES: GOVT DEPARTMENTS OWE DISCOMS OVER ₹30,000 CR IN DUES
Power distribution
companies (Discoms) need to recover over ₹30,000 crore from State
government departments alone. The quantum of dues is staggering even after
netting off the Electricity Duty that is to be paid to State governments by the
Discoms. According to data compiled by the Centre, Discoms are left with dues
worth over ₹16,000 crore from government departments, after offsetting the
Electricity Duty. The Electricity Duty is used to cross subsidise power
consumption in a State. The duty is usually paid by industrial consumers and
the amount collected is used to offer cheaper power to agricultural and
domestic consumers. The State government uses this tax to subsidise needy
consumers. It appears that the State government departments are not paying
their Discoms and then using the Electricity Duty to offset the bills. This has
been red flagged by the Centre. In a presentation to the State governments, the
Ministry of Power said high government department dues exist with high
liabilities of Electricity Duty on the balance sheet of Discoms. Proper
transactions between the States and Discoms for each other’s dues (Electricity
Duty and Government Department usage of electricity) and their correct
accountal would improve collection efficiency, which is highly understated, the
Centre said. Uttar Pradesh tops the list with ₹11,176 crore outstanding
government department dues and Maharashtra comes second with ₹5,419-crore
dues as on March 2018.
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NCDEX IN TALKS WITH PROCUREMENT AGENCIES TO GET THEM ON BOARD
Government procurement
agencies such as Food Corporation of India (FCI), National Agricultural
Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) and other State agencies will soon
participate on exchange platforms for hedging purposes Top NCDEX officials said
that the discussions are on and the agencies are encouraged to come on board to
use the futures platform for the stocks they procure. We are encouraging
government procurement agencies such as FCI, Nafed and State agencies to come
on board as they are one of the larger buyers of commodities. They have to give
good prices to farmers. But after procurement, they can use the futures
platform. We may see some agencies come on the platform soon, said Vijay Kumar.
We are talking with these agencies. They are open to get on board. However,
they may need to design specific internal policies. They are not barred from
participating; they have done it in the past, too. They know what to do, added
Kumar. He further said that their coming on board will help the liquidity on
the exchange. They can start anytime. There are no reasons not to start. What
we understand is that they are exploring ways ON how to take it up, he said.
However, currently there is a limited number of commodities, which are procured
by the agencies and also traded on the exchanges. These include wheat, soybean,
chana and mustard. The exchange currently has 19 active contracts in futures.
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DO NOT DEPEND ONLY ON RATINGS; USE YOUR OWN JUDGMENT TOO:
IRDAI TO INSURERS
The insurance companies
have to use their own judgment and cannot simply rely on the credit rating
assigned to their investment by the rating agencies, the insurance regulator
said in an advisory to the insurance companies. Our requirements is that
investment should be in highly rated instruments. In case there is a change in
the ratings, they will have to take appropriate action, Shubash Chandra Khuntia
said. We have told insurance companies besides rating they should also apply
their own judgment. We are making them aware that they will have to be
proactive so that policyholders' interest is protected, he further added. Many
insurance companies have exposures to the beleaguered IL&FS group as part
of their investment portfolio. Now, the regulator has made it clear that these
companies have to make provisions for their exposures as write-off is not an
option for them. IL&FS was rated very highly by the credit rating agencies
but it defaulted on its debt obligations that resulted in a liquidity crunch
situation in the entire financial sector. We have not asked insurance companies
to pull out of any investment because of change in ratings as that may damage
it further so they have to time their judgment appropriately. There cannot be a
cut and paste solution, Khuntia said. On the issue of insurance companies not
disclosing the embedded value of their company, the chairman said, During
listing the companies have to declare. We are encouraging the companies to go
for listing. We have not made it compulsory because the industry has to develop
more. We have many new companies but we will encourage them to disclose their
embedded value.
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CCI DISMISSES UNFAIR BIZ COMPLAINT AGAINST INOX, HINDUSTAN
COCA-COLA BEVERAGES
The CCI has dismissed a
complaint alleging unfair trade practices against multiplex chain operator Inox
and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, the bottling arm of Coca Cola in India, with
respect to selling of beverages in multiplexes There was no violation of
Section 3 of the Competition Act that pertains to anti-competitive agreements,
the CCI observed while disposing of the matter. The ruling came on a complaint
filed by Telangana-based Vijay Gopal who alleged that Inox has colluded with
Coca Cola by entering into exclusive supply/sale agreement to sell
water/beverages within the multiplexes at higher prices. Besides, the
complainant alleged that consumers are forced to buy essential goods like water
in multiplexes, and therefore there exists an implicit tie-in arrangement which
is prohibited under the Competition Act. By entering into such agreements, the
firms violated Section 3 of the Competition Act, the complainant alleged. With
regard to the agreements between the two firms, CCI observed that there exists
no appreciable adverse effect on competition (AAEC), which needs to be established
in order to examine any possible violation of Section 3. Dismissing the
allegation of tie-in arrangement, CCI said there is no explicit condition that
consumers have to necessarily buy these goods to watch the movie. Moreover,
Inox also provides free water inside the multiplexes, CCI noted in an order
dated February 28.
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BOARDS NEED TO BE ALERT: NR NARAYANA MURTHY, INFOSYS FOUNDER
Infosys founder NR
Narayana Murthy said the boards of companies must ensure there is no governance
deficit in their organisations and this should be on top of their minds while
discharging their duties. Infosys paid Rs 34.35 lakh to the Securities and
Exchange Board of India last month to settle a case pertaining to the severance
pay to former CFO Rajiv Bansal. Murthy was the first to raise a red flag in
February 2017 over the company’s failure to disclose the severance pay to the
board. The Infosys founder said Infosys was an intellectual debating society
during his tenure and there would be arguments with cofounder Nandan Nilekani
and former board member Mohandas Pai before taking decisions. By and large, in
an enlightened democracy, you avoid serious mistakes because there is an
opposition and that opposition holds the government accountable and therefore
there is at least minimal damage, said Murthy. Similarly at Infosys, by and
large, we avoided any serious mistake as long as we all were together.
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KARNATAKA RERA GETS A PERMANENT BODY
After a long delay, the
state government appointed a permanent body for the Karnataka Real Estate
Regulatory Authority (K-RERA) on Tuesday. Retired bureaucrat MR Kamble, who
served as the additional chief secretary to the Karnataka government, has been
appointed as the chairman. In addition, the government appointed four permanent
members — two former bureaucrats, a judicial member and a technical member. The
notification was issued on Tuesday. Established in July 2017, the authority
functioned without a permanent chairman for over 1.5 years. It had had four
interim chiefs since its inception. The delay in appointing a permanent
chairman was in violation of the RERA Act which mandates the appointment of a
permanent body within a year of notifying the state RERA.
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RERA PERMANENT AUTHORITY NOTIFIED
A long-pending demand of
home buyers has been met with the RERA Permanent Authority being notified on
Tuesday. RERA interim chairman and housing secretary J. Ravishankar said the
Chairman of the permanent authority is retired IAS officer M.R. Kamble, while
retired IAS officer Adoni Syed and retired Chief Commissioner of Income Tax
Vishnu Vardhan Reddy will be the members. We've also notified two members of
the Appellate Tribunal. The chairman is yet to be notified. A permanent
authority will improve the way things will function under RERA Karnataka, Mr.
Ravishankar said.
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CROP INSURANCE: INSURERS FAST-TRACK SETTLEMENTS, OVER 95%
CLAIMS PAID IN 4 STATES
With a 12% penalty for
delayed settlement insurance companies have expedited payments to farmers under
the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). Even as the harvest is barely
over, around 95% claims made so far for kharif 2018 crop losses have been
settled in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka under PMFBY. Long
delays in settlement of claims under PMFBY, launched in FY17, have been a
dampener — in some cases farmers did not receive the insurance payments even a
year after making claims, scuppering the objective of the scheme. The faster
settlement is also enabled by states increasingly paying their share of premia
in time. Along with the succour being given to farmers under PM-Kisan scheme —
over 1 crore have already received 2,000 each and several crores more are set
to get the money by the month-end — the timely crop insurance settlements will
come in handy for the government ahead of the elections. He said 100% claims
have been settled in Gujarat (134 crore), Rajasthan (49 crore) and Karnataka
(29 crore) while in Uttar Pradesh the settlement is over 95% at 101 crore.
However, in states like Maharashtra and Haryana, the claims settlement is still
25% and 1%, respectively. Out of 643 crore of claims received from all the
states under PMFBY, companies have paid 385 crore (60%), as per data as of
February 28. In September last year, the government changed the PMFBY
guidelines by putting 12% interest to be paid to farmers by insurance companies
for the delay in settlement claims beyond two months of prescribed cut-off
date. As insurance companies were complaining that the delay in claims
settlement was due to non-payment of premium by states, the guidelines made it
mandatory for state governments to pay 12% interest for the delay in release of
their share of premium beyond three months of prescribed cut-off date. Also,
insurers need to pay 12% interest if they delay settlement beyond a stipulated
period even after receiving all premia. In 2018, India had received 91%
rainfall of the long period average (LPA) of 89 cm during the June-September
monsoon season. No insurance company would like to pay interest and we expect
that farmers will receive their claims payment within two months, he said. Insurers
are estimated to have made a surplus of nearly 10,000 crore (including
operational costs) in the past two kharif seasons. In kharif 2016, insurance
companies collected 16,276 crore premium under PMFBY while the claims paid were
10,425 crore, resulting in an estimated surplus of 5,851 crore. Similarly, the
difference between premium collected and claims paid was 4,077 crore in kharif
2017.
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JET AIRWAYS EMPLOYEE UNION WARNS MANAGEMENT AGAINST STAFF
SACKING
A Jet Airways employee
union has warned the airline management against sacking of staff as a part of
its revival plan. On Tuesday, representatives of the All India Jet Airways
Officers & Staff Association gave a memorandum to the airline seeking
clarity on the revival plan and future of employees. Operations at various
airports have reduced and employees are anxious. We asked and received
assurances that employees will not be removed and jobs will be secure said
association president Kiran Pawaskar.
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IT SPENDING MAY BE DECOUPLING FROM ECONOMIC GROWTH
As fast-paced changes
reshape global retailers, carmakers and banks, these companies are spending
more time and money on digital technologies to ensure that they don’t face
annihilation because of disruptive innovation. The increased spending has led
to windfall business opportunities for information technology (IT) companies
such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) and Capgemini SE, which say that
such structural changes in client industries are gradually leading to
decoupling of technology spending from economic growth. While France’s
Capgemini and HCL Technologies Ltd, India’s third-largest IT services company,
claim that tech spending has more or less completely delinked from economic
growth TCS maintains that tech spending has decoupled only in some industries. For
over two decades, IT companies’ growth has taken cues from the economic growth
in the US and Europe, the two markets that account for the bulk of their
revenue. This is because historically, companies, across industries, have spent
more on technology in times of good growth and tightened tech spending when
growth slowed. As digital technologies are structurally disrupting most
businesses, companies from Citigroup to Walmart are looking at their IT vendors
to help them run their business better. Broadly speaking, companies will
continue to spend because if they don’t transform their own business models,
they will be exposed to a much bigger threat, Thierry Delaporte, chief
operating officer of Capgemini, said. At Indian IT firms, including TCS,
Infosys and Wipro, digital accounted for 30.1%, 31.5% and 33%, respectively, of
revenue in the October-December 2018 period. There are some, like India’s IT
lobby group, Nasscom, and Infosys Ltd, which say that tech spending is still
tied to global growth.
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TATA NANO NOT MANUFACTURED FOR THE SECOND MONTH IN A ROW IN
FEBRUARY
Tata Motors did not
produce any unit of Nano for the second month in a row in February as a question
mark remained over future of the entry-level small car. The company has so far
maintained that no decision has been made yet on the future of Nano although in
its current form it will not meet the new safety and emission norms and may
need an infusion of fresh investments. In a regulatory filing, Tata Motors said
there was zero production of Nano in February although it sold just one unit in
the domestic market during the month. There was no export either. In
comparison, the company had produced 34 units of the Nano in February 2018 and
sold 52 units.
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TATA WORKERS’ UNION COMPLETES 100 YEARS
Tata Workers’ Union (TWU),
founded 99 years ago on March 5, 1920, has entered the 100-year club The Union
came into being as the Labour Association in 1920 after a prolonged month long
strike, following which Suren Haldar, Barrister-at-law from (then) Calcutta
arrived to lead the strikers and negotiate with the Management. It is the first
labour union to complete 100 years an official statement said. TWU, which has
seen Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as its leader in 1928, has since covered a lot
of ground in its relationship with the Tata Steel management. Haldar later
formed the Union on March 5,1920. On March 20, 1920, Dorabji Tata arrived and
announced terms of settlement and most importantly, gave recognition to the
Jamshedpur Labour Association. Subsequently Prof Abdul Bari, the then Deputy
Speaker of Bihar Legislative Assembly and member of Bihar Labour Enquiry
Committee, was elected as the President of the Union in 1936. It was he who
later changed the name of the Union to Tata Workers’ Union in 1937. To mark the
celebration of this 100 year journey, Tata Steel CEO & MD, T V Narendran
and Tata Workers’ Union President Mr R Ravi Prasad unveiled the centenary logo
of TWU in Jamshedpur. A 100-year old Union itself is a rarity and we are
privileged to celebrate the occasion. Only 11 presidents in the last 100 years
reflects the strength and maturity of the Union. For the future of the company
and the city, a strong and matured union is required, Mr Narendran said.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
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